The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (2008)

Plot Summary:  Chloe hits puberty and begins to see ghosts everywhere.  Her behavior becomes erratic and unstable because of frequent visits from ghosts that seem to terrorize her.  Because of her bizarre behavior, Chloe is diagnosed as a schizophrenic and sent to live in a group home called Lyle House with other troubled teens.  Not only is Chloe very unhappy living at the home, but she is tormented by some of the other teens that live there. 

Chloe is locked in a crawl space that is unknowingly a burial spot for dead bodies by a rotten roommate.  When the spirits that once inhabited these bodies re-enter their corpses and begin to move, Chloe finally begins to fully realize and understand her supernatural powers.  This is an interesting story involving the supernatural, and contains some gruesome scenarios.  Read this book with your doors and windows locked.

Genre:  Fantasy

Subjects/Themes:  Group homes, supernatural powers, troubled teens, ghosts

Reviews:  Publishers Weekly Review and School Library Journal

Age Group:  Ages 12 and up.

Series Information:  Darkest Powers Trilogy.  Other books:  The Awakening (book 2) and The Reckoning (book 3).

The Clique: A graphic Novel by Lisi Harrison & Yishan Li (2010)

Plot Summary:  Claire Lyons move from Florida to Westchester, New York is difficult enough without someone making her feel unwelcome, even hated.  Claire's dad has lost his job so they are forced to move into the guest house on his college buddy's estate.  When Claire meets Massie Block, the girl who lives on the estate, she thinks that they can be friends, especially since they are both going into 7th grade.  Claire couldn't be more wrong.  Massie has a group of friends, and Claire is not welcome to join them.  Massie not only ignores and berates Claire, she goes out of her way to humiliate her.  Massie and her friends only buy designer clothes and it's obvious that they are out of Claire's league.  This is a story of a battle between Massie and Claire, but who will win?  Will Massie realize how superficial she really is and accept Claire as her friend?  Or will Claire have to continue to fight back and try to outsmart Massie?  This story of cliques and mean girls, unfortunately, is quite realistic. 

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Format:  Graphic Novel

Subject/Themes: Cliques, snobs, bullying, rich families, private schools

Reviews:  Publishers Weekly Review, School Library Journal, and Booklist Review

Age Group:  Grades 5-8

Hate That Cat: A Novel (2008) by Sharon Creech

Summary:  Jack is back, and this time his poetry is all about about cats.  Jack is very happy to be in Mrs. Stretchberry's class for the second year in a row and learning more about poetry and poets.  He even is lucky enough to get postcards from Walter Dean Myers!  Read his poetry and find out if he really hates that cat.

Genre:  Free Verse Poetry

Subjects/Themes:  types of poetry, cats, dogs, poets

Reviews:  Booklist, School Library Journal

Age Group:  Grades 4-8

Love that Dog (2001) by Sharon Creech

Plot Summary:  Jack is a student in Room 105-Miss Stretchberry's class.  He starts out his book of poetry in September by telling the reader that he doesn't want to write poetry because only girls write poetry.  This sweet little book of poetry follows a student's experimentations with reading and writing poetry.  The poems are questions and responses that the writer has asked his teacher.  It contains classics such poets as Robert Frost, William Blake, and William Carlos Williams.  Jack struggles with self-confidence in writing poetry.  He doubts his own writng abilities, and this book follows his progress in the subjects of reading and writing poetry.  By June, it becomes obvious that Jack has not only found a favorite poet, but has become a great lover of poetry.

Genre:  Free Verse Poetry

Subjects/Themes:  types of poetry, dogs, writers

Reviews:  Positive reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal, SLJ referred to this book as "a tiny treasure."

Age Group:  Grades 4-8

The Looking Glass Wars (2006) by Frank Beddor

Plot Summary:  In this first book in the trilogy, Alyss is part of a royal family since she is the princess of Wonderland.  However, her status changes when her evil Aunt Redd is successful in her attack on the royal family forcing Alyss to flee with her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, into the Pool of Tears.  Hatter loses his grip on Alyss's hand, and she winds up in Victorian England.  Not knowing how to get back to Wonderland, Alyss tries to survive on the streets with other orphans.  Despite her best efforts to remain "free," Alyss finds herself in an orphanage and is adopted by a family.  Alyss tries to get anyone to believe that she is a real princess that belongs in Wonderland, but is dismissed time and again for believe a child with "quite an imagination."  Hatter desperately tries to find Alyss and travels far and wide to do so.  He finally does many years later and interrupts her wedding to explain to Alyss that they must return together in order to save Wonderland, overthrow Redd, and restore order to the throne.

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As a fan of Alice in Wonderland in all shapes and forms, I find this trilogy to be an excellent combination of science fiction and technology while pulling in elements of the original Alice in Wonderland story.  It is a fast moving adventurous tale of the original “Alyss,” who is princess of Wonderland. 

Subjects/Themes:  Imagination, war, rulers

Genre:  Fantasy

Reviews:  School Library Journal & Booklist

Age Group: Grades 4-7

Series:  Trilogy:  The Looking Glass Wars, Seeing Redd, and Archenemy

Smile (2010) by Raina Telgemeier

Plot Summary:  Raina, a 6th grader, is not happy when she finds out that she needs braces.  As far as she is concerned, her teeth look fine.  She gets this bad news and then something even worse happens.  While returning from a girl scout meeting, she and her friends are fooling around and chasing one another when Raina trips and falls.  This fall badly damages her mouth, and her two front teeth fall out!  It's absolutely horrible.  Although her mom rushes her to the dentist with one of the teeth in hand, things do not go as they hope.  The dentist inserts the tooth and creates a cast on Raina's upper gums to try to hold the tooth in place.  The other tooth has been pushed far up into Raina's gums and will hopefully come back down.  Several weeks later when the cast is removed, the tooth immediately falls back out.  This is only the beginning of Raina's mouth problems. 

This story follows Raina through middle school and into high school. Her journey includes many of the things that most kids would expect-mean girls, pimples, and boys!  Raina is also forced to endure various forms of mouth trauma over the years-all of the mouth pain that comes with braces, false teeth attached to a retainer, and problems with her gums.  Not only does Raina have to deal with all of the regular social and emotional problems of growing up, but her mouth tooth situation as well.  This true story about the author is one that tweens and teens alike can relate to.

Format:  Graphic Novel

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Subjects/Themes:  Braces, mouth trauma, friendship

Reviews:  Great reviews by School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly.

Age Group:  Grades 5 & up

13 Treasures (2010) by Michelle Harrison

Plot Summary: 13 year old Tanya is tired of being poked and tormented by fairies that only she can see.  They are the reason why she has such a terrible relationship with her mother.  Tanya's mom doesn't understand that the fairies are behind all of the late night disturbances and destruction within their home.  Tanya's mother's patience snaps and she decides that Tanya is going to stay with her grandmother for a few weeks.  This is not happy news for Tanya, since her grandmother always makes it obvious that she isn't wanted there, and the place is filled with even more fairies.  But Tanya has no choice, and she must put up with her unhappy grandmother as well as the grounds keeper's son, Fabian, who is always lurking about and annoying her. 

Not thinking it possible, upon arrival to her grandmother's house even more mysterious things begin to happen.  What are her grandmother and the groundskeeper Warwick whispering about?  Why are Tanya and Fabian banned from entering the woods?  The unlikely duo of Tanya and Fabian team up to uncover an age old disappearance of a young girl, the secrets behind the hidden passageways, the origin of Tanya's second sight, and the curse of the catacombs.  This is a must read for mystery and fairy lovers everywhere.

Please enjoy this book trailer:

Genre:  Fantasy/Mystery

Subjects/Themes:  Fairies, supernatural powers, murder, kidnapping

Reviews:  Publishers Weekly Review, School Library Journal, and Booklist

Age Group:  Grades 5-8

High Interest Annotation:  This dark, supernatural story will keep you on the edge of your seat.  Read and unravel the mysteries of the 13 Treasures.....  A must for fairy lovers.