Okay, so I’ve read this one before, it being by my best friend/critique partner. But I read it two years ago, so I needed a refresher before chatting about it with my book club yesterday. =) I’ve found that it’s just as brilliantly done as I remembered! Stephanie does a fabulous job of writing a story of love and loss, boldness and honor, of a great injustice met with grace by many of those who suffered it and ignored–and often forgotten–by those who watched it happen. This book tells the story of the Japanese Americans who were relocated and sent to camps during WWII here in America, capturing all the horrifying details–like the fact that the camps weren’t finished and had no working toilets, no walls in the dorms, and the paper exterior walls (literally!) did little to keep out the desert sand–through the eyes of our hero, Taichi. Meanwhile Evalina, the girl who loves him, is determined to fight against this injustice back home in San Francisco. I love how she paints one thumbnail red–leaving the other nails bare–to remind herself that life isn’t normal anymore, even though everyone else in the city goes on with life as if their neighbors hadn’t just been imprisoned simply because of their heritage. Highly recommended!!! It’s a young adult but great for any age group, from middle schoolers on up to my grandmother!

Okay, who doesn’t like a princess book?? I know my daughter and I are both crazy for them, and we were super excited at WhiteFire to welcome Heart of a Royal into our young adult line, WhiteSpark! Hannah Currie (an Aussie author) has done a fabulous job in this first book in her Daughter of Peverell series–a fictional kingdom in modern times. Mackenna Sparrow is a commoner by birth, but when the queen dies giving birth to a daughter the same day Mackenna is born, her mother is brought to the palace to nurse the infant princess, and the king promises Mackenna a home there as long as Princess Alina is there. So she’s grown up with the life of a princess…which is now crumbling around her. The king hates her and, now that Alina is engaged, kicks her out, forbidding her from ever speaking to his son, Prince Thoraben again. It seems the people have gotten it into their heads that she ought to marry Ben and be their next queen, and while Ben has always been her best friend, she can’t imagine why they feel this way. As her life shifts around her and a horrible storm disrupts everything in the kingdom, Mackenna finds herself having to face not only the people’s expectations, but her own heart–and the truth behind the Rebels she’s been taught are her greatest enemy.

Our school year is in full swing, and we’ve already read quite a few books! The other day we finished The Sign of the Beaver, a great middle grade book about a boy whose father leaves him to watch the homestead in Maine one summer while he goes back to Massachusetts to fetch Matt’s mother and sister. Matt’s summer nearly ends in ruin until some local Indians step in. He ends up thrown together with a native boy a year older than him–he’s supposed to be teaching Attean to read, but more often Attean is teaching him how to survive in the wilderness. They definitely don’t strike up an instant friendship, but it was a wonderful thing to watch develop!

Lawn Boy

by Gary Paulsen

I love this short little book. It’s hilarious and fascinating–the most fun you’ll ever have when it comes to economics lessons. 😉 The idea is that a boy is given a lawn mower for his twelfth birthday and soon he finds himself with more jobs in the neighborhood than he can keep up with. But no worries–a local stockbroker knows some guys who’d be happy to help with the work for a portion of the pay…and does he mind if he pays him in stock? He’s a little cash-poor right now. Pretty soon, this kid is the head of an enterprise he can’t even fathom. Each chapter has very technical titles, and then the story itself is nothing but fun.