Kizzy Ann Stamps, Jeri Watts. The year is 1963 and Kizzy, a young black girl, is about to attend the white school because of desegregation. Her teacher encourages all her students to write their new teacher, Miss Anderson, to introduce themselves. Miss Anderson writes back and she and Kizzy continue to write one another throughout the year. Through Kizzy's journal entries, we learn about the trials of being a little black girl at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. She also has a drastic scar along the length of her face, given to her by Frank Charles, the neighbor boy wielding a scythe, that causes curiosity and mean remarks. Her one comfort is Shag, a border collie, born to run sheep. Because of Mr. McKenna, an immigrant knowing about border collies, he shows Kizzy how to train him and he is a shoe in for local herding competition, as well as the spelling bee, but being black prevents her from entering either one. She gets some support; however, from an unlikely person and proves that some were able to see beyond skin color.

Hope is a Ferris Wheel, Robin Herrera. Star Mackie lives with her older sister, Winter, and her mother in the Treasure Trailers trailer park, for which she is teased. To make new friends, she asks her teacher, Mr. Savage, if she can start an after school club about trailer parks. Despite hanging flyers, the only two to show up are brother and sister, Genny and Lenny Libra, and for some unknown reason, Lenny does not like her. Because Star chooses not to turn in her vocabulary sentences each week, (despite writing them), she serves detention with Mrs. Ferguson and must forgo her trailer park club. But because of poems that Mr. Savage puts on the board each day, a new club is formed: The Emily Dickinson Club. Two new members join: Eddie and Langston and they meet in Mrs. Ferguson's room. Hope is the theme and Star asks each member to share their idea of hope. To Star, hope is a ferris wheel, because when she was at the top of one the previous summer, she saw her mom and sister down below talking to her dad, whom she had never met, but knew it was him. Yet, when she came off the ride, he was gone. Winter decides to take Star with her to see her dad for an unexpected visit, where Winter tells him that she is pregnant. Star learns some startling information that leaves her wondering if she has any reason to be hopeful.

This is a first book written by this author and she delivers with heart and an eagerness to look forward to her next. Star and her family are poor and yet we don't feel sorry for her because she is spunk and spitfire. Throughout the book, we see Star's sentences, that are never turned in, and get to know her on a deeper level and love her all the more.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've hear it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

--Emily Dickinson
December 10, 1830-May 15, 1886

"The President Has Been Shot: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy," James L. Swanson. For history buffs, this is a chilling read full of compelling black and white photos, quotes, diagrams and resources. The author briefly takes us up to the inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on January 20, 1961, with the bulk of the book focusing on Thursday, November 21, 1963 . . . the day of his assassination. The author alternates between Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald, the man assumed to be his assassin, and their final destinies, which would change America forever, shrouding that day in mystery and theories. Real photos of his flag draped casket and funeral procession, to his final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery with a permanent flame raise goosebumps, despite it seeming ancient history to young readers. For readers with an interest in informational text, this is a book well worth your time. Although, I recommend this for any reader to build an understanding of this intense period in history and the man that dared to be president.

Liar & Spy, Rebecca Stead. A fun romp of a read with Georges (with a silent S) as he decides to check out the Spy Club posted in the basement of the apartment building he and his parents just moved to. Safer, the head of the Spy Club and nearby resident hooks Georges into spying on Mr. X and his suspicious comings and goings. Georges gets more uncomfortable as Safer gets more daring with his requests. Georges's (named after artist Georges Seurat who painted using tiny little dots) dad is without a job and his mom works double shifts at the hospital, but leaves him messages each day using Scrabble pieces. His friend, or former friend, Jason, abandoned him for Dallas and Carter, the school bullies, who christen him Gorgeous.

Georges uncovers what a liar Safer is, but also learns some hidden secrets, most importantly, why his name is Safer. Georges eats many meals with his dad at Yum Li's in quiet, until he finally unleashes his pent up emotions. After his mom catches an infection from her workplace, she lands there herself for a couple of weeks to recover. He begins to make his own set of rules, not allowing Dallas and his crew to dominate.

This is a charming read written by the Newbery author of When You Reach Me.

Echo, Pam Muñoz Ryan. Another favorite book, plunked right during the rise of Adolf Hitler. The front and end pages tell the tale of Otto playing hide and seek, only to stumble and fall into the fairy tale of three forgotten girls with the gift of music. Only with the passing on of a harmonica, can they be released from the spell of their captive witch. From there, the story tells in turn, the tales of three young lives: Friedrich, Mike, Ivy.

Jews are disappearing in Germany and Friedrich and his father are scrutinized because they are not members of the Nazi party. Friedrich's sister, Elisabeth, joined the party and fights against their resistance. They must choose between their beliefs and the love for their sister/daughter. Hiding proves difficult because of Friedrich's port stain birth defect covering half his face and his uncontrollable hand movements as though he is conducting an orchestra.

Across the Atlantic Ocean in Pennsylvania, Mike and his younger brother, Frankie, are orphans, living in an unfit orphanage. Mr. Howard, the lawyer for Mrs. Sturbridge, is charged with finding a young girl to adopt, but leaves with the two boys, not baring to separate their longing arms around one another. When he brings them home to Mrs. Sturbridge, they are unwanted and rebuffed along with the lonely piano that Mike longs to play. Yet, in order to retain her wealth, she must bring joy back to the household. Mike strikes a deal with the sad woman to keep Frankie only.

Ivy and her family are moving yet again, away from her only friend in the world, to tend the farm of the Yamamotos, a Japanese family forced to move to an internment camp in California. Their neighbors, the Wards, suspect the Yamamotos of espionage and search for proof. Their son died in the war and they blame Kenny Yamamoto for living.

All three stories are connected through the "silken thread of destiny," or a harmonica with the letter M  on the side. The stories are separate, yet come together at a beautiful concert in Carnegie Hall. With a sense of fulfillment, Ryan brings closure and satisfaction to a not-to-be-forgotten story yearning to be enjoyed over again. Consider rereading the front and end pages before closing the book. Without a doubt, awards are sure to await Ryan.

"Your fate is not yet sealed.
Even in the darkest night, a star will shine,
a bell will chime, a path will be revealed."

Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson. A truly beautiful story/memoir written poetically of her growing up years, alternating between the south with grandparents and the north with her mom. She speaks of riding in the back of the bus with her grandmother, even though the Civil Rights movement allowed differently, just because it was easier. She remembers being teased because her skin was brown, or because her brother, Hope, had a girl's name. She grew up in the church of Jehovah's Witness with the only night, Friday, being hers to explore and play and be a kid. She recounts stories of Maria, her forever friend, and still is to this day. She was surrounded by story tellers and despite not reading as fast as expected, she loved words from a young age. Her sister, Dell, was the brain and her younger brother, Roman, had the lighter skin.

This book was gorgeous and I found myself drawn to Woodson's poignant and important words, one that will stay with me with fondness and gratitude.

 A Tangle of Knots, Lisa Graff. Such a lovely story. The Owner, standing two inches off the floor, owns jars and jars of talents with the ability to switch, swap, take, and give people their "talent." He is also on a quest to collect all 36 blue suitcases with the St. Anthony's stamp, looking for something lost long ago. Will Asher can disappear, appearing to be lost, Marigold Asher is unable to find her talent and Zane Asher, is close to going to boarding school because of his misbehavior in school. Cady, the longest resident at Miss Malory's Home for Lost Girls in Poughkeepsie, bakes the perfect cake for anyone she comes across and kind, gentle Miss Malory has the talent for matching up each of her orphans with their perfect family but she has a soft spot for Cady. "V", or Victoria Vance, a mute mystery writer may just hold a clue for Cady and her past.

These characters start off as unconnected, yet, as the story winds down, a tiny slip of paper with the recipe for perfect peanut butter, a blue suitcase, a ferret named Sally and a dinosaur bone used as a hairpin converge upon the convention center for Cady's cake-off in a wet mess of dough and batter. A teaspoon of knots, a tablespoon of talents and a cup of magic make this a darling story.

Baked throughout the book, are cake recipes that Cady associates with their perfect mate.