Looking for some light holiday reading? Maybe you’ve heard about this series on Netflix. Before you watch the show, how about trying the book which begins with: “I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” Lily has left a red moleskin notebook full of challenges on her favorite shelf in Strand, a popular New York City bookstore. She is looking for just the right person to take the bait. Along comes Dash, looking for a particular book, when the red notebook catches his eye. He decides to accept the challenge and writes one of his own for Lily to find and accept. And so the two spend the Christmas holiday, hiding the notebook in various locations around the city, exchanging dares for the other to solve. But when they “discuss” whether to meet, Lily begins to wonder if the right stranger found her notebook. Cohn and Levithan have added two more Dash and Lily titles since this series opener was first published.
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When Connor’s Italian grandmother, Nonna Lucia, dies, she leaves a ring, a pilot’s wings, and a letter for Connor’s father. The letter states that Nonna Lucia’s husband was not Connor’s dad’s father! What a shock to the whole big Bianchini family! But Connor is the one who takes the initiative to try and find out who his real grandfather is. The ring holds the key, and with the help of a research librarian at the local college, Connor begins to discover some amazing information about his possible grandfather. Told in free verse, this story of family secrets makes me wonder what secrets are still hidden in my own family history, waiting to be discovered. Coyote and Rodeo have traveled the country in an old school bus for five years, trying to move forward and put the past, an accident that took the lives of Coyote’s two sisters and mother, behind them. But when Coyote learns that a park in their former home town is being dug up, she has to get her dad (Rodeo) to take her home, something he has always refused to do. Coyote, her mom and sisters buried a special box of memories in that park that she desperately needs to retrieve. How can she get Rodeo to travel across the country without telling him the reason – in just a few days? Coyote, just like the animal from which she adopted her name, is a sly one and has a few tricks up her sleeve. Fortunately, the caring people they meet along the way want to help her out. Spoiler alert: Have tissues ready for the last 50 pages! School has just ended for Camino Rios and she is waiting for her father to arrive on his annual summer visit. With her mother having passed away when she was eight, she and Tia Solana, her aunt, look forward to his summer visits to the Dominican Republic. Camino is anxious to talk with him about his plans to take her to the US for college. Yahaira Rios has just said good-bye to her father who makes annual visits to the Dominican Republic for business and to see family. She and Mami (her mother) spend summers alone in their New York City apartment. While Mami works, Yahaira spends time with best friend Dre. When a plane goes down shortly after take-off killing everyone on board, Mr. Rios’ secret is revealed. As the only deaf student in her middle school, Iris feels like a fish out of water. Her only friend at school is her deaf interpreter. As a result, she often explodes and lands in the principal’s office. At home she finds solace in repairing old radios, a strange hobby for someone who can’t hear. When her science teacher introduces the class to the story of Blue 55, a whale who seems to be a loner because “his song” is at a frequency different from other whales, Iris feels a connection and comes up with the idea to create a song for Blue 55 at his frequency. But how will she get her song played where Blue 55 can hear it? And will it make a difference? Students who loved Wonder, Fish in a Tree and Counting by 7’s will be attracted to Iris’ story. Siblings Bird, Fitch and Cash are seventh graders in January 1986. Each has their quirks in this dysfunctional family: Bird (Bernadette) is quiet, smart and dreams of becoming an astronaut. Fitch, her twin, has a temper problem and loves arcade games. (Remember, this is before Xbox and cell phones.) Cash, a year older and NOT interested in school, has failed seventh grade and is on track to fail again. When science teacher, Ms. Salonga, arranges her classes into space shuttle crews to prepare for the launch of the Challenger, Bird participates whole heartedly. She even writes an essay to “win” a place in the auditorium to watch the launch of the Challenger live on TV. But when disaster happens, Bird is devastated and ready to give up on her dreams. Need a fun, light read? This one is for you. Briggs Henry, recent high school graduate, has taken a job helping “Mrs. B.” with odd repair jobs around her gorgeous Victorian home on the shores of Lake Michigan. Oddly enough, Briggs and his parents used to spend their summers in their own cottage and on their boat in South Haven, MI, until something happened to the family fortune, so he is familiar with the area. Briggs, trying to live up to his father’s expectations, is a definite people pleaser. He carts Mrs. B to doctor appointments (nothing is really wrong with her) and the paint store (trying to find just the right shade of blue.) When he realizes Mrs. B doesn’t know the people whose funerals he takes her to, he begins to understand she is “shopping around” for her own funeral plans. A little bit of romance with the girl next door, who keeps disappearing, and plenty of humor between Mrs. B. and Briggs round out this perfect summer read. High school senior, Emoni, is struggling to balance classes, raising her 2-year-old daughter, and working at Burger Joint. Emoni’s mother died during childbirth and her father returned to his native Puerto Rico, leaving Emoni and her daughter, Emma, in the care of his mother, ‘Buela, in Philadelphia. When a new elective for seniors is offered at school, Emoni signs on to take the Culinary Arts class taught by Chef Aydan. Cooking is Emoni’s passion. She takes recipes and adds spices and ingredients to make them her own, much to the displeasure of Chef Aydan, who insists his students first learn to follow recipes and take orders from a Chef without deviations. Despite a class trip to Spain over spring break and new class member Malachi, who has taken an interest in her, Emoni doesn’t think she can continue to work under Chef Aydan. Emoni has had to grow up fast. Will she make the right decisions for herself, as well as Emma’s future? Eleven-year-old Viji cares for her younger, mentally disabled sister, Rukku. When their mother refuses to leave their abusive father, Viji and Rukku take off on their own for the city. The streets of Chennai, India are crowded, unfamiliar and dangerous, but when the girls team up with two homeless boys, Muthu and Arul, the four form a family of sorts, living on an abandoned bridge. They make their living scavenging the city’s multitude of trash heaps, selling their finds to the waste mart man. Living off the scraps of others in unsanitary conditions leads to illness and Viji has to decide who she can trust to get help for Rukku and Muthu. This story will tug at your heart strings when you realize this is still the real-life condition that thousands of homeless children face in India today. The longest Muiriel has stayed in one foster care placement is eleven months. That was in 3rd grade, when the mom and dad wanted to adopt her. But Muir couldn’t stand being the only child in the house, which led to the inability to sleep, and eventually, a move to a new foster home. Since then, Muir has asked to leave a home whenever things have gotten too comfortable. Now 17-years-old, Muir is taken to Francine’s, a 60ish-year-old woman who lives alone on an island thirty minutes from Seattle. Muir’s social worker, Joellen, asks Muir to try her best to last her entire senior year in this home before she ages out of foster care. Likewise, Joellen has asked Francine to take in just one more teen before retiring from foster care parenting. What will it take to keep Muir in one place for a year? And what can Francine provide that other foster parents could not? |
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