Rose Under Fire ( 346+ Pages)

For those people who read Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, you will know that she writes for older Young Adults, or at least for those students with excellent comprehension skills. Her newest book, Rose under Fire, like Code Name Verity, is also based on World War II and it is a nail-biting, action packed, novel that deals with the grim facts of the Nazi regime. I strongly recommend that students read the 4 extra pages before the Acknowledgements at the end of the book. This is the part that explains what is true and what is not. Wein has attempted to do what those prisoners screamed while walking to the gas chambers as well as those survivors, "Tell the world!" How important it is for our students to know what happens when a people believe that they are a pure race and others are not even human! This book is a must read for students studying WW II. It is grim. It is a story of friendships and family and gutsy behavior laced with hope and humor.  It is a story of refusal to give up, and what that necessarily entails. It is laces with poetry, and I definitely would add this to the growing list of new novels about WW II for young adults. And, there is not a single Jewish character in the book, yet another reason for reading it.

Code of Silence ( 333 Pages +)

When is it OK to lie? In this book, Tim Shoemacker presents the reader  with this question and tests it via multiple scenarios. Cooper, Gordy and Hiro have been friends for years. Gordy and Cooper are cousins, and Hiro is a friend to both of them. She is a young lady who wants to be a member of the police force in her town. This is the same police force that her dad belonged to before he was killed. But the one place in this book that becomes an integral part of the book is a local diner called Frank 'n Steins. Frank is one of the owners. He loves kids and knows everyone by name. This is the place the kids come for incredible milk shakes and fries. It is the dream place for many teens who just want a place to hang out. One night, while the three teens (eighth graders) were there, and Frank was cleaning up the place as they finished their shakes and fries,  people wearing masks came in, beat up Frank. The three kids hid as they witnessed the horror taking place. They saw Frank bloodied and beaten down on the floor. They heard the robbers discussing going upstairs to open the safe where Frank kept his money. He didn't believe in banks. While the robbers were upstairs breaking into the safe, the three kids got out grabbing the keys sticking in the door and the hard drive that kept track of everyone entering the building, the hard drive that had the three teens' faces on it. Cooper tries to catch up on his bike with Hiro and Gordy who are racing away on their bikes. He falls, avoiding a car coming out of Dunkin' Doughnuts and knows that at least one of the robbers has spotted him. The teens meet up and Cooper pressures the other two to agree to a Code of Silence which in turn leads to lies necessary to be told in order to keep their secret. This book is one that opens up the question of when is it necessary/OK to lie? When is it important to trust adults to protect teens and do the right thing? At the end of the book there are author's notes as well as a page of 10 questions for readers to consider. It looks as though there may be a follow-up to this book called Back Before Dark.

What We Saw At Night (243 Pages)

Jacquelyn Mitchard has entered the world of YA literature! Remember her book The Deep End of the Ocean? It was a grabber (and gripper!). In this book, she creates a world for three teens who have an unusual disease: Xeroderma Pigmentosum. This disease is difficult to deal with as it is a severe allergy to the sun!. People with it can die if exposed to sunlight. Kids are schooled online, and all of the usual day time activities must be accomplished at night.  High school students Allie, Rob, and Juliet form a bond while dealing with the disease. Juliet is definitely a "free spirit" who wants to live each day (night) as though it was her last. She becomes adept at Parkour, a sport/stunt of leaping from tall buildings. The other two teens join her in learning this "sport." It's dangerous if performed during the day, but even more so when performed at night! During the reading of this book, the reader is introduced to some potentially evil adults, and real plot twists. Both boys and girls will enjoy this read and may even want to do some research on both the disease and the "sport".

Crown of Midnight (418 Pages)

This is the second book in this series by Sarah Maas. The first, Throne of Glass, has been deemed Best Book by Kirkus Review, Amazon, YALSA, and an MTV Hollywood Crush Best YA Novel Nominee. And this book is just as good as the first one. Assassin Celaena continues her job working for the evil king in order to claim her freedom. Her relationship with Chaol becomes romantic and her relationship with the crown prince changes to one of friendship. Readers discover that she has not carried out killing for the king, rather brings back proof of kills from bodies that have died as a result of illness while giving the accused a chance to leave the area. In spite of the 418 pages, the book is a fast read and Maas does an excellent job of moving the reader from scene to scene. The absolutely worse thing about this read, is that it's over, and now I need to wait until next summer for the next book in the series. UGH!

The Moon and More ( 435 Pages)

This is another winner from Sarah Dessen. Emaline and Luke had been "going together" for all of high school. They live in a small beach town where Emaline's family owned an upscale beach house rental business. She worked there for much of her free time, as did her sister. Emaline lives with her mother, her sisters and her step father whom she adores. Her father has been absent for years, shortly after Emaline's mother became pregnant in high school.  Enter Theo, a slick New Yorker working for a well known documentary producer. AND, enter Emaline's father and young step brother who she has never met.  Emaline and her step brother become fast friends as her relationship with Luke is tested with Theo putting on a full court press to snag her. Theo knows how to provide romantic events and Emaline becomes smitten by his attention. Girls who have read other books by Sarah Dessen will enjoy this one as well. Even if a girl has never read a Dessen book, she will enjoy reading this one.

Lost Boy, Lost Girl (158 Pages)

I'd know about this book for some time as my friend, Bryan told me about it. However, I didn't get to read it until he loaned it to me at the end of our summer writing project work. Thanks, Bry! In this short memoir, and told in alternating chapters, John Bul Dau and Martha Arual Akech tell the story of the years of their lost childhood as they tried to stay alive during the civil war in Sudan. As awful as the details are, they are also fascinating. The details of just how these two stayed alive, are remarkable. I kept thinking of today's youngsters who complain about having to walk a block! The lost children walked from one country to another Sudan to Ethiopia, eventually ending up in Kenya. John and Martha met while both were in a neighboring refugee camp. The boys and girls were separated, but during one of the "dances" in the boys' camp the lost girls were invited and John and Martha met. He was immediately interested in her, but both followed the Dinka ways, and as a result their relationship took many years to result in their eventual marriage. With the help of the UN, Martha and her little sister managed to arrive in the United States where they settled with an American family in Seattle, Washington. Eventually, John made it to the U.S. as well. In addition to the incredible accounting of their survival, I was fascinated with the Sudanese "communication web" which allowed family members to find one another. This book is a wonderful, short read. It is an important eye-opener for our American children to learn about children struggling to stay alive.

Crow (291 Pages)

Barbara Wright has written a novel that combines fictional characters with real historical events. The book takes place in the late 1800's in Wilmington, North Carolina. The main character, Moses Thomas and his family are facing the  progress and the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. His father, a newspaper reporter has been elected as an alderman to the town's governing body. Moses experiences fun and games amid constant racial prejudice. His grandmother was a slave and she is constantly using her superstitions and homemade medicines. Moses straddles the line between wanting to treat her with respect while at the same time unwilling to go along with her superstitious ideas. Moses becomes a witness to the Wilmington Race Riot that changed his life. Both boys and girls will enjoy this book, and I hope they will read the notes at the end of the book. These notes explain the many parts of the book that are true as well as people who were really part of the story. The idea of using an historical event(s) and writing a narrative adding made up characters strikes me as a wonderful social studies/ language arts collaborative unit!