The Lost Track of Time

   Penelope has a schedule to keep. She hardly has free time, because, as her mother quotes, "Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle." Every day, Penelope's mom has a schedule for her. Until, one day, there's nothing. A whole day with nothing. And in that time, Penelope is whisked away to a magical place - the Realm of Possibility. There, a man named Chronos has turned everyone into clockworkers. Clockworkers work around the clock, not wasting a single minute. No such thing as spare time. If Penelope wants to get home, she has to find the Great Moodler, someone who could possibly think up a way for her to return. But since Chronos overtook the Realm of Possibility, the Great Moodler has been banished. The only way to find her is to sneak into the city, and risk getting caught by Chronos. How will Penelope save herself and get back home? Will she have to defeat Chronos?
   The Lost Track of Time by Paige Britt was a well-written book, and Penelope is quite a believable character.

The Goose Girl

Ani is forced to travel to a place she's never been before. She is forced to travel with suspicious company. And when she gets to her destination, it's nothing like she thought it would be. 

Who is Ani? A goose girl? A wandering Kildenrean lost in a different country? A princess?

She's a girl who doesn't know how much she can do. What she's capable of. What languages she can speak. This is not your average goose girl story. Imagine bloodshed, treason, dangerous risks, trustworthy friends, disbelieved languages. 

Shannon Hale, the author of The Goose Girl, has crafted her own version of the story, and she will definitely pull you in. Her words and characters are real, they make you cheer Ani on, crying when she cries, laughing when she laughs. The magic they posses compels me to say; This is a book I want to read again.

Full of Beans

Beans lives in Key West, an island off the coast of Florida, at the end of a long chain of islands (a real place!). The town looks horrible, tons of piles of rotting seaweed and ownerless dogs, dull and broken houses, kids running barefoot. Life is hard, and Beans is the only man - well, the oldest boy - in the house. Beans cares about his family, and wants the best for his mom, so what jobs can he get to earn some extra money?
What happens when a bunch of men in their underwear - ahem, excuse me, Bermuda shorts - and start cleaning up the city? Why are they doing that?
It sounds a little boring, I know, but it was actually quite a fun book. If you want to find it: Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm.

Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky

   After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1942, all the Japanese in America were sent to internment camps. People accused the Japanese of being spies. 'No Japs' signs were put up in stores. Innocent Japanese were arrested until they could prove they weren't spies. 

   

   Tomi Itano is an American Japanese. Her parents came from Japan, but at home they are loyal to America. They don't even speak Japanese. But then her father is arrested. While she and her family struggle to stay positive, they are shipped away to internment camps. 

   Wouldn't that be horrible? Taken away from your home to go to some camps that feel like prison. Not trusted by your fellow Americans. It would be awfully hard not to become bitter. How will Tomi handle the camps? Will her father ever come home?

 

   Despite its boring summary, I really like Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky. While Tomi struggles to remember that she's an American no matter what people say, Sandra Dallas takes you along with her in a sad, interesting book. Don't worry - no one dies. 

  

Book of a Thousand Days

  Dashti is a mucker maid to Lady Saren. Not long after she becomes so, however, they are locked up in a tower with no way out and no company except each other. They are supposed to stay there for seven years - but, of course, why would the author torture you with that? Who is in charge of the break-out? Who is threatening to burn the tower down? How will they escape? This book is written as a journal of Dashti's, where she reveals all her secrets, hopes, desires, and fears. She's told  of the times she felt unworthy, the times when she was triumphant, and the multiple times her life has been threatened.
   Shannon Hale is a wonderful master of words. Her books run smoothly and wonderfully, drawing the reader in until he or she can't put the book down until they've read it all the way through. 
  
(This book is one that I'm going to have to read again)

All the Answers

Have you ever wanted to have all the answers? 

Twelve-year-old Ava Anderson does too. 

What would happen if she found a magical pencil?

What if that magical pencil could tell her ALL THE ANSWERS?

As Ava fiddles with the pencil, she learns that sometimes it's best not to know all the answers. 

Some questions are better off unanswered. 

Ava had to learn that the hard way. 

The bad thing about Ava is that she asks herself too many 'what if' questions. What if her parents want to get divorced? What if she falls of the high-wire and her harness isn't clipped right and she falls twenty feet to the ground? What if she fails on her math test?

Having the pencil could've been a good thing. 

Having the pencil could've been a bad thing. 

Having the pencil was fun.

Having the pencil made Ava half scared to death. 

Having the pencil was a big lesson.

What things will she learn? 

What will be the consequence of knowing those things? 

Kate Messner knows. She will tell you.

(All the Answers by Kate Messner.)