Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi Wow! This book takes you on a young girl's journey as she looks for truth, her own identity and being a teenager. Her father is the leader of a Black movement and she's involved with it. Her mother is missing and she's been taking care of her baby brother. There are many people who live in her house. She just wants her mother and is desperate to look for her. She also wants to go to a school that her mother wanted her to attend against her father's wishes. Fine for high school.

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner is a book of elequence and poetry. It's not an actual poetry book but the words are beautifully put together. Add this one to your high school library shelves. Cash is a young teen who is learning alot about life and meeting new people for the first time. He's outside his comfort zone when he moves from Tennessee to an elite prep school that has students from all over the world. He's unsure of himself because of his humble backtfournd and he's unsure about his best friend Delaney as their relationship changes in a new culture. Again add this to your school library.

Rez Ball by Byron Graves

Rez Ball is a boy book. I did like the story but there is fbombs and drinking but it is a big part of the story. It ran authentic and true. It also shows how people can be prejudice against Indigenous people. Fine for high school.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Ninteen Minutes is an excellent book, well written. It takes you on a journey with flashes back and forth of two women raising their children. They were originally friends. Told in multiple viewpoints, Picoult is a gifted writer that brings authentic perspective for each character. An important read about a school shooting.

The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

The Labors of Hercules Beal is an excellent book that should be in all middle school libraries. Gary D. Schmidt is an excellent story crafter. The story is told in Hercules' perspective. He reltates to the Demigod Hercules. He becomes part of the community as they all work together to solve dangerous and difficult problems. An excellent read/audiobook.

Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions by Navdeep Singh Dhillon

Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions is set in Fresno. My new hometown. I'm getting this for my high school library. I think my Sikh and Hmong students may get something out of this story.

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina

The Phone Booth at The Edge of the World is a healing book about grief. A good book to read or listen too. If you haven't seen the Tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 or so, it's haunting. Travel to Japan and visit the wind phone as many people grieve in their own way, to talk to who they have lost.

Walking Shoes by Lynne Gentry

Walking Shoes is book one in a series that I think is off to a great start. I listened to this book and enjoyed how a woman must find herself after her preacher husband dies on the pulpit. Her grown children who have moved away return home to pay their respects and help their mother. The family dynamics and friends dynamics works well. It's a good story. Not preachy just perfect. A good read.

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is a good story but not at a teen level. FYI there are some negative words and some dangerous situations. Rachel is found with her mother and siblings after fallen from the roof of an apartment. The story is told in multiple viewpoints. We watch her grow up to be a young teen. She's light skinned, blue eyes and is targeted because of her different looks. Find out what happened to cause a family to come to a tragic ending and with one survivor. A good read and a good audiobook.

The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse

The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse is an excelent historic fiction story. I got to listen to the audiobook. Fine for any high school library. I would say read first because there is a near rape scene and multiple victims. An important read.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

The Lost Story is a magical story set contemporary times. I was able to listen to the audiobook. Two worlds that merge and that is lost is then found. Two boys come back changed after spending much time in the forest and one is not able to remember their time there. A mystery and then there is the girl who was lost in the same forest before them. A sister is know old enough to look for her. A good read.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

This book is an excellent of magical realism. I listened to the audiobook and adore this story. An octopus in an aquarium in Washington state witness much. He becomes friends with the elderly cleaning lady. She is grieving the mysterious loss of her son who just disappeared. And then a different part of a story is a young man who is looking for an unknown father. A good read. Highly recommend. Remarkably Bright Creatures is the read you will be talking about. A truly good story.

The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

The Stonekeepers is a charming book of two children who battle strange creatures to save their mother. They have help from creatures and robots that their grandfather created in a whole new world. It's a good novel to add to any children's library. A good read.

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is rather a philosphical graphic novel. I liked it very much. Death takes a journey and ends up dying multiple times as she seeks the child who will invent immortality. She finds him over the years and he knows that she has met with him over his lifetime. The gods featured in this graphic novel comes from India. It's a good read. I would like to add it to my high school library. Read the book first. f

Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly

Song for a Whale by Lynn Kelly is a great book for middle school students. The author has background experience interpreting for hearing impaired students. She also did some research on an actual hybrid whale that is known as the loneliest whale because of it's song is a different frequency then regular whales. The audiobook is also good. Enjoy.

Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

Ferris has one loving family that are also very quirky. It's a sweet story and the audiobook is also fine. It's fine for middle school libraries.

How to Read A Book by Monica Wood

One bad choice leads to a tragic death. Two years later, the story picks up and focuses on three lives that intersect. One who drove under the influence and killed a wife. One who is the widower and one who runs a book club in prison. A chance meet up at a bookstore, changes the course of their lives. How to Read A Book is a good read and a good audiobook. A good summer read or listen. I liked this book very much.

The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglass Wiggins

This is a lovely classic children's story. Perhaps 70 pages or less. It's a tiny short story. The Birds' Christmas Carol is a lovely story about sharing with others and even though Carol's time on earth is short, she makes a big impact. A lovely read.

Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart

I love Coyote Lost and Found. The first book was also great and the second also is just as great. Coyote has some trouble seeing her father with another woman in his life. It's been about 5 years or so when her mother and two sisters were killed in a car accident. Coyote , her best friend, her father and his new girlfriend go on a road trip. Only her and her best friend know that they are looking for the book. Along the way they add more people on the road trip. That converted school bus gets a lot of miles on this road trip adventure. The story is good, the audiobook is good and I recommend it for any middle school library.

You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

A student had asked me to get this book for our library. I listened to the audiobook and it's pretty good. The sad thing is that I just lost a student a few days ago to a car crash and watch our students grieve for our lost student. It's a good book and I'll add it to my high school library. There are a few concerns in which the adults are rather absent. It's a fantasy book but the school and parents should have connected her with grief counselors. Just saying as an adult. But still I'll get the book. It's fine.