Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis

Wow, what a powerful book.  While the Taliban is no longer in power in Afghanistan, the afghan people are still living in a country torn apart by war, and poverty.  It has a long standing tradition of women and children having no rights.  This is at times a difficult book to read. Deborah Ellis has interviewed two dozen or so children for this book about their lives in Afghanistan.  Before each interview is a bit of information about the country.  The hope that these children carry for their country is inspiring.  We so often in the US complain about such minor things: "the computer is too slow," "I wish I had cooler shoes." This book really puts things in perspective.  It is such a privilege to be able to attend school and the children in this book want nothing more than to attend school so that they can better their lives for their families as well as their entire country.  This is truly and inspiring book.

Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

Steampunk is a type of science fiction that has new age technology but is set in an alternative history. I have not read a lot of steampunk but I thought this book looked so intriguing, I just had to try it.  Lena has turned 18 and she decides to go in search of her father who left when she was little.  She wants to know if her long hands and feet are truly a sign of "goblinism".  She fears her grandmother is right and her father is a goblin, which would make them both "Peculiars" in a society that believes peculiars should have no rights and have no souls.  It has adventure, and excitement and just a little romance.  I really enjoyed this book. I really liked the author's addition of historical references about some of the things in the book.    

Birth Marked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Great new series for dystopian fans.  While the story starts a bit slow, it continues to pick up speed throughout.  This society seems to be one that has been affected by climate change.  Some people live inside the wall (the Enclave) and others live outside it and serve the Enclave.  Gaia is a midwife just like her mother.  It is her job to deliver babies and give the first 3 born each month to the enclave to raise as their own.  When Gaia's parents are arrested she tries to find out why and begins to question her society and how it runs.  We have book 2 and 3 of this series in the library and I am hoping to get those read also.

Game Changer by Margaret Peterson Haddix

KT Sutton's life revolves around softball.  In fact she is pitching in a big championship game when something goes wrong.  When KT wakes up she doesn't know who won the game, she can't even remember what happened after the last pitch she threw.  She has somehow been transported to an alternate world where the focus is not on sports but the academics are the stars.  All the classes at her school focus on fitness and the after school activities and competitions focus on academics.  This is an interesting look at how sports have taken a prominent role in education.  The students start to dislike what is taught (sports and their heroes are those that excel in the academic challenges).  The books message changes  toward the end towards anti-bullying and anti-stereotyping of kids.  All in all it was an interesting read by one of my favorite authors.

Freaky Fast Frankie Joe by Lutricia Clifton

I judged this Golden Sower by the cover and truthfully didn't want to read it.  But I did read it and I really liked it.  We moved around several times when I was little and I often felt like the "oddball."  This story is about another oddball.  Frankie Joe's mom has made some poor decisions and now Frankie Joe has to leave his home in Laredo, TX and go live with his father in Illinois.  Frankie Joe doesn't know much about his dad seeing as he they never spent time together.  He doesn't even know that he has 4 half brothers, the oldest of which is not thrilled to have Frankie Joe moving in.  I loved how Frankie Joe finds his "niche" in this book and that "home" can mean different things at different parts of your life if you let it.  I finished this cute little book in about a day and really enjoyed it.

Payback Time by Carl Deuker

Carl Deuker is one of my favorite authors of sports literature.  He wrote on of my favorite books: Gym Candy.  This book focuses on Dan "Mitch" True (there is a story behind that nickname).  He is a reporter for the school paper and is always looking for the "big story."  He thinks he has found it this year when there are some unanswered questions about a new football player named Angel Marichal.  This story is action packed with both the mystery that is afoot as well as the football that is being played.  I LOVE football so I didn't mind all the "technical talk" about plays and such.  This "football talk" does happen alot in the book...Mitch is a sports writer and its written from his point of view.  I hope this doesn't keep nonfootball lovers from reading this book, because the mystery Mitch and his photographer buddy Kimi uncover is a great one.

Between Shades of Gray by Rut Sepetys

Another fantastic Golden Sower Nominee.  This work of historical fiction is amazing.  This tells the story of 15 year old Lina and her mother and brother who are taken from their home in Lithuania and by the Soviet secret police.  They are taken to Soviet work camps and made to live in horrible conditions and do back breaking work.  I think this is a wonderful addition to the other works of WWII historical fiction.  So much is written about the atrocities (awful things) that Hitler was doing, sometimes what the Soviets, under Stalin's rule, were doing during this same time period is overlooked.  This was a wonderful, powerful book about courage and strength of spirit.  I loved it.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Wow, what a difference from the last book I blogged about. While Pie was a light and pretty carefree read, Stolen is rather dark and stressful.  Gemma should have listened to the warning that parents have been telling their kids for years: Don't Talk To Strangers!  Gemma does talk to a stranger and it gets her stolen.  Away from an airport where she is on a trip with her parents to the desert of Australia.  The book is written like Gemma is talking to her captor. The weird thing is it is hard to hate the captor.  He seems to genuinely want Gemma as a companion.  I found it to be a tense read because I would imagine what I would do out there in the middle of nowhere knowing no one I loved knew where I was.  There is some language in this book, so I would recommend it to older readers.  I believe its because it was written by an English woman, who grew up in Australia and they are not as bothered by swearing. This was an Honor Book for the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in Young Adult Literature.  

Pie by Sarah Weeks

This was a nice change of pace after reading the emotional "Jefferson's Sons."  This is an intermediate Golden Sower for 2013.  It is a nice read that includes a mystery...who is searching for Aunt Polly's secret pie crust recipe. People in this town are "pie-crazy." (as am I)  Included in the book are lots of pie recipes which really made me hungry as I read it.  I really liked Alice, the main character.  Her mother does not understand her at all but Alice doesn't let that stop her.  She gets to know Charlie during this mystery and there were some chuckle out loud moments in this little book.

Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Another YA Golden Sower checked off for me.  Boy did I like this book.  Jefferson's Sons is historical fiction about the children that Thomas Jefferson had with one of his slaves Sally Hemings.  I always found it disturbing that the man who wrote "all men are created equal" owned slaves.  I don't understand how anyone could ever be ok with owning another human being. This story took turns telling the story of several of Jefferson's children and their lives as they grew up as slaves.  Knowing who their father was but having to keep it a secret.  Reading this made me want to know more, so I went to some of the sites that the author suggests.  I wanted to know what happened to Sally's children and their children.

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Another great Golden Sower Nominee for this year.  Ty has lived on the ocean floor his entire life and now his world is being threatened by both outlaws and the "commonwealth" (the ruling body for this new world).  I loved the descriptions of Ty's underworld life.  There is talk of how kids raised "subsea" all have "dark gifts" that normal "topsiders" don't have.  There is talk of secret experiments on kids as well as exciting hunts for the outlaws.  I really enjoyed this book.  We have had it in the library for a couple of years and I just now got around to reading it.  We have book #2 in the series also.  It is called Rip Tide.