The social class system is very hierarchical in 1960’s Swaziland and especially at Keziah Christian Academy, a boarding school that Adele is sent to each year. Adele is a model student, studying extra Bible verses, following all of the rules, and making sure she knows how to maneuver in the game of remaining “on top” at her school. But things are changing and Adele has to deal. Her peer group is shunning her. Then she is assigned to room with Lottie, a girl far below her in status. But Lottie is rich in many other ways that Adele will slowly discover. A story of self-discovery and friendship, When the Ground is Hard was excellent. This is perfect for literature circles in schools as it will lead to discussions on social class, trust, family, peer pressure and growth. Hopefully, this story will be discovered by award committees.

Kasie West’s Maybe This Time is the teen Hallmark Channel version of a romance – squeaky clean with over the top “almost” moments–9 to be precise. Over the course of a year, Sophie Evans ends up at events in her small town only to be frazzled by big city-born Andrew Hart, son of the once-famous chef Jett Hart. Jett is working to help Sophie’s best friend’s family catering business gain more traction. Andrew doesn’t have a choice in working for his dad. Sophie attends these events as part of her job working for the local florist. Sparks fly at first like iron sharpening iron, but readers can see early on where this will go. While Sophie thinks she has interest in another boy, that is dropped within 6 months, but it will take the entire year for Andrew and Sophie outwardly admit their romance to each other. This is sap, sap, sappy! And some readers will love it! Totally appropriate for middle school too.

Fractured fairytale, story within a story, feminist critique, moral compass — all of these describe Jennifer Donnelly’s Stepsister. This frame story begins with Isabella, one of the evil step-sisters of Cinderella, known in this remake as just Ella, finding herself going to the ultimate extreme of cutting off her toes to fit her foot into the glass slipper. Blood everywhere, the Prince does realize that this is not his Princess. Jumping back to earlier times, readers see the pressure that would push Isabella to the extreme, mount as the stepmother is exacerbated about her daughters marrying well by being pretty enough. Isabella’s conscience is given a voice when Donnelly creates Fate and Chance, who game each other, putting bets on Isabella’s choices. This reader is not sure Fate and Chance needed to make an appearance, but aside from that, Donnelly has created a work of fiction that is thought-provoking about the importance society puts on “beauty” and hoping that Isabella will one day still get the Prince she deserves.

This narrative biography, Captured by Alvin Townley is an emotional book about our POWs from the Vietnam war.  Alvin Townley did a great job of giving us a descriptive narrative account of Naval aviator Jeremiah Denton from the aircraft carrier USS Independence, that was shot down and captured in North Vietnam in 1965. Denton was held in multiple North Vietnam prisons for seven and a half years as a POW.   While in prison Denton and other POWs were kept in solitary confinement for many years, and their only form of communication was through a complicated tapping system. They were tortured and starved daily while being held in the Northern Vietnam prisons for not giving any information to the Vietnam guards besides which were required by the Geneva Convention. Denton and his fellow comrades struggled with keeping their sanity during this time in such horrible conditions.  Denton kept the fellow POWs spirits up and continued his duties as best he could during this time. Denton led his men with honor through the longest and hardest deployment until 1973. Vivid and descriptive details along with actual photos of the POWs and the places talked about makes this readable and recommendable for anyone.

Jennifer Donaldson’s I Know You Remember is a well-crafted, plot-twisting mystery/thriller for a young adult audience. Zahra and Ruthie find each other in a time where they were desperate to be seen. Then Ruthie one moves away for three years, only to come back to her father’s Alaska home after her mother dies and find that her best friend Zahra is missing. Ruthie will focus her life on finding Zahra, and just when a reader thinks they have the correct theory, a plot twist will completely spin the story in a new direction. Lives will be ruined, points of view will switch. And while this reviewer didn’t particularly like the negative portrayal of religion, other issues are handled carefully, such as poverty, substance abuse, and racism. If you are a fan of One of Us is Lying, this is another choice that will be a stand-alone read.

Frank William Epperson knew he wanted to be an inventor from a very young age. This picture book chronicles his boyhood life through his successful invention of the popsicle. Along the way four step-by-step experiments are woven into the story including the materials needed, procedures, results, and additional information. Frank did invent many other things as well, but it was not his main form of employment.

The book is presented in tri-color overlays and sepia tones to help the reader get into the early 1900s.

The book ends with family photos from the 1920s and 1937, along with an advertisement poster for Popsicle.

This 11″ X 9″ board book takes preschoolers step-by-step through preparing the ground for a new building project: bulldozer, excavator, front loader, dump truck, concrete mixer, crane, flatbed truck, forklift, road roller, and backhoe are all pictured in bright simplified versions of the machines. Each right hand page has a 4″ diameter circle cut into the center of the page that reflects the readers face back to him/her on a shiny silver mylar surface making the reader seem to be the operator of each piece of equipment. Fun!

The final page shows a finished library has been constructed using all of this equipment.

This informational book on Vietnam includes: location, landscape and climate, wildlife, people, communities, customs, school and work, play, food, and celebrations before a timeline, Vietnam facts, glossary, with factsurfer.com website, and index. The information given is good solid information. It is what is not given that makes this a problematic book for young people.

The location maps show Vietnam both up-close and on a worldwide scale. The climate lists the monsoon months, but the inset lists the temperatures for only four months which do not correspond with the months specifically named for the monsoon seasons. This would be confusing for younger readers.

The biggest problem with this book is the use of Vietnamese words without their definitions half of the time. This often takes place on the photos. On page 13, there is a river scene with many boats being rowed by people standing . The word or phrase “SOC TRANG” is inset on the photo, is SOC TRANG the river or the boat people or the mode of transportation? On page 16, there is a row of five traditionally dressed young ladies walking with the word “AO DAI” inset on the photo. Is AO DAI their clothing style? I do not blame author Emily Rose Oachs for this confusion because most often the authors do not choose the photos put in their books.

The timeline is also a bit confusing because the events listed are most often not directly above their place on the timeline. It lacks adequate space on the line, squeezing in six events at the very end and four other events spaciously displayed.

And lastly, there is a centuries old building on the front cover of the book and repeated on the title page which is not identified anywhere in the book.

Readers will love to watch Rollo the rambunctious bull dog as he chases a tennis ball, digs too many holes, tracks muddy feet into the house and even onto a sofa, chews a shoe, and chases a chipmunk without stopping into a stone wall.”But there’s one thing that Rollo loves to do the most. And that’s to say he’s sorry.”

Keith Frawley’s illustrations are hilarious. They perfectly capture Rollo’s enthusiasm and his boy’s frustration.

In book one, Nicky, the new kid in town, finds a friend in Aaron only to loose him, when Aaron’s mother dies.

This book is part two of the pre-story behind the HELLO NEIGHBOR video game. It is so much deeper than I ever imagined it would be!

In book two, Nicky is trying to cope with his loss of Aaron while beginning a new school year. Nicky finds himself studying Mr. Peterson’s ( Aaron’s father) every move. Nicky is not convinced that Aaron and his little sister, Mya, have gone away to live with their aunt in the wake of their mother’s death. Mr. Peterson is so strange, by Nicky’s standards. Mr. Peterson continues to go to the Golden Apple Amusement Park, outside of town, which he designed, in its now closed run down state. Why? Is there some evidence of wrong doing Mr. Peterson is trying to get rid of there? The town is debating if they should demolish the park and revitalize the area. Nicky, Mya’s friend- Maritza, and Trinity have set themselves a goal to find out the truth about Aaron’s and Mya’s whereabouts. Are they living with their aunt, or has their father done something with them? They need to find all the evidence they can before the old park is demolished and the evidence with it.

Breaking Bailey is an addition to Beatrice Sparks’, aka Anonymous’s, collection of stories written in the diary format concerning hard choices and consequences teens encounter. Bailey has started a new school after losing her mother. Desperate for friends and to fit in, she joins an after school “science club”–the meth club–that produces meth that is sold around their town. With paychecks come parties, alcohol, prescription drugs and a love interest. But this party will come to an end. Bailey will ask her love interest to stop. But will she be able to pull away and come out ok? Teens that crave the chance to live vicariously through characters will enjoy Anonymous’s newest tale.