Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire, by John August

    Book 1 in a current 3-book series by screenwriter John August, and an OBOB book for the season! Arlo Finch moves with his sister and mom into his eccentric uncle's house in the woods. Nothing else will ever be the same, as Arlo joins the Rangers, which is a cross between the Boy Scouts and being in the Cullen family in the Twilight series of books! While there are no vampires in this book, there are plenty of weird and wacky creatures, all seemingly bent on destroying Arlo, although he doesn't know why. However, his Uncle may know a few things...

    For fans of Fablehaven, or perhaps Ranger's Apprentice, or any exceptionally good fantasy adventure, get this! Read it! And be prepared to move onto book 2, and then book 3, and if you're lucky, book 4 will be out by time you're ready! Very fun - 5 paws!

When Stars Are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

     Another OBOB book for the upcoming season, AND a graphic novel, AND a new book by the author and illustrator of Roller Girl and All's Faire in Middle School (both also graphic novels)! Wow! When Stars Are Scattered is a true story about the life of Omar Mohamed and his brother Hassan, who lost both parents in an ongoing war in Somalia, Africa. They escaped together to a refugee camp in Kenya, where they continue to watch for their mother's return. Days of watching and waiting turn into weeks. Weeks into months, and months turn into years. 

    This graphic novel is Omar's story about growing up in the Kenyan refugee camp, the struggles, the trials, and the friendships he makes there. The illustrations are clean and colorful, and the story is engaging and difficult to imagine. At the end of the book there are even a few photos of Omar and Hassan, but I don't want to spoil the story and tell you where or why these photos are taken. 

    If you like graphic novels, this is a good and informative one, similar to Eoin Colfer's Illegal, or maybe even John Lewis's March series - good non-fiction and historical fiction told through the graphic novel format, which really helps the story come alive for the reader! If you've read Jamieson's other books you'll know she is really good at this format, and Stars will not disappoint! A great addition to this season's OBOB titles! 4 paws!

The Ship We Built, by Lexie Bean

     A new book, and the first from author Bean, a self-described transgender writer and multimedia artist. The Ship We Built is a really important story, a sort of autobiography, but written as a fiction book. The book tells about a year in the life of Rowan, who was born Ellie, as they navigate their fifth grade school year trying to figure out who they are, and how to be that person in a world surrounded by unsupportive family, school mates, and even more dangerous areas of life such as sexual abuse. As Ellie navigates their transition in their own mind to Rowan, they use a series of letters, written to anyone who might find and read them, as a "ship" to communicate who they are and their journey of becoming. Each letter is tied to a balloon and sent into the sky, in the hopes that a friend will be made along the way, a desperately needed friend when they seem so hard to find.

     The story is important because there are not many books out there about transgender kids, or adults for that matter, and these voices need to be available for all of us to begin to understand and know. However, Bean has landed on one method of delivering the story, via the letter, and does not add to that in any way, keeping the tone of the story very constant, as well as the narration. What that means for you, the reader, is that a needed story loses a lot of its power in the monotony of the delivery. In other words, because the entire story is told in letters, and only from Ellie/Rowan, the themes explored in the book are pretty one-dimensional. They fall a little flat. I got bored with the story - not the storyline itself, but with the sameness of the delivery throughout. 

I think Bean has done a nice job of introducing us to transgender teens and what that means in today's world. I think future books by this author might get wider in their scope, and thus be better stories. I give Ship 4 paws, mostly for being so brave in offering us Rowan as a 10-year-old boy born a girl, something that probably exists more than we know in those around us. But outside of this needed theme, Bean still has some writing work to do to really take their story to another, better, level.