The Marvels, Brian Selznick. Most definitely, Selznick has created a new style of writing. With the first 386 pages all strikingly beautiful pencil drawings, a story unfolds that takes us back to 1766. When two brothers escape the sinking Kraken, and land on an island with their dog, Tar, one brother is buried. The surviving brother, Billy Marvel, stumbles upon the Shakespearean Royal Theater stage as an actor, leaving his mark. His future heirs follow in his footsteps, until Leo seeks a different path and goes in search of the sea. When a fire blazes through the theater, Leo rushes back, hoping to save his grandfather. There, the pictures stop, leaving us to wonder.

Following is the written story of Joseph, a boarding school runaway, on a quest to find his uncle, Alfred Nightingale (his mom's brother), in the small village of Spitalfields at 18 Folgate Street, London. Once he finds him and is reluctantly invited into the house, he is transported back years and years to fancy chandeliers, crystal tea cups and china dishware, all laid out with a detailed precision. Trying to piece together the story of his family and convinced A. Nightingale has the answers, he and Frankie, or Frances, his new found friend, steal a box of cassette tapes that tells  it all, which correlates exactly with the illustrated story. Glued to his uncle's every word, the story unfolds until it just stops . . . like the drawings. Joseph will not quit until he gets answers.

The reader will be as surprised as Joseph when he learns the truth. What commences is a relationship that endures. Pick up this book and get immersed in the story within a story within a story. I dare you to put it down before you finish.

Lost in the Sun, Lisa Graff. While playing hockey, Trent shot a puck right into the chest of Jared Richards, killing him. No one knew he had a heart defect. Trent's life takes a downward spin from there: friends distance themselves, grades spiral downward, behavior takes a negative turn. Fallon Little, a girl with her own hidden story leading to a noticeable scar on her face, sees something in Trent that draws her to him. They eat lunch together, and form the after school movie club, watching baseball movies. Not wanting to spend time with his distant father, whose new wife is expecting a baby, he lands himself in after school detention with Ms. Emerson, his homeroom teacher. She gives him the chore of watering her plants each day. Baseball is his love; however the coach for whom he must try out, is also his gym teacher and Trent prefers hanging out in the stands than participate in PE class.

Despite his mom's and brothers' attempts at encouraging him to spend time with their dad, he's not interested. And when Jeremiah Jacobson, his arch nemesis, picks a fight with him, Trent pummels him badly. Unbeknownst to him, Fallon saw it all and begins to withdraw from him. Her parents don't want him around anymore. It takes quite a bit of work for him to earn her trust back again.

When you try to catch a fly ball, it can get lost in the sun. Trent got lost in the sun. With the help of a friendless girl, Fallon is the one able to help him find his way again. This is a story of forgiveness and friendship . . . and one that will stay with you for quite some time.

Orbiting Jupiter, Gary D. Schmidt. Joseph, a messed up kid, is taken from his father and brought to his foster family, the Strouds, and their son, Jack. They are told he tried to kill his teacher and that he had a child when he was 13 years old. Having to learn how to milk a cow, Joseph, and Rosie, one of the cows, become attached. Not getting off on the right foot for their first bus ride to school together, Joseph and Jack choose to walk the miles to school in below freezing temperatures and continue to do so. Along the way, they throw snowballs at the church bell and begin to build a trust. Despite his poor reputation, some of the teachers realize how bright Joseph is and encourage him.

Sharing a room with Joseph, Jack often watches him staring into space, screaming out the name Maddie, and looking for his favorite planet, Jupiter. Slowly, with the patience of the Strouds, the story comes out about his past. Going on a job site with his abusive father, he meets Maddie and a close friendship begins. They fall in love, despite attempts by the nanny to shoo him away. Maddie goes to school far away and he walks seven miles to see her on holidays. When the nanny catches them under a blanket, he never sees Maddie again, but learns she has a baby that she named Jupiter. Maddie dies and he is forced to sign his rights away by his manipulative father who shows up occasionally only to cause grief.

Schmidt, the author of Okay for Now, winner of many awards, continues to write powerful stories with depth and sincerity. A slim book with precise words that will have the reader aching inside for the hurt that some must endure.

The Truth About Twinkie Pie, Kat Yeh. DiDi (Delta Dawn II) and GiGi (Galileo Galilee), sisters, move from the poverty of South Carolina to Long Island, New York to begin again after their mother died. With the million dollar winnings from a cooking contest, Gigi attends a new school and DiDi, a high school drop out, becomes a hairstylist. At their old school, they were given the nicknames Double D and Double G, bra sizes, so GiGi now wants to be called Leia, to go along with her fresh start. The first day of school, GiGi bumps into the cutest boy in the school, Trip, and lands on her rear. From that moment on, they become best friends, much to the dismay of Mace, who might be feeling a bit threatened, because she keeps sending GiGi tagger looks.

Even though they have a million dollars in the bank, DiDi keeps the purse strings tight, insisting GiGi study every minute so can go to college and become the scientist she wants to be. One night while having a sleepover with Haven and Allie, she tells them all about Cherries in the Snow lipstick, the one lipstick her mother wore but is now discontinued. They laugh and giggle, while making phone calls searching for a distributor with a special reissue of the brand. When they stumble upon a voice saying they have it available, GiGi turns serious and Allie gives her credit card information to purchase two tubes, one for her and one for her sister as a surprise birthday present. When asked for her name, she gives Delta Dawn Barnes, her mother's name, the service rep asks if she wants it shipped to the Red Cedar Road address? GiGi hangs up the phone and needs to go home.

GiGi's life takes an abrupt turn. She has questions and won't talk to DiDi, who has become unknown to her, because of her seemingly new relationship with arch enemy, Mace. She asks Trip to run away with her to her childhood home on Red Cedar Road, in search of answers. With the plans all set, meeting at the train station in place, it is not Trip that meets her there, but Mace, who takes complete control of getting them to her birth place, including paying for hotel and food. When she finally makes her way to Red Cedar Road, her life takes another abrupt turn. Thankfully, Mace doesn't push for answers as they make the long way back home in silence. Once home, DiDi explains the past, but GiGi is not listening.

Sprinkled throughout the book are recipes, including Twinkie Pie, that Delta Dawn once had the talent for making until Delta Dawn II, or DiDi, stole the recipe box and now makes herself.

Brace yourself for heartache as GiGi comes of age under less than desirable circumstances. Her sister is not who she thought she was, Trip is not the boy she thought he was and Mace is not the girl she thought she was. And yet, all will be ok.

Paper Things, Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Ari, age 11, and Gage, her brother, age 19, are on their own and homeless. Being orphans, the home they had with Janna is not working for Gage and he insists he can take care of his younger sister on his own. Shuffling from couch to couch, floor to floor, or when necessity calls, the homeless shelter, they trudge with their few belongings from place to place. Lack of food, wrinkled clothes, disheveled hair, and a hungry stomach get to be too much for Ari to hide from her best friend, Sasha, and others suspecting things are not going so well. Her comfort is her years of "paper things" she has cut from catalogs to make families and homes and comforts that she, herself, does not have.

Reggie and his dog, Amelia who make their home in a rented storage unit, offers them a night of respite and he makes Ari a paper airplane using a Jiffy Lube advertisement. Coincidentally Gage lands his first job at Jiffy Lube . . . leading Ari to believe his planes make wishes come true. With Sashi pulling away and making new friends, Ari finds a new friend in Daniel, the weird kid with a bucket list of things to do before moving on from Eastland Elementary.

With the growing concern of more and more students living in poverty and without homes, this is such a story and how well some students can hide their situation. It gives us a glimpse into the life of one girl trying to remain true to her home with her brother doing his best and the one with Janna that may not include Gage.

Full Cicada Moon, Marilyn Hilton. It is 1969 and Mimi Yoshiko Oliver, half-black and half-Japanese has her dream of being an astronaut. Apollo 11 is preparing for its take off and Mimi and her parents move from California to Vermont, next door to Mr. Dell, who doesn't take too kindly to her family, along with most of the local people. She is tired of the question, "Where do you come from." Mr. Dell's nephew, Timothy, often stays with him and likes to play with Pattress, the dog, outside. Mimi learns there is a telescope in Mr. Dell's garage and Timothy lets her look through it when Mr. Dell is gone.

As a school project, Mimi is building one on the moon phases; however, girls are not allowed in the shop class. Timothy helps her get access to Mr. Dell's tools, in exchange for her dad teaching him how to bake bread. In 1969, girls took home economics and boys took shop and neither needed to learn the opposite trade.  However, with Mimi's perseverance, she continues to dog Mr. MacDougall, the principal, to make a change, although a small one.

When Mimi and her mother realize Pattress, self proclaimed watchdog to their turkeys, is missing, along with one of the nine turkeys, they go looking, only to find him hurt and alone. Reluctantly, Mimi goes to get Mr. Dell for help.

Mimi's grit and determination keep her moving forward and thinking of her waxing future, which will include the moon.

Some Kind of Courage, Dan Gemeinhart. The newest book from this talented author had me racing along with Joseph, the main character, in his gut wrenching run to reclaim Sarah, his beloved horse. Set in 1890, young Joseph has lost his dad to a freak wagon accident and his mother and little sister to typhoid. All he has is Sarah, sweet Sarah, who was sold out from under him by the very man his father asked to take responsibility for him. But Ezra Bishop, a mean spirited, conniving bullish man, now has his horse and is headed off to Wenatchee. When Joseph arrives, too late to meet up with Bishop, he finds a young Chinese boy outside the trading post, starving and thirsty. With his mother's warm words nestled in his soul, he kindly feeds him and encourages him to tag along. Although they can't understand one another, they learn to communicate in other ways and Joseph soon learns his name is Ah-Kee. They continue onto Walla Walla, where Bishop is next headed. Along the way, they come across a momma grizzly and Joseph and Ah-Kee barely make it up a rock when the grizzly stands tall enough to scrape Joseph's leg. About to shoot her point blank in the eye with the gun he took from the drunkard who sold Sarah, Ah-Kee, forces the gun down, climbs down the rock and . . . talks to the bear. And that momma took her cubs and wondered off. This is only the first of many hair raising adventures these two will have and the reader will be right there with them, gasping, choking, chugging.

Town after town finds Sarah just out of Joseph's reach, yet she is the only family he has and he will not give up. The two boys run across wickedly mean men, as well as tender hearted, generous folk that clothe and feed them. Joseph does finally rescue Sarah, sweet Sarah, from Caleb Fawney, the outlaw on the run, only to have her shot in the neck while riding her bareback from the dying Fawney. They both go down and they go down hard.

Oh, the tears flowed. You won't escape this story without shedding some tears and thinking of this story long after the pages come to an end.