The White Tower

by Cathryn Constable

Livy Burgess's best friend Mahalia has just lost her battle with leukemia. Livy is reeling with grief, but her parents decide it might be good for her to take an opportunity for free tuition at the prestigious Temple College, a preparatory school in London. Livy's dad is offered a job as the new librarian there, and it's a chance the family can't pass up. The action starts immediately when, after the move, Livy and her mom encounter the eccentric ex-librarian at Temple, who appears to be homeless and quickly losing his marbles. Also, the stern and intimidating headmistress seems to have an agenda; she's very interested in a possible connection the Burgess family may have to the founder of Temple College, scientist Peter Burgess. Livy senses something's not quite right at her new school, and when she meets an intriguing boy on the roof, even more questions are raised. She's determined to figure out what's going on, even if she has to risk her own life to do it. Livy's love for her departed friend, and her struggle to make new ones and find her place in the world, will resonate with readers. Minor characters are underdeveloped, with the exception of Livy's lively four-year-old brother Tom, and there are a few aimless plot points. The twist at the end is a shocker, though, and the resolution satisfies.

Dragonfly Song

by Wendy Orr

Aissa is the firstborn daughter of the Lady, the village priestess, but the extra thumb on each of her hands makes her unworthy in the eyes of the gods. She is supposed to be left to die, but the Lady’s wise woman quietly sneaks her to a family of goatherds across the mountain. When that family is also tragically lost to her, Aissa finds herself back in the Lady’s house, working as a servant and choosing to be mute. Abused, rejected, and knowing nothing of her true parentage, Aissa is eventually cast out of the city by the other servants. Each year, soldiers from Crete come for one boy and one girl tribute to dance with the bulls. If they survive, their community is freed from providing future tributes, but no one has ever come back. Aissa knows she has to try to dance with the bulls…she truly has nothing to lose. The Bronze Age setting makes for a unique backdrop to Aissa’s story, and she is a sympathetic character. Her struggles are heart-wrenching, and made more so by the lyrical storytelling style. The descriptions of the dances are especially vivid.

The Empty Grave

by Jonathan Stroud

With a deep sigh, I say good bye to this amazing series. Stroud kept the quality of all five books consistently engaging, which is no easy task. Every book in this series has one major mystery the crew needs to solve. This one, in addition to that, manages to also wrap up the biggest mystery of all. That's right. We get to find out what started the Problem. And it's no lame cop-out of an ending, either. A fantastic conclusion to one of my favorite book series of all time.


Lucy, Lockwood, George, Holly, and last but not least, Skull...a sad farewell!

The Serpent King

by Jeff Zentner

Dill, Lydia, and Travis are an unlikely trio of best friends. Dill is from a snake-handling religious family, but his father has recently landed himself in prison. Lydia is a somewhat spoiled only child who comes from an almost picture perfect home. Travis is sweet, nerdy, and has an abusive father. Facing the end of high school, the three are trying to find their own direction and sort out their feelings about themselves and the others. More than anything, this is a classic coming-of-age story that I think a lot of teens (the target audience) will love. For me, it's trying a little too hard to be John Green-ish, but just misses the mark. It's a lovely little book, though, that I think will really hit home with the right reader.

This book is not in our middle school library, but could be found at bookstores or at the public library.

Zero Day

by Jan Gangsei

Addie, the daughter of a governor, is kidnapped from the governor's mansion while playing hide and seek with her friend Darrow. Eight years later, her father is the President of the United States, and Addie mysteriously reappears. At first, family and friends are joyful, but as bits of Addie's past are revealed, it becomes clear that Addie isn't the scared little kidnap victim she appears to be. I thought the plot moved along nicely, and it was an interesting story...until the end. Loose ends, a cliffhanger, and real head-scratcher is what you're left with.

My Life With the Liars

by Caela Carter

I'm not sure why, but I love a good cult novel, and this one was pretty satisfying. Zylynn lives with The Children in the Light, a small, secretive community in the Arizona desert. She's been there for as long as she can remember, so all she knows is all white clothes, "hungry days" where she and the others are not allowed to eat, and a rigid schedule of work and worship. All girls in the community officially become women at age 13. If they make the ceremony on their 13th birthday, they are assured a place in the community forever. Just days before her 13th birthday, Zylynn is taken from the community by a man named Louis, who says he is her father. All of a sudden, she has a stepmother, a dad, and three rambunctious siblings. Zylynn doesn't understand the abundance of food, the concept of choice, or parental love, among other things, and her transition to the world we know is incredibly painful. All she wants is to get back to the world she knows, but she's enjoying the food and the freedom of ours. Every emotion causes her confusion and guilt. The greatest sin in the Light compound is curiosity, and she is completely distressed that she can't make the curiosity go away. This novel is basically about Zylynn coming to terms with the painful truth about her past and the community that raised her.

The plot is a little slow, since it all takes place inside Zylynn's head, and her thoughts are pretty repetitive, but I was interested enough in learning what her ultimate choice would be to keep going.

The Leaving

by Tara Altebrando

This book has a really intriguing premise. Intriguing enough that when I pulled it out of the Follett box it immediately jumped to the top of my TBR pile. And it started out with a bang! Six kindergartners go missing, and eleven years later, they all come back. Except for one. I was dying to know what happens! About a quarter of the way through, we were still going strong. The story is told in alternating points of view, and I enjoyed getting to hear each kid's story. It turns out, though, that we don't get all the kids' perspectives, and the rest are literally just spares. I couldn't figure out why they were even in the story at all. Did six just sound better than three? I kept going, because I held out hope that finding out what happened to Max would be worth it. It wasn't. The ending was rushed, and  completely unbelievable.