Mary Hershey

I get sad when I look at the shelves of young reader books at work and see lots of fantasy titles and very few contemporary (real-life) fiction books. This is one that came in this month and I'm so glad I picked it up yesterday! It's the story of a girl who isn't going to turn twelve until her father comes home and is there to celebrate with her. The characters are real and I was close to tears by the end. The one little warning I would give is that even though my store shelves it with the show more 9-12 age group, I would hold off giving it to children until they are 11 or 12. There are pretty mature themes. show less

Ham has been homeschooled by his mom and involved with the church community which she leads as a preacher. To help protect her health and ease her stress, Ham now attends public school. Learning the ins and outs of public-school culture is a challenge for Ham, but Fey, his new neighbor and friend helps him navigate. Ham also finds himself attracted to Micah, a good-looking boy with plenty of cool vibes. Ham's strong feelings blind him to Micah's evasive ways and he soon finds himself in over show more his head trying to protect Micah when they both get into serious trouble. Ham's ardent devotion as Micah strings him along is cringe-inducing--observant readers will see the train wreck coming. It's tempered by the caring adults in Ham's life, his mother; Deuce, a father-figure neighbor; Coach Becerra, and the church ladies. Suspenseful, compelling and ultimately empathetic. show less

Alastair is furious at his mom for making him go spend the summer in California with his Dad, who walked out on Alastair years ago. He is prepared to not give anyone a chance including his new stepmom, Skyla. But Alastair has a lot more to deal with than just his forced vacation. He promised a girl he would join in an adventure race with her at the end of the summer. The only problem: he only has one leg; he is not in shape; he has never swam in the ocean. But slowly, as summer progresses, show more Alastair learns about himself, his dad, and even a little about swimming. show less

Macy is 11, and she refuses to turn 12 until her father returns from the secret military project he's working on. Her best friend Twee is a grade behind her and the won't be in the same school next year. Her grandmother's coffee shop was sold to a man she doesn't like, her mother seems hostile most of the time, an eccentric old woman has lost her dog and is offering a huge reward, and she keeps running into Switch, a skateboarding punk.
But much of what Macy sees in her world is not as it show more seems, and she will learn quite a bit about family, friends, and passing judgments on others based on minimal knowledge.
Delightful book, with some appealing secondary characters in addition to Macy. show less