The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

Nobody would ever want to live in a graveyard, but Nobody, Nobody Owens, in fact did just that. When he fell out of his crib as a babe and crawled his way to the graveyard and away from his house, where his family had recently met a terrible end, most would make the bet that he would soon cross over to the other side as well. But he was received by the cold, yet warm, arms of the souls that inhabited the graveyard and brought up as normally as one can expect to be in a graveyard. 

Without a name, the boy is given the name Nobody, Bod for short, by the leader of the deceased, Silas, a powerful figure that has the ability to move between the living and the dead. Not long after Bod's arrival, Silas deems the Owens as his parents. Around the age of five Bod happens upon a girl, Scarlet, who is visiting the graveyard that had been renamed as a nature preserve. The two are fast friends and fast to find trouble. One day they stumbled upon a grave that is hundreds of years old and in the velvet dark are shocked by the unforgettable words of the indigo man. Scarlet moves away soon after, but the two never forget their adventures or one another. 

As Bod continues to grow, his experiences with the dead, ghouls and dreams mount along with his desire to connect with the living and find the man that had killed his family. At fourteen, Scarlet moves back to the town and enters into Bod's life again, through an odd set of circumstances and a particularly odd historian who spends almost as much time in the graveyard as those who have it as their final resting place. As the duo delves deeper into the events of the past, they find that people are not who they seem and though some try to bury the past, it has a way of coming back to life. 

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg

Harris Burdick could be anyone, the same as the story behind the drawings he dropped off with Peter Wenders  twenty-five years ago could be anything. In the years following the discovery of these entrancing pictures, children have woven their own stories around Burdick's art. Now, fourteen esteemed children authors, including the likes of Sherman Alexie, Walter Dean Myers, Lois Lowry and Kate DiCamillo, have put their own spin on these timeless strokes of genius.

There is no specific theme, length or voice to tie all of the tales together, simply the pictures. You will be captivated by a possessed shirt, dumbfounded by a dust demon, and pulled in by a struggling children's book illustrator. There is some apprehensiveness about allowing children to read the stories that children literature greats have written to accompany Burdick's masterpieces since they may feel that their own stories could never compare. However, I think these stories are a point of inspiration rather than the source of defeat. Children are now able to see how a story can develop from anything: a ball, a friend, a trip, or a drawing. This realization will make way for them to let their own stories unfold. 

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: the Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood

"You act like you were raised by wolves" is a saying often used by caretakers to let kids know that their behavior is unacceptable. In Maryrose Wood's The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: the Mysterious Howling, the children, Alexander, Cassiopeia, and Beowulf, have an excuse. They were raised by wolves.

The odd crew is discovered by the owner of the expansive Ashton Place manor while out on a hunting trip. After closely escaping being mistaken for a trophy animal, the children are taken back to the mansion and Miss Penelope Lumley, fresh from Swanburne Academy, is hired as their governess.

Though, the job requirements did state that a love of animals was a necessity, Miss Lumley was not expecting to find three naked barking children housed in a barn upon her arrival. However, as a Swanburne graduate, she is determined to have them speaking Latin and playing the piano. First, she has to get them to stop barking and biting.

In addition to these difficult tasks, the stakes are raised when the lady of the house, Lady Constance, decides to host a Christmas ball, with the expectation that the children will act like, well, children, rather than wolves. More questions rather than answers pop up as well, like the odd behavior of the coachman and how the children came to live out the woods.

All mysteries and canine tendencies are not resolved by the end of this introductory novel, but the reader will be sure to crack the spine of the second book quickly to discover the answer to these questions and the fate of Miss Lumley and the Incorrigibles.

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies, by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by Dan Santat

Twins, Joules and Kevin, have a fairly typical life, if one considers having parents that are SPAM obsessed and being named after scientists normal. With the arrival of summer, comes the annual visit to Camp Whatsittoya. Canoing, campfires, crafts. What could go wrong? "Three Fierce, Large, and Ferocious Furballs...with fangs. Fluffs." Alien bunnies, to be exact, that have landed on Earth after fleeing their planet with the intention of taking over the world, starting with the campers. The camp counselors are the first to fall under the bunny brain-wave induced stupor and one camper after another follows. The fate of the world is on the dynamic twin duo's shoulders and they have a plan! Along with a plan B, C, and D...RUN!!

The accompanying black and white illustrations add a quirky element to this quick read. This aspect paired with  the narrator addressing the reader directly give Beaty and Santat's Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies a fun feel that is sure to keep reluctant readers tuned in. 

Junonia, by Kevin Henkes

With fond memories of the pearl sands and crystal clear water of Florida I reminisced of my own childhood summers spent with family in sun as Henkes told the story of Alice Rice's own annual family vacation to this beautiful Gulf getaway. Alice is self-conscious of her beauty mark (as her parents call it), missing the family and friend who didn't make it to the beach, annoyed by the addition of 6-year old Mallory and her obsession with a doll, and obsessed with finding the rare Junonia (a type of shell that washes up on the Florida coast).

This is a story of self discovery in a sense; of finding out that, though, everything isn't always perfect, you must embrace the good that does come along and make the most of the bad. Alice is moving away from being an oblivious child, like Mallory, and seeing that sometimes people can be mean (like old Mr. Barden) and others can be overly kind (like her parents). Nothing last forever (like the sandcastle made for her Birthday) and so you have to make the most of change (like Kate having a new boyfriend, Ted).

In the end Alice not only learns a lot about life, but leaves the beautiful beach with memories that will last a lifetime and shape her into the person she will become along dreams for the coming year and those that will follow of returning to the beach. Girls from 5th-7th grade are sure to relate to the difficulties that Alice encounters and become enthralled in the lush descriptions of this beautiful part of the U.S.

Crossing the Wire, by Will Hobbs

There are few stories that are more intriguing than those that are based on truth. Crossing the Wire, by Will Hobbs, tells the story Victor, a fourteen year old boy from Mexico who is doing all in his power to support his Mother, brother and sister following the death of his Father while he was working on a construction site in the states. His Father had passed back and forth annually; only seeing his family during the few Winter months and then crossing the border again to make money to send back to his family.

Victor has done his best to grow corn to sell in order to keep food on the table, but after finding out that he won't be able to get by on such income since corn can be bought from American farmers for much cheaper he is forced to consider other options. His best friend, Rico, has ambitions of joining his brother in the U.S. and has the $1,500 needed to purchase a coyote (a man that leads people across the border along with paying off the police).Victor isn't so sure, but ends up leaving for the border himself shortly after Rico departs since the work is as dry as the land.

What follows is a series of heart wrenching and heart thumping events in which Victor is defeated physically and mentally, but somehow continues to persevere despite the impossible circumstances. This book will give readers a whole new perspective on what immigrants have gone through and will continue to go through to get into America in order to make a way for themselves and their family. It is a truly inspiring story that, while not based specifically on one individual's plight, reveals a number of encounters that hundreds truly have experienced. Hobbs has not only constructed fast-paced thriller, but shed light on the issues that exist on our borders, specifically with Mexico, and how the line that separates right from wrong when is comes to immigration is undoubtedly gray. 

Hate That Cat: a Novel, by Sharon Creech

Are you a dog or cat person? A common question, asked with the expectation of a definite answer. Dog or Cat. Never both. In Hate That Cat: a Novel, by Sharon Creech, Jack is definitely a dog lover and a cat hater; especially the big, fat, black type. In poems exchanged between Jack and his teacher poets and poetic concepts like alliteration, metaphor and onomatopoeia are discussed along with daily events.

As Jack learns about poetry he also learns to accept the loss of his yellow dog, sky, embrace his mother's deafness, and let the love he feels for a black Christmas kitten grow, in spite of this reservations. All of the poems that were used for inspiration throughout the book can be found at the back. This is a nice addition, though, definitions of the terms used throughout the poems would have been helpful.

Creech ends the book in wonderful fashion with this poem written by Jack for his mother:

I will listen
for you


I will hear
all the sounds
in the world


all the
delicious
ineffable
effable 
sounds


all the
thrumming
and 
humming
and 
tintinnabulating
sounds


I will hear
all the sounds
in the
world
and I will write them down 
so you
can 
hear
them
too. 


(p. 124-125)