Waiting
Carol Lynch Williams
London Castle is utterly and completely lost. She and Zach had spent the last sixteen years together traveling the world with their missionary parents, tied solely to each other and their faith. And now Zach is utterly and completely gone.
Through extraordinary poetic storytelling, the reader discovers pieces of the past nine months little by little. And little by little, Zach’s relationship with Rachel, London’s love for them and for Taylor, and the Castle family dynamic all begin to come together to form the tragedy of misunderstanding, depression, and pure grief. But there are bright spots, too, that fill in the gaps. London finds Lilli and Jesse (or maybe they find her), and she begins to gain back some of the faith, strength, and love that she just assumed would be gone from her forever now that her brother is gone. But she also allows herself to gain little pieces of Zach back into her life, too — the good and the bad.
Blink & Caution
Tim Wynne-Jones
Blink got his name because he blinks uncontrollably. He’s on the run from a weak mother and a stepfather who is too strong for his own good. Over the past six months of living on the streets, he thinks he’s gotten pretty good at finding clothes and food, but one day that gets him into trouble.
Caution named herself. Caution: Contents May Be Hot. Cation: Poison. She’s running away from a tragedy for which she just can’t forgive herself. She thinks she deserves nothing and has gotten mixed up with a dangerous drug dealer, hoping that he will be her salvation — her death.
Blink and Caution cross paths before she steals his money, but they never notices each other before meeting at the train station, headed for Kingston. This meeting propels them on a journey that neither could have even invented from their dreams, and ultimately leads to precious forgiveness and friendship. Hopefully they can survive long enough to enjoy the life they never imagined. This is some seriously good teen noir crime suspense.
Bad Island
Doug TenNapel
The absolute last thing that Reese wants to do is go on this family boating trip that his father is super enthusiastic about. Reese insists that he’s responsible enough to stay home alone, and his father insists that this is a FAMILY activity.
So, they embark on the boat trip only to be shipwrecked on an abandoned island. When creepy things start to happen, Reese, his parents, and his little sister must figure out where they are and how to survive long enough in order to get back home. In a Lost-esque atmosphere, there is certainly a lot to learn about the island itself, as well as it’s dangerous creatures who seem to be out to get them. But Reese and his family figure out a way to defeat the bad that seems to be part of the island’s very groundwork?
With maybe just a few exceptions, recommended to middle grade boys.
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Katherine Vasilik, A/YA Librarian
J. F. Kennedy Library
Piscataway, NJ
telephone: 732-463-1633 x6
email: kvasilik@piscatawaylibrary.org or kate_thelibrarian@yahoo.com
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