Top Ten Tuesday: 10 authors I've only read one book from and need to read more!

Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish.  

The ten authors that I can't believe I've only read 1 book by are:

1. Andrew Smith - I just learned about this author with all the fuss being made over Grasshopper Jungle this year.  Now I must read all his books!  And get them for my school library.
2. Jennifer L. Armentrout - I got a copy of her book, Don't Look Back, as part of a box of ARCs from Disney last spring, and while it wasn't the main reason I wanted the set, it turned out to be one of my favorites!  I'd been told I needed to read her books, and I'd seen them all over the blogosphere.  Now I know.
3. Jennifer Brown - She lives in the same town where my dad lives, right next to the city that I live in.  I read Hate List for an award nominee for the Missouri Association of School Librarians.  I have at least one other of her book sitting at home waiting to be read.  I don't know why I haven't picked it up yet.
4. Laini Taylor - I got a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone the first time I attended BEA in 2012.  But it took me a bit to read it, again, crazy me.  Then I loved it!  I got to meet her when she came to my hometown a year ago I think, and so I have the 2nd book in the series, but I have yet to read it!  It is on my Sequel Challenge TBR list though.
5. Kiersten White - Another book that was a state library nominee was Paranormalcy, and so I read it to keep up with the students.  Enjoyed it quite a bit.  Now just need to read on!
6. Sophie Jordan - I'm kind of ashamed to admit that Uninvited is the first book of hers that I ever read.  I met her in 2013 at the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City, my hometown.  I was very excited to meet her, just from knowing her name from all the books at the bookstore where I work part time.  Now that I've read one, I'm eager to read on!
7. Patricia McCormick - Now I've only read one book by this author, Purple Heart, again for the award list, and while it wasn't my favorite book, I do want to read others she has that sound really good.  
8. Joe Hill - Yes, he is Stephen King's son, which is why I picked up his book, Heart Shaped Box.  I really enjoyed it, gave it a 5 star rating on Goodreads, but I read it the year before I started this blog, so no review to share.  Even though he and I had a bit of a political argument/discussion on Twitter a couple years ago, I still want to read more of his books.
9. Alex Flinn - I'm also embarrassed to admit that I assumed this author was a man because of her first name.  *hangs head in shame*  But I read one of her books, Cloaked, again as an award nominee, and liked it.  I also saw the movie for her book Beastly, and thought it was interesting enough I might read more.
10. Jennifer Donnelly - I got a copy of her book Revolution for free from the bookstore where I work because she was coming to do a signing.  I didn't get to see her unfortunately, but I loved the book.  I had really hoped to get a copy of Deep Blue at BEA this summer, but I wasn't able to sadly.

Of course there are many others I noticed as I looked through my Goodreads "Read" shelf, but these would be my top 10.  Have you read these authors books, do you agree that I should continue?  What authors do you need to read more of their books?

The Shade of the Moon (The Last Survivors #4) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Before I begin, I have to say thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I had been looking forward to this book since I heard there was going to be another book in what I had called the Life As We Knew It series.  I remember reading the first book when it won the very first year of the Truman Book Award in Missouri, and really loving it!  So much that I read it with my students for a few years.  Until The Lightning Thief was a nominee, and then that book became my read along, until The Hunger Games, and so on.  And then the 2nd book in the series, The Dead and the Gone, came out, and I loved that, and even sometimes, if we had time, read that with my students as well.  It was such a great look at the story from a different point of view, as well as a different environment. When the 3rd one came out later, This World We Live In, it too had a very interesting story and pulled the different characters from the two books together.  Actually, as I've only read the 3rd one once, there were some things I didn't quite remember as I read this 4th one.  So I will probably have to go back and read through it again now.  I had some trouble reading this book, and I'll explain why after I finish telling you about the story.
So basically it's about two years or so since the last book, and four years since the meteor struck the moon, knocking it closer to the Earth, and messing life up for everyone.  Jon is living with his step-mom Lisa and younger brother Gabe, in an Enclave city, using the passes that were supposed to be for Alex, Julie, and his older brother.  But Carlos was still working as a guard, and Alex left, giving the passes to Lisa and Jon's father.  Then Julie died at  the end of the last book, (something I kind of, but didn't really remember, so need to go back and re-read).  So when Jon's dad also died, the passes were given to Lisa, Gabe, and the rest of the family chose Jon, as they always had, because he was the youngest and they figured he had the best chance to go on and do something.  Jon had always kind of been taken care of, given the most food when they were living alone as a family in their house, not made to do as much work.  And now, he still has it better than the rest of his family.  He gets to live in an Enclave.  Everyone else, his mom Laura, his sister Miranda and her husband Alex, they live in what people call a "grub" town.  It's where the "worker" people live.  Alex drives a bus for the "Clavers", as the people where Jon live are called.  Miranda works in the greenhouses, and is pregnant now.  His mom teaches at the high school for the grub kids.  In the Enclave, Lisa works finding places for the domestics, grubs who clean and cook and take care of the children in the Enclave.  They live with their families until the weekend when they get to go home for a night or two.  The kids here will go to school, then to a college type of school where they will learn the things needed to help keep the society going.  But they are treated as if they are special, and better than the grubs.  They even treat the grubs really bad.  Jon doesn't think much of it at first, it is just the way it is.  Even though the rest of his family lives in a filthy apartment, with roaches, and barely enough food to eat.  And he lives with someone that cooks and cleans for him.  A new girl moves to town, Sarah, and he is instantly interested in her.  But is told by his friends he can't be friends with her, because her father is the reason one of them's grandfather lost their job.  So he sneaks around in secret to be with her.  From Sarah, Jon learns to begin to question more the whole Claver vs. Grub issues.  Things hit a head when at a soccer game that Jon is playing in the grub town where his family lives, a student dies on the field.  And then a riot breaks out, and soon the guards are killing grubs that get in the way.  Things get really bad, to where his family soon begins fearing for their lives, and it is a justified fear.  They decide to get out of town.  To a town that Jon's older brother Matt knows of where it is different, where everyone is treated equally, and works together to help the town and people.  But along the way there are many obstacles, and trying to overcome them, Jon finally comes to terms with what kind of a person he wants to be.
Now, writing a review of this is hard.  The first half of the book being told by Jon, well, it is really hard to like him.  While from what I remember of him mostly from the first book, he was just the annoying younger brother, and so while he might have been irritating, I didn't like or dislike him.  But in this book, you can see just how spoiled he has been, and how he really needs something to bring him back to reality.  And I even posted on Goodreads at the halfway point that something needed to happen in the 2nd half to make me like both Jon, and really kind of the book.  The romance between Jon and Sarah was a bit rushed I think.  I know that in times like they're living, maybe romance does move quicker, but we weren't really given what we needed in the writing to maybe see it.  This book, unlike the others in the series that were more apocalyptic type stories, is similar to a dystopian story.  You've got your new society with the rules to help get life back to normal, but there are good and bad things about it.  And if you are in the good part, the clavers, then you like it, and you feel that the grubs wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for the clavers, so you think this is just the best way.  So maybe that is why I struggled with it as well.  I was so used to the more survival type of story from the first books.  And also part of my issue may have been from how long it has been since I read the 3rd one.  The end of the story really ties it up well, and gets more back to what I expected from these stories.  So, I'm glad that I didn't give up halfway through, because the ending really saved it for me.  You'll need to read it yourself and decide what you think, but I think that if you've read the rest of the series, you can either just stop, and not go on, or you can also read this, and get further with the characters.  I feel it could also be open to another book.  I don't know if it is something that would happen. But it is definitely left open in my opinion.  Oh yeah, one final thing.  I wondered why Jon was playing soccer instead of baseball like he had in the first book.  It's not really explained, it's just that all the teams play soccer.  Jon still talks about liking baseball, so that isn't completely gone.  And probably soccer makes a more dramatic sport to play than baseball, so that is why it was chosen for the story.

Waiting on Wednesday: Prodigy (Legend #2) by Marie Lu

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  I haven't participated since last October!  Wow!  But then the last few months have been pretty busy.  The book I've chosen this week is a sequel to a book that I can't believe took me so long to read!  I'd been seeing lots about Legend by Marie Lu on other blogs early last year.  And then I was lucky enough to get a copy when I was at BEA last summer, not autographed, but still. It sat on my TBR shelf until this fall, when it happened to be a nominee for my state's Library Association awards for middle grades, the Truman Award.  And then, I picked it up, and couldn't put it down!  I read it when I went to visit my sister in NYC in November.  And as I finished it, I have a good idea it might be in the top 3 of the students' choices from the final list for next year, if not the overall winner.  You can read my review of it HERE.  Anyway, without further ado, here is the blurb about Prodigy from Goodreads.com:  

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?



Sounds so good!  And, share with me, what book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Dark Life (Dark Life #1) by Kat Falls

This book is one on the current Truman nominees list that my students are reading and voting on this school year.  It was one that looked really good to me, and I'd been excited to read for awhile.  I was able to get a copy for pretty cheap at the school book fair back in September, but haven't had time to read it till now!!  Dark Life was a quick read.  It was pretty good, had humor and adventure, and I liked the science fiction/dystopian parts as well.  I did get a little tired of the "he blushed, and hoped she wasn't looking" type of lines in the book, but hey, it's for middle-schoolers, so not that big of a deal I guess.
The main character is Ty, he lives underwater, and has his whole life.  You see, some time in the past, the Eastern coast dropped into the ocean, and land became precious.  People had to start living in very tall stacked up building.  Lucky if a family had more than one room to live in.  But, there was an offer, people who went and made homesteads on the ocean floor and stayed for a certain amount of time, would be given a large stake of land after that time.  Ty can't wait for the day he can do this.  But things are great right now.  There are pirates, called the Sea Blite gang, that are terrorizing the settlers, as well as the government.  And really, the settlers aren't even getting a very good deal from the government on the crops they are producing that feed the people on land.
One day when Ty is out where he's not supposed to be by himself, he comes across a sunken sub, that he ends up using to hide from some of the giant underwater creatures.  Inside he finds he is not alone.  A girl from the Topside, named Gemma is there.  Turns out she's come down to try to find her brother.  The sub is covered in blood.  And so they're not sure what has happened there.  But while they're hiding there, the pirates come along to take the sub.  So they do escape, and Ty takes Gemma back home and decides to see what he can help her.  But while all this is happening, the government is telling the settlers they must catch the pirates or the government will withdraw all of the help they've given.  And one of the homesteads is attacked by the pirates.  Ty goes over to try to help them, and even sees the pirates, including the main scary one, Shade.  Turns out Shade also sees him, and marks him, and Gemma.  As they get closer to the mystery of where Gemma's brother is, it was his blood in the sub they found, it all seems to lead to an unwanted, dangerous confrontation with Shade.
While this wasn't the best in world building.  I'd like to hear some more about the Topside and how things are on land, it was very neat to read about how the houses worked under the sea.  And the Dark Life, means that there was rumors that kids born under the sea, or that lived there for a certain length of time developed special powers.  And Ty, he was the first kid born down there.  So Gemma suspects he might have a power.  Like the one case that there was a big article about in her world, even if it was declared a fraud, she won't give up on the idea.
A fun read, and quick as I said.  But compared to some of the other nominees on the Truman list this year, I don't see it as the winner.  But I will definitely be recommending it!  And I was able to get the sequel for half-price at a Scholastic Warehouse sale this weekend, so I'll be reading on when I get some time.

2013 Truman Possibilities 22-25: The ones I didn't get to.

I am a little disappointed in myself for not getting all 25 books read this time.  I mean one year I read 50, because I ended up getting asked to read for both Truman nominees and Mark Twain nominees.  But this year, with doing my September is for Sequels Challenge, that put me a bit behind. And of course I've got Netgalley titles that have expiration dates that I have to read before they're gone!  Excuses, excuses, I know.  But here are the four titles I didn't get read:

1. The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens:  I actually have an ARC of this.  I got it from the bookstore where I work, but then I just never felt in the mood to read it.  But, I have a feeling this might be one that makes the list.  I believe it has won some award, and it seems like the kind of epic adventure that kids who enjoy Harry Potter or The Lightning Thief.  Here's the synopsis from Goodreads.com:  Called “A new Narnia for the tween set” by the New York Times and perfect for fans of the His Dark Materials series, The Emerald Atlas brims with humor and action as it charts Kate, Michael, and Emma's extraordinary adventures through an unforgettable, enchanted world.
   
   These three siblings have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.
   
   Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about.
   
   Until now.
   
   Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey through time to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is correct—what they do can change history, and it is up to them to set things right.
2. Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson:  This one I was unable to find anywhere!  Not at my school library, and at the public library it was only available as an audio book, and I read much faster than I can listen to someone else read.  I even tried to order a hardcover copy into the bookstore where I work, but it never got ordered in, so I couldn't check it out.  It sounds like it could be an interesting one as well, kinda wish I'd found it.  Here is the synopsis from Goodreads.com:  Jack’s mom is gone, leaving him all alone on a campsite in Maine. Can he find his way back to Boston before the authorities realize what happened?
   
   Ever since Jack can remember, his mom has been unpredictable, sometimes loving and fun, other times caught in a whirlwind of energy and "spinning" wildly until it’s over. But Jack never thought his mom would take off during the night and leave him at a campground in Acadia National Park, with no way to reach her and barely enough money for food. Any other kid would report his mom gone, but Jack knows by now that he needs to figure things out for himself - starting with how to get from the backwoods of Maine to his home in Boston before DSS catches on. With nothing but a small toy elephant to keep him company, Jack begins the long journey south, a journey that will test his wits and his loyalties - and his trust that he may be part of a larger herd after all.
3. Take Me to the River by Will Hobbs:  I did actually get this one checked out from the library, but decided as the time to read got shorter and shorter, that I probably knew what it would be like.  Will Hobbs writes a specific type of book, and they're usually pretty good.  So I knew whether I read it or not, I'd feel the same way probably as the last one I read.  Here's the synopsis from Goodreads.com: "Deep in trouble,  Deep in the canyons"
   Fourteen-year-old Dylan Sands has come all the way from North Carolina to Big Bend National Park, on the Texas/Mexico border, to paddle the fabled Rio Grande. His partner in adventure is a local river rat, his cousin Rio. As the two are packing their boats for ten days in the canyons, six Black Hawk helicopters appear overhead and race across the river into Mexico.
   The army won't tell the boys what's happening, but they are given a weather advisory: A hurricane is approaching the Gulf of Mexico. Dylan and Rio have their hearts set on their trip and can't give it up. Rio believes that their chances of running into border troubles or a major storm are slim to none.
   By canoe and raft, Dylan and Rio venture into the most rugged and remote reaches of the U.S./Mexico border. "You may well not see another human being during the duration of your trip, "the guidebook tells them. They don't, until a man stumbles into camp with a seven-year-old boy. A storm is brewing as the man who calls himself Carlos begs for help . . . and the boy is trembling with fear.
   
   4.  Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell:  I have yet to read any books by this author, but they always sound like they're good.  I did get this one checked out from the bookstore, but since I ran out of time to read it before the final date to rate them, I didn't end up reading it.  I know this author's books have been popular as well.  Here is the synopsis from Goodreads.com:  Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she’s not. She’s smart and creative and a little bit funky. She’s also an unwilling player in her parents’ modern-hippy, let’s-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (regretfully, instigated by a younger, much more enthusiastic Janie). This, to put it simply, is not helping Janie reach that “normal target.” She has to milk goats every day…and endure her mother’s pseudo celebrity in the homemade-life, crunchy mom blogosphere. Goodbye the days of frozen lasagna and suburban living, hello crazy long bus ride to high school and total isolation--and hovering embarrassments of all kinds. The fresh baked bread is good…the threat of homemade jeans, not so much. It would be nice to go back to that old suburban life…or some grown up, high school version of it, complete with nice, normal boyfriends who wear crew neck sweaters and like social studies. So, what’s wrong with normal? Well, kind of everything. She knows that, of course, why else would she learn bass and join Jam Band, how else would she know to idolize infamous wild-child and high school senior Emma (her best friend Sarah’s older sister), why else would she get arrested while doing a school project on a local freedom school (jail was not part of the assignment). And, why else would she kind of be falling in "like" with a boy named Monster—yes, that is his real name. Janie was going for normal, but she missed her mark by about ten miles…and we mean that as a compliment.
   
   Frances O’Roark Dowell’s fierce humor and keen eye make her YA debut literary and wise. In the spirit of John Green and E. Lockhart, Dowell’s relatable, quirky characters and clever, fluid writing prove that growing up gets complicated…and normal is WAY overrated.

So, I may end up reading these if they do end up on the final nominee list for 2013-2014.  I'll review them if I that happens!

2013 Truman Possibility 21: Without Tess by Marcella Pixley

This is the last of the 25 books for the possible Truman nominee list that I was able to actually read before the deadline this past Monday.  And actually, I didn't even finish it in time to rate it.  But I was halfway through, and needed to see where it went, so I finished it.
Without Tess is a very strange story from the start.  The main character, who is telling us the story, is Lizzie Cohen.  Tess is her older sister that died when she was 11 years old.  Lizzie hasn't quite gotten over Tess's death.  In fact, she feels somewhat responsible.  Something that we don't know why until the end.  Tess is a little wacky.  Even though it is when they are young girls that we're first introduced to them through Lizzie's memories, you can tell there is something just not right about Tess.  The games they play.  How Tess seems to really believe that she isn't a mortal, but a selkie.  The things she has Lizzie do, and then there's the poetry she writes.  Now, call me crazy, but I feel that if Tess died at the age of 11, even if she was mentally unstable, what girl that age uses the kinds of words she did?  I mean, I guess since their mother was a writer, they were probably reading at a young age, and they heard the writers' group talking.  But it still seems a bit above the head of a girl at that age.
Lizzie is seeing a shrink, at school, and he is having her use Tess's Pegasus Journal of poems and drawings to help with her therapy.  But Lizzie is turning in the poems as her own in one of her classes.  Until she must do a group project where their partner will critique the poems and she must then re-work them.  At that point we begin to really get to some of the not so good crazy things that Tess did.  How she didn't eat, because she was sure in her head she wasn't a mortal, and got skinnier and skinnier.  How she didn't like the new friend Lizzie was making, even though it had been Tess's idea in the first place for Lizzie to make her a friend.  It is Isabella, and now at 16, Niccolo that will stay by her and help her to come to grips with her sister Tess, and work on getting past her feelings of guilt, and discover that it wasn't her fault, and she can't be blamed for what her sister did.
In a way this was a very interesting look into the mind of a child with a mental illness.  And what it would feel like to have an older sibling, that you looked up to and was your best friend for the longest time, only to find out as you got older that they weren't all there, and it wasn't okay the things they did.
Very deep, a good ending, a very serious read.

2013 Truman Possibility 20: Everything I was by Corinne Demas

A short, quick read.  But, while the story was pretty good, it was pretty forgettable.  Whenever I would go back to read it, I couldn't remember at first what it was even about.  And I also have to say that the cover doesn't fit it in my opinion.  The girl peeking over the top of the water really looks kind of creepy.  And it is not a creepy story at all.  The main character is Irene.  Her father used to be a big shot corporate Vice President, who lost his job when they were bought by another company.  So now they can't afford to stay in their fancy Manhattan apartment.  So they go to stay with her grandfather in upstate New York for the summer, while her dad looks for a job, and her mom tries to find a new place for them to live that her mom feels is "acceptable" to the style of living she is used to.  Irene also has a half-sister named Jenna.
Irene finds that she loves the simple life at her grandfather's, and even makes a new friend, and a possible boyfriend.  Irene doesn't want to go back to her old school as a scholarship student.  She remembers how those kids were treated and looked down on.  She learns that her grandfather has had offers to sell off his land, and her mom thinks that is a way they could pay for Irene's tuition so she wouldn't have to be on scholarship.  But Irene has learned to love nature, and her grandfather's land, and won't let him do it.  She gets to go spend a week with her sister, which is good, but she also learns she is afraid of heights, and learns things about her mother that she didn't know that she wasn't the only one who noticed.  It does end with a mostly happy ending, but not a forever ending, things are kind of left up in the air, but in a happy way.
One other issue I had besides the forgettableness of the story was that Irene was so okay with the bugs and rodents and all the other icky outdoorsy stuff without a bit of complaint.  I'm sorry, isn't she a city girl?  Living in a penthouse apartment in Manhattan?  How in the world is a girl that age not freaked by that?
Not a bad story, just not a great story.

2013 Truman Possibility 19: Tunnel Vision by Susan Shaw

I'm not a huge fan of this book.  It was kind of an interesting story.  It's about a girl, Liza, who is walking home from school one day, when all of a sudden her mother is shot.  She passed some guys in a tunnel on her way home, but she didn't really look at them, because she was kind of creeped out, and was just trying to get home.  As horrible as this is, it doesn't end there.  The next day a guy tries to kill her right on her front step.  And it is at that time that they realize the guys she saw, that she barely remembers seeing, are wanted by the FBI.  And Liza and her father are immediately put in the witness protection program.  The first place they go, they're almost caught there.  And it seems each new place doesn't work out.  Something always slips.  First it is that the news runs a story on them, and Liza's long, bright red hair gains attention.  Not to mention the reward out on them.  This story doesn't really end, as they have to stay on the run.  They keep having to move.  So you never really get to see Liza find a new place to live and make friends.  It was an interesting look at being in the witness protection program, and finding yourself there after being a witness without really knowing that you witnessed something.  And I guess it is a look at how there aren't always going to be happy perfect endings.
Not much else to say.  That's my review for this.

2013 Truman Possibility 18: Cloaked by Alex Flinn

While I've seen the movie Beastly which was based on the book by this same author, Alex Flinn, this is the first actual book I've read by her.  I do really enjoy fairy tale re-tellings, and this actually several tales in one. And, as is a bit of the problem I had with Two and Twenty Dark Tales, a book I was able to get from Netgalley, but then couldn't finish, some of the stories are not well known ones.  It's hard to really get into something that you can't relate to, at least when you're expecting a well known fairy tale.  From the title, Cloaked, I just kind of assumed maybe it was about Little Red Riding Hood.  But no, it was not.  The main story was kind of about The Frog Prince, and that is well known.  It was just several smaller tales mixed in.  And really, they did all work in a way.
The main character is Johnny Marco.  His family has always worked on shoes, and so we kind of start with The Elves and the Shoemaker tale.  Just that we have Johnny who designs shoes.  He is really good at the designs, but doesn't really have the materials or money to try to make and market them. A beautiful princess, Victoriana has come to the hotel to stay.  She ends up seeing something good in Johnny, and decides to ask him to help her find and rescue her brother who has been turned into a frog.  She gives him a cloak to help travel from place to place in an instant, hence the title.  In his travels to find the frog, he must try to help the swans at the hotel, then a fox at a motel, then a park ranger with a giant problem.  All during this time he is being chased by witches.  His best friend Meg, ends up being more of a help than expected.  At one point being summoned to help him by Johnny putting on a ring, to where she is now with him in the middle of the adventure.
All the different issues do end up getting resolved in one way or another.  It is a fairy tale after all.  And I like the way it all gets wrapped up.  There even Brownies, not the yummy chocolate ones, but the little elves.  And Johnny gets a chance to live his dream, even after turning down marriage to Princess Victoriana.  So a fun fairy tale read!!

2013 Truman Possibility 17: Here Lies Linc by Delia Ray

This was a cute story.  I don't know that it is the best choice for the Truman list for next year.  I think it might actually be a better choice for the Mark Twain award which is the younger award.  Yes, the kids in the book are junior high age, which is the age of the readers of the Truman award nominees, but it just felt like a little bit younger student would enjoy this story.  Again, there are 6th graders reading the Truman, and maybe some of the not so great readers, so for them it might be a good one to have on the list.  But it will not be one of the top ones that I recommend.
The main character is Linc, short for Lincoln.  His mom is an anthropologist who studies burial customs.  So he has been to graveyards all over the country.  And he lives right next to one now.  He's asked his mom to let him out of the home school group this year, so that he can go to the public school.  Once at the public school he feels really out of it, often bullied.  And then, he finds out that they are going on a field trip to the one place he doesn't want to go, with the one tour guide he really doesn't want to have.  The cemetery by his house, and the tour guide is his mother.  He is able to get her to pretend not to know him, and since they have different last names, it works, until... One of the cool kids, that Linc knows from the home school years before, is drawing a picture of his mom making fun of her.  Eventually Linc can't stand it and blurts out that she is his mom.  Well, after he runs home, he finds out that they had a project assigned.  They must pick one grave and research the person.  Linc chooses the Black Angel, a statue with a history of a curse.  But his plan is to prove that all the mysteriousness about the statue is just silly.  One of the other kids in the class, Delaney, chooses a grave that has a last name just like Linc's middle name.  And so they begin to work together.  Linc keeps finding things that don't help him prove the stories wrong, but start to convince him there may be a curse.  And with Delaney's grave, they learn soon that Linc has family he didn't know about.  Linc is trying to fit in with the popular kids, but also has problems with the new person in charge at the cemetery.  Plus, more problems with his mom, the scatterbrained historian.
Overall this was a good story.  Some good background story, definitely.  And good teen dealing with parents, as well as the popular people at school.  A good story for sure, I recommend it to probably 5th, 6th, and maybe some younger 7th grade readers.

2013 Truman Possibility 15: Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Okay, I have to say first off, for some strange reason, when I first saw this book, the name made me think of that football player that was using his dogs for the illegal dog fighting.  But that's Michael Vick, right?  Anyway, the cover didn't draw me in.  And I never thought I really wanted to read it.  In fact, when it was on the list for this year's nominees, I was like, aw man, now I have to read it.  But, once again, so glad that I did have to read it!  Because this is a really good book, and once again, as there seem to be less books with male protagonists, this is a good one for the boys out there.
So, the subtitle, The Prisoner of Cell 25, actually doesn't really show up in the story until later.  But our main character is Michael Vey.  A 14 year old who gets picked on.  And the principal at his school is kind of a jerk.  It seems to be the kids who are being bullied that get in trouble.  For being locked in their own lockers.  It just makes me shake my head as an educator to read or hear about stuff like that.  But anyway, he has a friend named Ostin, pronounced like the city, who is pretty nerdy.  There is a cheerleader at school that Michael has a bit of a crush on.  One other thing, Michael has Tourette's syndrome.  Not like you see on tv or movies where they shout out bad words, but his occurs as blinking, or gulping.  So he figures the cheerleader, Taylor, would never be interested.  But she does seem like she's one of those girls that really are just nice as can be.  One day Michael just decides he's had enough.  He's got detention for a week for being locked in his own locker upside down, and since he won't tattle, because he knows then he'll get bullied worse, he's so angry when these bullies start following him after detention and accusing him of being a snitch.  Well, Taylor sees this happening, and yells at the boys to stop it.  But when they don't, Michael brings out his other secret, he can send electricity out from his body, and he does, into the bully Jack, and then Wade, and Mitchell.  Taylor sees, and now is curious.  Up until now, only Ostin, and Michael's mother knew about his powers.  Turns out that Taylor has her own powers and is curious.  But no one knows about hers.  They form a club, the Electroclan.
Unfortunately, as they try to do some research into how they may have gotten their powers, there are some mysterious people out there looking for them, who now find them.  At first they try to woo them with scholarships to a fancy school called the Elgen Academy in Pasadena, CA.  Well when Michael and Taylor both refuse, turns out the Elgen Academy doesn't take no for an answer.  Taylor gets kidnapped, and they try to do the same with Michael, but instead it turns out that they can't get him in time, so they take his mom in order to get him to follow.  So of course Michael does.  He takes Ostin, and now convinces the bullies, Jack and Wade, to drive them out to California.  Over the journey they kind of become a little bit better friends.  And while the deal is just to drop them off and leave, Jack and Wade end up staying to help.  But help leads to getting caught.  When Taylor first gets to Elgen, she learns she has a twin sister.  So the big guy, Hatch, tries to convince her to stay and be a apart of it all.  Shopping on Rodeo Drive.  Taking her to a concert of her favorite singer.  But once there, Hatch asks Taylor to do something, she does it, but feels horrible after.  Then they go to another event, motorcycle races where Hatch asks her to keep a guy from winning.  But doing it could kill him, and so Taylor says no, but her twin does it for her.  Taylor is punished by being sent down with the other electric kids.  And this is where Michael must try to rescue her from.
This was a really good story.  I won't tell you anymore.  I'll let you read it, but I can see a lot of kids enjoying it.  It does have a sequel out at the store already.  It'll be on my TBR list.

2013 Truman Possibility 13: The Death Catchers by Jennifer Anne Kogler

Oh my gosh, I don't know if I can say just how much I loved this book!  The story was really good, but besides that, with it being my first year teaching 7th grade English, specifically about plots and narrative writing, I loved the titles of the chapters, and how the protagonist or main character explained what they meant and how she was doing that with that part of the story.  I could totally see using this with my class some year when I'm teaching this in the future.
This isn't the first book by this author that I've read.  I read The Otherworldlies a few years ago for The Truman list as well.  I wasn't as excited about that one.  It seemed a bit too familiar and like other books that were popular at the time.  Not that it wasn't good, as the first line in my review on that (which you can read if you click on the title) says basically this same thing.  It just didn't grab me like The Death Catchers did.
Okay, so, as I said, this story is being told by our protagonist, Lizzy Mortimer, which means it is first person point of view, as she points out in the chapter titled "Point of View".  Lizzy has to do something to make up for not turning in her project for English class with Mrs. Tweedy.  And so she writes this "letter", albeit a very long letter, to explain why she didn't get the project done, and to hopefully make up for the project.  In the story we learn how she finds out she is a Hand of Fate, just like her grandmother Bizzy.  Only they feel that name is too old fashioned, so they change it to Death Catcher.  The first specter, or notice that someone is going to die that Lizzy gets is for her very best friend Jodi.  Needless to say all Lizzy wants to do is save her. But Bizzy explains that she can't tell Jodi, she can only do her best to keep it from happening.  They are able to save Jodi, but in doing so, Lizzy sees her first Banshee.  A little creepier than they are in the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent.  :-)  And soon Lizzy gets her next specter.  It's the cute guy at school.  And not only that, through research, Lizzy find out that Drake is a little more important than just someone to save.  Saving him will keep Doomsday from happening.
There is mythology in this story, it is from the story of King Arthur.  And while it is a bit interesting to have it happening in California, seeing as how that legend is really from England I think? That does make a bit of a stretch in a way.  But not in a bad way.  It didn't keep me from enjoying the story.
Another thing I totally loved was Lizzy's mother.  She sounds just like the type of librarian I want to be.  According to Lizzy, her whole goal in life was to find the Right Book for that person.  I feel the same.  When I see kids who don't like to read, or who say that, I always tell them they just haven't found the right book.  And I want so bad to make it my mission to find that for them.  And I try, in between teaching, and when I'm working at the bookstore I enjoy finding books for people there too.
Again I have to comment on just how much I loved getting to each new chapter to see what writing tidbit would be the title of that chapter, and how she would explain it as part of the story.  Such an awesome, awesome, awesome book!  I even told one of my students about it, and the chapter titles, and they thought that was such a cool idea!  I will definitely be buying this to keep in my classroom library whether it makes the final Truman list for next year or not.
If you enjoy re-tellings, this is an interesting one for the whole Arthurian legend.  If you are an educator of any sort, classroom teacher or librarian, I can't imagine you not enjoying the fun way this was set up.  The characters are very quirky and likable.  I truly, truly LOVE this book!

2013 Truman Possibility 12: Memento Nora by Angie Smibert

Okay, this will be my last Truman book for about 3 more books.  I've got 3 e-galleys that are expiring in the next 2 weeks from Netgalley, and of course I must re-read Breaking Dawn before the movie comes out in about two weeks!  So, once those 4 are done, back to speeding through the last 13 books I hope.  I may have to sort them from smallest to biggest and get done what I can, and then just skim the others.  We'll see. I hate to do that.
Okay, on with the actual book for this review, Memento Nora.  This was a pretty quick read at only 184 pages.  I'd have been done sooner, but Mondays are always crazy with being the first day back to work.  It was a pretty good story.  As I said, very short, but quick and to the point.  In a way I like that we didn't have to spend so much time on all the side stories and world building, etc.  It was pretty succinct I'd say.  A good dystopian, that was pretty much left as a stand alone book.  Although, there is always room to go on, I think it's okay if it stays at just one.
Our main character is Nora, of course.  She lives in a future world where there have been so many terrorist attacks that no one feels safe.  In fact, the rich people live in "real" gated communities.  Nora is from a wealthy family, and her father works for a big security company that actually works for the major group called TFC, Therapeutic Forgetting Clinics.  In this new world, you can go to these places, and they can help you forget things.  Like when Nora and her mother are out shopping and a bomb explodes.  Nora is finally going to TFC for the first time.  Something weird happens in the waiting room, this guy writes "memento" on his cast, and as he is walking back out from the clinic, he sticks his tongue out at Nora, and she can see the pill on his tongue as he spits it out.  When Nora goes into the back room with her mother, her mother is setting the example by talking about the memory she wants to forget.  Only, it isn't the bombing memory that Nora figures, it is a memory of her father being abusive.  And because of this, Nora decides to not take the pill.  When she gets home, she begins remembering hearing her parents argue a lot, but that's all.  Back at school Nora goes to talk to the guy, whose name is Micah.  Micah tells her what memento means.  And she explains why she didn't take her pill either.  Micah is quite an artist and he kind of begins sketching out a comic of Nora's story.  They take the story and actually print it up with the help of Micah's friend Winter.  Then they secretly leave it around the school for the kids to find.
This causes a big ruckus as you may imagine.  Soon there are cops hanging around watching the school more.  And Nora now sees her father treating her mother badly and knows what is happening.  But when she tries to bring it up to her mom, well she's already been to TFC and forgotten.  As they get deeper in, the learn more and more scary things, even stuff about Nora's own father begins to fill into the blanks.  I won't tell any more, but there is so much more to this story really, and it is crazy how detailed it really is for such a short story.  If you like dystopian, this is something you should definitely pick up.  It's a quick, interesting read.

2013 Truman Possibility 11: Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt

Wow, that is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this book that I just finished.  I loved this.  Such a good story!  I'm going to have to go back and read The Wednesday Wars now.  Which won a Newbery Honor, so it must really be good.
We start out with our main character, Doug Swieteck.  Doug's family is not great.  His father is abusive, one older brother is away in Vietnam in the war after getting into trouble with the law.  His other older brother is hanging around with delinquent types and is also abusive to Doug, even stealing one of Doug's most prized possessions, a hat autographed by Joe Pepitone of the NY Yankees.  Their dad starts a fight with his boss, and of course gets fired, along with getting beat up.  So they have to move, to Marysville in upstate New York.
To Doug this new place is a dump. It's smaller than their apartment in NY so he now has to share a bedroom with his brother.  And his friend Holling gave him Joe Pepitone's jacket as a going away gift.  So now Doug has to try to hide that so his brother won't steal that too.  And already Doug can feel how people will treat him.  As if he's a thug.  In fact, the first girl he really meets, Lillian Spicer, or Lil as she prefers to be called, even calls him a skinny thug.  but their relationship is a bit of a love/hate friendship.  At school he can tell how the teachers feel about him, and he throws his brother's attitude right back at them too.  But the first place he finds some acceptance is in the library.  Not because he loves to read, but because he finds a book of Audubon pictures of birds, and he starts to learn to draw with one of the librarians, Mr. Powell.  Not all the teachers are bad at first, his last teacher of the day, his science teacher, Mr. Ferris.  And Lil's father gives Doug a job, delivering groceries on Saturdays.  He meets a lot of people on his route.  Some who think he needs more food and feed him.  Some who want him to help out around the house with changing light bulbs and such.
But that all changes when the police accuse his brother Chris of breaking into Mr. Spicer's store.  Now Doug knows he didn't do it because Chris was in bed that whole night in the same room that they share now.  But the police don't seem to believe.  And now the townspeople, including the principal have once again turned a suspicious eye on Doug too.  First he refuses to read out loud in class, and he won't say why.  But the librarian, Mr. Powell, figures out that Doug can't read.  He lets Miss Cowper know, and she sets up a time to work with him, without making it known that is what is going on.  He's also having trouble in PE.  Coach Reed, who is back from the war, doesn't seem to be able to get away from his past.  And he doesn't like the attitude that Doug gives him.  He keeps trying to make Doug play on the skins team, but Doug doesn't want to, he keeps trading with people or sneaking over to the shirts team.  but then, the coach has had it.  And he rips Doug's shirt off in class.  Only to find the tattoo that Doug's dad "gave" him for a birthday present.  And while the other kids laugh at first, they soon feel like the Coach is being a bully.
And, to make things even more complicated, Doug's brother is coming home from the war.  He's not written any letters himself, but the letters they do receive say that he's coming back and won't look the same.  Turns out he's lost both legs, and his head must have been in a fire or explosion, because his eyes are covered with bandages.  It's a lot for poor Doug to have to deal with, along with trying to be a normal boy, and have a crush on a normal girl.
I won't give anymore away.  You have to read it.  Really, you should.  The title fits perfect.  Every time Doug thinks things are going well, he knows that something bad is coming, so things are always "okay for now".  And isn't that the way it always feels anyway?  Like things seem good, but something bad always has to come along and mess it up?  At least my life seems that way.  But such a good story.  Such good things happen even throughout all the bad things.  Heartwarming, while tugging at your heart as well.  Such a good read, I couldn't wait to pick it back up whenever I had to put it down.

2013 Truman Possibility 10: Paintings From the Cave by Gary Paulsen

I actually had never read a book by Gary Paulsen until I began to read for the different award lists.  I know, I know, how many people grew up reading Hatchet?  Not me.  But I have to admit he is a very good writer. Normally they're not my type of books, but they're good.  This book is actually three novellas.  Very short stories. The whole book is only 161 pages.  So, a good choice for low readers at the middle school age for this award.
The first story, Man of the Iron Heads, is very reminiscent of another book I read for awards, If I Grow Up, by Todd Strasser.  In this story our main character is Jake.  He lives in a ghetto basically.  In his building, there is a drug/gang leader, that Jake has learned to stay away from.  He lives with his aunt, because his parents, mother anyway, left when he was like 3.  But his aunt never wanted a kid, and gets drunk I guess, so he stays on his friend Layla's couch when her mom isn't home.  Layla is pregnant, Jake says you have to keep moving, or they'll catch you, and Layla got caught.  And when he can't be there, he hides in an abandoned building and watches the people across the fence in the nice, fancy apartments.  In one he sees a man with a bunch of what look like iron heads.  He watches the guy for several days.  Until one day the guy sees him.  He invites Jake over for pizza and to see the heads.  Jake is leery at first.  He's heard about men who "invite boys over for food".  But this guy, Bill, isn't like that.  He just wants to sculpt Jake's head.  And soon Jake is also learning how to sculpt.  But things just don't get magically better.  The gang leader, Blade, wants Jake.  And when the lackey he sends doesn't get him, they kidnap Layla.  This turns out really bad.  And, I won't give away the end, just know it isn't all roses.  So the spark of kindness and goodness is there, but it's a realistic ending.
The second story is called Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Girl, which is a play on a circus freak from a while back.  Jo lives in a trailer park, with abusive parents.  A mother who hits, and a father who, well it's never said what exactly he does, but you can figure it out.  Jo learns to get to her room when they're not there and push the dresser in front of the door.  One by one she finds three dogs that she takes in.  They protect her and she loves them.  She is made fun of at school because of her being poor.  And she has no friends.  Then one day the dogs lead a girl named Rose to their spot in the forest.  Reluctantly, but because the dogs seem to trust her, Jo becomes friends with Rose.  And teaches Rose how to "see" and "feel" like the dogs.  Rose is sick, she has leukemia.  And it seems that the dogs could sense it.  Jo is glad to have her a friend, even knowing this friendship won't last forever.
And the third and final story is Erik's Rules.  The main character is Jamie, and he and his brother Erik are homeless.  Their grandfather took them away from their parents when he saw how they lived.  But then one day, their grandfather got sick and had to go to an old folk's home.  And they could no longer live there or social services would probably have come and separated them.  So they tried going home, and that wasn't a lot better, so Erik stole a car and they'd been living in that.  Once in awhile Erik would have a girlfriend, and they'd live with her.  Every day while Erik worked, Jamie would go to the dog park, where he liked to draw the dog.  There was this one guy who came every day it seemed, but often with different dogs.  They soon find out he works at a dog shelter.  And, Greg, the guy from the shelter, wants to offer him a job drawing the dogs to help get them homes on the website.  Soon Greg learns that they're homeless, and why they don't have an apartment.  And he has a friend who just went away in the army, who they can stay there until they get some money saved.  While this story kind of leaves off with things in this kind of settled pattern, I would say it is the happiest ending of all of the stories.
Not sure if this is the best of all the books.  It is a good, quick, but hard to read book.  So it won't get my highest recommendation, but it is good.

2013 Truman Possibility 9: The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

I always have trouble picking up the non-paranormal, out of the ordinary stories.  I just seem to be drawn to the dystopian, paranormal, futuristic, sci-fi, horror, more than realistic fiction.  However thanks to reading to help choose the Trumans, I get exposed to great stories like these that I would probably never read otherwise.
The main character is Jessica, and she's a runner, or she used to be, before the accident that happened right before this book began.  It was a bus accident on a way to a track meet.  But Jessica was lucky, she lived, another girl on the bus, Lucy, died.  However, Jessica doesn't feel likely, because they had to amputate one of her legs.  Running was the thing Jessica loved most in the world.  Now even seeing other people's legs haunts her.  This is her story.  How she deals with getting a prosthetic leg.  When she goes back to school, and the track coach has researched and wants to help Jessica get a running leg prosthetic.  The bad thing, it costs $20,000.  Not only that, but her family is already having to deal with the insurance companies fighting about who is going to pay, and just the regular prosthetic will cost the same amount.  But the track team is determined to raise the money.  And what is even better, they get an anonymous person that promises to match $10,000 if they raise the other half.  But along the way Jessica learns a lot.  She has to take a step out of her world, first when she comes to school in a wheelchair, and the only place in one class that she can sit is at a table in the back with a girl who has cerebral palsy.  Soon Jessica becomes friends with Rosa, who helps her pass math class.  And of course, there's a boy, Gavin.  He can't possibly be into the girl with a stump can he?
It was a good, emotional story.  And a happy ending.  And that's good sometimes, but sometimes it makes me think that the world isn't really that perfect.  And there are some things that just seem to good to be true.  But maybe it's because I'm an adult, and a bit jaded, maybe it will help the kids it is meant for keep their hope and learn to be positive in the face of adversity.
Another good choice, while it is very realistic about what happens to someone going through all of that with the leg, etc., I still stand by my thought that it's a little too happy/perfect ending.

2013 Truman Possibility 8: Variant by Robison Wells

Now this is a book I've been waiting to read for a long time!  Almost every blog I've seen review it has really liked it.  And the premise of the story was totally intriguing.  And I have to say, I was not disappointed!  I was able to get a good deal on the book from the book fair at my school in September, $6.99, probably about what I would've paid for the paperback with my employee discount at Barnes and Noble, but this way I was supporting my school.
Variant is about a school, a private school called Maxfield Academy.  Benson Fisher is a foster kid.  He's moved from family to family.  The last one he was with had him working at their store all the time.  But not getting any money for it.  So he saw this school and applied, and he was lucky enough to get in, or so he thought.  When he got to the school, things were a bit weird.  The woman who drove him to the school, Ms. Vaughn, dropped him off and never got out of the car when he got there.  He soon found out there were no adults actually at the school.  All teenagers, who ran everything.  Security, maintenance, food, etc.  The classes were taught over a tv, and the subjects of those classes were unusual, aesthetics, field surveying, and also scheduled paintball games.  And no way out.  No connection to the outside world, no phones, no internet, nothing.  And what's weird is that there is a ton more classrooms than are needed for the number of kids.  It's not quite like The Lord of the Flies, although Benson heard it was like that at the start, the gangs would fight so much that there were actual deaths.  And now the "gangs" or groups, have come to agreements on how to deal with all of this.  Yet when Benson first gets there it's almost a fight to try to get him to join a gang, each gang tries.  But he decides to be a V or a Variant.  He learns that breaking the rules can mean a detention, and most people don't come back from detentions, and are later told they're dead.
So, I have to say that while the people here try to assure that it isn't like Lord of the Flies, in a way it still is, just maybe a controlled experiment.  And Benson tries to figure out that if it's some kind of an experiment, what in the world are they trying to find out?
And man, what a huge cliffhanger!!!  While I'm ready for more single books, non-series, I am eager to see where this story is going.  I'm guessing we still have some big surprises in store, as there is no way we know the whole story yet.  I can see this being a popular book for the Truman award, so I have a feeling it will be a definite one on the list for next year.

2013 Truman Possibility 6: The Girl of Fire And Thorns by Rae Carson

I hate to admit it, but once again I had let my judging a book by its cover keep me away from a really good book.  As I've mentioned before, I'm not really a fan of fantasy.  It takes a really good story or writing to draw me in.  This one did.  So glad that I had to read it to help pick the Truman nominees for next year.  I find so many good books through doing this.  I love, love, loved this one too!  It was hard to put down.  I hated every moment that took me away from reading.  In fact, I almost wanted to read instead of go to the movies Friday night!
Anyway, I was in love with the main character, Elisa, by the very second page.  As a bit of a chubby girl myself, reading about her having trouble being squeezed into her wedding dress made me an immediate sympathizer.  In fact, it made me wish I too lived in a time when a girl's marriage would be arranged.  How else would someone like me ever find an attractive, successful man to marry?  But anyway, that's off topic.  Elisa is a princess, the 2nd daughter in her family, and her father has married her off, promising King Alejandro to send troops to help with future battles.  But Elisa is not just the plain younger sister.  She also has the godstone, it means she was chosen by God to complete some act of service for him in the future. This also puts her in danger from people who would want to capture her and use her for their own nefarious purposes, not to mention the animagus who would cut her godstone from her body to use for their own magic.
We begin with the wedding, and then Elisa heads back with Alejandro to his country.  Only to find out that he wants to keep their marriage a secret for the time being.  Elisa is of course disappointed, but not completely surprised.  On their way to his country, Joya d'Arena, they are attacked as they cut through the jungle.  Elisa sees her husband freeze up, and she must save him.  She also sees her nurse Ximena take her hairpin out and kill a man with it when he figures out that Elisa has a godstone.  Yet another disappointment is a woman at the palace that Elisa figures out is Alejandro's mistress.  Turns out Condesa Arina sets her maid Cosme to spy on Elisa.  But Elisa turns the tables, and asks Cosme to come attend to her needs.  Soon Elisa learns there are things about her godstone that she hadn't been taught, and seeks out Father Nicandro in the palace's monastery to learn more.  Her nurse Ximena does not seem to be as open, so Elisa meets with the Father to find out what she can.
But more happens, Cosmo is not who she seemed to be.  She actually is from a desert tribe that is already fighting the enemy, the Inviernes.  She kidnaps Elisa and they take her to help their people.  Walking through the desert, Elisa loses a lot of weight, she also learns to be tougher, at first she can't walk the whole way, she needs to be helped.  But once she gets to the village, and realizes that these people need her help, she does her best to help them.  Along the way she gets to know Cosme's brother Humberto.
I won't go much more into the plot, just to say that it is great.  While in a way there may be a tiny bit of a love triangle, let me just say that in no way are both guys perfect.  And she doesn't necessarily end up  happy with either one!  I won't give away what happens.  Just know that it is a different story.  Realistic?  Not sure, but not just a "fantasy romance".  An emotional read, and I love how Elisa grows, in a realistic way, throughout her ordeal.  But she does not all of a sudden become a perfect swordsman or fighter.  It is all what makes sense.  If you haven't read this yet, you need to!!

2013 Truman Possibility 5: The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

While this is a cute book, it's not really that great.  To me that is.  I guess it might be more of a draw to the 6th graders who read the Truman books, but it was really kind of childish.  It did have a good message, similar in a way to Silhouetted by the Blue, but told in a much sillier kind of way.  Which can be good, I just don't find it to be as good of a book.
Our main character is Mike, and he has a genius of a father, literally a genius.  But an absent minded genius.  He can't always remember faces, including his own son, and if it wasn't for Mike, they'd have lots of issues with bills getting paid, etc.  As in the other book I mentioned, Mike's mother is dead.  So it's a story of another single parent.  Well, Mike's dad assumes that Mike wants to be an engineer/scientist just like him.  Which, Mike doesn't.  In fact, Mike actually has an actual math disability.  Well, his dad gets a summer opportunity in Romania, but he can't take Mike with him.  So he sends Mike to live with his great aunt and uncle, Moo and Poppy, to help Poppy work on an Artesian screw, or so he's told.  When he gets there, it turns out that things aren't really that much better there.  Poppy isn't talking, or moving, or anything.  He's been really depressed since their son Doug died.  Moo doesn't make sure the bills are getting paid, or maybe doesn't have quite enough money from their Social Security checks to pay them.  One of the women in town is trying to adopt an orphan from Romania named Misha, which means Mike.  And it turns out that it isn't an Artesian screw he's there to help with, it's an artisan's crew.  They're supposed to be helping Poppy make these beautiful wood boxes that they can sell to raise money to help with the adoption.  So while Mike is trying to help out Moo and Poppy, he gets sucked in to help the town with the whole adoption fundraiser.  He meets a man named Past, who seems to be living on the streets.  He meets a girl named Gladys at the bank, she's got tattoos and piercings, and is supposed to be a really good singer, but she's too shy to sing in front of anyone.  Mike really works to help with this, even though his father doesn't approve.  And he helps the town by introducing them to using YouTube to help raise money.  And eBay.  And he tries to get Poppy out of his funk.  But of course, things don't go perfectly, and there are issues.  All in all, it does work out, of course, it's a kid's book.
It's not bad.  I did enjoy it, it's just not the best of the books that I've read for this list.

2013 Truman Possibility 3: Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L. Jones

So once again I'm reading to help choose the Truman Award Nominees for 2013-2014.  I've actually already read 2 of them, The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson.  So this is the 3rd one on the list I've read.  I'm not going to go back and change the title of those reviews, but from now on I'll put "2013 Truman Possibility" in front of the titles so that I can keep track of them as I read them.  I have to get them all read by December 1st.  Not sure how that's going to happen, but I'm working on it.  There is one that I know for sure I don't want to read all the way through, The Emerald Atlas.  But I'll give it a bit of a chance, probably as the last book.  Anyway, let's get on with my review of this book, Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L. Jones.
This was a great book.  I gave it a 5 star rating on Goodreads.  It was just such a realistic story to me, and it kept me reading when I picked it up.  I think kids would really get into the realism as well.  A lot of students don't like all the fantasy in stories, they want to read something they can relate to, or that is just plain "real".  And this book is perfect for those kids.
The main character is Serena.  She lives with her father and younger brother Henry.  Their mother died in a car accident about a year and a half ago.  Her father has slowly slipped into what Serena calls a "blue". Basically he is depressed.  He sits around the house all day and sleeps or does nothing.  He doesn't help Serena with her younger brother, or make sure there is any food for them, or even work so that they have money.  Serena is in 7th grade.  I think her brother is about 2nd grade.  Serena now has to walk him to school, make breakfast for him, and pick him up after school, make dinner for him, basically run the house.  But Serena just had something wonderful happen at school, she got the lead in the musical, The Wiz!  Normally the lead parts go to 8th graders, so this is very exciting.  But Serena has a beautiful singing voice and that is what helps her get the part.  She has two best friends, Nikka and Kat.  Another girl, one of those really pretty, perfect girls that you want to hate, but can't because she is really, really nice, named Candy, is also friendly with Serena, and is going to be her understudy in the play.
The play is very important.  It could help the school get special funding for the drama department for like 2 or 3 years.  So it is very important that Serena be at all the rehearsals and do her best so they can wow the committee that decides who gets the grant.  But right away Serena gets a call from her brother's school and she has to go pick him up and bring him with her to the rehearsal because her dad never showed up to get him.  Fortunately for Serena there is a boy named Elijah who helps her out when the teacher isn't really happy about a little kid being at his rehearsal.  Elijah is a cute boy that Serena has Spanish and other classes with.  She convinced him to come be a part of the play because of his artistic abilities.  He gets Henry, her little brother, involved with the sets.  Turns out that Henry is also kind of artistic, which would make sense, as Serena and Henry's father is a famous children's book illustrator.
Things at home don't get better though.  Her father sinks deeper and deeper.  Doesn't take a shower, wears the same pajamas every day.  One night Serena finds her father out in the car.  Which really scares her, but he says he is just out there because the car still smells like her mom.  And he is looking at a photo album.  Serena tries really hard to contact what family she has for help.  But her grandmother has really bad Alzheimer's and can't seem to remember she is Serena, and not her mother.  Her uncle is a world traveler and while she tries to stress to him how much she needs him, he doesn't quite get it.  And it just gets worse and worse.  Soon, after a search on the internet about depression, Serena knows her father has to get to see a doctor.  He's begun giving away important things in his life to people, and there are other signs that this depression could lead to suicide.
This book was heart wrenchingly realistic.  I've had students who had to deal with parents who committed suicides, and while this book did have a happy ending, I like how realistic it is up to that point.  I know students who have to take care of younger brothers and sisters because their parents are working two jobs, or doing drugs, or are even depressed like in this book.  And I think there are kids who will really relate to this.
A great, emotional pick for one of the nominees this year.