This fictional story highlights an all too real plight of thousands of women abroad and even in the United States. This story of two orphan girls in India, a kidnapped girl in the United States and an American lawyer is beautifully woven opening the eyes of all who read it.
-Heather at Rockford

I really liked The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Ivan is a silverback gorilla living in a circus-themed mall, with a stray dog named Bob, and Stella, an aging elephant. When a baby elephant, Ruby, is brought in to revive the failing mall, Ivan realizes it’s his duty to have her rescued. The story is funny, heart-warming, and hopeful. Written in verse, you’ll fly though the pages and cheer for Ivan.
-Liz at Gaines

The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston is an interesting blend of history, women’s rights and persecution. The classic struggle between good and evil becomes evident when the daughter of a executed witch makes a choice which will affect her the rest of her looooooooong life. How’s that for a hint!
-Betsy at Caledonia

This is a great book, validates and values all of those introverts in the world. Excellent as audio too!
-Shaunna at Grandville

Written by William Davis, MD who ”lived” the results as well as using this in his medical practice, the book is informative and quite easy to understand—wheat, multi-grains, gluten free (not the same as wheat-free) compared to and linked through research to various medical conditions; I was so impressed with the material in the book that I purchased the book in both print and audio-format to share with my extended family.
-Laura at Plainfield

This 2012 Batchelder Award winner is based on the true story of a bear cub adopted by Polish soldiers during World War II and who serves with them for five years in Iran and Italy. Maps and illustrations accompany this story of human-animal camaraderie during wartime.
-Helen at Spencer

I would recommend Jack Gantos’s Dead End in Norvelt, winner of the 2012 Newbery Award. Kirkus Reviews described the tone of the novel much better than I could: “[A] characteristically provocative gothic comedy with sublime undertones.” Dead End tells the story of young Jack Gantos growing up in the slowly dying town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, his friendship with the quirky, elderly obituary writer, Ms. Volker, and a series of deaths that aren’t really what they seem. Along the way in this entertaining theatre of the absurd story, big questions are explored concerning death, the past, the intertwining of personal history with national history, the lines between fact and fiction, and the struggle between nostalgia and progress. Does history happen to us or do we make history happen?
Great read for kids and adults alike, with lots of boy appeal!
-Dawn at Wyoming

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine, tells a story about the early years of racial integration, and how two young girls are affected by the prejudice that seems to rule the town. The main character has severe social anxiety and the other entered school passing as a white. They become good friends, and the girls grow the courage to take on segregation and danger in order to remain friends and affect change in their town. J fiction, but an excellent read for any age.
-Deb D. at Cascade

A modern take on Jane Eyre that takes place in 1960s Scotland. Gemma is twice orphaned—first by her parents at age three and then when her beloved uncle dies seven years later. Left at the mercy of an aunt and cousins who don’t want her, Gemma hopes for a better life at a boarding school, where she is taken on as a working student (i.e. ill-treated servant). When the school eventually closes shortly before Gemma can take exams to go to university, she next tries to find a place in the world as a nanny, leading her to Blackbird Hall and Mr. Sinclair. When Mr. Sinclair’s past comes out minutes before they wed, Gemma runs away and finds herself homeless yet again. The kindness of strangers sustains Gemma, though, and eventually she finds the courage to pursue her family ties in Iceland and discover where she’s from and where she wants to go. Less gothic than the original (and lacking the madwoman in the attic) but absolutely captivating.
-Melissa at KDL Service Center

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle…at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable…

Recommended by Yuko at KDL Service Center

Author Menzies has written a couple of books previously on “speculative topics”—1421 : the year China discovered America and 1434 : the year a magnificent Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance. What I find compelling about his theories is that he uses the practiced eye and experienced perspective of decades as a naval submarine commander to consider their feasibility. He doesn’t just write a book or two but has a very active website where he requests comments, concerns, arguments and more tips to check out. What I especially liked about this book was that he and his wife traced the journey as “steps” of the globe-trotters during the bronze age—he even includes several chapters on the copper mining of upper Michigan. BTW: it’s not the “lost fabled continent of Atlantis” he writes about but rather the ancient Bronze-Age Minoans who seem to live on in history as legendary.
-Laura at Plainfield

British TV series on BBC. They are on season 5 now, but DVD is available in US only for season 1-3. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from traditional versions of the legend in many ways.
-Yuko at KDL Service Center

I cannot stop thinking about the characters in this book, because they were so loveable and admirable, but yet so faulty and human. The book had much to say about the fairness of life, the choices that we make and that are made for us, and how paying attention to each other can change everything.
-Nancy at Comstock Park

This is a continuation of her first novel, Across the Universe. It is a very interesting series set aboard a spaceship sometime in the distant future. Definitely start with the first in the series if you haven’t read it yet.
-Morgan at Walker

I just finished the book The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds.
I really enjoyed this book. It is about a girl living in a religious community but she attends a public school. As she gets older she starts to question the beliefs the “community” is teaching her. Excellent book.
-Kathleen L. at Cascade

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, winner of the National Book Award this novel takes place 12 days before Hurricane Katrina in the back bayou of Louisiana. A novel about hope and family. Another excellent audio.
-Shaunna at Grandville

Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley, is the 2012 Printz award winner and William C. Morris award winner for debut YA fiction. This book is about many things, but it all comes together so beautifully in the end. All I can say is read it!!
-Kris at Comstock Park