Deb Loughead

Claire wishes that some aspects of her life were different; she wished her secret crush, Eric, noticed her, she wished her mom had a job, she wished she could land the lead role in the school play etc. While on a grocery shopping errand for her mom, Claire finds a beautiful, undamaged umbrella in a trash can. When she leaves the store, she uses the umbrella because it's pouring, and gets hit by a brilliant flash of lightning. She survives the lightning strike and hurries home. Immediately show more the circumstances in her life seem to change and she can't help but attribute it to the lightning strike. The drama star at school hit her head and is in the hospital in a coma, her mom suddenly announces that she's going to try to get a job, and her secret crush takes a sudden intense interest in her. However, the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for" couldn't be less true in this case, and the life Claire is suddenly leading is not as wonderful as she thought it would be.
This is an Orca Currents book, so it's not too long, and would be quite enjoyable and manageable for a reluctant reader or an ESL student. show less

I really liked some of the stories in this book and some of them were just okay. Most of them deal with body image in some way, which is fine but I wish there had been a little more diversity. Almost all the stories involve girls and their mothers, but not one of them showed a girl's relationship with her father, for example. This would be an interesting book to use for a mother/daughter discussion or to read with a young woman in your life. Grades 7+

When a boy becomes involved in a dangerous activity with a group of his friends, and a horrible consequence results from their actions, he is mistakenly identified as a hero. He struggles with downplaying all the praise that people try to heap on him, and his shame at what he really did. A great story which would pair nicely with "The First Stone" by Aker. This one would work for students who are reading below grade level, and the First Stone would be best for those who are voracious readers.