Olive's Ocean

Kevin Henkes has such a beautiful way of writing stories. In Olive's Ocean, Olive Barstow had passed away a week before her mother showed up on Martha Boyle’s doorstep to deliver her a page from Olive’s journal. In the entry Martha reads of Olive’s wish to have been friends with Martha, and finds out they had more in common than she could have ever imagined. I loved that the character of Martha was so mature for her 12 years of age. Although, it had your typical coming-of-age theme, the relationships Martha has over the course of her summer shows a much different side of adolescents.

Freak the Mighty

This would have been a book I would have loved to have read in school. Rodman Philbrick writes a realistic, emotional tale of two best friends, who are extremely different from one another. Through out the book you begin to feel for the characters, and understand exactly how they become best friends. It was truly an amazing story about how friends over come obstacles together.

Jazz

Jazz by Walter Dean Myers is a great collection of poetry dedicated entirely to Jazz. It encompasses poems about every aspect of jazz from those who were famous jazz players, and different beats of jazz. Each poem reads like a song. Instead of reading poems I felt like I was listening to the music. I could feel the rhythm and beat of each one. The illustrations were also beautiful and fit each poem.

I Want To Be Free

I Want to Be Free by Joseph Slate and illustrated by E.B. Lewis is a story based on slavery, and the difficulty of attempting freedom. This book was beautifully written and illustrated. The slave’s determination to escape, and his ability to care for the child even though it put his life at stake was motivating.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman was a phenomenal book. If you enjoy fantasy and gripping tales then you will enjoy this. The story focuses on a curious, free-spirited 11 year old girl named Lyra, who’s lived among scholars in Oxford, England, where she spends her free time playing with her best friend/kitchen boy Roger. But when Roger and the other children in town suddenly begin to disappear, Lyra and her personal daemon Pantalaimon embark on a dangerous journey to the North to save them.