WOMS Cybrary & Howling Out Loud Blog

	The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt Holling Hoodhood's English teacher hates him, and he can't do anything about it because his dad is an architect who wants to build the next Baker Sports Emporium--and Mrs. Baker is Holling's teacher.  Holling is doomed to perform tortuous tasks for Mrs. Baker, like feeding siber-toothed rats, cleaning hundreds of chalk dusters...and studying (snooze) Shakespeare.  This book has a terrible cover and I don't like the title, but thankfully, in this case you really cannot judge a book by its cover!  Guys especially will snort their way through this novel because it's a testosterone-filled story about a guy who is struggling to grow up.
	A Single Shard Sue Lee Park Tree-ear is an orphan in 12th century Korea who lives under a bridge with Crane-Man (an elderly man) and his days are spent scrounging for food in trash heaps.  One day, while searching for his next meal, Tree-ear accidentally breaks an elegant piece of pottery made by Master Min and must pay for it or pay the penalty (perhaps death).  Tree-ear is doomed to work his debt off in trade as slave to Master Min.  How long will it take?  Will he ever be free?  Will Min learn to respect him and reward him for his honesty and effort?
	The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett "Mistress Mary is quite contrary until she helps her garden grow. Along the way, she manages to cure her sickly cousin Colin, who is every bit as imperious as she. These two are sullen little peas in a pod, closed up in a gloomy old manor on the Yorkshire moors of England, until a locked-up garden captures their imaginations and puts the blush of a wild rose in their cheeks....As new life sprouts from the earth, Mary and Colin's sour natures begin to sweeten" (Amazon.com).
	Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse-Anderson Mattie Cook works in her parent's coffee shop serving the patrons in 18th century Philadelphia.  This city was all the rage in 1793, the center of the United States Government, and Mattie stays very busy at her family restaurant.  That is...until one day a customer collapses and word comes round that the yellow fever epidemic has arrived in Philly.  It is just that, an epidemic, and soon the city is cordoned off by government officials--no one leaves or goes in--with the hopes of eradicating the disease.  As the year passes, Mattie and her family fight, against looters, against hunger, against desperation, and against the disease that threatens their very lives.
	Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the Indian Ocean Tsunami that devastated Thailand & India, young adults today have a new understanding of what Mother Earth can do.  Seth, the protagonist of Dark Water Rising has no such understanding until he moves to Galveston, Texas.  While the novel has a somewhat slow beginning, readers who stick out the first few chapters will learn that Galveston was the place to be in 1900, second only to New York City.  They will learn that Katrina was not the first Hurricane to wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast, and they may be driven to mourn the loss of our Texas ancestors and the stolen possibilities that Galveston promised.  This novel is a skillful weaving of fiction and fact that certainly saddened my soul.

	Peak by Roland Smith "In this high-altitude adventure, 14-year-old Peak Marcello's passion for climbing is clearly in the genes, but when he is arrested for scaling tall buildings, his mom and stepdad make a deal with the judge to ship him out of the country to live with her ex-husband and squelch the media attention that might inspire 'Spider Boy' copycats. The teen's father, Josh, and his Himalayan expedition company are preparing teams to climb Mount Everest and suddenly Peak is faced with the possibility of becoming the youngest climber to reach the summit.....A well-crafted plot and exotic setting give the novel great appeal to survival adventure fans" (School Library Journal).
	Last Shot (A Final Four Mystery) by John Feinstein "This action-packed mystery is set at the NCAA Final Four men's basketball tournament. Eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are aspiring journalists and winners of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association 14-and-under writing contest. Their prize is a trip, with press credentials and reporting responsibilities, to the Final Four in New Orleans...they overhear a blackmail threat leveled at Minnesota State University's star player. Threatened with a falsified transcript that would disqualify him and his team, Chip Graber is pressured to deliberately lose the final game against Duke. Stevie and Susan Carol become resourceful sleuths determined to save Chip and to expose the scandal" (School Library Journal).
	Brothers, Boyfriends and Other Criminal Minds by April Lurie April, is a sassy freshman who is the family "misfit" in Dyker Heights, a.k.a. Mobster Central, but lucky for her she has a good head on her shoulders and avoids situations that might get her "whacked."  Her brother, however, isn't that bright.  He is in love with Bettina Bocceli, daughter of "Bobby the Bull" who doesn't take kindly to oustiders, and he's not smart enough to quit the relationship.  As if this weren't complicated enough, April is suddenly faced with her own dilema.  Who to date? Not two, but three guys are interested, and April has eyes for the rebel she knows her parents will hate.  When I first started the novel I wasn't sure I'd like it.  After the second chapter I found myself laughing out loud in a room by myself looking like a lunatic.  Think you won't like it?  fuhgeddaboudit....this book keeps you on edge and keeps you ROLFing.
	Home and Other Big Fat Lies Jill Wolfson "Whitney thinks of home as a place where other people belong. She's heading to Foster Home #12 in Forest Glen, CA. Knowing that no one will want to keep a superfunny, hyper, loudmouthed kid, she reminds herself that the situation will be temporary. When she meets her foster family, she soon realizes that the McCrarys–and the entire lumber-based community–have suffered hard times due to an economic downturn and logging bans to protect habitat. Once again, she's the outsider, but not for long: she becomes a leader among the many other fosters in the school (mostly taken in for the monthly income); a caring science teacher encourages her interest in her new surroundings; and Striker, the McCrary's son, shows her that nature doesn't make mistakes and that everything has its place in the forest. When logging begins again in the town, the two bond together to save their favorite redwood, Big Momma" (School Library Journal).
	Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer What would you do if the world was suddenly thrown into chaos? If looters were around every corner to take the bread right out of your hands?  If  the sky clouded over and you weren't sure you'd ever see the sun again?  If even the water stopped coming out of your water spout?  This is exactly what Miranda and her family must endure when an asteroid hits the Moon and alters its orbit around the Earth. Tidal waves, volcanoes, tsunamis and famine are the order of the day, and death is right around the corner.  Will Miranda survive?