The Midwife's Apprentice

by Karen Cushman

First called Brat, then called Beetle, our main character finally chooses for herself the name Alyce. She has nothing, and no one to love. No home, no family, until she saves the life of an orange cat who seems to be just as unfortunate as herself. She is discovered sleeping in a dung heap by a grumpy old midwife, and becomes her apprentice.

There is no real drama here, other than Alyce growing to believe in herself, fighting off horrible bullies, and learning how to birth babies in a time when many women died in childbirth. This is a beautifully told story, with rich historical details, and a main character you just want to hug. (After she cleans up from the dung heap, of course!)

The Night Gardener

by Jonathan Auxier

Molly and Kip, immigrants come to America to escape the Irish potato famine, are on their own, and looking for employment. They hear of the Windsor house, and want to see if perhaps the Windsors are looking for servants. But the Windsor house is in the "sourwoods," and the only person who'll tell them how to get there is a creepy old storyteller they meet on the path. Upon arrival, they find a family of four, in poor health, and a house with a giant tree bursting through the foundation and walls. The tree has a secret, and soon Molly is as wrapped up in it as the Windsors.

This book has the feel of an old Grimm's fairy tale. Scary, but not TOO scary.

Far Far Away

by Tom McNeal

Jeremy Johnson Johnson hears voices. Or rather, he hears the voice of Jacob Grimm. Yep, THAT Jacob Grimm. The ghost of Jacob is Jeremy's constant companion. They live in a town called Never Better, but the name is misleading. Kids are disappearing, and if Jeremy can't solve the mystery, he might be next.

I don't know how to describe this book without ruining any of the surprises, so I'll just tell you how much I loved it! When the mystery is finally revealed, I promise, it will knock your socks off!

The Mostly True Story of Jack

by Kelly Barnhill

Jack is a person who just doesn't get noticed. In fact, he feels invisible most of the time. When his parents split up, he goes to Iowa to live with his aunt and uncle, and his life gets even weirder. Letters home always end up back in the mailbox, and it seems his parents are finding him easy to forget. Unfortunately, he does get noticed by the town bully. Soon he realizes he's fighting more than a local bully, as he begins to investigate the town's overabundance of missing children. Can Jack win against an ancient soul-stealing evil, or will he lose his in the process?

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It started out great, but for me, it got confusing and convoluted pretty quickly. The characters all blended together, and I had a hard time keeping them straight. If you really love quirky, weird, mysteries, this might be for you, but it was hard for me to finish.

A Matter of Days

by Amber Kizer

The Bluestar virus has wiped out the world as we know it. Nadia and her little brother Rabbit were given a super-secret vaccine by their Special Forces uncle, so they are the only people they know who survived. Their Uncle Bean gave them specific instructions to try to get their mom to take the vaccine (she was too stubborn to take it, and therefore croaked pretty quickly) and then try to get to West Virginia. He claims he'll be there waiting for them with their Pappy, whom they've never met. Since they're starting in Seattle, this turns into a quite a trip. They meet a few other survivors along the way, who happened to have a natural immunity to the virus.

This is a pretty simple story of a journey, and focuses more on how these two survive than anything else. It was interesting, but not one I'll rave about. For you people out there who just can't get enough of the end of the world.

This is What Happy Looks Like

by Jennifer E. Smith

When Graham Larkin accidentally hits one key too many and sends Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig by mistake, she can't pass up the opportunity to respond. They begin an email friendship that quickly turns flirtatious, and pretty soon, they're emailing every chance they get. They never exchange numbers, or even names, for fear of ruining the magic, but they know they live all the way across the country from each other--Graham in California, Ellie in Maine. There's something Ellie doesn't know about her pen pal, though. He's a movie star. Like, the hottest teen star in the country.

Graham finds out that his newest film project needs to be set in a quiet beach town, and suddenly he knows just the place. He suggests to the producers that they work in Ellie's hometown, and when he gets there, he sets out to try to find her. When he does, the connection is immediate, but Ellie has a secret of her own. Will they be able to get past all the drama in their lives and be able to be together?

This is not normally my kind of book, but I had heard so many good things about it I just had to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! Funny, sweet, and hopeful in all the right ways.