Below By Meg McKinlay

What a great little mystery this book is.  Cassie was the first baby born on the day that the mayor of the town flipped a switch and intentionally flooded the old town of Old Lower Grange, making way for New Lower Grange.  Even though she never knew the old town she is drawn to the mystery of the town that lies beneath it.  Because Cassie was born prematurely, she has to swim everyday to build up her weak lungs.  She usually goes to a pool, but recently has been drawn to the forbidden lake to swim her laps.  As her and her friend secretly meet to swim, they begin to discover some secrets that someone in the town has hoped to hide.  I really enjoyed this book.  It is set in an Australian town and it was fun to think that you could go swimming during your Christmas break.  You couldn't do this is Nebraska!!

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington

This was a charming book.  I really liked the main character, Sarah Nelson.  Sarah loves words (I love words also).  Some words she classifies as "trouble words." One of the "trouble words" for Sarah is "crazy."  She is carefully watching for signs that she will turn out crazy like her mother who is incarcerated at a mental hospital for a crime she committed when Sarah was 2 yrs. old.  This story takes place the summer before Sarah's 7th grade year and she is expecting a pretty boring summer, but this year, instead of having to go to her grandparents' home in Houston, she gets to stay at home and learns a lot about herself and her family in this summer.  She spends a lot of time writing to Atticus Finch (character of one of my favorite novels, "To Kill a Mockingbird") as part of a school assignment.  I hope it makes all of you curious enough to go pick up "To Kill a Mockingbird" after you read this.

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

A super volcano under Yellowstone National Park has erupted!  With the eruption came earthquakes and lots and lots of Ash.  Alex was excited about his weekend at home alone until this happens.  His world is plunged into darkness, ash and violence.  As the area looses power and food and everyday conveniences they kind of also begin to loose their humanity.  Alex tries to make his way to his Uncle's house in Iowa to find his family. I think 8th graders will really like this scary apocalypse novel.  A note to the squeamish and my vegetarian friends...they do have to butcher some animals to use for food (a rabbit and a pig).  This part is pretty detailed so if this is going to bother you, you may want to skip this part when you get to it.  There is a book two called Ashen Winter that we have in the library, but I have not had the chance to read it.  I liked the author's note in the back that gives us a little bit of information about the super volcano that really does exist under Yellowstone National Park.  Luckily for us, it has only erupted 3 times in the last 2.1 million years.  The last one was 640,000 years ago.

The Miracle Stealer by Neil Connelly

This book really made you think about faith, in all it's different shapes and sizes.  Andi (Anderson Grant) loves her 6 yr. old little brother Danny.  When Danny was younger he fell down an old mine shaft and was miraculously unhurt.  That is why people think he is a "miracle boy."  Many come to their little town of Paradise, PA looking to be healed by this little boy.  Andi worries about what all of this attention is doing to her little brother.  She devises a plan to help stop this religious fervor.  A great, quick read.

If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth

I enjoyed this piece of historical fiction.  7th Grader, Lewis Blake, lives in two different worlds.  He lives on the "rez" (reservation) but attends the white school.  He is the only American Indian that attends his gifted classes.  This leaves him feeling friendless and often leads to episodes where he is bullied.  A new family moves to town.  George's father is in the military and he is used to moving around and starting over.  When he moves into the Upstate NY town that Lewis lives in, they become friends.  Their love of music overcomes a lot of differences.  I really liked all the musical references in this book. I liked Lewis and felt for him when he was so embarrassed by the poverty in which he lives with his mom and uncle on the reservation.

Cameron and the Girls by Edward Averett

This is a wonderful book.  Cameron attends the Emotionally Disturbed Program (EDP) at his middle school.  He suffers from schizophreniform disorder.  It is a less chronic form of schizophrenia that can sometimes have periods where patients are symptom free.  Cameron, however, must take his meds to be symptom free and when he does that he feel blank.  His meds make him feel foggy with no feelings or emotions about anything and he hates it.  He decides to try making some decisions on his own by NOT taking his meds and that's when the voices come back.  He has always had the "professor" telling him things but now he has some new voices one of which is a girl...a girl he is falling for.  There is also Nina, a new (real) girl in the EDP program who suffers from depression who wants to be a part of Cameron's life.  So, it is a kind of a love triangle, but one of the people just happens to be a hallucination.  Just a fabulous read!

Crap Kingdom by DC Pierson

This book was really not what I was expecting.  I was expecting the usual high school misfit story, but that is NOT what I got.  Tom loves fantasy books and stories and now one is happening to him in real life.  He is taken to a portal that leads to another world and he has been selected as the "chosen one" to save this world.  But...the world is yukky.  Not a world that anyone would WANT to be the chosen one of, it doesn't even have a name, therefore, Tom calls it Crap Kingdom.  It is only when they choose someone else to be their chosen one that Tom realizes what he is missing.  (you know, its a "don't know what you have till you loose it" story)  I liked this book, I found Crap Kingdom quite humorous.  There was also a significant curveball thrown in at the end!