Not exactly the Brady Bunch

I've been checking out some of the 2013 Rebecca Caudill nominees, and I sure like this one: Bounce by Natasha Friend.  Evyn is 13, and it feels like her life is being turned upside-down when her widowed father announces to Evyn and her geeky brother that he's getting married. And they're moving in with his soon-to-be wife.  AND she's got six kids.  Aauugh!  Soon you're hearing about the sweater twins (who always fight), Cleanser Boy (actually named Ajax), and the mean It Girls (like Andrea - On-DREY-a) at Evyn's snooty new private school.  Evyn has a wonderfully funny and very authentic way of describing her life, but it's touching, too - she often has discussions with Stella, her deceased mother, who offers advice and suggests that Evyn let things "bounce" off of her.  A terrific book, especially for those dealing with the ups and downs of a blended family.

Will she find her voice?

I always like books written by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Becoming Naomi Leon was no exception.  Naomi and her brother Owen are being raised in the Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho by Gram, their loving guardian since their mother abandoned them years ago.  It's a happy life until their mom (now going by the new name of Skyla) unexpectedly shows up with her nasty boyfriend Clive; they're planning on taking Naomi (but not Owen) with them to Las Vegas to be a babysitter for Clive' daughter.  Skyla's obviously got a lot of problems, but she may legally be allowed to take Naomi.  Gram takes the kids - and the trailer - down to Mexico in search of the children's father, hoping he can help.  Naomi's feelings and effort to speak up for herself, her Mexican heritage that she learns more about, and the love and strength of those who truly care are richly and warmly described.  Will Naomi finally make her voice heard when she's in front of the judge?

What a science experiment!

Okay, science fans, this one's for you: Brendan Buckley's Sixth-Grade Experiment by Sundee T. Frazier.  It's a light-hearted book, but Brendan is dealing with a lot: starting middle school, being paired with Morgan (a girl with a big crush on him) for a science project on cow poop, and worrying that she's going to mess up his guy friendships.  On top of that, he's got a difficult relationship with his dad, who's always proud of Brendan's skills in martial arts but doesn't seem to care about Brendan's love of (and talent for) science.  Brendan's a likable kid, and the author does a great job of describing his family relationships without over-emphasizing them - Mom and Grandpa Ed are white, Dad and Grandma Gladys are black. Although Brendan's thoughts and words sometimes seem a bit far-fetched (they're verrrrry science-y), the situations seem very realistic and are often pretty funny....especially at the end of the experiment.

There's something creepy about this tattoo

Wow.  If you're looking for a fantastic audiobook for someone in 7th grade or older, get The Black Tattoo, written by Sam Enthoven and read by John Lee.  Not only is the story very cool, but the narrator provides a phenomenal array of voices. Charlie and Jack are best friends in present-day London.  After being recruited into a secret society called The Brotherhood, Charlie ends up with a tattoo on his back...a MOVING tattoo. It turns out that an ancient demon - the Scourge - is possessing Charlie and has some truly nasty plans.  So it's up to Jack and new friend Esme (a girl with apparent super powers) to actually follow Charlie and the Scourge into Hell itself to stop them.  This sounds serious, but there's actually quite a bit of humor, both in the storyline and the way it's read.  This audiobook is long - almost 14 hours - but awesome for your next road trip.

Who's stealing the Oreos?

By looking at the cover, you can tell that Slob by Ellen Potter might have something to do with Oreos.  You'd be right, but there's much more to the story.  Owen is twelve; he's almost a genius, and he's definitely a brilliant inventor.  He's also now the fattest kid in school, and you gradually learn that something happened a couple of years ago that was so awful, he started to overeat as a way to cope.  He lives with his sister Caitlin, who's joined the group GWAB (Girls Who Are Boys) and now wants to be called Jeremy, and his mom.  While dealing with both an incredibly cruel P.E. teacher and Mason Rigg, the school bully, Owen is working on two inventions: one will nab the person who's been stealing the Oreos out of his lunch, and the other, with the help of a TV, will help him see that terrible event from the past.  This is a great example of realistic fiction - some of it is funny, some of it is heartbreaking, but it's all authentic.

Dystopia + romance = wow!

I've read dystopian novels (a lot) and romance (a little), and I was very impressed with that combination in Matched by Ally Condie.  Cassia lives in the Society, which determines everything about her life - what she'll eat, where she'll work, and when she'll die.  Now that she's turned 17, she'll learn who her Match is...the person she'll marry.  She's thrilled to find out she's been matched with Xander, a close friend from childhood.  But when she puts his microcard into her computer, she's stunned when an additional face is flashed before her - her friend Ky.  An Official later confirms that is was only a mistake, but Cassia starts seeing Ky in a different light.  She discovers romance and creativity, and soon she's questioning the idea of blindly following all the rules imposed by Society.  An excellent, thought-provoking story that's continued in the next book, Crossed.

A Boov named J.Lo

The last book I read was subtle science  fiction, but The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is in-your-face sci fi...and funny, too!  It's a relatively long book and almost too complicated too describe. Gratuity "Tip" Tucci is writing an essay about Smekday, which  honors the day that the alien Boovs took over the Earth and renamed it Smekland in honor of their glorious Captain Smek.  So what should she start with: when she makes friends with a Boov named J.Lo?  The trip she takes with J.Lo and Pig the cat to Happy Mouse Kingdom?  The car they ride in - Slushious - which now floats, thanks to J.Lo?  Or maybe the battle against the obnoxious Gorgs, which clone themselves and travel around by means of...wait for it...teleclone booths?  If you like crazy, silly, laugh-out-loud books, you've got to try this one.

It's science fiction...isn't it?

Yes, it's sci fi, but it's not hard to believe that Dark Life by Kat Falls could really happen.  After the Rising (of the ocean, that is), a good chunk of our continent is under water.  Life on the Topside is getting pretty crowded, so some brave pioneers have formed an undersea territory, which is now their home.  Ty lives there with his family, and you soon learn he's a bit different from your average teenager - he's developed both a "shine" from eating so many bioluminescent fish and a special ability (I won't give it away) that some refer to as a Dark Gift.  He meets Gemma, a Topsider girl who's searching undersea for her brother, and soon they're on the run from the dangerous Seablite Gang, a group of outlaws led by the very scary Shade.  Action! Adventure!  And some very cool descriptions of the bizarre plants and animals that live in the deep.  I'm happy to see there's a sequel...Rip Tide.

Definitely not a Holiday Inn

Your imagination will go on hyperdrive when reading Floors by Patrick Carman.  Merganzer Whippet, a billionaire with a passion for ducks, built the Whippet Hotel, unlike any other place you (or I) have ever been.  Each room is outlandish, from the Pinball Machine (watch out for the flippers) to the Cake Room (reminded me of Willy Wonka) to the Flying Farm (duck!).  But Merganzer disappeared 100 days ago, and the hotel is falling apart.  Leo, who lives at the hotel with his father (the maintenance man), has found a mysterious purple box with a message; whether he's zooming to the roof on the Double Helix or coming down in the crowded duck elevator, it's now up to Leo to save the place he calls home.  Hold onto your hat and get ready for action - this fast-paced adventure is just plain fun.  I bet there's a sequel...

See your future in Facebook?

I was immediately hooked on the main idea in The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  The time is 1996, when many families were buying their first home computer and receiving American Online (AOL) CD-ROMs in the mail for free time on the Internet.  After Emma logs on to AOL, something strange pops up - "Facebook."  Of course, Facebook hadn't been invented yet, and when Emma sees a picture of herself, obviously much older and with a different last name, she figures out she's looking at her future in 15 years and it's not a happy life.  Her friend Josh finds his future Facebook page, too, and he's ecstatic to learn that he's wealthy and married to the hottest girl at their high school.  Every time they check Facebook, something is a little different; Emma and Josh learn that changes they make now, even small ones, impact their future.  The reader will easily figure out the direction of the book (are Emma and Josh just friends...or more?), but watching the ripple effect of their actions is pretty cool.  A great book for high school kids and older, more mature middle schoolers.