Written in Bone by Sally M. Walker

Forensic anthropologist help to tell the story of those who lived and died in Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. They tell the story of an enslaved young girl, a teen boy and a colonial official and his family. They determined the gender of the bones they found, place in society, they could even determine cause of death. The information in the book is extremely interesting, and pictures are what really make this book for me. I had a really hard time reading this one. It read too much like a text book.

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

You would be hard pressed to find two more opposite characters then Tyler and Mari. Tyler is the son of a proud farmer who has been injured and finds it difficult to keep up with his farm work. Mari is the eldest daughter of a Mexican migrant worker who is desperate need to work. Mari's family lives and works on the farm that Tyler's family has own since the begining of time, frienship blossoms and the families become close. But everything comes to a head when the "coyotes" contact Mari's father about her Mama, and immigration gets involved...can these two remain friends? Will Tyler turn his back on Mari?

I really enjoyed this book. I'm a huge fan of non-traditional writing styles. I feel like you can get so much more out of a book and it's characters if the story is told from multiple perspectives. I loved the letters that mari writes. They really pulled at my emotional strings. Highly recommendable. Probably upper elementary school on up!

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

14 year old Isabel is a slave during the Revolutionary War literally fighting for her freedom. She and her sister thought they were going to be freed when their master dies, only to actually end up becoming the property of one the meanest couples in New York. Isabel does everything she can so that she and her sister can become free, including putting her own lifein danger.
The study of slavery has always been my favorite time period to study in history, so I was excited to get to read Chains, and let me tell you it did not disappoint. With the main character being a young girl I didn't really expect there to be as much excitement and danger as there was. I fell in love with Isabel's strength and determination and sense of family. This is another great book by Laurie Halse Anderson and will one I pull off the shelves to recommend to students, boys and girls alike.

Charles and Emma:The Dawins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Charles and Emma is the true story of a real love. We all know that Charles Darwin is the father evolution, a true scientist, but do people know he married his first cousin Emma Wedgewood? The thing about this love affair is that their beliefs were polar opposites. While Charles was discovering evolution, Emma was a devote Christian. These two theories seemingly could not co-exist. Emma's greatest fear was that Charles would go to hell and she would not be able to spend eternity with her one true love. I was truly surprised at how interesting Charles and Emma was, but then again I'm always surprised at how much I enjoy historical fiction. I liked how I totally forgot I was reading about Charles Darwin (yawn) and wasn't just reading a sweet love story. Who would've thought I'd be useing Charles Darwin and sweet love story in the same sentence? Really good read. For sure high on my recommendation list.

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Terra is a tall, thin, blonde beauty, that is until you see the port wine stain that covers her entire right cheek. And if that isn't enough she has the lamest boyfriend ever, he all but ignores her in public, but wants to be physical when the two of them alone. And still if that isn't bad enough her dad is a big jerk too. He never seems to find a polite or kind word to say to Terra or her mom, it's verbal attack after verbal attack. All Terra wants to do is go away to college where people will maybe know her for more than just her face, but her father puts a halt on that as well. Finally some good come to Terra when she meets Jacob. When Terra and Jacob and their moms take a trip to China, who would have thought it would be the trip that changes everything?

I loved the emotion North of Beautiful brought out in me. I found that I REALLY REALLY hated Erik, like everytime he opened his mouth I wanted to slap him. And then there was her father, I don't know if I was more irritated with him or the fact that her mother just "took it". I wanted to climb into the book and be Terra's friend and fix everything for her. I would for sure recommned this book, again to my 8th graders and high school kiddos.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Miranda is a "typical" twelve year old girl in late 70's New York, well sort of. The typical part of it is that there is a boy that Miranda kind of likes, her best friend suddenly stops talking to her for no apparent reason, and she lives with her single mom. Not so typical, her mom's aspiration is to be a game show contestant, there is a homeless guy that lives on the corner of her block and of course the creepy notes that keep getting left for her. The notes claim to want to save her live and tell her she must write down everything that happens to her, but not tell anyone. I can see why the book one a Newberry. It's really good, and I liked all the references to A Wrinkle in Time. I also appreciated the innocence of it, and by innocence I mean no "gazing deeply into her eyes", or "trying to get one over on the cops cause I'm a thug". I mean just good reading.

The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman

Douglas Healy is the kind of man we need more of. He's the kind of man who takes a chance on kids other people have given up on . In the book The Juvie Three, Gecko is a teen in juvie for grand theft auto, accessory to robbery and driving without a license, Arjay is behind bars for convicted of manslaughter and Terrence is typical gangbanger together the three of them are going through Mr. Healy's experimental "program". The three boys are as different as night and day, but due to an serious accident the boys have to bond together in order to stay in the program and inevitably stay out of juvie.
I was hooked in the very first paragraph of this book. The action hits right off the bat, and there is no looking back. The Juvie Three is fast paced and easy to read. The characters are easy to get to know and I found myself really understanding them. I would highly recommend The Juvie Three to a good majority of my boys. A definite two thumbs up!