The Lovely War, by Julie Berry

 War is not lovely, unless it is the backdrop for a pair of love stories told by author Julie Berry. Narrated by Aphrodite and Ares, the goddess of love and the god of war, respectively, four people navigate the horrors of World War 1, racism, family, love and loss, and the definition of "home" in this beautifully told story. I have not read a Berry book before, but would look for her at the library after reading The Lovely War. The way she tells this story is creative and unique, and the writing flows wonderfully, even if the chapters get a little choppy at times. If you enjoy better-than-average romance stories, you must read this! If you like historical fiction, especially war fiction, this may appeal to you as well, as the details of WW1 are more than most YA books I've read. Even if you enjoy mythology, you'll likely appreciate the narration in this story, even if it's the backdrop for the main themes. Not for every middle age reader, this one will appeal to stronger readers at the upper ends of middle school and into high school. If you fall into those categories, do yourself a favor and read this! 5 paws!

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, by Stephan Pastis

 Book 1 in this fun 7-book series by the creator of the Pearls Before Swine comic strip. Timmy Failure runs his own detective agency, along with his polar bear partner Total. Obstacles to his success are many, including his mother, school and his "idiot" best friend. Fans of Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, even Dork Diaries and Max Crumbly should really love this! It's fun, creative, smart, but light, too. This will make you smile a lot, laugh out loud a few times, and want to read the next book - what more could you ask for? 4 paws!

If I Ever Get Out Of Here, by Eric Gansworth

 Another OBOB book for the current season, If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth is a book I can't decide whether to love or hate. I think I feel both.

I'm sure I've read this before, and I really hated to read it again with so many other good books waiting for me.  But much of it didn't feel like a repeat, so maybe I didn't, which I love. This story involved bullying, which I hate (the bullying, not the story). The bully didn't always get what he deserved, which is the real world, which I hate. The story spent a lot of time at middle school, and the adults there didn't do much of anything to help the main character, Lewis, with the bully, which I hate. As the pug of a teacher, I know teachers work very hard to watch out for every young person, which I love. But they don't see everything, which I hate. Kids can be cruel, which I hate. And kids can be amazing, caring and helpful, which I love. The story involves how Native Americans have, and are, treated in the United States, much of which I hate. It also involves the differences between people who have financial means to live comfortably, and others who don't. Living in the richest country in the world, I hate that divide existing. I didn't like - but didn't really hate - how sarcastic Lewis could be in this book. But I understood why he might be that way, which I hate. Lewis, in all, is wonderful, and I loved his character. His friend George is also wonderful, and I loved him, too. Everyone is so...human in this story.

This is one that may stay on your mind for a while...4 paws for that!

A Wolf Called Wander, by Roseanne Parry

 Portland author Parry is a friend of OBOB, having had a few books be part of that awesome program over the last few years. As such, I am always excited to see something new from her, and A Wolf Called Wander is a wonderful addition to her titles!

Wander is the fictionalized account of Oregon wolf OR-7, who was tracked across Oregon as he traveled over 1,000 miles before finally finding a mate and starting a wolf family not far from Springfield, in the Rogue River Valley, where he still lives today. Parry wrote his imagined story from his own point of view, which could have been too silly or trite, but in Parry's capable hands, it was beautifully done.

I could not put this book down, and when I had to I couldn't wait to pick it up again and continue! It is written in a very simple style, and will be easily accessible by all middle graders, as well as late elementary readers, I think. It is a beautiful story, beautifully told, and about an Oregon creature every Oregonian should learn about and know. Cheers for Wander! 5 paws!

Greenglass House, by Kate Milford

 Yay, another OBOB book for this year, and a GOOD one, too! This is one of the books I've been most excited to read the last few months, because I keep hearing and reading such good things about it...I finally found a copy! Two barks and a wag!

Greenglass House is a mystery, in the vein of Agatha Christie. It reminded me a lot of Mysterious Benedict Society in that it is smartly written, complicated - but not so much that you need a map to figure out who's who or what's what. A couple of times along the way I winced a bit because it seemed Milford was spoon feeding me information, in a way that seemed slightly forced. But by the time I got to the last few chapters, I could not turn the pages fast enough! And to think that one of the main characters is...well, I better not give it away. 

There is a follow up book to this one that I have not read yet, but you will want to as soon as you finish the last page of Greenglass. A book that has won numerous awards, including the Edgar Award for Best Mystery! This is a lot of fun - cancel your afternoon plans! 5 paws!

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy

 This is not a new book, having been published in 2007, but Book 1 in a multi-book series (and a movie?). But Skulduggery Pleasant made this year's OBOB list for middle school, and it's always been a book I knew I would read...someday! Well, this weekend was "someday", apparently, and what a treat this was! 

A great mystery with a lot of action, a strong girl protagonist (coupled with Skulduggery, who is, in fact, a skeleton!), smart writing, funny, fast-moving...what's not to like, right? A great choice for OBOB, and I'm only disappointed that I didn't read it sooner!

One thing that keeps this from getting a 5 paw rating is the ending. The entire book moved along at a great pace, the writing was clever and unpredictable, but the ending was a little rushed and messy, I thought. To be fair, I read the ending today, and the rest of the book yesterday, so maybe if I had read it all at once I would feel differently. Definitely a book I recommend to any of you, and there are more in the series that I looked for today at the local bookstore but they didn't have any copies in. 

A great OBOB choice, and recommended! You'll want to read all the books, I'm sure! 4 paws and a wag!

Bearmouth, by Liz Hyder

 An ARC means Advanced Reader Copy, which means having the chance to read a book before it is finally out out to the public. Bearmouth arrived for me in the mail two weeks ago, my first ever ARC! Cool, right?! Vivi, the Dog with the Blog, has arrived!  :)

Bearmouth is really good, but not a book for everyone. It tells the story of Newt, who is ends up as a young person doing hard labor in an underground mine, made up of layers and layers of tunnels and mines underground. There are so many things Newt doesn't know and understand at the start of the story, but discovers with time, and pages, and events. These events are not often pleasant, and at times are very harsh. But Newt does create a small community underground, and eventually discovers the power of the word "why". 

You will like this book if you are drawn to dark stories, with multiple layers and themes built in. Bearmouth is a mix of Ship Breaker, Lord of the Flies, and...perhaps some Charles Dickens thrown in? I liked the book - well written, different story line than most books I've read. But again, this isn't for everyone. Probably mature 8th graders and older might like this book. I don't know of anyone younger who would push through it...but maybe I'm wrong? 4 paws.

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, by Stacy McAnulty

 One of this year's OBOB titles for middle school, Lightning Girl is the first novel by McAnulty, but not her first book. This is the story of Lucy, who survived being struck by lightning four years ago which scrambled her brains just enough to make her a math genius! Fun, right? This story describes her first venture into middle school, being homeschooled after the lightning event, where she finds that not every problem has a solution...get it?  :)

The book starts off a little slow, I think, but by page 50 or so there is enough of Lucy on the pages to make you like her. Her social life consists of her Nana and her uncle Paul, so being tossed into 7th grade has many challenges, as you might imagine. Once I started to get to know Lucy I couldn't stop reading or rooting for her! When she takes up at a local animal shelter and befriends an abandoned dog, well...I was hooked. How can I NOT like a dog story, right? 

This book reminded me of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, one of my all-time favorite books, which is a strong recommendation! Lucy is quirky, smart, independent, imperfect, brave...a great protagonist! I'm not sure McAnulty is quite Sharon Creech yet, but Lighting Girl is good enough to make me want to read more from her. And you'll love Lucy, Windy and Luke, as well as Cutie Pi- even Nana! A really good story, a great OBOB selection, and a cool cover, too - 4 paws!

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, written and illustrated by Nathan Hale

 I've been wanting to read one or more of the books in this graphic novel series for some time, and finally got two of them in my paws. Wow, I'm so glad I did! They are funny, informative, fast-moving, and simply well-done! I read Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood about World War1, and Major Impossible, about John Wesley Powell, a 19th century explorer and Civil War soldier. 

Both books will teach you a lot about their subject but not in so much depth that it gets boring - at least I didn't think so. You are given enough information to understand the period and people in a better way but not so much info that it feels like you are reading a textbook. The graphic novel format helps with that, and the humor worked throughout the stories help as well! I found the humor funny, almost silly at times, but never too immature or predictable. This series, of which there are 10 books on all, is excellent, and it teaches about some important times and people in our country's history. I recommend these to fans of graphic novels and fans of non-fiction and historical fiction. Well done! 5 paws! 

                  

Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi

 This is one of those books that is reviewed everywhere by everyone for months after it comes out, which always catches my attention - who doesn't want to read the next best book, right?! But I hesitated reading this because the reviewers give it the grade rating of 9th grade or higher, which makes it a little too mature for us at the middle school. But I remained open to it as a possible addition to the library collection, and finally bought a copy to read and review on my own, wondering why it was rated so highly yet only for high school or above.

Children of Blood and Bone is now the first in a two-book series, and comes in at just over 500 pages. Already that makes it not the right book for everyone. While reading it, I admit there were a few times I wished it were done so I could move on to my next book. However, in those moments I decided to trust the reviewers and keep reading...I am SO glad I did! The last 100 pages were some of the best action-packed, romance-laden pages ever! So fast-moving! After getting through a few of the slower parts of the story, I was rewarded with an overall remarkable story.

Adeyemi's first book mashes African history with fantasy and African-American sentiment into a wild blend of a story. If adventure, magic, kingdoms, wars and battles and romance is your thing, you will surely like this! I found that the reason some reviewers were giving it the higher grade rating was the romantic relationship that builds up as the story goes along, peaking at some intimate suggestions that I think most mature 8th grade readers could handle. Probably even mature 7th graders. In fact, I didn't find anything more suggestive than in any Twilight books, nor anything that would even make me blush. So a strong story, with older teen characters, doing and thinking what many older teens think about when it comes to someone they are attracted to - oh, and with a unique storyline, action and adventure thrown in. 

The closest comparisons I can think of for this book would be Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, only for older middle school or high school readers. After reading the story, the Author's Note at the end of the book will make you cry. It's not the same to read it before the story - I did both. It will be something sure to move you after you complete the book. Not sure I would read the second book until I finished the first, but now I probably will dive in again. What happens to Zelie? 4 paws and a wag!