Questioning, pranks, sword fighting, a lot of money, and a new friend

No theme here, just a few interesting books

First, So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez.  Thirteen year old Xio, a Mexican American girl in California, meets Frederick, a new boy at her school and the two become good friends. But Xio thinks she would like to be more than friends with Frederick. Frederick isn’t sure though if that is right for him. He really likes Xio, but he also has feelings for a soccer buddy, Victor. Frederick doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but mostly he’s just trying to figure out life for himself. Told in alternating voices of Xio and Frederic, this story is an important one to tell for questioning teens – and all other teens. Sometimes in life there is no road map and Sanchez handles this story with care and respect.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockheart took a little while for me to get into, but by the end of the story I really loved Frankie and was happy she stayed true to herself. In the past year Frankie has changed from a scrawny kid into a beautiful young woman. When she returns to her boarding school, Alabaster Preparatory Academy, she attracts the attentions of one of the most popular seniors, Matthew. Once they start dating, Frankie realizes that Matthew is a member of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, a secret society that her father once belonged to at Alabaster. She’d love to join in on the fun, but the Bassets are for boys only. Using a fake e-mail address, Frankie soon has the Bassets doing her bidding and playing pranks all around the school. Frankie’s pranks though are often politically motivated and are designed to get people thinking. Of course, she can’t keep her identity secret forever and the whole scheme comes crashing down. I really loved Frankie’s spirit and her determination and her desire to make things better.

Hereville: How Mirka Got her Sword by Barry Deutsch won all kinds of accolades and great reviews but I just wasn’t into it. Mirka is an Orthodox Jew who lives in a predominantly Orthodox town, and is pretty much a typical teenager, she fights with her siblings, doesn’t like doing chores, HATES that her grandmother is trying to teach her to knit. But while on her way to school, Mirka gets into a fight with a pig (very unusual pet for an Orthodox town) who, it turns out, belongs to a witch. The witch sends her on an errand to fight a troll, and by the end, boy does she wish she’d paid better attention to those knitting lessons! I liked the girl and the great illustrations, but the story seemed silly to me. It seemed like the story was just an excuse to write about an Orthodox girl and to pepper a book with Yiddish.  I’d like to see Mirka again – but with a better adventure.

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce was a great story. Two brothers, Damien and Anthony, have to figure out to do with A LOT of cash in a short time. The pound is about to change to the Euro and this cash  is about to be burned by the government when it falls into the brother's hands (it either fell from the sky, or was thrown from a train near their house - whichever you believe). Having tons of money at your fingertips isn't all that it's cracked up to be though as the brothers quickly learn. Their flow of cash has created an inflationary system on the school playground and some adults are starting to get suspicious. Poignant, and funny, this is a great story for the whole family.

Jellaby by Kean Soo was right up my alley though. This one is a true friendship story. When ten-year-old Portia finds a strange looking monster out in the woods in the middle of the night she’s super scared. But after a few minutes, Portia realizes that this monster is kind and soft-hearted. So she takes him home and feeds him a tuna sandwich. Portia is forced to share her monster secret with classmate Jason and the two kids try to help Jellaby find his family. Cute story, great simple drawings and it has sequels!!!