Out of My Mind

by Sharon Draper
Simon & Schuster | 2010
Get it here.

The story is told in the first-person from Melody's point of view, and she is one extraordinary child. Melody is in the fifth grade, and she has cerebral palsy. She uses a wheelchair, can't feed herself, dress herself, or talk. She also has incredibly high intelligence, synesthesia, and a photographic memory.

When she decides she wants to integrate into the regular fifth-grade classroom instead of staying in the special education room, her mother advocates for her. And once she gets a talking machine that allows her to communicate with classmates, she starts to make friends, even as the class mean-girls continue to tease her.

I like this one a lot. I heard former high-school teacher and prolific author Draper speak in 2011 and she was authentic and energetic. Kids will like this one--it's a good story and provides a different way of looking at the world. Read it together!

Look! A Book and Look! Another Book!

written and illustrated by Bob Staake
Little, Brown | 2011 and 2012
(Another Book! reviewed from galleys)
Order A Book! here.
Order Another Book! here.

These lively and interesting search-and-find books are reminiscent of Richard Scarry's Busy Town books. There's a lot to see and talk about, and the die-cuts and prompts carry little readers through the pages.

Glorious endpapers with blocks of color and huge abstract eyes invite the reader in, and the large trim size means the book can be spread out on the floor with lots of kids all looking together to find silly things on each spread. Kids could tell their own stories about what has happened (or will happen) in any small area of any spread, for added fun and imagining. The rhyming text is fun, as well.

These are the perfect choice for a kid's birthday gift. Any age, really, from a first birthday right on up to an 8-year-old.

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

by Barry Lyga
Houghton Mifflin | 2006
Buy it here!

Lyga's first novel is truly fantastic. Fanboy is a comic-obsessed geek who is bullied at school. Goth Girl is a troubled recluse who can't stand to see Fanboy treated so terribly. When she chooses him as a friend, the unlikely pair end up discovering (sort of) what's most important (kind of). Their misunderstanding of each other, of their relationship, and the stumbles as they try to figure out who they are, alone and together, is very well done.

I don't really care about comics, yet Fanboy's dedication to his magnus opus, his graphic novel, kept me incredibly engaged. And Lyga's ability to write a believable girl character becomes even more legitimized in this book's sequel--Goth Girl Rising (2009)--written in the first person from the perspective of a teenage girl. The realistic portrayal of a suburban high school is Lyga's greatest accomplishment, I think. He has a real ability to consider what teens care about and how they think and then captures it in Brookdale High School, where a number of his novels take place.

The False Prince

by Jennifer Nielsen
Scholastic Press | 2012
Buy it here!
And pre-order the 2nd in the trilogy!

Sage is an orphan, stealing to fill his belly and keep himself going for another day at the orphanage where he'll soon be put out for turning fifteen. One day he steals a roast, and when he's caught, a mysterious stranger pays off the merchant and takes Sage away. Along with two other boys, Rodan and Tobias, Sage is trained as part of an intricate plot to take over the throne of Carthya. One of the boys will pose as Prince Jaron, lost four years ago when pirates overtook the ship he was on. Each boy has attributes that make him a good choice, and they must vie to be chosen, or die.

I favor realism. I stay away from most books involving princes, princesses, and castles. I am rarely impressed by medieval-like world-building, even when those fantasy fans around me are doing a jig with glee. This book is a rare exception (along with The Graceling Realm and a few select others). Nielsen builds her world carefully, to be sure, but also in a realistic manner. For me, this is the mark of an excellent fantasy novel.

What marks The False Prince as an excellent book, regardless of genre, is the way in which the plot and characters are so deeply created. I feel like if Sage turned up tonight in my living room, I would know how to have a discussion with him. And I'd ask him what happened that time when he was in Conner's estate's tunnel, and how on earth he ever got the knife back to the kitchen when he was bleeding so much. That's how awesome the plot is.

This is the first in a planned trilogy, and the second is coming out in March. I'll be first in line to read it. You should be second.

Chickadee (Book Four of the Birchbark House Series)

written and illustrated by Louise Erdrich
HarperCollins | 2012
Get it here.

The heroine of the first three Birchbark House books (The Birchbark House, The Game of Silence, and Porcupine Year), a Ojibwa girl named Omakayas, is back in this fourth installment, and her own twins are now eight years old. Chickadee and Makoons are the best of friends and good boys. After their father, Animikiins, kills a moose, the whole family celebrates together. But,  two evil men decide to steal Chickadee to make him their servant. What follows is an eventful adventure of how Chickadee is reunited with his family that flows from the woods of Minnesota to the Plains.

Anyone could easily read this book as a stand-alone, but it's richer if you've read the Birchbark House series in its entirety. And there are more books planned. Erdrich, who is also well known for her books for adults (Round House won the National Book Award this year), bases this series on her own family's history.

Many have made this comparison before, and I agree with it and will repeat it here: this series is much like the Little House on the Prairie series, but from the viewpoint of people indigenous to the United States who, rather than moving across the U.S., are instead trying to maintain their lifestyles even as others are encroaching upon their land. Far from heavy-handed, the stories present the lives of these native peoples with a grace and sensibility that will likely resonate with any reader. These stories are classic and shouldn't be missed.

Unwind

by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster | 2007
Buy it here.

There was a second U.S. civil war--called the Heartland War--and for years now, the new rules about life have been established. There's no more option for abortion. Instead, unwanted children can be "storked," or left on the doorstep of any random house. Those who discover the baby must raise it as their own--it's illegal not to. And anyone who decides they don't want a child who has proved difficult? Anytime between the ages of 13 and 18, a child can be "unwound." That is--separated into pieces with each part given to those in medical need of replacement parts. An eye here, a hand there, a lung transplant or heart replacement over there. But each and every part of the unwound must be used, for after all, the child isn't dying--they will live on, but in a disassociated state.

Yup. You read all that right. That's the premise of the world in which Connor, Risa, and Lev live. They accidentally end up as three runaway unwinds bound together by circumstance. Each has come to their planned-to-be-unwound state in different ways, but each have similar questions about their lives, what they mean, and how the society in which they live functions.

Whether the reader is pro-choice, pro-life, or has yet to develop an opinion, the questions in this book are interesting. While Shusterman never uses the term "abortion," this book directly asks the reader to consider the existence of the soul, when life begins, and whether life can continue in alternate ways.

(Note: I've not read the sequel, published this past August, but plan to. It involves a teen made up wholly of parts of unwinds, and somehow involves Connor, Risa, and Lev, who are all likeable characters. It's called Unwholly. I'll report back.)

Lola Reads to Leo

by Anna McQuinn
illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
Charlesbridge | 2012
Buy here!

Lola is a little girl who is getting a little brother or sister soon. She loves stories and reads with her mom and dad. They are preparing for the baby and when he arrives, Lola is ready to help! Leo is a great little brother who requires a lot of work, but Lola (and her parents) are up to the task.

This third installment for the "Lola books," which also includes Lola Loves Stories and Lola at the Library, is the perfect book for little kids who are expecting a sibling. Lola's family is as traditional as they come--Mommy; Daddy; a clean, safe house; and lots of love to go around.

These wholesome stories are written clearly and simply, inviting in new independent readers. "Lola's day always ends with a story. Tonight's story is about a little girl and her new baby brother."
The art is bright and fun. These books are true winners. (The first two are also available in Spanish, and the third is coming soon in that language.)