Return to Sender

Check out what I'm reading this summer!

Alvarez, J. (2009). Return to sender. NY: Random House.

Program Type: Audiobooks

Length: 7h 32m

Release Date: Sep 14, 2010

After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences?
In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.

The One Memory of Flora Banks

Check out what I'm reading this summer!

Barr, E. (2016). The one memory of Flora Banks. NY: Penguin Books.

Program Type: Audiobooks

Length: 8h 9m

Release Date: Dec 12, 2016

How do you know who to trust when you can't even trust yourself?
I look at my hands. One of them says, 'Flora be brave'.
Flora has anterograde amnesia. She can't remember anything day to day: the joke her friend made, the instructions her parents gave her, how old she is.
Then she kisses someone she shouldn't, and the next day she remembers it. It's the first time she's remembered anything since she was 10. But the boy is gone. She thinks he's moved to the Arctic. Will following him be the key to unlocking her memory? Whom can she trust?

The One Memory of Flora Banks is the unforgettable young adult audiobook of 2017.

Bang

Check out what I'm reading this summer!

Lyga, B. (2017). Bang. NY: Little, Brown.

Program Type: Audiobooks

Length:5h 37m

Release Date: April 18, 2017

A heartbreaking novel about living with your worst mistake, from New York Times best-selling author Barry Lyga.

A chunk of old memory, adrift in a pool of blood.
Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one - not even Sebastian himself - can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father's gun.
Now, 10 years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life. With his best friend away for the summer, Sebastian has only a new friend - Aneesa - to distract him from his darkest thoughts. But even this relationship cannot blunt the pain of his past. Because Sebastian knows exactly how to rectify his childhood crime and sanctify his past. It took a gun to get him into this. Now he needs a gun to get out. Unflinching and honest, Bang is as true and as relevant as tomorrow's headlines, the story of one boy and one moment in time that cannot be reclaimed.

Eragon

Eragon
Christopher Paolini

5 Stars - It's hard to imagine a better book!

Summary: First, Eragon finds a dragon egg and the dragon hatches.  Next, he and Brom travel along with his dragon in search of a place where the evil empire will not find them.  After Eragon and the dragon both grow up, they start to fight against the empire and join a secret rebellion called the Varden. 

Review: This book was one of the best books I have ever read.  The series is probably my favorite also.  Almost anybody who enjoys action would love this book!  There is always plenty of action and adventure in this book.  It is a real page-turner!

Reviewed by: Samantha Grade 5

Mercy Watson Something Wonky Comes this Way

Mercy Watson Something Wonky Comes this Way
Chris Van Dusen

4 Stars - This book is better than most.

Summary: Mercy is a pig that thinks she is human.  She loves buttered toast.  She goes around town making trouble but, she does not know it.  Mercy begins a big chase.  Why does she cause a big ruckus?  Will she get caught?  Read and find out.

Review: I think this is a book for all grades.  It has lots of funny pictures.  The part I like best is the big chase.

Reviewed by: Anonymous 3rd Grade

The Unwanteds

The Unwanteds

Lisa McMann

5 Stars - It's hard to imagine a better book!

Summary: Thirteen year old Alex Stowe was declared an unwanted by the land of Quill's governors.  He was supposed to be thrown in the lake of boiling oil, except then a stranger saved him and brought him to a land that was filled with magic and creativity, unlike the city of Quill. There, Alex and his companions trained in magic to become prepared for battle, in case the city of Quill found out all of the unwanteds were still alive.

Review: This book was an amazing book.  Anybody who likes Harry Potter books or Percy Jackson books would love this book.  There is action and adventure in every chapter.

Reviewed by: Rey Grade 5

Love, Stargirl

Love, Stargirl

Jerry Spinelli

4 Stars - This book is better than most.

Summary: Stargirl is a girl who has a dream of meeting again with her old boyfriend Leo who dumped her. She meets a girl named Dootsie who introduces Stargirl to a bunch of people and later falls in love with a boy named Perry. She has a party for Winter Solstice and everyone is invited. She wishes to be reunited with Leo but they live in different states. She has troubles and adventures a long the way. :)

Review: I really liked this book. I think that the best parts about this book are when she is in the fire, it was suspenseful. Also, I liked the part when they see the movie and pretend to be scared and run out. My last favorite part about the book is, well, I can't tell you or it will spoil the ending!!! I think that a lot of girls in fourth and fifth grade would love this book. But boys might be like, "EEEEWWWW this is a romance!!"

Reviewed by: Sebastian 5th Grade