Ungifted / Gordon Korman / 288 pgs / 6 discs

                     WARNING!!! DO NOT LISTEN WHILE DRIVING A CAR.
     Donovan Curtis is your normal middle school kid with a tendency toward outrageous pranks. He gets into spitball wars with his best friends, broadcasts limericks over the school's PA system and (the best one yet) skips out of detention and whacks the school's statue with a branch only to watch part of it detach and roll down the hill and crash into the school's gym. With shattered glass showering most of the student body, Donovan learns he might have gone too far. The superintendent marches him into the office and begins The Lecture only to be interrupted by the arrival of the fire department. Donovan is told to leave and the discussion will continue tomorrow. Only it never does and in the meantime his family receives a letter notifying them he has been accepted into the gifted program.
     What the perfect place to hide! The Academy of Scholastic Distinction is for kids with IQs in the stratosphere. The classwork is way over his head and he isn't too sure what a pneumatic schematic is but Donovan brings the robotic team together in a way that might win the championship. But he cannot out run the consequences of his past actions. What happens next pure chaotic fun.
     I thoroughly enjoyed this Truman Award winning novel. The audio is done by several people but it does not detract from the story. Donovan reminds me of several guys I knew growing up so maybe that is why I connected with the story so quickly. The gifted students are portrayed with unique personalities that are endearing but shows how much pressure they feel in their lives. Does Donovan learn his lesson? Well, what do you think?

     Six Degrees of Reading: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, Jake by Audrey Coulombis, Slob by Ellen Potter.
     

See you at Harry's / Johanna Knowles / 310 pgs.

"Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible in her family, where grumpy eighteen-year-old Sarah is working at the family restaurant, fourteen-year-old Holden is struggling with school bullies and his emerging homosexuality, and adorable, three-year-old Charlie is always the center of attention, and when tragedy strikes, the fragile bond holding the family together is stretched almost to the breaking point." - From Catalog.

Once in awhile, the right book falls into the hands of the right person at the right time; and it is Exactly what they needed.  This is what happened to me as I just grabbed this book off the shelf only because it was a Truman Award Nominee and I had a three day 4th of July weekend coming up.  I had only started the book when I left for the holiday weekend to visit family.  When I returned, I was shaken and saddened over a terrible tragedy that befell one of my distant relatives over that weekend.  Overall I just felt helpless in not knowing what I could say or do to help and comfort my family members

I was at first disturbed when I continued reading this book only to find out that the "tragedy" was very close to what had just occurred in my family's life.  However, I kept reading because I wanted to see if the book had any insights into how to explain the un-explainable.  Why do terrible things seem to randomly happen in life?   and when tragedy strikes, what can we do to pick up the pieces?  Of course the book cannot explain why bad things happen, but it acknowledges that life can be terribly unfair at times.

I would never suggest that someone who has been directly affected by a loss and is grieving be given this book "to make things better".  But I am suggesting that anybody, especially teens, that want to understand what kinds of thoughts and emotions a grieving person goes through should read this book.  The book does a great job showing the main character's process and conflicting emotions from anger, helplessness, loss of faith, feelings of guilt and blame, extreme sadness, and loneliness.  It also shows the things people do and say to help bring a grieving family back to life after such sadness.

The Name of the Star/Maureen Johnson/372 pages

Set in modern day London, Rory has just started classes at a boarding school in London. As she is settling in to a new routine, a series of brutal murders mimicking the infamous "Jack the Ripper" crimes has spread across the city. The police have very few leads and Rory is the only witness to a strange man showing up at each of the murder scenes. She soon learns about the secret ghost police of London and her own special ability. "The Name of the Star" is book 1 in Shades of London trilogy by Johnson, but this title could easily stand alone, no cliffhanger here! The author has done her homework and has done a good job blending historical fiction with some paranormal humor thrown into the story. Recommended for older middle school students who like a good thriller, was a little gruesome at times.

Cloaked/Flinn/341 pages

Alex Flinn is a master of retelling fairy tales and Cloaked is like a fairy tale "mash up"!  The Frog Prince, The Six Swans and The Elves and the Shoemaker, just to name a few. Johnny is just an average guy working at a hotel shoe repair counter when a famous party princess comes to town. Add a talking fox, hungry giants, six enchanted swans and a magical best friend that has loved him forever and you have a  fun "once upon a time" novel.  This is a 2013-2014 Truman Award nominee and would highly recommend to young readers that like fairy tales with a little humor and adventure thrown into the mix.

Jane in Bloom/Deborah Lytton/182 pages

Jane is ready to celebrate her twelfth birthday by finally getting her ears pierced. Her plans are ruined by her sister's trip to the emergency room because of an eating disorder, which eventually becomes fatal. The story reveals how Jane and her parents handle her sister's death. Jane begins to understand that "life takes you forward, even when you don't want to go. You can stay in your pajamas, hide in your bedroom, and cry until you have no more tears. But still, life will push you onward".

The Maze Runner/James Dashner/375 pgs.

Until the arrival of "Thomas," teenage boys are being "dropped" into a box ultimately ending up in the Glade--a large area enclosed by stone walls. This has occurred on a monthly basis for a few years, but the day after Thomas's arrival, a girl arrives--Teresa. Did I mention that during the day, "doors" open up leading to a maze--inhabited by the Grievers? Also, the teenagers enter the Glade only knowing their first names. Why the "Gladers" are there, and how they propose to escape the maze, makes for nonstop action, and a very fast read. This book is followed by the "sequel" The Scorch Trials, with a third book scheduled to come out next month.

The Maze Runner/ James Dashner/ 375 pg.

I listened to this book on cd. It is fairly engaging and enough keeps happening so that I have to keep driving to finish an exciting bit. It is also a Truman nominee. It contains fake swear words like "shuck" which makes them all sound like they're from some areas of Chicago where every sentence includes such vocabulary. It reminded me of the Hunger Games in that many would die, they teens have no control over their environment, but will ultimately succeed only to have to return in the second book. For me, I need more than one girl character. It is a guy book with the bio-machine monsters and weapons and swearing. It was ok. The ending is intriguing enough that I'll try the second book.

The Cupcake Queen / Heather Hepler / 242 pages / Truman Readers Award Nominee

This story follows 14 year-old Penny who is forced to move with her newly-separated mother from Manhattan to the small town of Hog’s Hollow – population 5,134 – and become the dreaded new girl in school. Penny and her mother open a bakery called “The Cupcake Queen” and Penny’s uses her artistic abilities to decorate the popular little cakes.
When the school year begins, Penny must adjust to small-town life, different courses – they only teach French, not Spanish – and to the student body, including the resident mean girl and her groupies. With the help of a few new friends, her life becomes enjoyable. This is a sweet, simple read which evoked fond memories of books I read when I was fourteen.