Wish I Might by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

I love Willa Havisham! The plucky young heroine of the Wedding Planner’s Daughter Series is a fun character that I became attached to while reading the first few books. When I noticed another book about Willa, I had to pick it up. This may be my favorite of them all!


Summary: Wish I Might, the fifth book featuring Willa Havisham, is an excellent addition to the series. It’s summer, and Willa is looking forward to it – mostly. Her perfect boyfriend, JFK, will be away at a baseball training camp in Florida for a month, and Ruby Sivler seems determined to steal Willa’s best friend. But life at the Bramblebriar Inn is just as wonderful as Willa could want. Her mom and Sam, who she now calls dad, are still happily in love, and the Inn is booked with guests and weddings.

Things start to get strange when a handsome boy shows up and claims he’s Willa’s half brother. Willa has always wanted a brother, but is Will who he says he is? And how should she tell her mother about him?

In Wish I Might, Willa is back at her best – trying hard to stay positive even when she’s worried. Even when she’s stressed about JFK not returning her calls, Will’s relationship to her, and how her mother will react to the news, she still stops to appreciate the little things and finds ways to help others. Willa is a great role model for any of my students. The fact that she’s an avid reader and aspiring author doesn’t hurt, either. I hope to see more books about Willa in the future.

Wish I Might also does a wonderful job of integrating other books (books that Willa is reading during the story), and gives a list of recommended books at the end. I may have to recommend some of Willa’s “skinny punch” books to my students this year. (If you want to know what a “skinny punch” is, you have to read the book. I promise, it’s worth it!)

Themes:
Secrets
Friendship
Family
Service to others

Age Appropriateness:
10 and up

Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: none

The Summer of Moonlight Secrets by Danette Haworth

I had the opportunity to meet Danette Haworth at the NCTE convention in the fall and came back to school excited about the possibility of having her come speak to our students.  That plan is still in the works (ah, the joys of committees - LOL) but in the meantime, I am picking up her books to prep for the (hopefully) inevitable visit.  I gave away a few copies of this book to students at the end of the school year, and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did!

Summary: The Summer of Moonlight Secrets by Danette Haworth was an excellent follow up to The Folk Keeper in my reading queue. Both have the same mythical creature in a central part of the story (not telling which – that would be a spoiler!). Both have an air of mystery and magic woven throughout. But where The Folk Keeper focused on one character’s perspective, The Summer of Moonlight Secrets switches between the thoughts of three characters.


Allie Jo Jackson loves her home, The Meriwether, an old and once high-class hotel built on Hope Springs in Florida. She knows all its secret passages and hidden hiding places, all its history and secrets. She spends her days enjoying life and helping out at the hotel, polishing brass railings and eating chef’s delicious blueberry pancakes.

When Tara mysteriously emerges from the springs one morning, Allie Jo is stunned and intrigued. Who swims fully clothed? Where did she come from? Who is she, really? And what or who is she hiding from?

Allie Jo and her new friend, Chase, a guest at the hotel, set out to discover the truth and end up finding answers they never dreamed possible. Can two modern day kids believe in magic, or is Tara just a disturbed runaway? What do you do when you have a secret you have to keep from everyone – even your parents who you’ve always shared everything with? How do you know who to believe when no one is telling the same story?

This is a great book – fun, suspenseful, and magical. Each year, the Florida Department of Education chooses recent books to be featured on the Sunshine States Young Readers program list, and The Summer of Moonlight Secrets would be a great addition to that list for next time. I’ll have multiple copies of this book on my shelf next school year!

Themes:
Secrets
Friendship
Family
Doing what is right

Age Appropriateness:
8 and up

Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsly

Summary: The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsly is a beautiful fairy tale that sometimes reads like a Victorian Gothic novel. It has many of the elements of the latter: an orphan, a bleak orphanage, a mysterious benefactor, and a rich manor shrouded in secrets. Billingsly adds an element of magic with the addition of The Folk, magical creatures that live beneath the human realm and must be kept satisfied through the efforts of a Folk Keeper.


Corinna is one such Folk Keeper. Masquerading as a boy, the young orphan has found her way into an acceptable life, keeping the voracious and sometimes evilly mischievous Folk of Rhysbridge quiet so they don’t ruin the crops or curdle the milk. She records her activities in her Folk Record, as all good folk keepers do, and it is this record that holds the story itself. Corrina is the queen of her domain, protected by the knowledge that everyone else fears the folk and will not enter her cellar unless there is a dire need.

When a mysterious man makes a deathbed visit and whisks her away to the remote manor of Marblehaugh Park, Corinna discovers questions about her own origins and abilities she was unaware of. She also finds herself in the middle of a plot to get control of the manor which puts her and one she loves in great danger.

Can Corinna save the day while also discovering the truth about who she really is? Will she have to choose between two homes once the truth is discovered?

Themes:
Secrets
Self-discovery
Individuality

Age Appropriateness:
10 and up

Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild

Now Is The Time For Running by Michael Williams

I’m still making my way through the ARC’s I picked up at the conference in the fall. I’m so glad this one made its way to the pile. It releases next month, and is absolutely worth multiple reads!


Summary: Wow! Now Is The Time For Running is a riveting and heart-wrenching read. Author Michael Williams has taken on some tough topics; politically motivated killings in Zimbabwe, xenophobia in South Africa, the plight of refugees, and added in other more universal touches such as the difficulties of dealing with and caring for a handicapped family member. The mixture becomes a wonderful read with characters that I cared about and rooted for.

Deo loves to play soccer with his friends in his village in Zimbabwe. With his older brother, Innocent, cheering him on, he can do wonders with his soccer ball, a leather pouch his grandfather made for him. But everything changes when the soldiers come. Deo & Innocent have to flee their village and try to make it to South Africa where they believe they will be safe. Deo is determined to take care of Innocent, who has always been different due to the difficulties of his birth. Innocent is determined to find their father who, last they knew, lived and worked in South Africa.

Life in South Africa is different, but not truly better. They are seen as outsiders, refugees who steal jobs from true South Africans. Taking care of Innocent consumes Deo; without him, his brother will do or say the wrong thing. He just doesn’t understand. The two make friends among the other refugees. Some of these friends lead them astray while others become a temporary family.

Eventually, Deo has nothing left. Life as a refugee has taken everything away from him and he sinks to a painful numbness. When he is given the chance to play soccer again, will his love of the game be enough to bring him back to life?

Before I read this book, I didn’t even realize there was a Homeless World Cup in soccer. What an amazing and wonderful idea – we often hear how sports and other activities can keep kids out of trouble, so it only makes sense to use that knowledge to help those in tough situations get out of them.

Now Is The Time For Running left me inspired and hungry for more. I already have some former students in mind to hand this book to.

Themes:
Freedom
Safety
Survival
Fear
Xenophobia


Age Appropriateness:
14 and up


Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: moderate
Nudity/Adult Content: mild
Violence: moderate

One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin

Summary: One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin is a feel-good read for all ages. Rocklin unites the stories of a variety of characters into a satisfying whole, much like an orange’s peel unites the many sections of the fruit. (I promise, the cheesy analogy relates to the book!)


Orange Street is named after the orange grove that covered the area. Now only one tree remains, in an empty lot that has become the neighborhood gathering place. The tree is a centerpiece filled with generations of memories for the residents of Orange Street, both young and old.

Ms. Snoops is losing her memory, but can still remember many of the wonderful times she had playing under that tree as a child, when it sat in the backyard of her best friend’s house so many years ago. Before the house burned down and was never rebuilt.

The members of the GWLH (Girls With Long Hair) club meet almost daily at the tree. Bunny/Bonita is the superstitious member whose secret little rituals help keep her mother safe on her many travels. Leandra is about to be a big sister and isn’t sure how she feels about it; fortunately she has her grandparents to help her figure it out. Ali is struggling with her own feelings about her little brother< Edgar, who got sick and never really got better.

Throw in Robert, the boy who wants to be a magician and Manny, Edgar’s male nanny, and you have a diverse and fun cast of characters who balance wisdom (Ms. Stoops and Manny) with childhood hopefulness. Add a stranger who threatens their happy existence around a stately old orange tree and you have a wonderful story that takes place across generations, while only happening in a day and a half.

Themes:
Friendship
Community
Family
Unity


Age Appropriateness:
Any


Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: none

The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss

Summary: The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss is an insightful look at the inner workings of a clique in middle school. Where most books on this topic focus on the thoughts and feelings of the victims of these groups, The Girls explores this territory from the perspectives of the group members themselves, showing the insecurities of tween girls, even those who claim the title of “most popular.”


Maya awakens one sleepy Saturday morning to a wonderful surprise – am unexpected outing with her dad to Six Flags. Even better is the fact that she can take a friend along. But when she calls one member of her group of friends after another, she discovers that they all have other plans. All but her have been invited to a sleepover. She wonders what she did wrong to get kicked out of the group.

The other members of the group have their own issues and insecurities that keep them from standing up for Maya. Renee’s parents are going through a divorce and she lives in the shadow of her model-beautiful mother. Darcy simply follows whatever Candace, the group leader, dictates. Candace is her key to popularity. Brianna often finds herself at the receiving end of Candace’s cruel comments, but enjoys the spotlight that being Candace’s friend places her in. Candace wants nothing more than to be exactly the opposite of her mother, who she feels gave up her own life to have children.

The slow implosion of this group of girls, beginning with the exclusion of Maya, makes an interesting story that middle grades girls will understand and feel a connection to. And, unlike many less realistic stories aimed at this age group, not everyone learns her lesson at the end. The ending is satisfying and heartening, though. I will definitely recommend this story to my students.

Themes:
Friendship
Insecurity
Bullying


Age Appropriateness:
Grades 4& up

Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: none