Sharon Verbeten

BookPage Children's Top Pick, February 2015

You could say Mark is running from death. But, in a way, he’s also running toward it.

When the 12-year-old from Washington state runs away—with his camera, notebook and beloved dog, Beau—he’s got a plan and a reason. “The mountain was calling me,” he says in The Honest Truth. Mark plans to reach the top of Mount Rainier.

Mark has been battling cancer for years. It has once again returned, so Mark decides this is his last chance to make the climb. He leaves his parents and best friend, Jessie, for the adventure of a lifetime. And adventure, indeed, is what he finds. A series of chilling setbacks threaten Mark’s journey but only add to the suspense. The theme of friendship—between Jessie and Mark and between Mark and Beau—is a steady undercurrent that guides the journey as well.

The book is told in alternating chapters, with Mark’s first-person narration juxtaposed against a third-person account of the people searching for him. It’s an effective device, revealing to readers both sides of Mark’s journey.

Inspired by the loss of a friend who loved mountain climbing and dogs, writer/librarian Dan Gemeinhart has taken great care to craft a believable and poignant tale of steely resolve and undying friendship. Reluctant readers will especially enjoy the forward-moving adventure, and dog lovers will be thrilled with this truly magnificent tale of “boy loves dog” (and vice versa). This is an outstanding debut novel.

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

A nest is a haven—a place of safety and repose. But for 11-year-old Naomi Orenstein, her safe haven is turned upside down after mounting family tragedy.

Naomi, known as “Chirp” for her ornithological interests, lives with her older sister, psychiatrist father and dancer mother in 1970s Cape Cod. But after being diagnosed with MS, Chirp's mother sinks into depression that brings about more tragedy.

This could be more than most tweens can absorb or understand, but Chirp is strong, to a point. Her love of nature comforts her, and Joey, the boy down the street, takes her on adventures designed to make her forget the stress of losing a parent—and help Joey forget the stress of living with an abusive one.

Ultimately, it boils down to what Chirp believes, “You can’t make grown-ups not do what they’re going to do.” So the two set out to make sense of their lives by escaping their troubles.

In this debut novel by Esther Ehrlich, Chirp’s voice rings true, both in her dealings at school and with her family in disarray. It is a sad story but overwhelmingly powerful in the way families and their trajectories are presented—and in showing how family members react in various ways.

Chirp’s nest will never be the same, but when she returns from her adventures with Joey, she realizes that no matter what has happened, she is home.

Sharon Verbeten is a freelance writer and children’s librarian in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Lots of scientists—Newton, Salk, Galileo—changed the world. Now Ellie’s grandfather Melvin might be on the same track. But is that a good thing?

When 11-year-old Ellie meets the new, somewhat odd, boy in town, she soon learns it’s really her Grandpa Melvin, a scientist who discovered the secret to eternal youth. Masquerading as Ellie’s cousin, Melvin embarks on a secret mission to prove his scientific methods are valid. But amid the adventure of it all, something just doesn’t seem right.

Despite her growing interest in science, Ellie begins to understand that all science has consequences, positive or negative. She considers Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb, for example. Just because something works doesn’t mean we should use it, right? Maybe Grandpa Melvin’s eternal youth solution isn’t the answer to everything. 

Science is powerful stuff, and it can be heady. But in the hands of capable Newbery Honor author Jennifer L. Holm, it can be truly funny and touching as well. Holm seamlessly brings a science theme to a quirky book that middle grade readers will actually want to read because, after all, who doesn’t want to know what is really possible in the world? As Holm deftly shows, nothing is impossible.

This article was originally published in the September 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Everyone should read Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird; at least that’s what eighth-graders Lucy and her friends Michael and Elena think. In fact, they believe so strongly in this summer reading-list classic that they decide to put their clever and surreptitious marketing skills to work to get everyone talking about—and searching for—the book. The trio begins creatively “hiding” copies of the book in stores and libraries; they’re not doing anything illegal, just generating some buzz.

But thanks to the power of the Internet and social media, the plan that starts in their small Connecticut hometown spreads nationwide, creating a dearth of the beloved novel and making everyone desperate to find one. Mission accomplished, right? Conspiracy theories abound over who is plotting this literary revolution, why they are doing it and when it will end.

Paul Acampora has crafted a savvy, witty and funny novel about the power of friendships, the lure of a good book and the influence of social media. Throw in lively characters like Fat Bob Nowak and one of the funniest graveside scenes ever written (R.I.P. Fat Bob), plus budding puppy love and a bookstore owner named Dobby, and you’ve got a can’t-miss middle-grade winner.

Smart literary references, funny interludes and spot-on tween dialogue are keenly interwoven, and readers will keep reading to see where this farce finally ends. Just as this trio wants people to read Mockingbird, clearly Acampora hopes his own readers will be inspired to pick it up, too. This is one of the best new middle-grade titles.

Sharon Verbeten is a freelance writer and children’s librarian in De Pere, Wisconsin.

BookPage Top Pick in Children's Books, March 2014

When Lucy’s family moves to an old house on a New Hampshire lake, she must adjust to new surroundings and new friends—all without her father, a professional photographer, who is gone on yet another extended business trip. While she admires her father’s talents, the tween is also eager to show him that she, too, has an eye for photography and capturing stories through the camera lens. She gets her chance when she learns her father is judging a photo contest and secretly decides to enter.

She quickly makes friends with Nate, the boy next door, and his family, including his charming Grandma Lilah. They ask her to join their “loon patrol” trips to monitor the loons on the lake. Eager to document the lake, the loons and the mountains, Lucy brings her camera—but photographs, full of dimension and truth, don’t lie. One image Lucy takes—a poignant but piercing picture of Grandma Lilah—is all too real and painful, divulging a story and a future no one wants to admit.

In Half a Chance, Newbery Honor winner Cynthia Lord (Rules) creatively weaves a touching story and tackles important issues for this age group, including isolation and the complexities of friendship. It also introduces Alzheimer’s disease in an understated and uniquely understandable way. During an unforgettable summer in New Hampshire, set against the backdrop of the photography contest, Lucy learns about the roots of family, the ties of loyalty, the power of storytelling and what it means to be a true friend.

Sharon Verbeten is a freelance writer and children’s librarian in De Pere, Wisconsin.

As historical fiction goes, few do it better than Avi, winner of the Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead. And as a topic for his latest novel, he couldn’t have chosen a more engrossing one than the American Revolution. Avi uses a young female protagonist, who narrates Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution in first person, to tell the thrilling story.

The story opens in 1776 in New York City, where 12-year-old Sophia Calderwood lives with her mother and father. Her older brother, William—a patriot and proud proponent of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense—has gone missing. When Sophia witnesses the hanging of Nathan Hale, she worries even more about the whereabouts of her brother and about the impending outcome of the war.

Fiercely (yet initially secretly) a supporter of the American cause, Sophia sets off to lend her support to the patriots—serving as a spy while she works as a housemaid for a commander of the British forces. With her life and her family’s at risk, she is determined to do anything possible to foil a treasonous plot that involves Benedict Arnold.

Extremely thorough and accurate research (as detailed in an author’s note) teams with creative license to weave a compelling tale. While many of the characters and situations described in the book are real, Avi invented Sophia as a bridge to tie all the elements together.

Today’s young readers may react with a bit of disbelief to Sophia’s bold spirit amid grueling and dangerous circumstances, like walking 50 miles through rough terrain or visiting an abominable British prison. Through it all, Sophia grows up, learning perhaps more than she intended along the way. Her riveting story also serves as an ideal introduction to some turning-point moments in the nation’s founding.