Make a Wish, Honey Bear! by Marcus Pfister

written by Levi

My favrit chritr is Honey Bear. I like this book becus it is about birthdays. All his friends came. It has 24 pajis.

Garbage Trucks by Terri DeGazelle

Written by Caleb:

My book is true (non-fiction). I learned that the back of garbage trucks lift up to dump out the garbage at the landfill. I like this book because it has a recycling truck in it. I like the packing panel because it pulls the garbage to the back of the truck so more garbage can get put in. It has 21 pages.

Henrietta's War, Joyce Dennys

This is a fictionalized series of letters, written by a woman on the homefront in WWII England to a childhood friend serving in the military.  It is hilarious!  I loved the main character's voice.  She includes little illustrations with most of the letters which are also fun.  The author does a great job of balancing the seriousness of the situation - the fear of invasion, the deprivations, the loss - with the quirkiness of normal people stuck in extraordinary circumstances.  Well worth a read.

Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher

This is a book about suicide.  The main character, if you can call her that, leaves behind cassette tapes explaining why she committed suicide, so as the reader, you go through the experience of one of her listeners, hearing her whole story. 

I had mixed feelings about the book.  It did make me think about how important it is to be kind and to be aware of what others around you might be going through. At the same time, the burden of guilt was placed on kids who were mean to her or adults who didn't "do enough" to help her, even though they didn't know what was going on.  The consequences, especially for her family, weren't really dealt with either.  I'm not a huge fan.

Hunger Games

This was so sad! But I have to say that I really enjoyed reading it. There was this political intrigue that was believable. It was well written and had a very Shakespearian feel for me, it reminded me of the end of Hamlet where everyone dies. Brace yourself if you're going to read it though, just know ahead of time it is tragic. I don't think I'll be ready to handle the sequel for a while.

Dark Life

This is by Kat Falls and it is awesome! I just finished and I want to read it again. It is set in the future when global warming has diminished land significantly. It is sort of a mystery about a boy living in a community that is located at the bottom of the ocean and a "topside" girl who is looking for her brother.

Princess Stories

I know, it's been forever. Does anyone check this anymore?? :) But I recently read two books that I enjoyed, both fairy tale retellings by Jessica Day George (how did I not know she existed until now?).

Princess of the Midnight Ball -- This is a retelling of the 12 dancing princesses story. I liked the setting a lot, and the main character is really the boy in this one. He was great. And he knits. How about that?

Princess of Glass -- This is a companion book, written about one of the younger sisters from the first princess story. I won't tell you which tale she's rewriting; see if you can guess! I think I liked this one even better than the first.

They're pretty easy reads with well-developed characters and they're both fun worlds to fall into for a while.