Book Review:   Bibliography- Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus I: a survivor's tale: my Father bleeds history . Pantheon Publishing. ISBN 039474232   Plot Summary- This book is not just a story, it is a brutally moving work of art. Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the Spiegelman’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats. Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving Spiegelman’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies. It is a heart wrenching story of survival and takes a serious look at the legacy of trauma.   Critical Analysis- This two-part novel traces the journey of Vladek Spiegelman, a father and Holocaust survivor. Through a series of personal interviews, by his son Art, Vladek recounts his journey of survival though a chronological series of stories. Art consistently alternates between n...

  Book Review:   Bibliography- Krosoczka, J. J. (2018). Hey, kiddo . Graphix Publishing. ISBN 0545902487   Plot Summary- The powerful, unforgettable graphic memoir from Jarrett Krosoczka, about growing up with a drug-addicted mother, a missing father, and two unforgettably opinionated grandparents. In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy. But Jarrett's family is much more complicated than that. His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. His father is a mystery, Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is. Jarrett lives with his grandparents, two very loud, very loving, very opinionated people who had thought they were through with raising children until Jarrett came along. Jarrett goes through his childhood trying to make his non-normal life as normal as possible, finding a way to express himself through drawing even as so little is being sai...

Book Review:   Bibliography- Ogle, R. (2021). Free lunch . Norton Young Readers. ISBN 1324016949   Plot Summary- Instead of giving him lunch money, Rex’s mom has signed him up for free meals. As a poor kid in a wealthy school district, better-off kids crowd impatiently behind him as he tries to explain to the cashier that he’s on the free meal program. The lunch lady is hard of hearing, so Rex must shout. This is the story of Rex’s efforts to navigate his first semester of sixth grade, who to sit with, not being able to join the football team, Halloween in a handmade costume, classmates and a teacher who takes one look at him and decides he’s trouble, all while wearing secondhand clothes and being hungry. His mom and her boyfriend are out of work, and life at home is punctuated by outbursts of violence. Halfway through the semester, his family is evicted and ends up in government-subsidized housing in view of the school. Rex lingers at the end of last period ev...

  Bibliography- Condie, A. (2011). Matched . Penguin Books. ISBN 9780142419779   Plot Summary- Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate. Until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.   Critical Analysis- In the book Matched , Condie uses conflict to teach the reader that society doesn’t know what...

  Bibliography- Barron, T. (2013). Tree girl . Puffin Books. ISBN 014242708X   Plot Summary- Rowanna's stern caretaker has warned her again and again not to go near the trees that surround their seaside cottage. But Rowanna is drawn to the forest, especially the High Willow on its faraway hill. Are the trees really forest ghouls, as Mellwyn says? Or could they possibly hold the secret to Rowanna's past and the mother she can hardly remember? If only she could get near the High Willow, Rowanna feels certain she would understand.    Critical Analysis- Although this is not a typical sci-fi/fantasy story, it is still relevant to today’s middle school students. Questions about heritage, belonging, and existence, usually come up around middle school. Some students will be able to relate explicitly to Anna's problem of not knowing her mother, but others will be able to relate more to the feeling of not getting along with parents, or just wanting to know ans...

  Bibliography- Chee, T. (2017). The reader . Speak Publishers. ISBN 0147518059   Plot Summary- Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken to, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind. An object she comes to realize is a book, a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed and punish the people responsible.   Critical Analysis- I enjoyed this book for its graceful writing, thoughtful detail...

  Book Review:     Bibliography: Sepetys, R. (2012). Between shades of gray . Philomel Books. ISBN 014242059X   Plot Summary: Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life -- until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?     Critical Analysis: In the Author's Note, Ruta Sepetys gives background information of the time period and countries involved. Her style of writing is simple yet powerful and c...

  Book Review:     Bibliography: Markus, Z. (2016). The book thief . Random House UK . ISBN 9781909531611   Plot Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened, and closed down.   Critical Analysis: In this book, the story is told mostly from the non-human perspective of Death, w...

Book Review:     Bibliography: Lee, S. (2021). The downstairs girl . G.P Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. ISBN 1524740977     Plot Summary: By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shad...

  Book Review-     Bibliography- Yoon, N. (2017).  Everything everything . Ember Publishing.   Plot Summary- My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean, and wearing all black, black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.   Critical Analysis- The book is written like a diary, which flowed easily and made it a quick read without being taxing on your emotions. The characters of Mad...

  Book Review:     Bibliography- Thomas, A. (2022). The hate u give (A. Stenberg, Narr.). Balzer + Bray . ISBN 0062498541   Plot Summary- Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what  really  went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.   Criti...