Libros

A touching, New York Times-bestselling story about a girl and her dog, perfect for young animal lovers. Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all. From award-winning author Barbara O'Connor comes a middle-grade novel about a girl who, with the help of a true-blue friend, a big-hearted aunt and uncle, and the dog of her dreams, unexpectedly learns the true meaning of family in the least likely of places. This title has Common Core connections.

With a family always on the move, popularity and the ability to fit in quickly are vital to Brent Bishop's high school survival. When he blows his chances with the girl of his dreams in front of everyone, he's devastated. Brent tries to end it all in a fatal car crash, but instead he finds an unlikely beginning. He's sent on a journey of repentance―a cross-country trip building whirligigs. His wind toys are found by people in need: a Maine schoolgirl yearning for her first love, a Miami street-sweeper desperate for peace and quiet, a kid in Washington who just wants to play baseball, and a San Diego teenager dealing with loss. Brent's whirligigs bring hope to others, but will they be able to heal the wounds deep inside himself?

Sarah is not unlike other teens; she's interested in shopping, boys, and her girlfriends. However, she is tired of her predictable life and is "looking for something." The "something" she finds is Robin-a defiant, tough-talking girl who smokes, vandalizes, and wears nothing but black. Sharing an affinity to buck authority, the two become fast friends. Even Sarah isn't sure why she has given up her friends and lost herself. She posits, "-I often choose to be the plastic doll on bended knee, throwing other people's words out my mouth. Why do I surrender my voice like that?" When Robin attempts suicide, Sarah slowly returns to her former self, realizing that she may have wanted to be different, but not that different. Hemphill has her pacing and character development down pat. She takes Sarah from August through the end of her junior year, alternating shorter and longer passages effectively, showing a life peppered with despair, romance, and confusion. The teen's friendships (both destructive and healthy) shape who she becomes. In the end, she displays not only hope, but growth, as she invites the destructive Robin to "forge new footprints" with her and turn her back on the "skeletons of disappointment and unhappiness." Readers don't know what will happen, but they do have a better idea of who Sarah is through this telling final poem. A thought-provoking read.-Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover. Seventen-year-old Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon is returning to Harlem after seven months at an exclusive prep school. He never wanted to leave the city in the first place--especially not to walk the hallowed halls of a mostly white New England school. But now that Spoon is back home, he realizes how much he's come to rely on his prep-school friends and routine. And the one thing he's looking forward to most--seeing his girlfriend, Gabi--brings him the greatest shock. When he left, Gabi was a vibrant young poet. Now she's a thin, wasted drug addict. Can Spoon help her find her way again?

The third book in the Bar Code series, in which one girl struggles to escape the conformity of a dystopian world. Grace lives a normal life. She goes to school during the day and works part-time at the multinational corporation Global-1. She has a crush on a boy named Eric and wonders if he feels the same way. And when she turns seventeen, she's going to get a bar code tattoo. Her world seems very peaceful and predictable. But then it explodes. As soon as Grace gets the bar code tattoo, she comes home to find her family gone and Global-1 police swarming all over the place. In a split second, her life changes. Now she's on the run, part of a dark conspiracy and an extraordinary prophecy that will change the world forever.