A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper (Alfred A. Knopf 2008), is a great young adult novel written as the diary of sixteen-year-old Sophie FitzOsborne.  Sophie and her cousins are the royal family of Montmaray (population approximately twelve), a tiny fictional island that lies between England and Spain.  All the parents are dead, except for one crazy uncle, so the FitzOsborne cousins pretty much fend for themselves as they care for a crumbling castle, a crazy relative, dwindling funds, and subjects who keep migrating to more prosperous locales.

Sophie is invited by her guardian, Aunt Charlotte, to come to London to be introduced at court and meet eligible aristocrats.  Sophie struggles between her desire for beautiful dresses and fancy parties and her love of the wild, untamed island that is her home.  Sophie is also afraid to venture out into the unknown without her trusted older cousin Veronica, an intellectual who insists on staying in Montmaray to chronicle its history and to stave off its inevitable decline.  But everyone’s plans are jeopardized when two German officers land on the island, and tiny Montmaray is suddenly thrown into the conflict of World War II.

Reminiscent of Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, A Brief History of Montmaray has romantic conflict akin to a Jane Austen novel and the brooding mystery of Charlotte Bronte.  Its “scribbling heroine,” will keep you turning pages and wishing you could live in a decrepit castle high on the wild cliffs of an Atlantic island.

Written as a diary, Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt 2006) tells the survival story of sixteen year old Miranda and her family.  When a meteor collides with the moon, everything on Earth changes.  The moon is pushed closer to the Earth and the change in gravitational pull causes massive worldwide destruction– tides rise, magma surfaces, tectonic plates shift, and soon the earth is enveloped by natural disasters–tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes.  Volcanic ash darkens the sky, temperatures plummet, crops fail. 

Evacuations, power outages, food and fuel shortages close school.  Lines of communication shut down–no radio, internet, cell phones, tv.  Sixteen year old Miranda and her family aren’t sure who is alive, who is dead, who has evacuated.  Their Pennsylvania town becomes a lawless wasteland where looters and black market thugs abound.  Suddenly life is all about survival, and Miranda’s typical teen concerns–prom, guys, driving–don’t much matter. 

 What is essential?  What is important?  If life all changed tomorrow,  what would really matter?  Life as We Knew It is a gripping read that makes you think about what your priorities are–and what they should be.

For those of you who loved The Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins has written a sequel, Catching Fire (Scholastic, 2009).  The story picks up where Hunger Games left off, with Katniss awkwardly trying to choose between Peeta and Gale and living a life of ease as a Hunger Games champion.

But things start to fall apart when Katniss discovers that her and Peeta’s dual survival was seen as an act of rebellion and has encouraged uprisings in several districts.  The Capitol cracks down and life becomes even more oppressive, something Katniss thought impossible.  Not surprisingly, Katniss’ first instinct is to survive, to stay out of trouble and keep her family alive.

But the President  of the Capitol is determined to make Katniss pay, and once again she finds herself in the Arena.  She is selected to compete in the Quarterly Quell, a fight-to-the-death battle that occurs every twenty-five years, only this time competitors are chosen from prior Hunger Games champions.

Katniss must battle against the best of the best.  And the Capitol government fully intends to use the Quell to display their absolute power and to kill Katniss as a public and painful example of what happens to those who defy the Capitol.  

Again Katniss must use her skill and wits in an attempt to survive the Arena.  Is there anyone she can trust?  Does she dare form alliances?  Does it even matter, since the Capitol seems bent on destroying her and everyone she loves?

Catching Fire is Book Two of what will be a trilogy.  Most of the reviews I have read feel that Catching Fire is not quite as gripping as The Hunger Games, and I agree.  However, the cliff-hanger ending will leave you dying (figuratively speaking, of course) for the sequel.

The Amazing Race, American Idol, Project Runway, The Biggest Loser, Man vs. Wild, Dancing with the Stars–reality shows are all over television. 

But what if winning Survivor meant being the last one left alive?  What if the bloody battles of the Roman gladiators had been broadcast as reality TV?  Reality TV meets Lord of the Flies in the gripping new YA thriller The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008) by Suzanne Collins.

The Hunger Games takes place in a brutal and harsh future.  North America has been decimated by war.   One central Capitol rules in tyranny over twelve districts.  Broken by their failed rebellion, starving and deprived, the districts are forced to send their resources to the Capitol:  coal, jewels, grain, weapons.  The Capitol controls the food supply, the economy, the government, the media.

As punishment for rebellion, the twelve districts must also send an annual tribute to the Capitol:  one girl and one boy, twenty-four in all, each of whom will fight to the death in the annual televised “Hunger Games.”  The voyeurism of reality TV takes a grotesque twist as citizens tune in–some by choice, some by forced decree–to watch the 74th Annual Hunger Games.

Sixteen year old Katmiss and her family live in District 12.  Poverty and hunger ravage most of its citizens, and Katniss and her family very nearly starved the year her father was killed in a mine accident.  But Katniss learned to hunt wild game and barter (even though the Capitol forbids both), and has managed to keep her mother and younger sister Prim alive.  

Then Prim’s name is drawn in the lottery for the female tribute for District 12.  Katniss insists that she go in Prim’s place and travels to the glittering, decadent Capital with Peeta, the male tribute from District 12.  Katniss barely knows Peeta but recognizes him as the baker’s son who, years earlier, saved her life and gave her hope by giving her a loaf of bread. 

Soon Katniss and Peeta are being groomed for the pageanty and brutality of the Hunger Games.  Besides the obvious prize of sheer survival, the victor of the annual Hunger Games also wins a house and an annual stipend for life.  A roof over your head and a full belly for life–what could be better?

Katniss is torn between her instinctive liking and gratitude toward Peeta and the knowledge that in the end they will have to be enemies:

To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed.  And more than once, I have turned in the school hallway and caught his eyes trained on me, only to quickly flit away.  I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing people.   Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I’d be feeling less conflicted now.  . . .  Because we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. 

Trust is foolishness, a terrible weakness that only gives enemies an advantage.  Only one person can survive the Hunger Games.  It is kill or be killed.  Only one tribute will return home victorious.  But should Katniss and Peeta trust each other and work as a team?

Since it’s summer, probably the last thing you’re thinking about is a snow day.  But in some ways, summertime seems like one long snow day–no school, a change in the schedule, extra family time.

Snow Day! by Lester Laminack and illustrated by Adam Gustavson (Peachtree, 2007) praises those magical days (to kids and teachers at least) when school is cancelled and everyone gets to stay home. 

It all starts when a boy hears the weather report:   “Did you hear that?  Did the weatherman just say what I thought he did?  Did he say . . . SNOW?  Oh please, let it snow.  Lots and lots of snow.”

Think of all the great things a snow day means:  “No alarm clock ringing.”  “Tomorrow we’ll have a PJ day.  We’ll pile on the sofa and snuggle under that old blue blanket.”  “We can build a snow fort down by the walk.”  “We’ll go sledding in Mrs. Cope’s field.” 

The snow begins to fall and the weather report says it’s getting colder.  “Maybe we’ll get TWO snow days.”  The family goes to bed as snow begins to fall.  Except . . .

. . . sometimes the weatherman is wrong.  And everyone has slept in.  And no one’s ready on time.  And you’d better hurry because you can’t be late! 

Sometimes the weather just won’t cooperate.  “Drat!  I really needed a snow day.”

When you were young, did you love reading Little Women?  Ever long to be on Prince Edward Island with Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables?  Then you will love the Penderwick family.

There are two Penderwick books  (and my daughter adores them both):  The Penderwicks:  A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Knopf, 2005) and The Penderwicks On Gardam Street (Random House, 2008).

Author Jeanne Birdsall has created a charming family of four sisters:  responsible oldest sister Rosalind; feisty tomboy Skye; creative and romantic Jane (the writer of the family); and shy animal-loving Batty.  Together with their kindly, albeit sometimes absent-minded father, these four sisters have all kinds of misadventures. 

In the first Penderwick book, the family has gone on vacation to a summer cottage called Arundel.  There they make a charming new friend–Jeffrey.  But Jeffrey has a stuffy, bossy mother, “snooty Mrs. Tipton,” and she’s dating an even more horrid, snooty man who just might become Jeffrey’s step-father.  To make matters worse, Mrs. Tipton has her heart set on Jeffrey attending a military academy and becoming a general just like her dear papa, even though Jeffrey has tried to tell her how much he hates the idea.  How will the Penderwick sisters save Jeffrey from this awful fate?

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street begins right after the summer vacation at Arundel.  Here we see the family back at home starting a new school year with neighbors, school friends, and soccer teams.  Oldest sister Rosalind is now twelve and is looking forward to the grown-up responsibility of finally being able to watch her younger sisters without a babysitter. 

As we learn in the first Penderwick book, Mrs. Penderwick died of cancer a few years earlier.  While the family misses her and is sometimes sad, the Penderwicks are refreshingly functional  and don’t brood over this distressing fact.  Life seems to be running on a contented, even keel. 

Then Aunt Claire arrives with a blue envelope–a letter written by their mother just before her death.  She had asked Aunt Claire to wait four years and then give the letter to Mr. Penderwick.  In the letter, Mrs. Penderwick says that she wants Mr. Penderwick to begin dating.  Although resolved to honor the request of his dead wife, shy, botany professor Mr. Penderwick is not happy about the prospect.  Neither are the girls.  A step-mother!  What could be worse?  How will the Penderwick sisters save Daddy and themselves from this awful fate?  Is it an awful fate?  It must be, just look at Snow White.

Both Penderwick books have a nostalgic charm.  Yes, there are computers and the Internet, but the books feel whimsically old-fashioned and reminiscent of an earlier, more innocent time.  While the sisters occasionally squabble, they are loyal friends.  They love and respect each other and adore their father.  They feel bound to their family and the “Penderwick family honor” which includes traits like honesty, integrity, and saying “I’m sorry.”  Whether conspiring to disable their father’s car, trading homework, or falling for the boy next door, the Penderwick sisters are simply enchanting.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (Henry Holt, 2008) is a fantastic young adult book–a sci-fi novel that has the creepy thrill of a scary movie.  Teenager Jenna Fox wakes from a coma to discover that she remembers nothing of her past.  She has to relearn how to talk, walk, eat, live.  Her adoring parents have taken video after video of her childhood, and Jenna watches old family movies of herself in an attempt to discover who she is, or at least who she was. 

But bit by bit, Jenna realizes things don’t add up.  Her parents are lying to her.  She senses that her once loving grandmother is hostile.  Jenna tries to search online about herself and her accident only to find that her parents have locked it so she can’t access the information. 

The novel is set in a futuristic California where super-bacteria have become completely resistant to antibiotics.  Bio-engineering has developed dramatic medical solutions to try to save lives.  But at what cost?  Just how far should you go to save someone you love?

As Jenna searches for answers, she finds herself coming up with more and more questions:  ”Who am I?”  “What is a soul?”  “Do I even have one?”  “What does it mean to be human?”  “What makes me, me?”

I don’t want to spoil the surprises so I will say no more.   But in The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary Pearson has written an amazing story where age-old questions about identity and love weave seamlessly into a futuristic dystopia where the definition of humanity itself is on the line.

What if your family had no soap, milk, sugar or shoes?  Such is the case for Katje and her family in Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003).  Set in Holland just after World War II, Katje and her little town of Olst are struggling to get by.  Katje is thrilled when one spring morning she gets a surprise package from America, “the land of plenty.”  The box contains a cake of soap, a pair of wool socks, a chocolate bar, and a letter:  “Dear Dutch Friend, I hope these gifts brighten your day.  Your American Friend, Rosie Johnson.” 

Katje is so excited to have these three treasures.  How long it has been since she’s had nice soap, warm feet, and any chocolate or sweets (that will make kids think).  Although Katje is tempted to keep the bounty for herself, she quickly decided to share.  Katje writes a thank you note to Rosie and soon they are pen pals.  Each note of Katje’s leads to another precious package from Rosie. 

When winter comes, it is “snow-deep and bitter cold, the worst winter anyone could remember.  The townspeople of Olst layered whatever clothing they had.  They huddled close to their small fires, ate sparingly from their almost empty cupboards, shivered, and prayed.”  How would they survive?

With the help of boxes for Katje.  Rosie and the townpeople of Mayfield, Indiana send boxes and boxes of supplies that help not just Katje and her family, but the entire town of Olst.   As thanks, the people of Olst, Holland send tulips bulbs to plant throughout Mayfield.

Boxes for Katje gives children a slice of history along with a beautiful story of friendship and sharing.  Rosie shares with Katje and Katje in turn shares with her family and friends.  The tulips that Olst sends as thanks give and give as they bloom each year. 

Boxes for Katje is also based on the true experiences of the author’s mother.  The afterword to the story explains that the winter of 1945 was “the worst winter of the century–plunging temperatures below zero, and in some places, piling up thirty feet of snow.”  Katje’s family and their plight tugged at the heartstrings of the people of Mayfield, Indiana and “grew into a churchwide effort to support Katje’s family through the hard winter.”

Author E.L. Konigsburg made Newbery history in 1968 when her book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler won the Newbery, and her first book Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was runner up.  In 1996 she won the Newbery again, this time for The View from Saturday.

The View from Saturday tells the story of five unlikely friends–four sixth graders and their teacher Mrs. Olinski.  The structure of the book is different from many children’s books because it weaves five separate stories into one larger story about friendship.  The stories seems a bit disconnected at first, but characters appear and reappear and the stories become intertwined.

Noah tells the story of when he was best man for a couple of grandparents at a retirement community in Florida.  Nadia tell the story of the summer she saved baby sea turtles.  Julian tells about Nadia’s dog Ginger starring in Annie.  Ethan tells how they all became friends in the first place.   Their teacher Mrs. Olinski tells how four students won the state academic bowl.

Ethan’s story is my favorite.  Every day, Ethan makes a point of sitting in the back of the school bus and draping all his stuff across it so he doesn’t have to share his seat.  He’s been doing it forever (the one privilege to being the first on the bus every day), so he’s not happy when a new student, Julian, disregards this unwritten code and sits next to him.  Even worse, Julian is an oddball.  An East Indian boy fresh from an English boarding school, Julian wears shorts and knee socks and carries a leather satchel to school.  He is unfailingly polite, and no surprise,  he’s also an immediate target of ridicule.  Ethan doesn’t like all this disruption to his peaceful routine and tries to simply ignore Julian.

Ethan receives a mysterious invitation to tea at Sillington House, a local bed and breakfast inn.  The invitation comes in bits and pieces, hidden in books and written on scraps of paper.  Ethan knows the invitation is from Julian because Julian’s father is the proprietor of Sillington House, but Ethan has no idea who else is invited which adds to the mystery and excitement.  

Soon Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian have formed a secret club called “The Souls” that meets every Saturday for tea.  They barely acknowledge each other at school and no one knows of their friendship including Mrs. Olinski their teacher.  Mrs. Olinski feels drawn to choosing the four to compete on her academic bowl team but she doesn’t know why.  Julian in particular seems like such an outsider.

In the end, the four win competition after competition taking them all the way to the state championship at Albany and victory over an eighth grade team.  But sweetest of all is the friendship that blossoms between them.  In the midst of a sometimes hostile world, four kids and their teacher find a safe place at Sillington House, a place to be themselves and nurture each other–with kindness, empathy, and a generosity of spirit rarely seen in the halls of middle school.

Lost and Found (Atheneum, 2008) is another fun school story by Andrew Clements (author of one of my all-time favorite books–Frindle).  Lost and Found tells the story of two identical twins, Ray and Jay, who move to a new school.  Since Ray is sick on the first day of school, Jay attends alone and quickly realizes that the school has accidentally combined their files.  No one at school knows there are two boys. 

For the first time in his life, Jay is seen solely as an individual rather than as part of a pair.  It is fantastic.  He tells Ray they should keep up the ruse:  ”I mean, think of it, Ray–every other day you could stay home!  And do whatever you wanted to.  And when you do go to school, you’ll be completely on your own there.  You’ve got to try it out Ray.  No offense or anything, but not being a twin?  At school?  It’s really great.”

The boys hatch a scheme and take turns going to school.  No one knows–not their parents, not their teacher, not the school administrators.  The plan starts to crack, though, when the boys individuality starts seeping through.  One is good at math but the other is a great soccer player.  One is a natural ladies man while the other is more reticent.  The boys may look alike, but they are two very different people.  And much to their surprise, instead of being able to be more of an individual, they have to start pretending to be more like each other.

As I read, I was reminded of my father-in-law, also an identical twin.  He and his brother never tried Ray and Jay’s trick, but they did sometimes switch classes to trick their teachers.  Perhaps bait and switch just comes with identical twin territory.