FINISHED:
Haydu, Corey Ann. (2017). The Someday Suitcase. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Floridian fifth graders Clover and Danny are completely in tune, super-best friends, so when Danny becomes mysteriously ill, causing him to be unable to hang out and to miss a bunch of school, Clover starts to question who she is without her symbiotic other.  For her school science fair Clover decides that her project will be on Danny and an attempt to figure out what is ailing him, and then hatches a plan to get Danny to a new-agey clinic in Vermont that treated a classmate’s mother.  Haydu’s follow up to the exceptional Rules for Stealing Stars (HarperCollins, 2015) similarly doesn’t pull punches when it comes to heavy emotional situations but, rather, fully embraces them with a visceral, kick-in-the-gut reality, and her continual integration of science into the narrative – what it is, and what it means to be a scientist – keeps the reader questioning what they know.  Could Clover’s presence alone be helping Danny to feel better?  Clover’s never-waning devotion to her best friend is fully explored, with Clover even beginning to feel guilty for making a couple of new friends, and a depiction of a home life where she has to deal with a little brother who is on the autism spectrum and a truck driving father whom is frequently away add further character depth.  With a hint of magical realism, this is an examination of the line between where science ends and magic begins, positing that magic may just be science that we don’t yet understand.]

STARTED:
Cole, Henry. (2017). Bayberry Island [Brambleheart #2]. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Liked the first one, thought that I'd review the second...]

*

FINISHED:
Tynion IV, James. (2017). The Backstagers: Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

[Umm... this one is just... odd.  Not really at all what I was expecting.]

STARTED:
Haydu, Corey Ann. (2017). The Someday Suitcase. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Her last middle grade book, Rules for Stealing Stars, came out during my Newbery year and was one of my favorites - so much so that I read it a couple of times.  It STILL lingers in my mind, even 2 years later.  There's just something viscerally affecting about it.  It's will definitely be one that I return to from time to time.]

*

FINISHED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2017). Waking Gods [The Themis Files: Book 2]. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Tynion IV, James. (2017). The Backstagers: Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2016). Sleeping Giants [The Themis Files: Book 1]. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2017). Waking Gods [The Themis Files: Book 2]. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[Another adult book!  (It's a sequel to the last one...)]

*

FINISHED:
Springstubb, Tricia. (2017). Cody and the Rules of Life. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[In this third installment of the Cody series, Cody learns that sometimes it’s not SO bad to break the rules.  After taking her brother Wyatt’s prized new bike for a ride without his permission and nicking some of the paint, the bike is stolen and Cody puts the blame on a couple of kids in the neighborhood who are economically challenged, eventually making things right by aiding Wyatt in its return.  And, after her first sleepover, Cody (reluctantly) agrees to let her host, Pearl, borrow her beloved Gremlin toy, but Cody quickly regrets her decision when Pearl doesn’t seem to want to give Gremlin back, even going so far as to “steal” Gremlin from Pearl’s backpack.  Springstubb’s style of writing doesn’t talk down to its audience, retaining a sophistication and emotional insight through its third person narration, and realistically portrays the ins and outs of her characters and their situations while always remaining funny and engaging.  Wheeler’s occasional art depicts Cody’s neighborhood and school as relatively diverse, while helping to break up the breezy text for those beginning chapter book readers whose eyes might need a break or some visual context clues.  This is a perfect series for those readers who are ready for something more challenging after working their way through the Ivy and Bean (Chronicle, 2006) titles.]

STARTED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2016). Sleeping Giants. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[An adult book!]

*

FINISHED:
Ruby, Laura. (2017). The Shadow Cipher [York: Book 1]. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[Seventh grade, white twins Tess and Theo live in the eccentric Morningstarr Tower with its zig-zagging elevators in a modern - though “alternate” - New York City, the building having been constructed over 150 years ago by the Morningstarr family who helped to develop the city with steampunk-y technologies.  When a real estate magnate buys their building with the intention of knocking it down to redevelop, the twins, along with their Latino neighbor Jaime, spurred on by a mysterious letter, hatch a plan to solve the 160-year-old Old York Cipher created by the Morningstarr family, hoping that in doing so their building will be deemed too important to destroy.  The alternate-New York setting, with its vaguely steampunk feel, keeps the reader on their toes, going along in a familiar world until mention of someone with a gene-spliced raccoon or big cat for a pet, some mechanical spiders in a woman’s purse, solar-powered cars, and a robot servant who brings breakfast.  Chapters alternate being told from the perspective of each of the three main kids, with a break-neck pace that has them running around New York following obscure clues found in cleverly obscure places such as etched on the underside of a heating stove, behind paint in a gallery painting, and one puzzle that is solved by noting the locations of tokens scattered around the apartments in their building.  Though this puzzle-driven book doesn’t allow the reader to try to solve along with the protagonists, this first book in a new series – with a doozy of a cliffhanger – is briskly paced with thoroughly vivid settings to draw one right into the action.]

STARTED:
Springstubb, Tricia. (2017). Cody and the Rules of Life. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

*