I'm in the Home Stretch!!!

OK, I’m up to 93 books!! I never thought I’d make it this close to being done. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me this weekend!!

First up: Alchemy and Meggy Swan by Karen Cushman. Poor Meggy Swan, raised in the country outside London, she is disabled and can’t walk without the help of walking sticks. Her father, thinking his child was a boy, sent for her to help him in his alchemy shop. When a disabled Meggy arrives on his doorstep, he barely pays any attention to her. She forges on though and makes a few friends in London. Cushman packs in a lot of interesting history in this one, and it distracts from the characters somewhat. But anyone interested in Elizabethan England will enjoy this book.

Now, here are two books that I wouldn’t normally put together, but the characters go through similar situations: Breaking Up by Aimee Friedman and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney. In both books the main characters have had a falling out with their best friends. Each one suffers through the loneliness of being without a friend. But each character comes a little closer to better knowing themselves and tries to put themselves in others’ shoes. In the end, both Greg Heffley and Chloe come to terms with who they are and are able to “get over themselves” and forgive their friends. Because really, life just isn’t as much fun without your friends!

Once by Morris Gleitzman was captivating. Naïve Felix, a Jewish boy raised in a Catholic orphanage for the past four years, decides to leave the safety of the orphanage to go find his parents. He tells himself stories to help him process the horrors of Nazi Germany that he sees on his travels. At first he believes that the soldiers are good guys, but quickly sees their terrifying behavior and begins to feel protective of another orphan. Felix tries to use his stories to comfort her too, but realizes he has very little control, and cannot understand what is happening around him. Felix’s present tense narration helps make the story move along and adds drama and immediacy to this powerful book.

Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook by Beverly Patt tells the story of Louise Krueger and her best friend Dottie Matuoka in Washington state in 1942. Dottie and her Japanese-American family are suddenly “relocated” to an internment camp after the U.S. enters the war and Louise keeps a scrapbook of all the things that happen while Dottie is away so they can still share everything when she comes back home. The scrapbook includes letters from Dottie as well as Louise’s thoughts and observations. Louise volunteers to write letters for injured soldiers and becomes very close with one in particular and is scared and upset when her brother enlists. She shares everything with the scrapbook for Dottie including photos, newspaper clippings, telegrams and movie ticket stubs. There are lots of details here about life in the internment camps from Dottie’s letters as well as life on the home front and what citizens did to help the war effort.

Book Number 93: Heaven by Angela Johnson. A companion novel to Johnson’s First Part Last, Heaven focus’ on 14 year-old Marley, an African American living in Heaven, Ohio. Marley is pretty secure in her small town living with her brother and parents. She knows exactly how many steps it is to the local Western Union to send her Uncle Jack money and loves to spend time with her family and babysit for Bobby’s daughter, Feather. When a letter arrives disclosing the truth about Marley’s adoption and her biological parents, she’s devastated to learn that her parents have been “lying” to her her whole life. Everyone is very supportive as Marley learns to deal with this new information and comes to terms with who she is and how lucky she is to have the family she does.