The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

This captivating work of art, The Goldfinch, begins and ends with a boy, Theo Decker, trying with all of his might to hang onto the only sense of belonging that he's ever known, his mother, by way of a masterpiece: The Goldfinch. When he narrowly eludes death, that finds his mother, due to an explosion in an art museum, he talks with an old man, Welty, during his final moments on earth. This conversation forever shifts the direction of Theo's life.

Since his father abandoned him and his mother to feed his gambling addiction in Nevada, Theo is left in the care of a wealthy family of a friend. He's a fish out of water in the posh home, surrounded by kids whose greatest concern is scoring a high SAT score. Theo's dad pops back into his life and whisks him across the country to live in the foreclosed desert of abandoned mansions that is Las Vegas with him and his drug-dealing girlfriend. Theo latches onto a worldly kid, Boris, who has been shuffled from one country to the next by his mine drilling alcoholic father. Along with many languages, Boris has also picked up a penchant for stealing, drinking, and living each day as though it could all be gone the next.

Theo eventually, miraculously, makes his way back to New York and to Hobbie, the partner of Welty, who  teaches him the antique trade of purchasing and restoring old furniture. He finds himself consumed by a swirl of unrequited love and an underworld of illegal art trade and theft.

This is one of the most gripping tales I've ever taken in. Evocative characters are staged around love, loss, and deceit with the dexterity of a master philosopher and storyteller. 

A Dog Called Homeless, by Sarah Lean

Sometimes, a dog seems like the only one that understands what you're going through. In Cally's case a stray wolfhound, that she calls Homeless, is the only other witness when the her mom's spirit appears. Since her passing, Cally has filled the void by trying to the be center of attention at school and home, so all are surprised when she accepts a challenge to remain silent. She no longer sees the point in explaining herself since no one believes her when she tells them that she has seen the ghost of her mom.

Cally works through feeling disconnected from her dad and moving out of her beloved house and into a new apartment with the help of her partially deaf and blind newfound friend, Sam, and his mom, Mrs. Cooper. She's free to be silent around them without ridicule and opens Sam up to a new sense of freedom from his mom. The pair ultimately find out the connection between Homeless and Cally's mom.

Dog lovers will adore A Dog Called Homeless and it's fitting for those coping with loss. Lean focuses on the fact that life can be hard at times, but a good friend and a good dog can make all the difference.

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd

People fill their homes with their most prized possessions, but since Felicity Pickle has never stayed in one place long enough to call it home, she collects words; words that dance, laugh, and glow right before her eyes and are arranged in poems, on her shoes, and in the stories she tells her little sister, Frannie Jo. So, when Mama packs up to hit the road to a new town, school, and house, Felicity is ready for a place full of people she’ll never have a chance to really know; instead, they stop at Midnight Gulch, Mama’s hometown where everyone has a snicker of magic...or did at one time. Aunt Cleo wraps them in arms as warm as the quilts she makes.

Felicity’s problem with voicing the words she collects usually keeps her on the outside, but the magical people of Midnight Gulch, like her teacher, Miss Divinity Lawson, her friend, Jonah, and her Uncle, Boone, allow her to find her voice as she helps them to uncover the curse that has fallen on this magical town.

A Snicker of Magic is simply delicious. The characters are heartwarming and the plot is full of wonder. Lloyd plays on the heartstrings in all of us that search to find a place, person, or feeling like home, noting, “Home isn’t just a house or a city or a place; home is what happens when you’re brave enough to love people” (302).

Fallout, by Todd Strasser

As the issue of decreasing the number of nuclear weapons in the US is creeps back into the news, Fallout, by Todd Strasser, offers a glimpse into what it was like when the numbers of bombs were on the rise and the fear of total destruction was imminent. Scott spends most of his days obsessing over girls and goofing off with friends, but when his dad decides to build a bomb shelter in the summer of ’62 his thoughts stray to the more serious matter of nuclear warfare. His mom is preoccupied with what others will think, since he is the only one in the entire neighborhood taking Kennedy’s word that a shelter is a must.

The disapproving chatter and side glances continue at the grocery store, but all scoffing is thrown out the window when the sirens blare in the middle of a chilly October night and ten people cram themselves into the shelter that was meant for four. The screams of those shut out fade quickly as the wave of destruction crashes above, but they live on in the minds of those left to survive on a small amount of rations until it’s safe to leave the shelter.

Told in chapters that alternate between present, in the bomb shelter, and past, summer that the shelter is being built, Strasser imagines what it would be like if the fears of so many Americans had become a reality. The short paragraphs make for a quick read and would be perfect for those that struggle to get through a book, if it weren’t for the intermittent curse words, Playboy discussions, and run-ins with drunken dads of friends. Though, this is a truthful portrayal of the mind and run-ins of a boy during this time, I’m not sure that a fifth or sixth grade parent would be so understanding. However, this would make for a great class read for older middle schoolers, as it leads the reader to wonder what it would have been like if fears during the Cuban missile crisis had become a reality.