How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

In New Avalon, almost everyone has their own personal fairy to help with one aspect of their life. Charlie has a parking fairy. She’s fourteen, she can’t drive, and she hates cars. Worse, people are always trying to make her go places with them just so they can score a great parking space. Why can’t Charlie have an awesome shopping fairy like her friend, Rochelle, or an all-the-boys-like-you fairy like stuck up Fiorenze, or even a loose change fairy. No fairy at all would be better than the parking fairy. Charlie has had enough. She wants a new fairy, but first she has to get rid of the one she has and she’s willing to take extreme measures to do it. Of course, there’s a boy involved, as well as an enemy who might actually be a friend.

Recommended grade levels: 7-12

Chiggers (graphic novel) by Hope Larson

Abby heads off to her usual summer camp, but this year nothing is the same. Her friend, Rose, is now a cabin assistant and doesn't have much time for Abby. Beth has gotten new piercings, is starting a band, and is a little too cool. Only Shasta, the new girl, really seems to want to hang out with Abby. Unfortunately, the other girls don't like Shasta. A mysterious illness prevents her from participating in camp activities, she claims to have a boyfriend who's a senior, and she tells crazy stories about her life that nobody believes. The only good thing happening to Abby this summer is meeting a new boy who actually might like her.

Abby is a likeable character that adolescent girls will relate well to. This is a quick, easy graphic novel that will appeal to many girls, especially those new to the genre.

Recommended grade levels 7-10.

Bone: Treasure Hunters

Bone:Volume 8 Treasure Hunters
By Jeff Smith
Publisher:Graphix
ISBN: 978-0439-706308
$19.99 #Pages: 136
Call #: YA Graphic Novel Smith

Reminiscent of the Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones characters and settings, Treasure Hunters is a playful and inviting continuing saga of the Bone cousins and the royal family. The Bone cousins are still searching for the gold treasure.

The graphics and, especially, colors are incredible in setting the tone and action for each panel. The story successfully incorporates knowledge of past episodes so as to create a stand alone volume. Suitable for all ages.

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobsen is an honor student, a band geek (although he doesn’t actually play an instrument), and an all-around good guy. In fact, he is his parents’ “greatest accomplishment,” and that’s saying something, as they are both highly skilled psychologists. But there is something that Q’s parents don’t know—Q is practically obsessed with his neighbor and friend-from-afar, the awesomely awesome Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo makes a dramatic reappearance into Q’s life for one exciting night, and then mysteriously disappears. It’s up to Q and his closest friends to decipher the clues and track her down before it’s too late. Along the way, Q learns that Margo is not the girl he thought she was and he learns a few things about himself, as well.

Witty, authentic dialog. Appropriate for high school.

All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall

13-year old Josh Greenwood is forced to move from Boston to Chicago to live with his divorced dad for a few months while his mother goes to Florida to help her mother recover from a fall. When he arrives at the airport he is shocked to discover that his dad has lost his job selling shoes and has become an Elvis impersonator complete with jet black hair and sideburns. As Josh starts the 7th grade at the new school, he is desperate to blend in and worries constantly that the other kids will discover what his dad does for a living. And to make matters worse, his dad's new girlfriend has a daughter, Ivory, who is in his class at school and who could spill the beans anytime. The situation comes to a head when Josh's dad is invited to perform at a program at his school and he goes too far trying to keep "Elvis" from showing up at his school.
Strengths: Humorous and told in a very realistic middle school voice where the main concern is fitting in and avoiding being embarrassed by your parents. It deals with very serious issues in a believable way. This book should appeal to boys as well as girls.
Weaknesses: Some of the readers may not be aware of who Elvis was and the impact he made on the world.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This book is a must have for all middle schoolers. Greh Heffley is a 6th grader who wants to make his mark in the school. In his attempts of making his mark his has tried weightlifting, creating the ultimate haunted house, trying for class treasurer, and trying to bet the World Record for the biggest snowman. However his attempts never work because he is always caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Middle school readers can relate to the typical teenage problems. The author is clever is using cartoons to play up the humor of the book.

Originally posted on Best Books by Ms. Monroe at 12:11 PM on Jan 2, 2008

The Daring Book for Girls by Miriam Peskowitz

There is so much information contained in these 279 pages. Everyone has some gaps in their learning and this is the book to fill those gaps. The book contains some information for a variety of ages: slumber pary games, famous women, how to change a tire, and Latin root words. There is something for every elementary and middle school girl.

Originally posted on the Best Books Blog by CWasserman at 1:15 PM on Jan 2, 2008

A Companion title to the The Dangerous Book for Boys