The Penderwicks

The Penderwicks
By Jeanne Birdsall

I enjoyed this summery novel about 4 sisters who live with their dad (their mom has died) and their loyal dog, Hound. They have many adventures while staying in a rented cottage on the grounds of a mansion.

New friends are discovered (the eldest sister develops a huge crush) and enemies are made while the girls find themselves frequently getting into trouble.

But they stick together and manage to get out of crazy predicaments, learning a few lessons along the way.

This story is kind of old-fashioned, but in a good way!

The Real Boy

The Real Boy 
By Anne Ursu

This novel just arrived in our library, and since I hadn't read any fantasy books in a while I checked it out.

It's an interesting story--sort of a fairy tale, a little dystopian, too--that asks the question: can you have magic without monsters?

The Magician's orphaned helper, Oscar, is struggling to figure out why the seemingly perfect magic-infused world he lives in is breaking down. And the people he knows are suddenly not who he thinks they are.

Oscar is an awkward, shy boy, and wonders if he himself was just magically fabricated from wood. Luckily he is befriended by Callie, a strong girl who is the Healer's apprentice...together the two of them unravel a dark mystery that is destroying their community, and they find great strength in friendship.

Peak

Peak

By Roland Smith

I was curious to read Peak partly because I remember when Roland Smith, the author, visited a school I taught at years ago in Oregon, and he was so interesting!

And I've always been fascinated by Mt. Everest (OK, maybe not always, but ever since I was hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail for 3 months and got obsessed with reading an Outside Magazine article about a climb-gone-wrong on the highest mountain on Earth. That was 1996, when 12 climbers died in one season, and Jon Krakauer wrote about it later in his book Into Thin Air).

Anyway, I'm glad I picked this one out. I really had a hard time putting it down, and felt like I was right there gasping for breath at 28,000 feet above sea level with the 14-year-old protagonist, Peak Marcello.

There's a lot about mountain climbing in this novel, obviously, but there are also other interesting story lines--about Peak and his self-absorbed, distant but famous father; the terrible treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government; and what it's like to feel competitive with a close friend.

Highly recommended!

Little Brother

Little Brother

By Cory Doctorow

Selected for San Francisco's One City One Book project this fall, I found many copies of Little Brother at my neighborhood SFPL and decided to check it out.
Glad I did!

I love that the setting is San Francisco; I love that Marcus, the 17-year-old genius hacker protagonist, lives in Portrero Hill and goes to high school in the Mission. Even eats pizza from Goat Hill pizzeria!

But mostly I love that in this dystopian story, a bunch of smart kids are able to go up against a Department-of-Homeland-Security-gone-bad and stand up for their constitutional rights to privacy and free speech.

If you love real-life stories of hacking security systems and exposing hard-to-hear truths, you will appreciate the techno-battle Marcus fights against his own government, which claims to be protecting the citizens of San Francisco from terrorism.

Recommended for ages 13 and up.

Trapped

Trapped: 
How the World 
Rescued 
33 Miners 
from 
2,000 Feet 
Below the 
Chilean Desert
by Marc Aronson

Here is a true story of the survival and incredible rescue of all 33 miners trapped underground for more than 60 days in a mine in northern Chile.
In 2010, the San José copper mine entrance was shut off when 700,000 tons of rock came crashing down, and the miners 2,000 feet below had no way to escape. Using teamwork, limited emergency supplies and huge amounts of hope, they waited and waited for the difficult rescue that finally came weeks later.
Many different people from all over the world contributed to the nearly-impossible rescue, using drills and technology from NASA to naval submarines. A thrilling read and powerful story of survival!

Freak the Mighty

Freak the Mighty
by Rodman Philbrick

I was sick in bed for three days this week and happy to have this great book to read (thanks for the recommendation, Ms. Levine!).

Maxwell, an extra-large 12 year old, meets Kevin, A.K.A. Freak--a tiny, extra-smart kid who moves in down the street.
The two of them together become Freak the Mighty; Max carries Freak around on his shoulders because the smaller boy wears leg braces and needs crutches to walk. Best friends, the two boys have many adventures and help each other out in school and in the small town where they are frequently bullied.

When Max is kidnapped by his parole-breaking father, the adventure turns dark. Max needs to use the new-found confidence Freak has helped him discover in order to survive, and to move forward when tragedy strikes.

One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia

This novel is one of the Middle School book nominees for the 2014 California Young Reader Medal (along with Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick).
Three sisters travel across the country to Oakland, CA to meet their estranged mother who abandoned them as babies. While there, the girls learn about the Black Panthers, other aspects of the Civil Rights Movement, and their mother's mysterious past.
A beautifully told, powerful story of that very important year, 1968...I especially enjoyed reading about Oakland, with a side visit to San Francisco!