Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep. HarperTrophy, 1975, 248 pages.

Recommended to me by both an 8th grader (who reads for assignments but not for pleasure) and another librarian, I loved it. My first Laurence Yep since Spring Pearl of the American Girls -girls of many lands-series. Wonderful historic fiction, San Francisco, 1904, Chinese immigrants. Little known on this coast, great storytelling and a real sense of what was true for many many families. I love historic fiction.

Lions, tigers and bears, volume 1: Fear And Pride by Mike Bullock. Image Comics, 2006.

Recommended to my by an 8 year old patron, i read the first in the series. Publisher recommends for all ages, but this is clearly geared for juveniles- young kids. Joey is a lonely and fearful child who feels different than the other kids. Only his Grandma understands him and she tells him he has special powers and sees and feels things others do not. Grandma is special too. Joey 's parents, who we never see, move and he must leave grandma, so grandma gifts him with 4 protector stuffed animals. Joey soon finds out there is a whole world most of us do not see-- and ends up on the other side in a Narnia type place where stuffed animals are alive and Joey must overcome his fears to help them and him get back. All the classic adventure fiction threads in graphic form accessible to young readers. And i know an 8 year old who LOVED it. That'

s enough  for me to recommend it to kids but lets be very clear that there is nothing for adults or older kids here.

LIncoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick Press, 2009. 96 pages.

A lovely little book by Rosemary Wells. Based on an actual letter written to Lincoln by one of his sons, the story is diary like, told in alternating voices over a span of just a few years, we get an insiders view of Lincoln and the family life told from the boys as he is running for office, arriving in DC and then again near the end of the war. A lot happens to the country and to this family in this very short time. An intimate and moving view of the man not widely known but well documented. Reminiscent in style and fell of Kate DiCamillo's work,  Lincoln and His Boys is slim, but rich and deep.

Night by Elie Wiesel. Bantum, 1990. 99 pages

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007. 346 pages.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. Simon & Schuster, 2012. 357 pages

Teenagers, Ari, named after his Mexican grandfather and Dante, son of a literature professor, meet in the early 1980s. Seemingly very different but both outsiders they become friends. lots happens here- family dynamics and problems and growing pains and sexuality and secrets  but through it all, love prevails. So well written and compelling that even though i knew what where we were going , i did not know how we would get there. And,  unlike LIE, i genuinely liked the characters who were believable and lovingly portrayed. Recommended absolutely.

LIE by Caroline Bock. St. Martin's Griffin, 2011.

Oh no! I wanted to like this. It is dedicated to the Southern Poverty Law Center and is promoted as a tool to stop hate crimes. It is listed on multiple YA good read lists. It got starred reviews in no less than 3 Library Journals. And it sounded like such a great book.
-- A group of teens routinely amuse themselves by jumping Salvadoran immigrants. One night someone dies and a witness escapes. He lives and talks. As police come in to investigate the teens try to hang together and stonewall, but group dynamics come into play and now the questions are: what really happened? who did what? who knows, will someone tell, should some one tell, or should they stay quiet.
I expected a "Killing Mr. Griffith" but the book was nothing but disappointment from the beginning.
The characters are wooden stereotypes-- who were very predictable and really unlikeable. I could not bear to finish the book and never came to that "couldn;t put it down" part as promised.
the book was super hyped up but it left me so cold i never finished it. I would be interested in what teens themselves have to say. Until then, Don't Bother.