Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

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Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

285 pages

Mark Twain Nominee 2012/13

This was a very hard book to read. So very sad, and it hits you hard. Melody has cerebral palsy, and hasn't spoken a single word in her 11 years. But she is a genius with a photographic memory. Living inside her head, and trying to get those around her to understand that her brain isn't handicapped like her body, is driving her out of her mind.

Hide & Seek by Katy Grant

Hide & Seek by Katy Grant

230 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Chase sets out with his bike, a backpack, a brand new GPS set with coordinates for a geocache site to find. But he ends up finding two little boys in desperate need of help. He sets out to save these boys, the whole time wondering why they are in the middle of the woods on a mountain, needing food. Great adventure story.

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

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Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

269 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Jessica, Peter, Luke, Danielle, Anna, and Jeffrey, with all of the varied personalities, end up in Mr. Terupt's fifth grade class. The group is more different than night and day, but with the help of their new, energetic teacher, they start learning about each other, and about life. But when the accident happens, will all they have learned fall away? Loved this book. It was not surprise when I opened to the back flap, and learned that Buyea teaches third and fourth graders...he got each of their characteristic dead on. I could assign kids from my past, as well as the kids I work with now, to each and every student in this book. This will be a great contender for the Mark Twain Award.

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

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Mark Twain Nominee

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

294 pages

Henry the Hippo, the fun and lovable mascot for FunJungle, a zoo and theme park, is dead. Belly up in his swim tank. Twelve-year-old Teddy Fitzroy doesn't think that all the facts are adding up, so he begins his own investigation, learning that Henry is actually anything buy fun and lovable. In fact, so many people had a reason to hate Henry that the suspect list keeps growing and growing. But how does a twelve year old get to the bottom of the things when the adults don't believe a word he is saying? I think young readers will love this one...danger, a little bit of romance, and a whole lot of the kid being the one that was right all along. loved it!

The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

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Mark Twain Nominee

The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

360 pages

This is a very fun fantasy for young readers...around 4th grade would be a good match. Does truly strong good magic come only from witches and wizards, or does the magic come from the  familiars that serve them. This is a good wholesome book...nothing dark to worry about. My only problem with this book was a minor one: the main characters include a cat, a bird, and a tree frog. They are constantly being held back because the frog has a hard time walking with suction cup feet. Why in the world wouldn't he hop on the kitty's back for the ride? Other than that, superb!

There will be a movie made, and, of course, a sequel.



The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby

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Mark Twain Nominee

The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby

391 pages

So far, out of all of the award books I have read, this by far is my favorite! Giuseppe, Frederick, and Hannah, are three very determined kiddos, ready to get out of there present lives, and move on to better things. Hannah is a determined hotel maid, who has given up her childhood to help care for her sick father, her mother, and two little sisters. Giuseppe is a young busker, who plays violin for coins on the street, hoping to make enough to avoid the violent wrath of his padrone...he secretly hoards his few precious extra coins to buy passage back to his Italian homeland. Frederick is an orphan who is apprenticed out to a clockmaker...secretly in the basement of the clock shop he quietly builds his own clockwork man, an automaton that will award him journeyman in his field so that he may one day open his own shop.

I think what I loved about this book is that everyone makes huge mistakes constantly. They are constantly doing the wrong thing, and having to make things right. Nothing is smooth for these kids, but they keep trying. There stories weave themselves together, until finally they meet and work together to make all of their dreams a reality. Loved this book! Will definitely be recommending this to the library kids.



Half Upon a Time by James Riley

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Mark Twain Nominee

Half Upon a Time by James Riley

385 pages

Jack wants nothing much to do with the adventuring that ends with rescuing a princess and living happily ever after. But a princess literally falls from the sky and lands in his lap. Except she's not really a princess, her shirt just reads 'punk princess.' Except she really is a princess, she is the grandaughter of Snow White.  Whatever. I found this story chaotic and hectic and inconsistent. Hard to get through, and the end was very hard to swallow.

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve

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Mark Twain Nominee

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve

358 pages

I love award season! Another great read. This fantasy is about a farm where it rains every single Monday at 1:00pm exactly, dragonflies spell, rhubarb plants can talk by moving their leaves. Tourists flock to see the farm and ride the famous umbrella ride, and life couldn't be better for Polly and her family. Until one Monday the rain stops. The plants start to die away, tourist flee after the umbrella breaks down, and Freddy, Polly's brother, becomes deathly ill. Polly must overcome her fears, and find the courage within herself if she is going to save the farm and Freddy. Great book for readers young and old.

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

262 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Great book!

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–6—How does a child recover from unspeakable loss? For Aubrey, 11, it takes time, love, stability, and the emotional release that comes from writing letters. After her father and younger sister die in a car accident, Aubrey's mother becomes psychologically unstable and abandons her. Uprooted from her home in Virginia, Aubrey goes to live with her grandmother in Vermont. Along with Gram's love, she finds solace in spending time with the family next door and acquires a best friend in the process. When her mother materializes and begins her emotional recovery, Aubrey must decide whether to return home or to remain with her grandmother. Throughout the grieving process, her emotions are palpable. LaFleur captures the way everyday occurrences can trigger a sudden flood of memories and overwhelming feelings of renewed loss. She details the physical responses of the human body to emotional trauma with an immediacy that puts readers inside Aubrey's pain and loss. The child's progress is reflected in her letters, which are at first directed to her sister's imaginary friend, then to her dead father and sister, and finally to the mother who hurt her so deeply. While the grandmother's patience and insight at times stretch credulity, for those who want or need to experience grief vicariously, this is an excellent choice.

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry

161 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Interesting book. About a young boy whose dad is deployed to Iraq, his brothers are all away at school, or in various military training. "Brother" stays at home with his Quaker grandfather, and his Catholic grandmother, taking care of the family ranch. This boy has so much on his shoulders, you truly ache for him. Very uplifting story.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–8—In this coming-of-age story, Ignatius, the youngest of five brothers in a military family grounded in the Christian faith, promises to take care of the ranch while his father is deployed in Iraq. Since his mother left years earlier to pursue life as an artist, and his older brothers are off to school or military training camps, the 11-year-old looks to his grandparents for guidance, but often feels angry and alone trying to keep his heroic promise. Although some of the realities of the Iraq war are threaded in, the author primarily focuses on the details of contemporary Oregonian ranch life. Ignatius's series of firsts that move him beyond his absolute, always-saying-never ways are the novel's most suspenseful scenes: he stitches up his brother's head, births a calf, and survives a wildfire. In the end, his relationships with his Quaker grandfather, an Ecuadoran shepherd who works on the ranch, and a new Catholic circuit priest help him to discover his true calling, to become a military chaplain. Despite a heavy-handed message and an unevenness in tone—the present-tense first-person narrative changes awkwardly between a reflective and an imaginary play voice—it remains a good purchase for readers who are looking for realistic fiction written from the point of view of a soldier's child.

The Potato Chip Puzzles by Eric Berlin

The Potato Chip Puzzles by Eric Berlin

244 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Great book! About a group of middle schoolers involved in an all-day puzzle solving competition for the grand prize of $50,000 to go to the winner's school. Berlin set this up beautifully, involving the reader in almost all of the puzzles. For all of the puzzles the character comes across, the reader has the chance to solve it themselves, and flip back to the end of the book for the answer, or just continue reading. Add in a little romance, some cheating, this makes for an exciting read for middle schoolers.

(from jacket cover)

Puzzle addict Winston Breen and his best friends are off to an all-day puzzle hunt! There's a $50,000 grand prize for the winning team's school, and Winston is ready to play and ready to win. The puzzles are in surprising places like a planetarium and an amusement park, but the day is not all fun and games: along for the ride is a high-strung and highly competitive teacher. On top of that, there are plenty of tough competitors on the other teams and someone in the contest is playing dirty. If Winston wants to win, he'll have to do more than just solve all the puzzles-he'll have to stop the cheater before it's too late.

The Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell

The Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell

291 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Fun fantasy about a new energy source you can control with happy thoughts. We could all use a little of that right now!

(from jacket cover)

Christina lives in an old stone mansion on the edge of a forest surrounded by barbed wire, and electrified fence, and signs that read TRESPASSERS WILL BE BOILED. High about them looms the Starkian Mountain Ridge, and deep within the forest is the laboratory where her mother was blown to bits when Christina was just a baby.

Christina's father, the head scientist at Loompski Labs, knows just how dangerous the world can be. So he keeps his daughter safe at home and forbids her to talk to the very interesting orphans down the road.
But when an orphan by named Taft talks to her, whispering of a secret tunnel, Christina forgets about safety and helps him escape. Soon she and Taft discover that there is far more to the orphanage, Loompski Labs, and the mystery of her mother's supposed death than she ever suspected...

Captain Nobody by Dean Pithford

Captain Nobody by Dean Pithford

195 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

This is a very cool book...loved the character of Captain Nobody, how he carries himself despite the fact his famous high school football playing hero of a brother is in a coma. The ending made me smile and feel so good, this would definitely be my choice to win Mark Twain so far.

(from cover)

Newt Newman never thought he could be a hero. Growing up in the shadow of his football-star brother, Chris, Newt has a  hard time even getting noticed by his own family. So when Chris is knocked into a coma during the biggest game of the season, as usual Newt becomes lost in the whirlwind of concern for his brother.

To get his mind off the accident, Newt's best friends, JJ and Cecil, dress him up for Halloween in some of Chris's old clothes, and in doing so create an unexpected new identity for Newt-Captain Nobody, defender of the little guy! His new alter ego brings Newt so much confidence that he steps into the role of the hero almost instantly. But when it comes to his brother's recovery, will Captain Nobody come to the rescue in time?

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner

195 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Still working on the award books, and this one is hard to read. My 90 year old grandfather is in the hospital right now, and Gianna's grandmother is slipping into Alzheimer's. But it was filled with a light humor, and Gianna's character is so much like mine, it did make me smile. (But yes, I am definitely ready for a good YA adventure!)

(from jacket cover)

Storm Chaser by Chris Platt

Storm Chaser by Chris Platt

177 pages

Mark Twain Award

Not a bad book...about a girl and the horse she would give anything to be able to train, if her father would let her. Definitely a book for younger readers. (Mark Twains are great, but very juvenile...am ready for another great teen book.)

(from jacket cover)

Storm Chaser isn't mine, Jessie thought, and she never will be.

For thirteen-year-old Jessie, living with her family on the Wild Hawk Ranch in Nevada if often lonely. But she loves the horses her father and brother break in each summer to sell to local ranchers and rodeo competitors. This year she is determined to help train the horses, especially when she lays eyes on the wild paint filly she names Storm Chaser. When Jessie's father tells her she is still too young, she deliberately disobeys him by working with the filly behind his back. Then a fire destroys the barn and Jessie's family reluctantly turns their home into a vacation dude ranch to earn much needed money. Jessie enjoys having the vacationers around, but she becomes wary of Ariel, a rude, pushy guest who always expects to get her way. When the girl announces she wants to buy Storm Chaser, Jessie's already fragile world begins to crack. How can she keep 'her' beloved paint from being sold?

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

267 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

Cute book. After having a fight with her best friend, who has the exact same birth date as her, Amanda has her first solo birthday party. It definitely isn't the same as all of the times she has celebrated with Leo. But she wakes up the next day to find that it is her birthday all over again...and again...and again.

(from jacket cover)

On their first birthday, they learned to walk. On their fifth, they planted seeds in handmade pots. On their tenth, they learned there are some words you can never take back.

Amanda's eleventh birthday should have been a happy occasion, instead she's dressed in an itchy costume her mother picked out for her Hollywood-themed party (Dorothy from he Wizard of Oz, even though the flying monkeys have always creeped her out). Meanwhile, across town, her ex-best friend Leo is celebrating their joint birthday with a huge bash including a hypnotist, a football star, a giant iguana, and a rock band. SO not fair.

Amanda can't wait for the day AFTER her birthday so she can stop thinking about the fight that led her and Leo to have separate parties for the first time in their lives. There's just one problem. The next day is her birthday all over again.

Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica

Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica

244 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

(from jacket cover)

What would you do with a million dollars?

Nate Brodie is nicknamed "Brady," and not just for his arm. He's the biggest Tom Brady fan in all of New England. He's even saved up to buy an autographed Brady football. And when he does, he wins the chance at something he's never even dreamed of-to throw a pass through a target at a Patriots game for one million dollars. On live TV!

Nate should be excited. But things have been tough lately. His dad lost his job and his family is struggling to keep their home. It's no secret that a million dollars would go a long way. So instead of being happy, all Nate feels is pressure, and just when he needs it most, his golden arm begins to fail him. Yet his best friend, Abby, refuses to let him feel sorry for himself. Not with what she's going through.

This is the first Lupica book I have read, mainly because he writes sports novels. This one if about football (obviously from the cover) and is full of terms and jargon that made absolutely no sense to me. To be honest, I would have recommended this book to teens, because I always here people and kiddos raving about Lupica. But I never would have picked it up for myself if I wasn't working on reading all of the honor nominees. But, in the end, I was amazed...wonderful, touching story line. You almost ache for Nate and everything his family is going through...Dad loses his job and has to take part time work at an athletic store, with Mom working two jobs. Then you have Nate's best friend, Abby, who is going blind from an eye disease. Then Nate gets the chance to go to the field on Thanksgiving night...if he can throw the ball through a hole 20 inches wide from 30 yards away, he could win one million dollars...and that money could do a lot to ease the pain and suffering around him. To be perfectly honest, I finished this book with tears in my eyes...it moved me so much, after the 2011-2012 nominees are read, I will have to see what else Mike Lupica has in store for teen readers.

Runaway Twin by Peg Kehret

Runaway Twin by Peg Kehret

197 pages

Mark Twain Nominee

This was an okay book. Nothing bad, nothing grand. Sunny's mother and grandmother are killed in a car accident when she is three years old. Sunny goes through a series of foster homes, missing her twin and wondering what happened to her. She decides one day to run away and track down her sister.