Curly-haired Daisy likes picking lemons on sunny days, playing kickball and making long dandelion chains. But more than any of these things, she loves words and even compiles lists of her favorites in a bright green notebook covered with purple polka dots. When Daisy’s beloved teacher, Miss Goldner, becomes engaged and must move to another town, Daisy decides to give her the ultimate gift: the perfect word. But with so many good words to choose from, finding just the right one isn’t easy.
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction genre
A Tinfoil Sky
Mel and her mother, Cecily, know what it’s like to live rough, whether it’s on the streets or in the apartment of an abusive man. When Cecily announces that they’ve had enough and that they are going to go home to her mother’s, Mel dreams of security, a comfortable bed, and a grandmother’s love seem to be about to come true. But some mistakes cannot be easily forgiven or erased. Her grandmother is not what Mel expects, and though the local library offers sanctuary, a real home seems beyond her grasp. Mel’s determination to rise above what fate has dealt is about to change that. Cyndi Sand-Eveland’s work with homeless youth gives her characters an authenticity no reader will forget. Ultimately, a story of hope and acceptance, A Tinfoil Sky is a powerful novel.
Various Positions
When talented, dedicated fourteen-year-old Georgia Slade becomes a student in an elite Toronto ballet academy, her confusing feelings toward one of her teachers lead to disaster.
Gil Marsh
High school track star Gil Marsh comes to terms with the loss of his close friend and teammate, Enko, and his own mortality while on a journey to find Enko’s grave in this modern retelling of the ancient Sumerian tale of Gilgamesh.
Lower the Trap
Graeme knows every inch of his fishing community. What’s left for a future marine biologist to discover? But when Graeme’s dad catches a gargantuan lobster with antennae the size of bicycle spokes, Graeme is fascinated. Graeme is even more excited When his dad promises to put the creature up for auction at the town’s annual lobster festival and, if it gets the highest bid, use the prize money to take Graeme to a marine research aquarium. But what if the right thing would be to set the lobster free? Lower the Trap is the first book in the Lobster Chronicles, a trilogy about what happens in a small coastal town when a giant lobster is caught. Each installment describes the same events through a different boy’s eyes, and the result is three suspenseful, believable stories and an engrossing reading experience.
Jasper John Dooley
At last, it’s Jasper John Dooley’s turn to be Star of the Week at school. Unfortunately, nothing turns out as planned. His Show and Tell falls flat. A new baby at his friend Ori’s house steals his spotlight. And worst of all, the new baby has only-child Jasper wondering if his own family is too small. When Jasper decides to build himself a brother (named Earl) out of wood, Earl’s schoolyard shenanigans send Jasper to the principal’s office! But with a little help from family and friends, things turn around for Jasper. And by the time Friday arrives, he is once again sure that he has what it takes to be a star. Jasper John Dooley: Star of the Week is the first in a series of chapter books featuring a charismatic and funny central character. An only child with active, loving parents (and a most impressive lint collection), Jasper John Dooley is a true original.
The Great Wall Of Lucy Wu
Eleven-year-old aspiring basketball star and interior designer Lucy Wu is excited about finally having her own bedroom, until she learns that her great-aunt is coming to visit and Lucy will have to share a room with her for several months, shattering her plans for a perfect sixth-grade year.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 3
Beneath A Meth Moon
Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside she’s still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel’s new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories from her past.
When T-Boom introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, even if only briefly, her past. But as she becomes alienated from her friends and family, she becomes a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. With help from an artist named Moses and her friend Kaylee, she’s able to begin to rewrite her story and start to move on from her addiction.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 3
Inside Out And Back Again
No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama. For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl’s year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 3
This book has been included in WOW’s Language and Learning: Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Booklist. For our current list, visit our Booklist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.
Martha, No!
Martha Felicity Molly-Anne May has a habit of losing her nannies. She’s so naughty that even Mary Poppins wouldn’t know what to do!
Can the newest nanny, Miss Harrington-Chive, keep track of the little angel during their day out on the town? Or will Martha’s behavior have the nanny screaming “Martha, no!” until her voice goes hoarse?
And if Martha loses this nanny, what’s her mommy to do?