Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

This pleasing stand-alone sequel to the Newbery Honor winning Al Capone Does My Shirts has adventure, mystery, and fun while also dealing with some important issues.

Description: Moose Flanagan, who lives on Alcatraz along with his family and the families of the other prison guards, is frightened when he discovers that noted gangster Al Capone, a prisoner there, wants a favor in return for the help that he secretly gave Moose.

I loved reading about Moose and his friends and his autistic sister, Natalie (maybe even more than the 1st Al Capone book)! Moose and his friends get into some normal adolescent mischief, but the fact that they live on an island with a prison and "cons" including the infamous Al Capone, adds some extra twists to their adventures. I highly recommend this book for both boys and girls.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

The young readers' version of Three Cups of Tea was adapted by Sarah Thomson from the worldwide bestselling novel of the same name.

Description: For over a decade, Greg Mortenson has been on a mission to build schools in the region that gave rise to the Taliban and provided safety for Al Qaeda. The challenges he has faced on his mission, including death threats and a kidnapping, are chronicled in one amazing true life adventure.

When I first read the adult-version of this novel, I found myself drawn into Greg Mortenson's story and adventure. What inspired this man to basically dedicate and risk his life to building schools in foreign countries? After setting a goal to build a school in Pakistan, he lived out of his car in poverty while saving his own money and trying to raise money for the school. Why? What obstacles did he have to overcome to accomplish this? Read this truly remarkable and inspiring story about Greg Mortenson and his humanitarism to find out.

To read more about the book and Greg Mortenson's story go to: http://www.threecupsoftea.com

True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

A laugh-out-loud science fiction novel by Adam Rex.

Description:

When her mother is abducted by aliens on Christmas Eve (or "Smekday" Eve since the Boov invasion), 11 year-old Tip hops in the family car and heads south to find her and meets a renegade alien Boov mechanic named J.Lo who agrees to help her and save the planet from disaster.

What? How can the end of the world be funny? You have to read this fun, fast-paced, adventure (with plenty of social commentary) to find out. I loved the characters and the great illustrations included throughout.

How do the alien Boov move with their multitude of legs? Check it out at: http://www.smekday.com.

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Nation is a 2009 Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a great fantasy adventure by Terry Pratchett.

Description:
Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. Daphne—a girl from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave and thrown onto his island.

Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne's sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives—all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. . . .

I loved this thought provoking, yet humorous adventure and survival story. I especially liked how characters from two vastly different cultures had to work together to survive.

You can watch a video of Terry Pratchett talking about Nation here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqxc4H6UX5U

Seer of Shadows by Avi

Seer of Shadows is a great historical mystery from Newbery Award winning author Avi.

Description:
In New York City in 1872, fourteen-year-old Horace, a photographer's apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs, but when Horace accidentally frees the real ghost of a dead girl bent on revenge, his life takes a frightening turn.

I went to see author Avi speak yesterday and enjoyed his presentation immensely! I take his words about reading novels and not just textbooks in order to enjoy and appreciate literature to heart. Avi writes a wide variety of books. Seer of Shadows is one that might be called fantastical realism. It is historical fiction with elements of the supernatural. I really enjoyed this suspenseful gothic-style tale. Let me know what you think.

Also, be sure to check out some of Avi's other great novels from the TFMS library including:
Crispin: Cross of Lead (which won the Newbery Medal!)
Crispin: At the Edge of the World
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Newbery Honor)
Nothing But the Truth (Newbery Honor)
Poppy
..and others too numerous to list

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is the 2009 Newbery Medal winner!

Description: Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this magical, witty, and sinister tale. While not as scary for me as Neil Gaiman's Coraline, I loved Bod's adventures and the characters both fantastical and from different historical periods. You must read this inventive novel and tell me what you think!

To see a trailer for the book narrated by Neil Gaiman, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_UUVwTaemk.

To watch Neil Gaiman read chapters from the book, go to:

http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park

When My Name Was Keoko is a wonderful historical fiction novel by Newbery Award winning author, Linda Sue Park.

Description: With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.

This is the second book that the "Read Around the World" Book Club at Three Fires is reading. Sun-hee and her brother, Tae-yul, alternate narrating the chapters of the novel. Each sees events in their own way which allows us, as readers, to better understand their lives and the effects of the Japanese occupation. This is a powerful and moving novel which should not be missed.

Other great novels by Linda Sue Park include:
A Single Shard
Kite Fighters
Project Mulberry