BECOMING CHLOE CONTEST WINNER IS ...

*MEGAN* you are the winner of a signed copy of BECOMING CHLOE by Catherine Ryan Hyde!

An email is headed your way.  Let me know your mailing address and I'll get the book out to you ASAP.

Congratulations, Megan!

DAWN by Kevin Brooks

Dawn Bundy has set out to kill God.  She is not exactly sure how to go about it, but she is sure it's the only answer.

Two years ago her father disappeared.  It's not that it was a terrible loss.  He was a drunken drug addict and pretty worthless as far as she could tell.  However, since he disappeared her mother has fallen apart.  She spends her time in front of the TV usually drunk and zoned out on her antidepressant meds. 

Dawn goes to school and then comes home to hang out.  She spends her free time listening to music and snuggling up with her two dogs.  Their life isn't perfect, but thanks to her father, she and her mother have money.  He left behind a duffle bag full of money.  The gun also left inside the bag suggests the money was from some drug deal, but whatever the case, they have used it wisely as they wait for his possible return.

Dawn describes herself as having another Dawn trapped in a cave inside her mind.  That other Dawn is hiding from something she doesn't want to remember.  Even though Dawn tries to carry on and push aside her memories, they eventually catch up with her and pull the inner Dawn out into the light of day.

Author Kevin Brooks exhibits his unique talent to get inside the psyche of his characters.  Through Dawn, readers will live her fears and frustrations as she deals with her alcoholic mother and repressed memories of her absent father.  As the layers of her character are peeled away, her story becomes deeper and darker.  Readers will feel her desperation, yet sense the underlying hope that drives her.  Fans of Kevin Brooks will want to check out his latest, DAWN.

A PEEK AT THE COVER OF THE NEXT HUNGER GAMES BOOK

I guess it's something.  At least we know what the title and cover art will be.

MOCKINGJAY is due out in September 2010. 

THEY NEVER CAME BACK by Caroline B. Cooney

THEY NEVER CAME BACK by Caroline B. Cooney is a great thriller for middle grade readers.  There are just enough twists and turns in the plot to keep readers focused, and it offers a few thought provoking questions to make readers consider just exactly what they would do in the same circumstances.

Chapter one is about Cathy.  She is enrolled in a special accelerated summer school. The program squeezes one full year of Latin into a summer course. Her focus is Latin morning, noon, and night. One afternoon in the cafeteria, Cathy is shocked when a boy named Tommy approaches her table and calls her Murielle.  He even drops to his knees before her as he insists she is his long-lost cousin.  He claims she was taken from his home five years ago by social services.  Then he adds that she had been abandoned by her parents who were guilty of stealing millions of dollars from business investors.  Suddenly Cathy is the center of attention.

Chapter two begins with Murielle.  Ten year old Murielle is a lucky girl.  Her parents are in the financial investment business, and they are able to provide her with anything her heart desires.  She is used to living in a fancy house, having pretty clothes, new things whenever she wants, and private lessons in just about anything she is interested in doing.  Even though they are constantly working and leave her in the care of various babysitters and housekeepers, Murielle thinks her parents are terrific.

One afternoon Murielle is with her Aunt Lois headed toward the airport.  The plan is that her aunt will be dropping her off to catch a flight with her father.  They will be flying to England where they will meet up with her mother.  Suddenly Aunt Lois turns the car away from the airport and begins shouting about how she won't go through with the plans.  Murielle has no idea what is going on except that she is not going to be going with her parents.  At that point her life changes forever.

Could Cathy and Murielle really be one and the same?  Is Cathy, who lives with a struggling foster family, really the daughter of millionaire investors?  It's been five years since their scandalous disappearance.  Could they really have been more interested in money than in their adorable little Murielle?

THEY NEVER CAME BACK is a fast-paced novel with a unique plot.  Caroline B. Cooney's smooth flowing prose will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they follow the action to see just exactly who is who in this clever mystery.

POP by Gordon Korman

If I was asked to write a one word review for POP by Gordon Korman, I would write - Fantastic!  Once readers start passing this one around, it may never touch a bookshelf again.

Quarterback want-to-be Marcus Jordan is packed up and moved to the mountains of New York state by his divorced mother.  It's no big loss in the dad department considering he refers to his father as Comrade Stalin.  He knows he and his mother are better off out of Kansas and on their own, but it's the summer before his junior year, and his dream of playing varsity quarterback may not survive the move.

With no friends yet to occupy his time and definitely no fellow football companions to workout with, Marcus heads to the local city park to create his own workout.  He is attempting some passing practice when a burly, middle-aged guy shows up and sprints into the park and picks off one of his passes.  Before he knows it, the guy is putting him through his paces.  They are passing the ball like crazy and then running patterns and hitting each other like it's the biggest game of the season.  And then the guy is gone.

Marcus learns the man's name is Charlie.  Without any regular schedule or plan, they start working out together in the park.  Charlie just sort of shows up - maybe one day, but not the next, and rarely ever at the same time.  Even with crazy and unreliable appearances, the time Marcus spends with Charlie is really improving his game. 

Whenever Marcus tries to find out exactly who Charlie is, he runs into a road block.  Their time together is basically all about football until the day a wild pass ends up crashing through the side window of a car parked along the street.  Charlie disappears faster than Marcus believed possible, leaving him to write a note to the car owner promising to pay the repair bill.  After that more strange things begin to happen.  Marcus notices that when he and Charlie leave the park to grab a Gatorade or a bag of ice to ice down an injury, Charlie simply grabs what they need from a local store and leaves without paying a cent.  Weird... but the weirdness is outweighed by the fantastic football knowledge Marcus is gaining from this awesome athlete.

As school starts that fall, Marcus finds it difficult to fit into the already stacked football roster.  The team has a super reputation and is heading into a second undefeated season.  There seems to be no hope that he will play quarterback.  In his attempt to make friends and fit in with the team, Marcus learns that Charlie is the father of the team's star quarterback.  It makes sense that such a great player would have a talented son, but Marcus also discovers that there is some sort of family secret and Charlie seems to be at the center of it.

Gordon Korman is at his best in POP.  He has wrapped a tremendous amount into this fast-paced novel.  In addition to football action, readers will experience Marcus's "new guy" frustration, emotions twisted by his parents' divorce, and the discovery of a horribly debilitating disease.  Readers will find it difficult to stop reading once they have met Marcus and Charlie.  Run, don't walk, to the nearest library or bookstore to get a copy of POP.

CENTER FIELD by Robert Lipsyte

Mike Semak's dream is to play center field.  His idol is Yankee centerfielder Billy Budd.  He lives and breathes any advice he can find from the great Billy Budd. 

Mike's focus is directed at playing his best which means clearing his mind of anything that is not baseball.  He tries to steer clear of too-serious relationships with girls.  He avoids involvement in his parents' latest project - opening a new floor covering store, and he pushes the problems of his sister, a single young mother living in New York, and his older brother, a championship cello player, to the back of his mind.

Unfortunately, Mike comes up against several distractions that may threaten the intense focus on his goal.  One obstacle standing in his way is a new player named Oscar.  He is a new kid from the Dominican Republic who shows up and looks to be a challenge for the center field position.  Coach Cody lets them both know they will have to prove themselves to earn the position. 

All the pressure Mike is feeling about baseball comes to a head in a silly incident with a notorious school geek named Zack.  In a moment of lost control, Mike shoves Zack and ends up regretting it when, as punishment, he finds himself helping the Cyber Club provide Saturday computer instruction at the local senior center.  Having the little computer nerd boss him around is almost more than he can take.  The only highlight about the community service becomes another distraction for Mike's center field dreams - Katherine Herold.

Kat is a track athlete with an interest in photography and filming.  Her membership in the Cyber Club surprises Mike, but he's glad to have a chance to get to know her.  As people notice them together, word gets back to his cheerleader girlfriend, but Mike never thought of their relationship as particularly exclusive and his fascination with Kat seems worth the price he might pay with Lori.

Complicating matters even further is Coach Cody.  Mike has always looked up to Coach so when the man approaches Mike with a request, it is natural that Mike wants to help.  Cody wants Mike to infiltrate the Cyber Club in an effort to bust them for hacking into the school computer system.  Problems arise when Mike begins to suspect that Coach is using him in exchange for the center field position.  Even more suspicious is the fact that as Mike begins to become friends with Zack, he learns that Coach Cody might not be exactly who he says he is.

Robert Lipsyte has filled CENTER FIELD with more than just baseball action.  Mike's performance on the field is illustrated in excellent play-by-play narrative, but there is much more to this novel.  There is intrigue as Coach Cody uses Mike to investigate the possible computer hackers, and additional suspense comes from new member of the team, Oscar, as well as the not-so-perfect Kat and her intoxicating power over Mike.  CENTER FIELD has a little something for everyone.  Readers who are not sports enthusiasts should not shy away from the title or cover art.  It is definitely an entertaining read.

HOMESTRETCH by Paul Volponi

After losing his mother in a tragic accident, Gaston Giambanco Jr., known as Gas, decides that best thing he can do is leave his drunken, abusive father and head off on his own.  He hops on the back of a chicken truck with a bunch of illegal Mexican workers and takes his chances as he heads north.

Growing up in Texas, Gas has been surrounded by illegal workers everyone calls beaners.  That didn't seem to matter until his mother was killed in a car accident that involved an illegal behind the wheel.  Now Gas harbors hatred toward them that he can barely hold in check.  When he finds himself stuck in the back of a smelly truck with three brothers headed north, he can't believe his rotten luck.

Gas and the Mexican brothers are dropped off in the dead of night at a race track in Arkansas.  Maybe he has had just a bit of good luck.  His father worked at a race track handling horses, and his mother loved to ride and attempted to pass her interest in horses on to Gas. 

The work is dirty and grueling, especially since Gas is at the bottom of the pecking order of the race track.  He walks the horses after their workouts and does whatever his boss commands.  Much to his surprise he is given the chance to ride as a jockey.  Unfortunately, his mount is a horse known for his viciousness and the ride leads to some painful and disappointing performances.

Despite the taunts and even threats from other jockeys, Gas is bound and determined to prove himself.  As he pushes to earn himself a name on the race track, he learns other valuable lessons about friendship and family bonds.

Author Paul Volponi heads into different territory with HOMESTRETCH.  His usual subjects involve inner-city youth and gritty relationships involving gangs and the city.  Even though the setting is different in this new novel, he still presents life at its toughest as young Gas deals with the anger of losing his mother, the additional loss of an uncaring father, and the prejudice he feels toward a minority group he thinks he should hate forever.