Keeping the Castle

Patrice Kindl’s Keeping the Castle, a historical romance novel being compared to Pride and Prejudice, is on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013. Althea Crawley has the daunting task of finding a rich suitor so that she can cover the expenses of her family’s large, aging estate built on a precarious cliff by her great grandfather. Her father died right before her little brother, Alexander, was born. Thankfully, being male, he is an appropriate heir to the estate, but the family is in dire need of money to keep it up until he is of age to take it over. Besides Alexander, the Crawley castle is home to their mother and two unpleasant stepsisters who are also looking for husbands that can take care of them. While being courted by an appealing, eligible bachelor, Lord Boring, Althea learns to disdain his cousin, Mr. Frederick, who is always keeping their company. Mr. Frederick constantly finds things wrong with Crawley Castle and doesn’t hold back on saying exactly what he feels. Althea is determined to earn the affections of Lord Boring – he seems to be the answer to all of their problems. When a new single young lady comes to town, things become disrupted. This would be a great recommendation for fans of the television show, Downton Abbey. It is also great for libraries wanting to beef up their high lexile level selections.

Ripper

Ripper by Stefan Petrucha is the perfect selection for upper middle school students looking for a meaty thriller that has a huge twist in the story. It is another selection from the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013-14. Carver Young knows he was meant to be a detective his entire life. Shortly before being told that he has to find a new home because the orphanage who had raised him could no longer care for the three eldest children at the facility, Carver finds a note with clues about his father. Thankfully, he is taken in by Mr. Hawking an infamous lead detective in New York City who is part of the well-known Pinkerton Agency. It seems that Jack the Ripper has traveled from London to New York City to continue his killing spree. Mr. Hawking makes sure that Carver solves all his own clues to move forward in his investigations. Could the treacherous Jack the Ripper actually be Carver’s father? Read Ripper to find out. I had to go back and reread parts that seemed too shocking to believe – 8th graders will love it!

Steve Jobs The Man Who Thought Different

I just finished reading Karen Blumenthal's Steve Jobs The Man Who Thought Different - another selection from the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013-14. I was so excited to see that this book made the list, because surprisingly many middle school students don't know anything about Steve Jobs even though their most treasured possessions were created because of Jobs. This biography is detail-oriented and sticks straight to the facts about Jobs' philosophy on life, his personal characteristics, his work history, and what people truly thought about him which wasn't always flattering. It is vital that young adults know about Steve Jobs as he was one of the most innovative people in our contemporary world. Click on the tribute video below from ABC News.

Insignia

S.J. Kincaid’s Insignia, a thrilling science fiction novel that takes place in a futuristic world, is also on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013-14. Before it made it to this list, it was getting a lot of buzz and rightly so. Countries, divided into coalitions, are in the midst of World War III – battles are now fought by gifted people who control warfare equipment fought in space, but controlled on Earth. Tom Raines is a misfit who misses a lot of school, even though his reformatory school is via a sim community on the computer, due to his gambling father’s need to hop from casino to casino seeking that one big jackpot. Tom Raines helps earn money by conning opponents to play virtual reality games for money. The government tracks those playing in VR rooms to find the most talented to work for the government. General Marsh offers Tom one of the most sought after government jobs of training for the Intrasolar Forces to help win the War. Tom’s initial response is to walk out when he sees that all trainees must have neural processors implanted into their brain to help them process information faster and speed up their physical growth process, but his need to be important overrides any doubts he has. The competition between the new recruits causes deception and the need to sabotage others. Things begin to escalate when a company who funds the top-rated combatant group begins to upload viruses into Tom’s neural processor to make him work for them. This highly technical novel will appeal to readers wanting a science fiction novel chockfull of new technology and gaming warfare. Gamers will love this one! It is the first novel in a trilogy with Vortex (book 2) coming out on July 2, 2013.

Outlaw

Stephen Davies' Outlaw is on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013-14. It is an action-packed adventure that will appeal to fans of Horowitz's Alex Rider series. Jake Knight has a gift - he can scale high walls without any help. Jake's parents and sister, Kas, live in Burkina Faso in West Africa where his father is a highly regarded British Ambassador. Jake finds himself having to return to his family when he is booted out of his British boarding school for too many infractions. The story goes back and forth between what is happening in Jake’s life and a masterful outlaw dubbed The Chameleon – the Robin Hood of the Sahara Desert. When Jake and Kas are kidnapped by ruthless henchman the story quickly picks up with twists and turns. I love the way Davies intertwines modern technology and warfare with the simple natural resources that exist for those in the harsh desert. Other young adult books by Davies include The Yellowcake Conspiracy and Hacking Timbuktu.

Almost Home

Joan Bauer’s Almost Home is also on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013-14. Joan Bauer is a master at creating characters that readers can relate to and remember long after they finish reading her books. Every so often I come across a book where I find so many quotes I want to highlight and share with others – this is one of those novels. This emotional story is about a little girl named Sugar who becomes homeless through a series of events that spiral out of control. She loses more than any child should including the school that has the best teacher who truly “gets” her strengths, the grandfather who was her only reliable father figure, the secure home she has grown up in, and ultimately the mother she has taken care of for so long. Don’t worry though – Sugar has the strength of a warrior and Bauer ensures that she has safety nets to catch her when things become unbearable. Everyone needs a dog to come home to, a teacher who never gives up on you, and genuinely good people who become family by choice. I absolutely loved this one! Language arts teachers will appreciate Sugar’s messages via letters and poems throughout the story. Other great stories by Joan Bauer include Close to Famous, Peeled, Squashed, Thwonk, Best Foot Forward, Stand Tall, Rules of the Road, Sticks, and Backwater.

Bewitching

Alex Flinn’s latest novel, Bewitching (Kendra Chronicles), is on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2013-14. Readers of Flinn’s Beastly (made into a movie) will remember Kendra as the witch that placed a curse on arrogant Kyle Kingsbury. Kendra has returned in Bewitching and readers will be thrilled to learn her background story and her most recent spell-casting shenanigans. Flinn manages to successfully twist many fairy tales into this interwoven story. One of the main storylines involves a girl named Emma who has been raised by her stepfather from the age of three-years-old. Everything changes when her stepfather’s biological daughter, Lisette, comes to live with them. Lisette’s mother died recently and her father feels sorry for her. Is there an evil stepmother? You bet – Emma’s mother is awful to Lisette, but this isn’t your normal Cinderella story – maybe the stepsister isn’t all that bad. Twists and turns abound in this action-packed fantasy. As bewitching as Kendra is, some things don’t work out the way she had hoped. Fairy tale lovers will enjoy this one! Recommended for 8th grade and up. Other great books by Alex Flinn include Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, Breathing Under Water, Cloaked, A Kiss in Time, and Breaking Point.