MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE by James Patterson and Chris Tebbets

Fans of the WIMPY KID series will want to get their hands on this one.  It focuses on the experiences of Rafe Khatchadorian as he enters life in middle school.

Rafe's life is not going well on many levels.  He has only one friend, Leo, and that friendship is a bit odd to say the least.  Home life for Rafe includes a mother working double shifts, an annoying little sister, and an even more annoying deadbeat almost step dad.  The prospect of enter middle school as a less than popular, less than stellar student has Rafe seriously concerned.

With the behind the scenes help of his friend Leo, Rafe devises a plan to help him cope with the challenges of the upcoming year.  He creates a survival-type game that involves breaking all the rules in the school's code of conduct handbook.  The object of the game is to find creative and very public ways to break the rules.  Points are assigned for each win with the added goal of preserving the three "lives" granted at the beginning of the game.  Leo is in charge of point values and judging when a "life" is lost.

Rafe shows off his artistic talent by illustrating all the chaos that accompanies his crazy scheme.  The combination of his colorful storytelling and his cartoon depictions make for a laugh-out-loud adventure.  At the beginning some adult readers might think this is a guidebook for how NOT to behave in middle school, but as Rafe's story continues, it is evident that it is much deeper than it first appears.

PRISCILLA THE GREAT by Sybil Nelson

PRISCILLA THE GREAT is filled with enough action to satisfy even a hard-to-please middle grade reader.  It's Fantastic Four type adventure but with a middle school twist.

Priscilla isn't particularly popular.  She is into video games and comic book heroes.  Her best friend Kyle offers her some competition, but most of the time he is afraid she'll beat him to a pulp.  She beats him in video games and basketball, but amazingly he keeps coming back for more.

When Priscilla begins developing some strange abilities even her extremely intelligent friend Tai can't figure out what is going on.  The first unusual characteristic Priscilla seems to be exhibiting is the ability to set things on fire.  It is an overheated feeling that accelerates to the point that Priscilla's finger tips become like flame throwers.  Next she notices a dramatic increase in her strength.  These powers are accompanied by other strange feelings, and keeping them under control is a challenge.

At the same time Priscilla is struggling to understand the odd changes in her body, her father is being his usual over-protective self and requiring her to check in multiple times a day and not allowing any sort of after school activities or social life.  Not having a cell phone is bad enough, but not being allowed to join in on the traditional festivities of middle school life is taking its toll. 

Priscilla has taken a sudden interest in one particular boy.  She would love nothing more than to have a woman to woman talk with her mother, but that's impossible.  Her mother is always away on business.  That woman's job is at the top of her priority list with her family way down on the bottom.  There is just something weird about hardly seeing her mom and having her father eyeing her every move and monitoring her every breath.  Imagine living in a house your entire life and never being allowed to set foot in basement.  That's what Priscilla faces, and she vows to get to the bottom of all the strangeness.

Author Sybil Nelson keeps readers turning the pages with plenty of fast-paced adventure, including superhuman powers, mysterious corporations, and shady scientific experiments.  Her endearing characters will capture readers and have them believing every wild and impossible situation that unfolds.

BADD by Tim Tharp

Ceejay has always been close to her older brother.  It's always been them against the rest of the world, or at least the rest of their family.  Unfortunately, when Bobby's mischievous ways lead to the point of a joyride in a stolen car, a choice must be made.  Their parents chose the military over jail for their errant son.

With the exception of leave time, it's been years since Ceejay and Bobby have been together.  He is expected home soon, and Ceejay can't wait to pick up where they left off.  Surely after returning from Iraq, Bobby will be ready to party and enjoy his time with now sixteen year old Ceejay.

The summer starts with Ceejay's parents announcing that she will be working for her Uncle Jimmy.  She'll be slapping paint on whatever project he assigns, but that's better than the job her little sister Lacy gets.  Lacy will be living with their grandmother several hours away.  She'll be taking care of the ungrateful woman while she undergoes chemotherapy.  At least working for Uncle Jimmy, Ceejay will be at home and able to hang out with Bobby when he gets back.

Ceejay is shocked when she sees someone that looks like Bobby cruising by with an old flame.  It takes some investigation, but she learns that he has returned from Iraq early but hasn't seen fit to show up and greet his family.  When Ceejay discovers where he is staying, she confronts him and discovers that something about him has changed.

Bobby's first meeting with family is filled with tension, and a BBQ party planned in his honor turns to chaos when he announces that he was asked to leave the military and earned only a general discharge.  Ceejay doesn't care about that.  She is just frustrated that he is choosing to hang out and live with Captain Crazy, an old Vietnam protester who lives on a nearby, rundown farm.  When a friend suggests that Bobby may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Ceejay is quick to defend her brother and deny the possibility, but as time passes, she realizes there might be some truth to the suggestion.

Tim Tharp, author of THE SPECTACULAR NOW, has used his unique talent to create a novel focused on a topic becoming increasingly more common as our soldiers return from war in the Middle East.  Families like Ceejay's are facing the return of sons and daughters who aren't the sons and daughters they remember.  By including the Vietnam issue, Tharp lets his young readers know this is not the first war to have a profound effect on soldiers and the families left behind.  I appreciated the depth of character development and the depiction of the varied emotional impact caused by Bobby's return, as well as the other problems faced by this typical American family.

WITH THE MIGHT OF ANGELS: THE DIARY OF DAWNIE RAE JOHNSON by Andrea Davis Pinkney

All Dawnie wants to do is play baseball and bounce on her pogo stick.  She doesn't want to wear dresses or fancy shoes, but her mother insists sometimes.  Her life in a little green house with her mother and father and her little brother Goober is a happy one.

It's near the end of the school year, and Dawnie gets some good news and some bad.  She is thrilled to learn that she has the highest scores in the sixth grade.  She is not so excited to hear that she is expected to give a speech at the Stepping Up ceremony that celebrates the sixth grade moving on to seventh grade and the middle school.  A speech?  Good grief!  And her mother will no doubt expect her to wear a dress and fancy shoes.

Another bit of end of the year news involves not only Dawnie but also several of her classmates.  They are being asked to take a test.  It isn't exactly clear why, but the reason is soon revealed.  Those who score high enough will be considered in the new integration of the all-white high school in Hadley, Virginia. 

When desegregation is upheld by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, some of the white citizens of Hadley are out to fight against having black children attend their school.  Dawnie and her classmates all score well on the special test, but only Dawnie's parents sign the consent form for her to attend the all-white school in the fall.  They see it as not only a right she deserves but also a chance for her to improve her future through education.

Dawnie knows going to the white kids' school is going to be a big deal.  There are things she is looking forward to and things that scare her to death.  What she doesn't realize is that the teachers might not all accept her and that the whole thing might cost her father his job.  It may change Dawnie's life and the lives of others forever, but it is not going to be easy.

WITH THE MIGHT OF ANGELS will let present-day readers learn about one young girl nearly fifty years ago who was brave enough to stand up for the rights of all students to receive an equal education.  Through her diary, readers will get to know this young tomboy and her dreams for the future.

PHANTOMS IN THE SNOW by Kathleen Benner Duble

Texas is home to Noah Garrett.  He's fifteen years old and used to living among the tall grass and the heat.  When his parents suddenly dead of smallpox, he finds himself in the temporary care of the local minister.  After arrangements are made, Noah boards a train and heads for the mountains of Colorado.

Noah's uncle has offered to take the boy in, but Shelly James's home is not exactly what Noah expects.  Officer James aka Uncle Shelly lives at Camp Hale, a military base high in the Rocky Mountains.  Noah is about to begin living the life of a Phantom.  He's never even heard of these skiing soldiers, but he's about to learn the hard way. 

Noah quickly regrets his little white lie leading his uncle and camp's commanding officer to believe he is already sixteen.  That's the legal age allowing boys to enlist so it is assumed that Noah is agreeable to becoming a Phantom.  His training begins. 

He has never seen a snow ski in his entire life.  Now he is told to bundle up, strap the awkward boards on his feet, and hit the slopes.  After one day of training, he drops into his bunk like a rock.  Even though he is used to hard work on the farm, every part of him aches.  When he overhears his uncle and the general talking, he realizes the torture has just begun.

Despite being raised a pacifist, Noah soon becomes part of this group of soldiers.  He learns to ski quickly and excels at climbing and rappelling as well.  He also finds himself becoming attached to the gruff, unemotional man that is his uncle.  For Noah, the all too real possibility of fighting Germans in Europe remains in the distant future.

PHANTOMS IN THE SNOW by Kathleen Benner Duble is an excellent novel about a little known group of soldiers in World War II.  Duble deftly relates the story of these fighting men and how Noah becomes one of them.  This book has wide appeal, but is sure to be successful with those interested in war stories or historical fiction.  I already know who I'm going to offer it to first.

GIFTED: SPEAK NO EVIL by Marilyn Kaye

Carter Street has amnesia.  He was found wandering on the street before he was taken to Harmony House.  He's in the care of Dr. Paley who is trying to get to the bottom of why Carter doesn't remember who he is and why he doesn't seem to be able to even talk about it.

While Carter is being poked and prodded and questioned, another special group of students is meeting in the "gifted" class at Meadowbrook Middle School.  Their teacher is leading a discussion about the class's powers.  It seems one student is able to move things with his mind, another can read minds, and yet another can inhabit the bodies of others.  All the students in the class possess unique talents.  The purpose of the class is to help these young people learn to control their powers and become more comfortable with them.

Carter should be part of the "gifted" class, but the trauma of losing both his parents has caused his power to remain hidden.  Dr. Paley plans to use hypnosis to encourage Carter to speak about the tragedy he witnessed.  It is soon revealed that Carter's real name is Paul, and he has the power to shapeshift.  To escape the same fate as his parents, he became a gerbil and was able to hide from his parents' killers.  Now he must come to terms with their deaths and his own special power.

It is also revealed that Dr. Paley may have the ability to release the students from the burden of their powers.  Several of the young people are thrilled to hear that they could be free of the potentially dangerous talents, but they aren't considering the reasons why Dr. Paley might want them to be relieved of their gifts.  He promises the procedure is simple and painless, but is it really?  Is he just trying to help them or is he working for someone out to do them harm?

SPEAK NO EVIL is book #6 in the Gifted series by Marilyn Kaye.  It is an entertaining series for teens looking for a paranormal adventure combining regular kids and super powers.  With each book the situation at Meadowbrook Middle School gets more complicated and dangerous.

WHERE SHE WENT by Gayle Forman

About three years ago Mia and Adam went their separate ways - Mia off to Julliard and Adam off to live the life of a rock star.

Adam is about to start a European tour with Shooting Star. Since heading off on his own, he has attempted to push aside the emotions he still feels for Mia. Doing so has created a whole new set of problems. Adam is becoming cut off from his fellow band members and the resulting pressure is becoming more than he can take. His days are filled with annoying interviews, meetings, and rehearsals that he only manages to get through with the help of prescription drugs and cigarettes. His equally famous girlfriend constantly berates him about living with a ghost from his past.

In New York City for a brief interview before leaving for the tour, Adam has an angry outburst due to questions from a nosy interviewer. Knowing he won't be popular, he takes off avoiding his flight and, hopefully, the anger of his manager. His thoughts are filled with Mia, and when he stumbles across her name on the marquee for a Youth Concert series, he asks if any tickets remain. Fate intervenes and he finds himself sitting in the concert hall watching her perform.

After the concert he plans to slink back to his hotel and attempt to make up for his earlier bad behavior by contacting his manager. On his way out of the concert hall, Adam is approached by an usher asking him to follow him to Mia's dressing room.

What follows is a twenty-four hour period of emotional ups and downs as both Adam and Mia confront the demons surrounding their complicated relationship. Adam relives the terrible months of watching Mia struggle to recover from the accident that killed her parents and her little brother. He knows he is the reason why Mia left. He had prayed for her recovery and promised he would let her go if that was what she wanted. For three lonely years he has lived with the fact that that must have been her desire.

Can Adam and Mia forgive each other and themselves before each must leave to fulfill separate responsibilities on opposite sides of the world?

Author Gayle Forman takes readers back into the lives of Mia and Adam in her sequel to IF I STAY. With the focus more on Adam and his heartbreak both during and after Mia's family tragedy, Forman broadens the heartbreaking story in an emotional yet realistic direction. She explores the impact of death and separation as two people strive to overcome pain and connect with futures that satisfy them both.