Monthly Archives: September 2018

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

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Jude has been living in the High Court of Faerie since she was stolen from the mortal world at the age of seven. Madoc, general to the faerie king and her father in the faerie world, murdered her mother and father. He brought Jude to Faerie along with her twin sister Taryn and her half-sister, Vivi. Jude struggles to fit in the faerie world as a mortal.  She is under the protection of Madoc but mortals are often despised by the folk.  Jude has caught the eye of Prince Cardan, the youngest child of the king and a classmate of Jude’s.  Known as the Cruel Prince, Cardan and his group of fairy friends do everything thing they can to make Jude’s life miserable. Jude isn’t one to back down. Jude has hopes of becoming a knight, but she will need Madoc’s blessing to do so.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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Aristotle is always in his own head.  He’s a thinker. He’s a loner.  He finds it hard to connect to his war veteran father and his sisters.  His brother is in prison. His mom is the only one who seems to get him but she won’t talk about his brother.  Ari is not happy. Ari is angry. Then one summer he heads to the pool in his El Paso community and there he meets Dante.  Dante is different, but he is friendly and kind. Dante becomes the first and only friend Ari has ever had. Will Dante be able to reach through all the barriers Ari has put up to protect himself from being hurt by family and friends? Will he be able to help Ari let go of all the anger and pressure Ari carries around in his heart?

What Would She Do? 25 True Stories of Trailblazing Rebel Women by Kay Woodward

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What Would She Do? is filled with biographies of trailblazing women from a variety of cultures and countries. Read about the Trung sisters, Michelle Obama, and Marta Vieira da Silva among others. The illustrations and graphics in this book are vibrant. Each separate biography ends with ideas on how our “shero” would handle a current day situation.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

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“Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons.” Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography is inspirational.  This young lady values education. In Taliban occupied Pakistan, girls were forbidden to receive an education.  Malala and her family continued to educate girls off and on at her father’s school under the oppressive occupation by the Taliban.  Malala gave her voice to their cause through her anonymous blog. Yet one day, as she was returning from school, a member of the Taliban boarded her bus demanding to know, “Who is Malala?” Upon discovering which young lady on the bus was Malala, he shot her and several others. He shot Malala in the face. Miraculously, Malala survived. She faced several operations and many months of recovery, but now she continues to write and speak on behalf of education for all.

 

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

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In her Pakastani village, Amal dreams of attending college and becoming a teacher.  So as the eldest daughter in her family of all daughters, Amal applies herself in all her lessons and always gives her best effort at school. She is Miss Sadia’s star pupil.  But when Amal insults the cruel area landlord, she finds herself in dire circumstances.  Because of this insult and the fact that her father owes the Khan family money, Amal must leave her family to work for the Khans. Her dreams of a bright future are slipping through her fingers.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

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The second book in the Arc of the Scythe series finds Scythe Anastasia gleaning with compassion and Scythe Lucifer gleaning corrupt scythes.  The corruption in scythedom pits the scythes against each other.  While the old guard scythes work to stick to the values and rules, followers of Scythe Goddard continue to push their corrupt ideas.  Thunderhead rules the world but the scythedom is out of its realm of control.  Rowan and Citra are losing faith in the system.  The old guard is losing ground, and the corrupt scythes are gaining more power.  Will Thunderhead cross established boundaries to help them?