Angela Leeper

Fans of the resilient and spirited young heroine in Katherine Hannigan’s 2004 debut Ida B will welcome the equally irrepressible and unforgettable Delaware “Delly” Pattison in Hannigan’s new novel, True (. . . sort of). With a tremendous sense of adventure and a fiery temper to boot, the fifth grader is tired of getting in trouble and not knowing why. She’s given one more chance to control herself or else she’ll be shipped off to reform school. Her younger brother, RB, suggests counting to cool her fire, but Delly tires of the nonstop numbers and gives up on finding the good inside herself.

All that changes when a new student arrives. Ferris Boyd may not talk or want to be touched, but she plays basketball better than anyone in her class and accepts Delly as she is. Though Delly is usually better at chasing people away than making friends, she begins to follow Ferris home from school every afternoon. She learns to pause and listen to what is said in a quiet way, instead of reacting without thinking. Knowing that she shouldn’t be unsupervised at Ferris’ house, Delly pretends to be working on an after-school project. Soon the whole world seems like a doughnut: “Sweet, beautiful, and delicious. And she was the floppy cream filling.” Then she notices the fear in Ferris when her father arrives early one day—and she realizes that sometimes the truth is just too awful to keep quiet.

This novel’s real truth is revealed in Hannigan’s poignant storytelling. Once again the author proves her ability to get inside her characters and bring out their strengths. Readers witness not only Delly’s tender transformation but her influence on other characters, such as Danny Novello, who only knows how to show his feelings for Delly by picking a fight. And her “liver and onions” relationship with her older sister, Galveston (“it was always bad, but it was part of being a Pattison”), even begins to sweeten. Especially endearing, though, is Delly’s unique lingo, which warrants her own dictionary, from Ferris’ secret tree house or “hideawayis” to her “bawlgrammit” nocuss words. Her story is perfexcellent!

Camping out with his mother over Labor Day weekend in Maine’s Acadia National Park is supposed to be the best three days of 11-year-old Jack Martel’s summer vacation. But when he awakes after their first night and discovers that his presumably bipolar mother has driven off and disappeared, Jack deduces that she must be “spinning.” Jennifer Richard Jacobson’s nuanced and heart-wrenching middle grade novel, Small as an Elephant, gives a quiet force to one resilient boy and his mentally ill mother.

Afraid that Social Services will take him away from his dysfunctional home (but his home nonetheless), his mother will go to jail, he’ll have to change schools and a host of other worries, Jack begins a 248-mile walk home to Massachusetts. Finding strength in his obsession with elephants, based on one of his first and strongest memories with his mother, he figures out how to forage for food, spend the night after hours at an LL Bean store and evade police when he learns that he’s the “Missing Boy” on the news. Hoping to make his long trek meaningful, Jack changes course, detouring to York’s Wild Kingdom to see Lydia, Maine’s only elephant.

Jack’s endless repertoire of elephant facts and stories, as well as the elephant information and quotes that begin each chapter, show that elephants and humans share many qualities. Both want to be accepted and loved. With a makeshift herd that helps him throughout his journey—supplying food, transportation, friendship and encouragement when he needs it—Jack accepts the truth about his mother and finds forgiveness and a new sense of home. Perhaps, like the elephants, it takes a herd to raise a child. 

Known for historical and realistic fiction, Newbery Honor author Gennifer Choldenko turns to fantasy in No Passengers Beyond This Point, a wonderfully imaginative adventure story. The novel features 14-year-old India, a typically insecure teenager who values her reputation over her single mother’s insight; six-year-old Mouse, “like Einstein on a sugar high,” who has an imaginary friend and constantly torments her older sister; and 12-year-old Finn, the traditional middle-child peacekeeper who incessantly worries about those around him. All still grieve the loss of their father, who died just before Mouse was born. Now they’re faced with losing their mother, too, when she announces that their house is being foreclosed on by the bank and the children must leave.

While their mother remains in California to finish out the school year, the three siblings fly to Fort Baker, near Denver, to live with their Uncle Red. Their flight takes an unusual detour, however, landing just outside Falling Bird. Picked up by Chuck, a child himself, disguised in a fake mustache and sideburns and driving a pink taxi with white feathers stuck to it, the trio immediately suspects something strange is afoot. Their apprehension gives way to delight when they arrive to a personalized welcome to the city and they are each given a dream house, complete with a mother or father who knows and meets all of their wishes. When India, Finn and Mouse realize that this city of dreams is just an illusion, it may be too late to travel back to the airport and find home.

No Passengers Beyond This Point is reminiscent of such classics as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As the children race a clock counting down time and never know who to trust, they begin to understand their mother and her hard decisions, to act instead of worry and to work together as a family. When readers reach the surprise ending, they’ll immediately want to reread this fascinating story to look for clues missed along the way.

While most kids would welcome the chance to brag about a father who’s at the president’s beck and call, ready to take on global threats at a moment’s notice, 14-year-old Billy Harriman simply wishes his dad could spend more time with him at their Manhattan high rise, kicking back and watching a Knicks game. Unfortunately, he won’t have that opportunity. At the start of the quick-paced Hero, the latest book for young readers by sportswriter and author Mike Lupica, Billy’s father dies in a mysterious airplane crash.

Still coping with his father’s loss, the eighth grader must also contend with taunting from Spence, basketball rival and school bully. But soon, Billy begins to notice that he’s gaining superhuman strengths and talents, such as the ability to travel long distances in seconds and an enhanced sixth sense. Hoping to make sense of his father’s death, he travels to Long Island, where he meets Mr. Herbert, a strange old man who claims to have known his father and his true identity. Shocked to discover that his father was a real superhero and that he may become one too, Billy has no time to spare as “the Bads” begin following him and threatening his friends and family.

Every superhero needs a female to rescue, and Billy is no exception. While his best friend, Kate, is gifted in intelligence and reasoning, Billy suddenly finds his new powers especially handy when she’s threatened by the Bads. She also helps him figure out whom to trust now that his world is filled with constant peril.

Lupica includes plenty of sports references in this exciting tale, as well as numerous nods to Superman, Spiderman, Star Wars and other superheroes and pop culture fighters. Billy’s desire to live up to his new persona and unanswered questions about his father’s background beg for a sequel to this story for any boy who’s ever wished to be a hero—and who hasn’t?