Gossip Girl, by Cecily Von Ziegesar

"This book is a very good read for anyone who likes, or spreads, gossip. Gossip Girl, as she calls herself, is spreading vicious rumors about Selena, all of them are untrue, but noboby wants to doubt a gossip. In this book, Selena is back from boarding school in France, and not everybody is fond of her being back at Constance High. Blair, Selena's former best friend, is especially angry. When Selena left, she was the most popular girl. But will that change? Read the book and find out." ~ Mandie, 8th grade, Columbia Middle School

Have

a

Fun,

Safe

July 4th!

Modern British Poetry: "The world is never the same,” edited by Michelle Houle

I must make a confession: I am not a great lover of poetry. Rhyming couplets, dramatic monologues, blank verse, stanzas and quatrains??? It's mostly just blah blah blah to me. So I was a little surprised with I picked up a copy of Modern British Poetry: “The world is never the same,” part of the Poetry Rocks series, and found myself liking what I found! The author, Michelle Houle, has done a nice job pulling together interesting information about eleven British writers from the 19th and 20th century, showing the reader one our two of their more famous poems, and then helping the reader understand what the key messages are in the poems being showcased. It even comes with its own small glossary of terms often used to describe poetry.

Sure, some of the authors I had previously heard of, like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson and W. B. Yeats. But others were unknown to me. For example, I happened to find a small chapter devoted to Wilfred Owen, who enlisted in the army and served in the front trenches in France during World War I. His poem Dulce et Decorum Est (Latin for "It is sweet and right to die for one's country") poignantly brought out the horror of watching a fellow soldier die during a gas attack in World War I. Of course, once you've read one interesting section, you want to press on to see what's cool about the next writer. I hope you’ll give this little book a chance!

Darklight, by Lesley Livingston

If you’re a fan of Lesley Livingston’s earlier work Wondrous Strange (published in 2009), then you’ll love her sequel, Darklight. Kelley Winslow has returned to New York City to pursue her acting career, but she ends up right back in the Otherworld. She reunites with her true love Sonny, a member of the elite Ganus Guard, to again take on the forces of evil. But will Kelley’s powers, passed on to her by her mother the Faire Queen, be enough?

This is a good sequel to read if you like fantasy, and enjoy the mix of a magical world meeting our own!

11 birthdays, by Wendy Mass

"11 birthdays was a great book. If we had to rate stars it would be 5 stars immediately! It is about a girl who shares her birthday with her neighbor and best friend (who's a boy!) and one day they have a fight and switch places. It is a fun and exciting book. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did." An wonderful review by an anonymous reader!

Say the Word, by Jeannine Garsee

When Shawna was only seven years old her mother left her father, Jack, and moved in with her life partner. Ten years later Shawna learns of her mother’s death, and meets up with her partner, Fran, and their two kids – Arye (17), and Schmule (10). Shawna has to deal with her controlling father, who is out to ruin Fran financially, and cope with her own feelings toward gay rights, all while she embraces a budding romance and a search for her own independence.

If you liked Jeannine Garsee's earlier book Before, After, and Somebody in Between, then you you'll love her latest novel. And check out this 2009 interview with Garsee by Debbi Michiko Florence. I really liked the part where she confessed to doing much of her writing while sitting in a local coffee shop typing away for hours and hours . . . .

Riot, by Walter Dean Myers

In the summer of 1863 New York City was rocked by violence when the federal government, desperate for new military recruits for the Union army during the Civil War, passed the Enrollment Act. This allowed the government to draft any man between the ages of 20 and 45 into military service. Many recent immigrants, especially the Irish who recently had moved from Ireland to escape the potato famine, rose up in arms against a war they did not feel was theirs. To make matters worse, part of the law allowed the rich to pay a substitute $300 to serve for them. This angered a large number of the poor. Crowds turned violent, buildings were burned down, and African Americans were assaulted and lynched. In four days over 1,000 people were killed and 50 large buildings burned by fire.

Walter Dean Myers new novel, Riot, is set in New York City during this tumultuous time. Claire, the 15 year old daughter of an African American father and Irish mother, finds her loyalties to her family and friends tested as the City is torn apart by racial violence.

What set’s this story apart is that the narrative is arranged like a movie script, with the location of each “shot” set up for you. For example: “AERIAL SHOT, then the sound of music rises as the camera slowly moves in once again. The streets of Lower Manhattan are indistinct but sharpen gradually. . . . .” This makes the book both dramatic and easy to read! This is the same style Myers used in his popular book Monster.