Northward to the moon by Polly Horvath

The back of the book states that this is reading level 5.0 and for ages 10-13.  It is supposedly narated by a tween girl, the oldest of her mother's four children.  However, her naration is that of a very well versed adult.  It comes across as odd, just like this story.  I would not recommend it.  One of her aunts remarks after seeing a nice looking young man that he looks like "sex on a stick".  The girl also spends some time trying to figure out who fathered her brothers, sister and self.  I thought is was a very bizarre story with a very unsatisfying ending.  This is dysfunctional family escapades at their best.

Powerless by Matthew Cody

This is a great book for boys (at last).  It involves kids with super powers, suspense, mystery, action, and friendship.  It is very clean and most of the characters have actual parents!  The ending sets up for the sequel which will be out in September 2012 called Super.   Both boys and girls 5th grade and up would love this book.

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

This is the sequel to The Goose Girl.  I liked it, but it was definitely wierder than the first one.  Definitely for girls 10 and up and definitely for fantasy lovers.  Clean, but slightly violent, as her kingdom is at war and she uses her "gift of fire" to burn up the enemy. 

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Once again I am reviewing a Newbery award winning book.  I loved it.  I saw that other reviewers were upset that there is alcohol use, but hey, it takes place during prohibition, and she is an abandoned child whose father rides the rails.  This story has an intricately weaved story that is slowly revealed page by page.  Although the protagonist is a girl, I think that both boys and girls would enjoy this story.  Good to the last word!

Calico Bush by Rachael Field

I vowed I would stay away from Newbery award and honor books because you probably already know that most of them are clean reads and just plain old good books.  This one was a 1936 Newberry honor book.  It is historical fiction set in Maine during the French Indian War.  It is about a French girl who loses her family and becomes a "bound out girl" to a family with 5 children.  A good read, but I am unsure if today's children would be interested in it.  There are a lot of french words, references to her Catholic upbringing and customs, and time period words and phrases all without explanation as to their meaning.  I think this would make this a difficult read for any child under the age of 10.  I, however, enjoyed it and think it would make a good read aloud so that explanations could be inserted.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

I just finished this one and I loved it.  Based on a Grimm's Fairy Tale it has Kings, Queens, a princess and a lady in waiting.  Humor, drama, sorrow, murderous plots, deceit, love and honor in the middle ages.  If you read Amazon Books review of this book, one person hated it because of a scene of "bare breasted women".  To me is was just a slight reference in the middle of a retelling of an old war legend.  I had no problem with it especially since the rest of the book is so good I could not put it down.  I have already ordered the sequel, Enna Burning.

Great Books

I have read a ton of great young adult books over the years, however when I went to write a posts about them I realized that I should have done it right after reading the book, not several months or years later.  I can tell you a book is a great read, but I can't tell you if it had any foul language in it, etc.  So maybe I should post a list of great books to read (no guarantees on the exact content) and review them one by one as I reread them. 

Julie