The Running Dream

By Wendelin Van Draanen
Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Sixteen year old Jessica is a star runner on the track team.  Then the unthinkable happens--an accident with their bus on the way home from a meet causes the death of one teammate and Jessica loses a leg.  When running is the core of who you are, how do you even think about going on?  But go on, she must.  Jessica works her way through the many stages of recovery, and very very slowly, as she finally gets a prosthetic leg, starts to feel a tad bit better about herself.  Then her coach shows her a video of people actually competing with special prosthetic legs.  Jessica is excited until she realizes the price tag of such a leg is $20,000.  How can she focus on that when her own family is struggling to pay the medical bills?  But each time Jessica wants to despair, she finds another reason to hope, especially when a new friend in the form of Rosa, a girl with cerebral palsy enters the scene.  Readers will be moved by Jessica's struggles and may even shed a tear or two at the end of the book.  Fans may want to read a similar comeback story in Izzy Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt.  Good stuff, striking all the right notes.

Daughter of Xanadu

By Dori Jones Yang

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Emmajin is a Mongol princess, the granddaughter of the great Khan who has helped to take over much of the known world, including nearly all of China.  While many Mongol women are now used to the easy life of court, Emmajin would rather become a soldier like her cousin Suren.  She can shoot arrows from horseback better than almost anyone, man or woman, and wishes she could join the army and help expand their glorious empire.  But the odds of the Khan allowing a woman in the army is remote.  Instead, Emmajin continues to sabotage any attempts by her family to marry her off, much to her younger sister’s dismay.  There are many foreigners at court, and the Khan decides to have his grandchildren befriend them to try and gather intelligence about their countries and see which would be the most likely for the Mongol Empire to conquer next.  Emmajin is assigned to the famous Marco Polo and his uncle and father.  At first Emmajin is standoffish and severe, but Marco’s easy manners begin to charm her and her thoughts about the rightness of the Mongols takeover of the world wavers the longer she spends in his company.  When Marco unwittingly trusts her with some vital information that could influence an attack on Christendom, does Emmajin remain loyal to the Khan and get the place in the army as she has always desired?  Or does she follow her heart which bends more and more towards Marco?  This well-written story is all the more interesting for being told from the first person view of the Mongols.  While a few of the twists and turns may be guessed at by a savvy reader, most of us will just follow along, fascinated by details in the story and by Emmajin’s conflicted emotions.  A thoroughly enjoyable tale with a historical note in the forward as well as a helpful map to help us sort fact from fiction.

Alice in Charge

By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 4 stars

Alice is back in her 25th book and she's finally a senior!  As she takes on her last year in high school, she is feeling overwhelmed.  Not only is she Features editor of the school paper, The Edge, but she is also tapped to be part of the new Student Jury to pass judgement on crimes by students.  Add to that the pressure of visiting and applying to colleges, missing her boyfriend Patrick away at college in Chicago and doing her normal schoolwork, and Alice is a blur of busy-ness.  Then things become even more complicated when the new student from Sudan, Daniel, gets a Nazi hate symbol placed in his locker.  Some other signs of a supremist group pop up as well--who are these kids?  And when Alice gets a piece of hate herself for going to the dance with Daniel, she knows they need to do SOMEthing at the school to get a dialogue going.  She finds herself worried about other issues as her school year moves along, like whether or not she should go to college close or somewhere far away, and whether or not the substitute teacher Mr. Granger is being inappropriate with students.  As always, there is plenty of laughter mixed in with Alice's family and friends, and readers will enjoy the funny parts right along with the more serious moments.  Another solid installment in the series, and fans will look forward to the next book about the second half of her senior year.

The Cardturner

By Louis Sachar
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Alton's rich Uncle Lester is a bit of recluse.  The last time Alton actually saw him, he was only 6 years old.  His parents call him every week, hoping to stay on his good side so that when he dies, he'll leave them some of his millions.  Then Alton gets a summer job--turning cards for his uncle when he plays bridge at his club.  Part of the illness his uncle suffers from has left him blind and he needs someone to tell him what cards are in his hand and to turn them for him as directed.  Alton has no choice but to take the job from Trapp (what everyone else calls his uncle).  At first, Alton has no clue how to play bridge and suffers the rudeness of his uncle's comments, but he becomes more and more drawn into it, especially when pretty Toni gets involved, too.  But Alton has to contend with his friend Cliff's attentions to Toni as well.  Trapp has decided to make one more try at the National Tournament but then something unexpected happens.  Can Alton take up from where Trapp has left off?  This is a great story, filled with lots of information about bridge but more about love, life and what happiness means along with just a little bit of magic.  Wonderful!

Sapphique

By Catherine Fisher
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 1/4 stars

In this sequel to the fascinating Incarceron, we take up where we left off.  Finn has managed to escape the prison and is acknowledged as the long lost prince of the Realm.  However, dealing with Protocol and all the princely duties annoy and bore him.  Besides that, the Queen and others are still plotting against him, and without the help of Jared and Claudia, he would long be lost.  They search feverishly for a way to fix the Portal and reopen a way back to the prison.  Meanwhile, back in Incarceron, Keiro and Attia are still trying to find a way out of the prison and to Finn.  They make reluctant partners as they search for an artifact known as Sapphique's Glove, which is known to have magical properties and is in the possession of a showman by the name of Rix.  But the Warden, now in Incarceron himself, is in league with the prison, helping it with its dream to create its own body and escape to the Outside, and it needs the Glove.  Is there a way everyone can have a happy ending?  This book is just as fascinating as the first one, and fans will be drawn right back into this unhappy world where nothing is what it seems.  A great two book punch.

Shadow

By Jenny Moss
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3 3/4 stars

Shadow cannot remember a life before the queen.  Shadow lives her life glued to Queen Audrey's side for it was prophesied that she would die before her 16th birthday and perhaps Shadow will receive the killing shot or blow or whatever it may be instead.  Shadow is well aware of her role and she hates it.  Audrey is not kind to her shadow, and neither are the queen's ladies.  The only happiness Shadow ever has is when she is outside for brief moments,  or when she shares a joke with Piers, the servant of the queen's regent.  Shadow also likes to look at Sir Kenway, who loves the queen.  All Shadow can think of is escaping this limited life. But then the unthinkable happens--the queen dies, and before Shadow knows it, Sir Kenway is whisking her away, out of the castle, on orders by one of the advisors to keep Shadow safe.  Safe from what?  From whom?  As Shadow and Kenway make their way across the countryside, slowly secrets start to come to light.  Who IS Shadow really?  Can she really forge a connection with Sir Kenway?  Why are they being pursued?  And what can Shadow do to help save her country?  Readers will be swept along in the story and fantasy fans will particularly enjoy it.

Fire

By Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4 stars

Fantasy writers, collaborators and spouses, McKinley and Dickinson churn out 5 short stories that have their base in the creatures of fire.  Whether you want to be reading about a world like today or one that is completely a fantasy, readers will find something to like in these tales of dragons, hellhounds, phoenix and spirit walkers.  Each story has a somewhat different flavor, but all are extremely enjoyable and readers may wish they continued into full novels.  Fans may also want to try out this couple's other compilation, Water.