The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Ivan seems to only remember his life being in a circus style mall. But when the owner buys a baby elephant, he starts to remember his youth of freedom before he became an attraction for humans. He has his animal friends, Bob a homeless dog that likes it that way and Stella the old elephant who is there with him. But it is a promise he makes to Stella that starts him on a journey that will forever change his life and those around him. Can he really trust some humans to help? Julia, the janitor's little girl seems to want to help. Can other humans be trusted? What is really a happy ending if you are just a captive animal far from your natural home? Why do books use something sad as the needed push so the main character will work for that happy ending? Maybe that is the question will let you in on the secret of how to find the happy ending in your life.

Wheels of Chance: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a few flat tires along the way) by Sue Macy

Maybe this book explains the real start of the modern women that think they can do anything they want the way they want. How could an invention that started out called bone shakers or penny fathings (very weird beginnings that you just have to see) could bring the wind of social change? Well, lets start with how you had to dress. Have you seen what type of clothing women had to wear? All the layers and how long it was. How about the freedom to ride away from male eyes that controlled their lives. Men worried that if women were allow to ride bicycles that maybe they would want to right to VOTE!!!! Oh, the horrors that our time period would bring to those guys. Did you know there were famous riders who people paid to see? For the guys, you will enjoy the history of our first attempt to find a way to not have to walk every where or clean up after the horses that hauled us around. It is just worth the look to see the period pictures. I bet you can't find those on Google images.

The Cheshire Chees Cat :ADickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright

From the writer that brought us The Library Dragon, a twisted tale of a friendship between a cat, a mouse, and a missing little girl. Shilley is an alley cat with a problem and needs to find a home. He thinks the answer to his prayers will be becoming the house cat for "Ye Old Cheshire Cheese" pub. He does this by making a deal with the mice that helps both, but Charles Dickens himself can see something is up with that cat and those mice. The pub has the reputation of having the best cheese in the whole of England. When Shilley finds a missing tower raven, the plot thickens. But when the cook's helper brings in another cat to get rid of the mice, Shilley may lose it all -- his home, his best friend, the raven, and his secret. If you like a fast paced, funny story with lots of twists and turns, enjoy. You will not believe the ending when Pip the mouse helps out one of the greatest writers ever to write one of his most famous lines.

Aviary Wonders Inc. by Kate Samworth

This is for all of you who miss picture books. Set in the future, a future that we hope doesn't happen when birds have all but disappeared. It isn't just a catalog, it is also an instructional manual that started renewing the world's bird supplies since 2031. Founded by Alfred Wallis, who must have wanted this ancestors to roll in their graves - you will have to read it to see why. You can page through and choose the parts to make real birds or make up your own.  The only rule is that these birds cannot be caged. Would you be able to teach your bird to fly or sing? Just be careful, or you may end up with a problem that only Alfred can solve.

Colonel Theordore Roosevelt by David A. Adler

If you saw the PBS documentary by Ken Burns about the Roosevelt family and want to find out more about one of the most unique characters that even Hollywood could not have thought up, you will enjoy this. Maybe I am a little biased since after watching the PBS show, my husband agrees that I am too much like him. What would cause his daughter Alice to say that her father "wanted to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral?" Why would a senator be clearly upset enough to say "Now look, that damned cowboy is president of the United States?" Whatever he was, our country would be much different without him. If he was alive today, he would be still fighting some the same battles he fought years ago because he started most of them. But to really understand him,  you need to understand what made him the way he was. To do that, please read this book. To see why he is responsible for our way of life, click on the Biography label to find the other biography about him on this blog. I told you I had a little bias about him.

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School Book the First) by Gail Carriger

You think your parents don't understand you. Sophronia doesn't want to be like all the other young ladies in her world of 1851 England (if you watch Downton Abbey you may understand). When she finally gets her mother so angry, she is shipped off to a finishing school -Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Qualities. That is the last place she wants to be, or so she thinks, but on her way she learns from her travel companions it is not your "normal" finishing school and she is what they call a covert recruit. As she is trying to find out what that is, the stagecoach is attacked by something you will not find in our history of England. This is only the start of surprises and quickly she learns that she may fit in more than she thought. If you think your teachers are weird, you have not met the faculty of this place. I would fit in easily. But there is a more pressing problem than learning how to curtsy and teatime manners while knowing how to hide the knife in your dress. Something has turned up missing and if the school doesn't hand it over, it might not be around much longer and its students may go with it. If you love a fast paced story full of the unexpected and humorous twists, this is for you. All I know is I want the pet dog she hides in her suite at school. I know I am a cat person, but I think that dog is the coolest dog in any book I have ever read. 

Savvy by Ingrid Law

You think your family is weird. Well, Mississippi Beaumont (called Mibs) has you beat and just by her name you know she can't be part of any normal family. She is turning 13 soon and this  can be a big problem in her family. When her older brother turned 13, his new talent caused her family to leave their beautiful gulf home in the south and move to Kansas. What would make a whole family leave because someone turns 13? You will not believe it. In Kansas, the family tries to lay low, but there is already talk. When Mibs learns that her father has been hurt in a car crash, she feels she has to get to him because maybe her special talent will save him. But taking off in a bus full of pink bibles to start the journey may not have been the best choice but that decision will change everyone involved including a few adults that get roped in to help the kids find their way to their very hurt father. Mibs may have it right that she can help her dad, but in a way no one expects. If you like to laugh, see people get what is coming to them, and love fantasies, you will love this.

Dreadful Fates; What a Shocking way to go! by Tracey Turner

With chapters like Fatal Food, Animal Encounters, and Fatal Mistakes, you get the feeling that some of this could happen to you if you are not careful. Maybe you should read this to keep some of your more brain dead friends (aren't all teens at different times during the day?) from joining these unlucky souls. From some gruesome book covers that you can really see if you visit a more interesting library than ours to why some people really did have a worry about being buried alive, I would not want you to read this on a dark stormy night alone in your house. For those who love those Mythbusters - please don't try this at home: "How to mummify yourself" ideas from some experts. Just in case you think these are just old true tales, a few have happened in your lifetime even if you are only in junior high. But DON'T AND I REPEAT DON'T get ideas about using any of this stuff on your "favorite" teachers. It is not legal and it is not nice. You will get me in trouble again for giving you ideas. You know what happened the last time that happened, don't you?

Constable and Toop by Garerh P. Jones

I promised the author if I liked his book I would put it on my book blog. (Yes, I met him in person and have a signed copy for the junior high to prove it.) If you enjoy humorous ghost tales with lots of "interesting" characters, action that jumps between tales that meet with a bang at the end, and lots of surprises between, you will love it also. Sam sees ghosts and can talk to them, but he doesn't want the gift because when you live with your father above his undertaking business you see too many ghosts. When a mysterious man shows up late one night, even Sam's strange life takes a twist. Lapsewood is just a ghost working his afterlife in the Ghost Bureau and it is just as boring as his human life. But when he is assigned to the housing department and sent back to Earth to find a missing outreach worker, his life isn't boring anymore. If he is not careful, he will end up in "the vault", a place whose name alone will scare even a ghost. Throw in teenage Claire who likes her haunted house and a reverend who is setting up a horrible plague for both ghosts and humans with every exorcism he does, not everyone will survive to see the last page.  How do ghost dogs and rogue ghosts fit in? You will have to read to find out. 

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Elizabeth's life takes a turn for the better when she helps a homeless woman and her teacher takes notice. He helps her get a job at the most unusual library -New York Circulating Material Repository. (I think I might have gone to library school with a few of the librarians) There is where she starts to find some real friends and gets pulled into solving who is taking some of the most interesting items which are kept in the basement in Grimm Collection.  Who can be trusted and who can't? When Elizabeth leaves her sense of direction as collateral for one of the items from the Grimm Collection so she could borrow it and the item can't be returned as she got it, she has to find the answer to the mystery.   (After you read about a few items in the Grimm Collection, you may be tempted to leave your first born just to get your hands on them.)  Is that a real bird that keeps showing up or is it magic? Is it really a good idea to run out of a library when you are only 6 inches tall? Could some of the patrons be the key? How does her and others interesting magic sense help?  Is her stepmother somehow involved? Can a girl whose life is so similar to Cinderella's really save herself from ending up in a new Grimm Fairy Tale? Please let me know which special collection in the basement you would love to get into. I might get back to you about which one is my favorite.

Fair Weather by Richard Peck

Do you ever get too old for your parent to embarrass you? Just when Rose thinks the only fun this summer will be watching her older sister pine over her suitor (maybe boyfriend if the parents ever agree), a letter from her aunt inviting them to Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair comes in the mail. Her aunt stated that Rose's grandfather is not invited and her parents' world revolves around the county farm, so Rose knows that her aunt's kind offer will be turned down. Rose and her aunt get more surprises that summer because Grandpa is more headstrong and has a more interesting past than anyone ever knew. If you like the other books by Richard Peck, you will enjoy the ride and never see the ending coming. The world of 1893 Americans is not like ours, so which one would you like to live in? Let me know your answer.

Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson

Can you believe that some people would love to have ghosts in their homes? What happens to ghosts if their homes are destroyed and what is built doesn't suit them? Dial-a-Ghost is a match-making agency that places homeless ghosts with new families. Sounds easy and simple, but could a mix-up that leads to a comedy of errors really save a young boy's life? Why would a loving uncle really want to scare his nephew to death? How can a family of kind ghosts keep that from happening if they're limited by being ghosts? Where did those scary ghosts go and how does that involve a group of nuns? Please don't read this if you have strange noises that go bump in the night or branches that hit your window. The last thing a need is another parent complaining that I give their kids nightmares when I just tell a few stories or suggest a great book.

Motel of Mysteries by David Macaulay

For those who are studying the ancient civilizations and wonder if everything you are being taught is correct, this may be the book for you. More illustrations than text, it looks at what a future archaeologist might decided about objects found in a local motel. The ancient country of Usa was buried in 1985 by tons of mail and impurities and it is now 4022. A brave archaeologist finds the site that will make his career and you get to read what he thinks all the stuff he found was used for. Did he get it right? Don't they use this stuff in 4022? If they don't, what are they using in its place? Laugh all you want as you read this book.

Here at the Scenic-Vu Motel by Thelma Hatch Wyss

Have you ever wanted to be free of your parents and live on your own while you are in high school? Jake is a senior and along with 5 other students that live too far for the school bus to get every day is trying. Instead of boarding with host families, this year's lowest bidder is the Scenic-Vu motel and the school board wants to keep cost down. Mayhem is possible especially since the 2nd rule of the 2 rules that Jake has made is to have fun. Written in the form of Jake's senior English class journal, the years ups and downs are at times funny and at times sad, but always true to life for most high schoolers. Sometimes when brains go missing, trouble will follow and the actions of one person can ruin it for the whole group. See if they will try some of the things you might if you had the same opportunity as these kids from Bear Flat, ID.

Soup by Robert Newton Peck

Don't miss this just because it is an old book, but if you read it , please don't try any of the pranks on your friends and family. Based on the author's own growing years, Rob learns sometime following your best friend's ideas of fun can get you in more trouble than what your worst enemy's ideas would. Whether it is whipping apples at a church or tying up your aunt, things never seem to work out as planned. Life was so much more fun when the grown ups didn't worry about where the kids were unless they missed 2 meals or didn't make it home before dark. Life back then also included the dreaded bully, but you have to read the book to see who was the most feared bully in school. You will be surprised to see who it was.

Indigo Star by Hilary McKay

The second book of a 4 book series about the Cassons, a British family whose parents are artists, it stands alone. Indigo is the only boy in a house full of females. His dad lives in London. While home is a happy chaotic place, school is something to be dreaded. It is so bad at school that Indigo is happy to get mononucleosis to miss an entire semester, but he must go back. When he gets back, the bullies have a new target, Tom, the American kid who does everything to make himself a target. Why is Tom so angry at everyone? How can the two of them get back at the bullies and teach a lesson at the same time? Behind this main plot are many subplots involving too many suiters for the oldest sister, why their father is not living with them, and will their mother ever remember to make dinner. One of the most popular series at EML's library. You will laugh out load about who really gets the best of the bullies.

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

Winner of the Newbery, the heart warming tale of a girl who finds a home, an occupation, some food, and her own name. Nameless until the midwife starts calling her Beetle because of where she found her (think of the grossest place in the world) , Beetle never remembers anyone who cared for her, not even in toddlerhood. Life is tough in the 14th century. Midwifery is looked down about even if they are the only ones who can help bring a new life in the world. What would you do to keep the only safe place you have ever know and what name would you give yourself if you could? This character in this very quick read has more in common with todays students than you think possible. Hope, dreams and needs don't change, just the ablity to fill them.

This Place has no Atmosphere, by Paula Danziger

Set in 2057, Aurora's parents just found a new way to ruin her life, they are going to the moon to be part of colony of 750 people who hope to make the moon a new home. She is a freshman and has finally got into the "in" crowd. She decides that if she ruins their life, maybe she can stay with her grandmother. Please don't do to your parents what Aurora tries on hers. Finally, it is agreed if she doesn't like it, she can come back to live with her grandmother, who talks about the olden days of the early 2000. How long can she make a year last and who will give up first, her or her parents? If you have ever had to move, you will relate to all the problems that Aurora has, even those she has caused herself. Are we really going to live in shopping malls and have classes in ESP?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Please, please, please don't judge this book by the movie. Movies are always never as good as the book and that movie version was one of the worst ever. From the 1970's, this book has been loved by readers who like weird humor, sick jokes, and adventure. Even my teenage brothers couldn't stop reading it. Earth has been destroyed to make way for a by-pass and Arthur Dent is saved by his space alien friend. When they hook up with the ex-president of the Universe who has a stolen space ship, life will never be the same. This is the first book of a trilogy, which has 5 books in it, go figure. If you like British humor, all the better.

The Story of a Seagull and the Cat who Taught Her to Fly, by Luis Sepulveda

A dying mother's last act was asking a cat to watch over her egg, not to eat the baby and finally to teach it to fly. Most cats would say yes and then when the mother was gone, eat the bird, but Zobra is a honorable cat. How does a cat teach a bird to fly? This case involves a set of encyclopedias among other things including keeping his friends from eating the bird while all try to make a dying mother's wish come true. Can two different beings really learn to love each other? If they can, maybe we all can too.