Now that Cassie is in middle school, she faces all the attendant problems any eighth-grade girl might encounter: losing friends, finding new ones, dancing around the inevitable cliques, dealing with crushes on boys and problems at home. The difference between Cassie and most girls her age is that her problems at home began when her older brother enlisted in the military. Sef is going to Iraq, an act admired by his father and reviled by his mother, feared by Cassie and her older sister Van, and not understood by younger brother Jack, who has Down syndrome.

Cassie’s own anxiety about Sef is drowned by her mother’s almost catatonic dread, forcing Cassie to feel as if she must step in and save everybody, and leaving her with no outlet for her emotions. When an assignment in Social Studies class leads her to correspond with an Iraqi girl her own age (who calls herself Blue Sky), Cassie finds someone who will listen to her fears. In the process, Cassie also learns that, in comparison to Blue Sky’s encounters with daily bombs and missing family members, her life is not so unmanageable.

While everyone in Cassie’s family seems to hold their breath waiting for Sef’s return, the conclusion of the book is not the Hollywood welcome home we all hope for, but rather the peace they find in the waiting.

Award-winning author Mary Sullivan has written a novel for young readers that is both timely and timeless. Though the story is set during the Iraq war, the struggles that Cassie goes through are applicable to any era. Sullivan’s prose allows us to feel the bittersweet acceptance and love each family member has for the others, and we leave feeling the same for Cassie as she must feel for her brother: hope for her future well-being and the joy of living in the present.

Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you right there, reading this review. Don’t you think it’s excellent that I’m writing a review of The Templeton Twins Have an Idea? Of course it’s excellent—otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. What’s not to like about genius twins, their clever-yet-flighty father and the evil twins who kidnap them: Dean D. Dean and Dan D. Dean?  Nothing—that’s what. Now do yourself a favor and pick up this book!

The Templeton Twins Have an Idea is the first book in a new series written by Ellis Weiner and brilliantly illustrated by Jeremy Holmes. It features an ever-present narrator who talks to the reader, interjects comments and generally makes a hilarious nuisance of himself. However, his presence is also what makes this story so much fun to read. Professor Elton Templeton is the famous inventor of such products as the Adjust-O-Matic Diving Board and the Battery-Operated Toothpick. His children—Abigail, who loves to solve cryptic crossword puzzles, and John, who practices every day on his drum set—can work together to solve almost any problem. However, their latest problem may be more than they can handle when they are kidnapped by Dean D. Dean, a former student of Professor Templeton’s, as revenge for (supposedly) stealing Dean’s idea for a Personal One-Man Helicopter.

The Templeton Twins Have an Idea is hilarious, full of adventure and suspense, and completely original. The narrator provides insight, witty (and sarcastic) commentary and ridiculous statements, including review questions at the end of each chapter, such as “How would the Templeton twins’ lives have been different had they never been born?” Reminiscent of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, this is a promising start to an excellent new series.

Even if it weren’t an interesting tale about two orphan girls, a boy who appears out of nowhere and a mysterious revenge plot happening across the ocean in Ireland, The Great Unexpected would draw readers in with its clever prose and fluent storytelling. Award-winning author Sharon Creech (Walk Two Moons, The Wanderer) comes through once again with a compelling, entertaining read that is at once mysterious and familiar.

Preteen Naomi tells the story from her side of the Atlantic, introducing us to her best friend Lizzie and explaining how they both became foster children. Their small-town lives are fairly predictable, and summers are usually lazy and sweet. So it is no surprise that Naomi is nonplussed by the arrival of the strange boy Finn, whose entrance by falling from a tree is only the first of many “unexpected” things to happen. Naomi is not sure that the series of unexpected events are always that “great,” but Lizzie is certain that their world can only be improved by it all.

Creech does a wonderful job of weaving two threads of the story together in such a way that the ending is not wholly unexpected for the reader, but extremely surprising for Naomi and Lizzie. If The Great Unexpected is your first Sharon Creech book, then you are in for a treat, because you have many other treasures to uncover.

Margi Preus, who won a Newbery honor for Heart of a Samurai, returns with another riveting work of historical fiction. Shadow on the Mountain tells the story of the Nazi occupation of Norway through the experiences of a boy named Espen and his younger sister, Ingrid.

The story begins in 1940, when 14-year-old Espen begins taking tentative steps to help the resistance. Espen has no doubts whatsoever where his allegiance lies, but he finds that some of his friends and classmates think differently. Why is his best friend Kjell riding in a car with soldiers? And how far will his soccer teammate Aksel go to please the occupying soldiers?

Shadow on the Mountain covers nearly five years in Espen’s life, as he takes on increasingly dangerous assignments. Preus captures the tension, fear and determination of Espen and Ingrid, and recounts the changes that take place as normal life disappears.

This fine novel, which includes an author’s note, a timeline, a bibliography and even a recipe for invisible ink, is based on extensive research. Preus had the opportunity to interview Erling Storrusten, who was a teenager in the town of Lillehammer during the Occupation, and many of the incidents are based on his experiences. The result is an authentic coming-of-age story, perfect for readers fascinated by the diary of Anne Frank or Lois Lowry’s classic, Number the Stars.

“I want to paint my whole life over in tangerine.” That metaphor is apropos for Sugar Mae Cole, who could use some brightness in her life right about now.

She has seen a lot in her 12 years. She has a deadbeat, absentee (and unfortunately reappearing) father—Mr. Leeland, who promises much more than he delivers. And her mother, Reba, keeps believing he’ll keep his word, someday, and that they’ll become a family.

When hard times hit, Sugar and Reba are left homeless and must head to a shelter. When Reba can’t find work, clinical depression sets in—and Sugar is sent to foster care while Reba undergoes treatment.

Thanks to her strong wit and will, her love of writing (inspired by her favorite teacher Mr. B) and her cuddly canine companion Shush, Sugar quickly sets forth on her own quest to find the meaning of “home.” Is it a place? A person? A feeling?

Newbery Honor-winner Bauer (Hope Was Here) masterfully crafts a well-paced story with realistically drawn characters. The narrative is full of details (Salvation Army shirts, scamming for free dog food and painting her neighbor’s door bright purple) that vibrantly illuminate Sugar’s new world—one in which she learns how to trust, how to make friends and how to bring her mother a “sweeter” life.

While it may be cliché to say “home is where the heart is,” Bauer takes that phrase and eloquently illustrates it. Her skill in bringing Sugar and Reba to life creates a gentle tale of hope, of heart and of a heroine simply not willing to give up searching for her place in the world.

It comes as no surprise that award-winning author Andrew Clements has written another great story. Clements has an ability to get right to the heart of his young characters, tapping into their feelings as they figure out who they are, and Jordan Johnson in About Average is no exception.

In fact, Jordan doesn’t feel she is exceptional at all—at anything. She has average grades, is a mediocre violin player, and is better at assisting the coach of the soccer team than she is playing on it. With only one week before the end of sixth grade, Jordan feels she has not accomplished anything worth notice and is doomed to be “average” her whole life.

Clements does a beautiful job of drawing the reader completely into Jordan’s world in just one day of school. As we go through her day, class by class, we are able to not only see the world as Jordan does, but to feel it intensely as well. Jordan struggles to be nice to the mean girl because she doesn’t want to be the kind of person whose emotions are controlled by bullies. Jordan daydreams in class—pulling up memories of the past year of small personal discoveries—and slowly pieces together that she is more than the lists she makes or the goals she thinks she ought to achieve.

About Average is a small book, and a brief look at a young girl, but Clements has packed it full of heart-rending and heart-warming vignettes that let us know Jordan almost as well as she knows herself. At the end of the day, a truly devastating disaster is averted by her own remarkable abilities, but by then Jordan already knows she is unique and wonderful and well above average.

A young boy named Baz longs to see the world beyond his dusty village, so when he is apprenticed as a weaver, he believes his life has finally begun. However, it is when his cruel master trades him for a sword that his life gains meaning. Baz becomes an apprentice to a magician named Tadis, who takes him on a journey through desert, water and mountains to discover the depths of his own soul and his place in the universe. They face starvation, loneliness, peril and uncertainty, but as they traverse the earth, Baz begins to open his eyes to the mysteries of life and discovers the magic behind the journey itself. Just as a river twists and transforms, Baz grows into a young man who understands that he is just one small—but still significant—part of a wide, wonderful world.

Author Kate Banks, whose past works include Max’s Castle and Dillon Dillon, crafts a powerful story of enlightenment with sparse yet rich prose, vibrant images and simple, touching characters. Caldecott winner Peter Sís punctuates the story with delicate, medallion-sized illustrations that look much like ancient etchings. With their gentle tale, Banks and Sís become philosopher kings to children, imparting to them the quiet beauty of all things.

The excitement and adventure of a children’s book can captivate a young reader, but it is the deeper meaning that can make a book a lifelong favorite. The Magician’s Apprentice will enchant children with its danger and magic, but its brilliant philosophy, reminiscent of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, will fascinate more mature readers. This is a story to be rediscovered again and again.

Sometimes it’s the smallest thing that can bring about the biggest change in your life. For Georges, it’s a sign in the basement of his new apartment building that simply reads: “Spy Club Meeting—TODAY.” In Liar & Spy, the new book by Rebecca Stead, author of the Newbery Medal-winning When You Reach Me, Georges (the “s” is silent) attends the mysterious Spy Club meeting. It is there that he meets Safer, a 12-year-old eccentric loner and self-proclaimed spy, and his younger sister Candy, who loves to eat (what else) lots and lots of candy. Georges needs a friend, since he has been uprooted from his home as a result of his father’s job loss, and his mom is spending lots of extra time at the hospital where she works. He finds that friend in Safer, who also needs someone in his life.

Safer has decided, after careful observation through the front-door camera in his apartment building, that Mr. X, who lives in a top-floor unit, must be a criminal. After all, he only wears black, he leaves his apartment at strange times and he carries different types of luggage. Georges’ first assignment as a member of the Spy Club is to learn as much as he can about Mr. X. However, as Safer’s missions and demands grow increasingly dangerous (and maybe illegal), Georges must decide how far he will go for his only friend.

Liar & Spy is much more than its short length suggests. It is filled with twists and turns, and will force young readers to examine what they, and those around them, “know” to be true. Georges must make hard decisions, and come to some stark realizations, about friends, families and what truth really is. Like When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy keeps readers in suspense until the very end and will be enjoyed by anyone who loves a good story. And that’s the truth!

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Read an interview with Rebecca Stead for Liar & Spy.