Two middle grade novels with strong female protagonists

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
Oh, how this book broke my heart. Over and over again. Aubrey is an eleven year-old girl who has just recently been in a devastating car accident. Her father and younger sister were both killed, while her mom and Aubrey both survived. But Aubrey doesn't consider herself a survivor, and she doesn't think of herself any differently than before. Even when her mom leaves home and doesn't come back. Not that night, not the next day, not even a week later. But after a week of living on her own, Aubrey is whisked away to live with her Gran, her mom's mom, for the summer, while the search is on for her mother. She makes a friend next door, and she writes letters that she never sends, all in the hopes of dealing with her grief and abandonment. Aubrey's voice is distinctly eleven years old - she's emotional yet pragmatic, sensitive and on the brink of a meltdown. But she finds ways to cope.

We received this as a new book a couple weeks ago, and I snatched it up before any students could check it out. I read it in one night and brought it back the next day for fifth grade students to have a chance to check it out. I did pass it on to one girl, warning her that it was a very emotional book dealing with some difficult subjects, but she decided that she still wanted to read it. She came back after Thanksgiving break and told me that she read it over the weekend and cried. She really liked the book, so much that she shared the story with her family - and they seemed to get a bit emotional over it too. I was so happy to hear back from her and especially to find that she had engaged her family in discussion over the book. It was definitely one of those moments that reminded me why I love my job.


Newsgirl by Liza Ketchum
I'm not generally a fan of historical fiction, but I'm always in the mood for girls taking charge of their lives and going out to make it on their own. This book is set in the late 1800s with a girl, her mom, and her mom's friend shipping out from Boston to San Francisco, a ridiculously long and complicated boat journey. They finally make it to the coast with hardly any money left and completely alien surroundings and customs.

I'm about halfway through this book, and I am loving it. Amelia, the 12 year-old girl, is a problem solver. She knows what needs to be done, so she goes out and does it. She sees injustice in the ways that women and girls are treated, and she will not stand for it, even if that means getting bopped in the head or worse. Although the girl disguising herself as a boy story has been played out in many ways, I'm still interested to see where this one goes.

Busy week

I might just be the last librarian in Illinois to read The Time Traveler's Wife, but oh well. I am so happy that I did. Before I gush (and oh how I'll gush), let me explain the kind of week I was having before I decided to embrace this beautiful book.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
What can I say? I couldn't get through it. I couldn't force myself to like it, as hard as I tried. I couldn't love all the wonderful things that so many others have loved about it. I was bored. And I have read a few too many Holocaust books. Wasn't there an article in School Library Journal or maybe VOYA about the over-abundance of Holocaust novels? Yes, well, I agree. And even though I do enjoy Zusak as a writer, I could not get into The Book Thief. And that's after 250 pages!




The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
Oh, what is it with me and award winners? Why can't we get along? Am I the only one who didn't like this book too? I feel ashamed to wear my librarian hat when I say this, but this book bored me too. The style reminded me of something like Heidi or Anne of Green Gables (both favorites of mine), except with a boy character I felt I hardly got to know. And when all the Jacks showed up! Goodness me, I groaned out loud and slammed the book shut. This book gave me a headache to read, but I'm just going to chalk it up to personal preference because it's not as if it was poorly written. Just not my cup of tea.


So, after these two back-to-back awful reading experiences, I was in need of a little pick-me-up. I read the first 20 pages of The Time Traveler's Wife, got weepy, and immediately decided that it was my current favorite book. The next day I read the remaining 520 pages (after a full day at school mind you!) and was so incredibly grateful and pleased and emotional. First of all, a librarian living in 90s Chicago who time travels and falls in love with a beautiful artist who loves him back unconditionally? Um, Ms. Niffenegger, did you happen to write this book for me? Thank you! I loved touring Chicago with Henry and Clare - I've been to just about all of those places too! It's nice to be able to relate, at least in terms of setting, especially since not that many books that I read are set in Chicago. Okay, but it was so much more than the fact that Henry's a librarian somewhat like me and he lives in Chicago at the time that I did too (all happy coincidences) - he's not the ideal husband, I must say, but he's a real guy. Well, minus the time traveling thing. He's broken with too many vices and a generally screwed-up life, but he finds a way to make it work. And Clare! Oh, sweet Clare. Sometimes I wonder if Clare would have loved Henry had he not visited her when she was a child, but ultimately, I think that she would have. It was just a cheating way of seeing the potential in someone. Anyhow, I love love loved this book but can't read it again anytime soon because I cried my eyes out and spent the whole day reading it. I saw the movie the next day, and while it was nice, it couldn't possibly show enough of the story to give it real depth.

Oh, by the way, I started student teaching at a middle school library this week, and tomorrow I will be booktalking the following books:


Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
Boy by Roald Dahl
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Behind the Curtain by Peter Abrahams (maybe - I might switch this one out)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

How exciting!