The Elephant in the Room, by Holly Goldberg Sloan

  I'm going to say right up front that I love good realistic fiction! The Elephant in the Room fits into that category! Author Holly Goldberg Sloan wrote another of my favorite books, Counting by 7s, which at the time reminded me a lot of Wonder, but a little better (even though Wonder was made into a movie and gets a lot more press).

    The Elephant in the Room is the story of Sila, whose mom traveled back to her native country of Turkey to straighten out some residency issues, but was not allowed to return to the United States. While trying to navigate school and her loss alongside her father, she meets a quirky man named Gio. And then Veda, the elephant, becomes part of the story. Alongside a lot of pink flamingos and a very naughty bear. And Mateo, who has autism, but also becomes part of Silas's world.

    Like Counting by 7s, this book is really well written, and will keep you turning the pages until the very end. It may even bring out a tear or two. Not Sloan's best book, but very good just the same, and I recommend it, especially if you are an animal lover! 4 paws!

Two Roads, by Joseph Bruchac

     It's been a minute since I've read a Joseph Bruchac book - actually, several minutes - but I am glad to have come back! He is a master storyteller, and he, like his characters, incorporate Native cultures into his stories, creating amazing historical fiction books, but I think this may be the best I've read to date.

    Two Roads takes place in the early 1930's when the United States was suffering through the Great Depression (great because of it's severity, not because it was a great event, by any means). Protagonist Cal Black is living a hobo life with this father, after losing his mother and their farm in the depression. They are the best of friends, living honestly and truthfully, according to the creed of hobo existence. All is going well, until Cal's dad decides that he needs to be part of the movement in Washington D.C. to try and force President Herbert Hoover into paying veterans of World War 1, of which Cal's dad is one, the money they were promised so that they can buy another farm and settle down.

    To do that, Cal's dad places him in a Indian School, a place where Native American children were sent to strip them of their "savage" ways and teach them White, Christian, English-speaking ways. In fact, as terrible as it was, Cal's dad had attended the same school when he was younger, and even though Dad had run away three times during his time there, he still felt it was the best place for Cal to learn some farming skills while his father tried to influence the president.

    This book reminded me of so many different stories at the same time, all good! Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool...all are also really good realistic fiction books that do an excellent job of connecting you, the reader, with the character(s). In writing, that is often called "voice", and Two Roads has plenty of it! Cal narrates the story, and I found myself feeling a bit empty when I finished the last page. I'll miss Cal and his dad, and for that Two Roads gets 5 paws!

Fantasy Baseball, by Alan Gratz

     It's spring, readers, and baseball is in the air - my favorite sport of all time! I'm still waiting for a professional team to be named for a dog or breed (why do birds have all the fun?), but even without a good dog-named team, I love the game! So even though Fantasy Baseball is one of author Gratz's earliest books, and I really enjoy his more recent work (such as Refugee and Prisoner B-3087), and I was ready for a good baseball-themed story, this one...well, it's a stinker (not a sinker, which is a difficult pitch to hit!).

    The plot of this story is young Alex Metcalf seems to wake up on a bus to a baseball game surrounded by characters from all kinds of children's stories; Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, and more. These characters, now with Alex among them, is traveling and playing baseball games, trying to make it into the playoffs.

    Rarely, and I mean almost never, do I start a book and not finish it. But friends, I did read the first 50 pages - a very fair start to any chapter book, in my opinion - but I had to stop and read something else. If anything from the plot explained above appeals to you, give this a try! It's not terrible - Gratz is too good a writer for that. But this is not his best work...not even close. Read anything he has written in the last ten years, and you will not be able to put the book down! But unless something here really sparks your interest, skip this one. It's a foul ball. 2 paws.