The Trap by John Smelcer

The Trap by John Smelcer is set in a really cool location – Northern Alaska. In this land the sun only shines for a couple of hours each day in the winter – winters that are so brutal that the inhabitants lives revolve around just surviving. In this brutal land, an Indian teenager, Johnny Least-Weasel, spends his time working a few hours a day in the general store, taking correspondence courses from the University to earn his high school diploma and taking care of his elderly grandparents. His stubborn grandfather, Albert Least-Weasel, still goes out and checks his animal traps (imaginebig, scary, steel bear traps with terrible teeth) alone in the wilderness. When Albert doesn’t come home from checking his traps in a reasonable amount of time Johnny worries and sets out to find his grandfather on his own at his grandmother’s request, despite his uncle’s encouragement to wait out the bad weather. This story is one of life or death in a land filled with wolves, unimaginably cold temperatures and isolation told in chapters narrated alternately by Johnny and his grandfather. If you are looking for a quick, action-packed story this is the book for you!

Heat by Mike Lupica

Heat by Mike Lupica is the story of a young man, Michael Arroyo, and his struggle to keep his life together after the death of his father. Michael, his brother, Carlos, and his father, Papi, came to the New York from Cuba where Papi worked as a taxi driver and Michael was an incredible Little League pitcher. When Papi suddenly died, Carlos, just a few months away from turning eighteen, and Michael were able to continue living together in their apartment with the help of their neighbor, Mrs. Cora. Things were going as smoothly as they could until several Little League coaches called Michael’s age into question – he was too good to be only twelve years old. With no record of a birth certificate (they neglected to bring it along when they left Cuba) and many “Official Persons” asking too many questions, Michael and Carlos aren’t sure if they can keep-up their act much longer. This is a great book if you love baseball and still a good book if you don’t – romance, suspense and celebrity keep this story moving until the very end.

The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1, by PJ Haarsma

Normally I don’t gravitate toward weird outer-space sci-fi type books, but this one is on the 08-09 SCJBA list and I heard that it was really good and I’m trying to broaden my horizons, so…I really liked it! Two hundred orphaned human children reach the Rings of Orbis on their spaceship where they are made to work as slaves for the aliens in return for their habitation in Orbis 1. 

The main character, JT, is treated differently when their ship docks and the children are checked out. JT is a “softwire” – he can communicate with computers by using only his mind.  His abilities are a blessing and a curse and nearly cost him his life. This is a story of good vs. evil, you just don’t know who is good and who is evil. There are many twists and turns in this story and there are some questions left unanswered for the next in this series.

The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer

Have you ever had a secret? Have you ever had a secret that your life depended on? Gabe has a secret alright. It seemed like everything was finally working out for him. After spending years in foster care after his single mother died, Social Services found Gabe’s Uncle Vernon who agreed to adopt him. Gabe had a real home.

When Gabe returns home after his first day of sixth grade he arrives to a horrifying discovery. Uncle Vernon is dead. Gabe has no idea what to do, so he does nothing. Gabe goes to school the next day, only when he returns home again his uncle’s body is missing…that’s when the creepy and puzzling letters begin to appear in the mailbox. Follow Gabe on his journey to keep his life together while he uncovers the many mysteries of his past and faces the uncertainty of his future.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Addie’s life is full of “all or nothing” – either her mom is bugging her to death or leaves her to fend for herself for days on end. Addie is counting the cans and boxes in the pantry or there’s a fiesta in the kitchen of their tiny trailer. Addie is surrounded by a picture perfect family or is a 12 year old lonely and afraid, a life that is anything but normal.

Addie’s dad died when she was 3 then her mom remarried and it seemed that things would work out with Addie’s stepdad, Dwight, and two little sisters, the “littles”. “Mommers” could never seem to keep it together, though. Mommers split from Dwight and the littles were sent to live with Dwight after it was clear that Mommers wasn’t capable of taking care of the young girls.

When Addie goes to visit Dwight in his new home with his new girlfriend, Hannah, and the littles she sees how normal life could be…but how can she leave Mommers all alone? Have you ever been torn between someone you love and something else you really want? Addie shows how sometimes you have to make tough decisions to do what is best for yourself.

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Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Ok, I’ve been a crazy hermit most of the weekend reading the 629 page third novel in the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse. This story picks up with Bella and Edward living a somewhat normal existence in Forks, Washington – as normal as can be expected when you are in a love triangle with a werewolf and vampire. It’s Bella’s senior year and she’s grounded by her dad, Charlie, for riding a motorcycle, jumping off a cliff and disappearing for days on end. Her best friend, Jacob (werewolf), is so angry with her that he won’t speak to her and he’s the one who told Charlie about the motorcycle.

Charlie finally lets up on Bella and she and her boyfriend, Edward (vampire), are spending lots of time together and getting really serious. Jacob even forgives her and he and Edward call a truce so that they can both spend time with her, while protecting her from the evil vampires who want to kill her.

I don’t want to give away too much, but here’s a little about what happens:

• Bella and Edward both give in – he will turn her into a vampire after graduation and she agrees to marry him
• Jacob and Bella finally admit their true feelings for one another
• The werewolves and vampires work together to exterminate Victoria and her crazy baby vampire posse

I loved this book, but it resolved NOTHING! I guess that is a good thing because that paves the way for Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the series that is set for release in fall of 2008. Not sure if I can wait that long…

What do you think will happen???

• Will Jacob return to Forks? Will he ever imprint?
• How will Charlie react to Bella’s engagement?
• Will Bella really become a vampire? If so, do you think she will make it through the early stages?
• Did Victoria leave any tricks behind?

Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell is the story of Tobin McCauley and his family. Tobin’s mom died and his dad is having a tough time raising Tobin and his rough brothers and sister. Tobin spends a good bit of his time with his crazy Granny and doesn’t have any friends his age until he meets Henry Otis and his brother Harrison. Henry and Harrison raise chickens and have their own business selling eggs and convince Tobin to become a business partner.

Life at Tobin’s house is lonely and one day becomes so unbearable that he suggests to his Granny that he live with her. Granny takes matters into her own hands and turns the lives of the McCauleys upsidedown. Read this sort-of sad but mostly happy book to find out how the family works things out and how the guys do in their chicken business.

Last Shot by John Feinstein

Last Shot by John Feinstein is a great read if you love a good action packed mystery. Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are winners of the USBWA (United States Basketball Writers’ Association) writing contest and are spending four non-stop days at the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. These two basketball nuts are having the times of their lives meeting coaches, sports writers, sportscasters and “student athletes”. Everything is going great, until they accidentally get tangled-up in a blackmail scheme to throw the last game of the series. While exploring the Super Dome Stevie and Susan Carol accidentally overhear a coach ordering a player to throw the last game.  Their reporter’s curiosity kicks-in to high gear and they quickly uncover the blackmail plot…but can they help a player in need before it’s too late? It doesn’t matter if you’re a basketball lover or a hater, you won’t be able to put this story down until the very end! Don’t forget to read at least three of the twenty South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominees before February 1, 2008 to be eligible for the voting party!

The Cloud Chamber by Joyce Maynard

The Cloud Chamber by Joyce Maynard is a pretty sad book but has some good messages. Nate Chance comes home from school one day and cops are all over the place at his family’s farm. They take his dad away in an ambulance and no one will tell Nate what’s going on. It seems that everyone else in town is well aware of what has taken place – Nate’s dad attempted suicide but lived. Now everyone in town thinks that there is something wrong with his family and none of their friends want anything to do with them, except for one very kind family.

Nate throws himself into his science fair project, hoping that it will somehow make things better with his dad and bring his whole family back together again. This story is a good example how things don’t always happen the way you want in life, but everything is still ok in the end.