Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline Cooney

This book surprised me, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Jared's family is hosting a refugee family of four people from Africa, but he gets the feeling that they're not who they seem to be. The parents don't seem to pay much attention to their son and daughter, and Jared doesn't see a family resemblance. The daughter does not speak and does not seem to hear others. The son is very protective of his grandparents' cremated ashes that he's keeping in cardboard boxes. Jared later discovers black diamonds are hidden in the boxes, but he can't figure out what is going on. Jared's family is unaware that there was a fifth refugee on board the plane from Africa, and this murderer will do anything to get his hands on the diamonds.

I was expecting a plot in which an African family needed to learn to adapt to the American culture, and that is how the book begins. However, I quickly became aware that the plot was more of a mystery, and I enjoyed trying to figure out the secrets of the refugees. The suspense builds to an exciting climax when the fifth refugee discovers the location of the family.

Lexile level from lexile.com 750

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

The setting of this book is in Afghanistan, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Zulaikha was born with a cleft lip which causes her great embarrassment. Great hope arises when some American doctors offer to fix her lip, and she prays that the surgery will make her pretty and normal. She meets Meena, her deceased mother's teacher, and Meena would like to teach Zulaikha to read and write. Zulaikha fears that her father and stepmother will object if they discover what she is doing. In addition, her father arranges a marriage for her sister and best friend, Zeynab. Zeynab will become the third wife of her husband, and she hopes to have many children and make her husband proud. This announcement makes Zulaikha very happy. During this time, the Americans have moved into the region to fight the Taliban forces. The Americans bring a mixture of hope and hate to the citizens of Afghanistan. In the end, the characters learn that beauty isn't everything and that wishes don't always come true.

The exposition and early part of the plot didn't really grab me. However, the personal conflicts became more interesting with Zulaikha's planned surgery and hopes to read, her sister's marriage, the birth of her stepmother's new baby, and the presence of the American army. The author did a great job of telling the story from Zulaikha's point of view and describing her thoughts and feelings. I had some problems with names; I couldn't keep track of which names were siblings, friends, and extended family (step family, aunts, etc.). It wasn't a big problem. This book offered a view into the beliefs of another culture and their mixed feelings about our culture.

Lexile level from lexile.com 670

The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong

This book is about survival at sea, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Following his mother's death, Ben's father decides to sell the house and spend the next year sailing around the ocean on a boat with his three sons. The boys hate the idea, and Ben, being the oldest, is the most vocal about it. There is conflict all of the time, and everyone is very depressed and angry. Finally, the family's fortunes take a turn for the worse when the father disappears overboard during the night. A huge storm rises up and tosses the small boat around until it smashes into a tiny, coral and sand island. How can three brothers survive, alone, on an island without fresh water and very little plant and animal life? Ben decides something risky must be done when the middle brother becomes seriously injured in a fall.

The last third of the plot saved this book for me. The first half of the plot stressed the conflict and turmoil within the family as they tried to deal with the death of the mother. It was obvious that the father was hurting inside, but Ben couldn't help hating him. The author constantly described this hate, and I felt the plot suffered. There's not much action on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean, so that already offered a challenge in holding my interest. The focus on the problem between Ben and his father became repetitive after a while. The plot became interesting after the father fell off the boat, and I enjoyed the climax and resolution.

Lexile level from lexile.com 660

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

I read this book in one day and gave it a rating of five out of five. Max is a large, learning-disabled boy going into the 8th grade, but he has no friends. His father is in prison for killing his mother, and people assume Max is a bad person too. Then, Max meets a tiny, genius by the name of Kevin, or Freak. Kevin's legs are in braces, and he uses crutches to help him walk. When Freak first climbs onto Max's shoulders in order to avoid the neighborhood juvenile delinquent, the two of them are joined to become Freak the Mighty. They become an odd couple and inseparable friends. Freak dreams up many quests and adventures, and Max becomes the transportation. Freak tells Max about an operation he's going to have in which the doctors are going to give him a totally new body to go with his amazing brain. Later, Max discovers that his father wants to see him, and this angers and frightens him. His father is supposed spend the rest of his life in prison, so there's no way he can get out. Right?

I enjoyed the blend of characters, and the way they bonded. Freak was a tiny, loud-mouth know-it-all who could annoy people with his intelligence and big vocabulary. Max was a large, misunderstood boy who was reluctant to take chances. Although I didn't always see a main conflict to resolve, the plot moved along nicely with many ups and downs. Freak's free spirit made him a funny character, but the juvenile delinquent and Max's dad added some suspense. The author threw in a bit of sadness too. Overall, the book was entertaining.

Lexile level from lexile.com 1000

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

This book is a classic on our Battle of the Books list, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Kino, a pearl diver, and his wife, Juana, fear for the life of their infant son after he is stung by a scorpion. The greedy, mean doctor will not help them, because they have no money. Kino and Juana return to their boat, and Kino hopes for good luck as he dives into the water looking for pearls. He ends up finding the largest pearl anyone in the village has ever seen! He dreams of receiving a huge sum of money for the pearl, so his infant son can leave this life and go to school when he grows up. However, the pearl makes Kino's family a target for all of the evil in the village. Juana wants to destroy the pearl or throw it back into the sea, but Kino doesn't want to give up the dream for his son. How can this lone man defeat the greed and evil that is trying to destroy him?

I must admit that the beginning did not have a very good hook; it didn't grab me. My interest perked up when the infant became ill and other characters entered the picture. I kept asking myself, "What would I do if I was in Kino's situation?" The book might not be a page-turner full of action, but it's an excellent book to discuss with others.

Lexile level from lexile.com 1010

Masters of Disaster by Gary Paulsen

This book is a very quick read, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Henry has an idea to think of daring experiences to help his friends and himself become men of interest. His first thought is to set the world record for the highest bike flip. He convinces his friend, Reed, to ride his bike off the neighbor's roof, onto a diving board, and then spring high up into the air. His second idea is survive in the wild like their forefathers for two days. After drinking from a river (they forgot that Connor Howes had once peed in it) the boys encounter a huge tiger and a gray "anaconda". Is this really a Cleveland suburb? How about spending the night in a dumpster to do an environmental study, solving a one-hundred-year-old mystery, or riding a bull and catching a humongous catfish? Why do most of the experiences involve doody (poop), and why is Reed the one stuck with the dirty jobs?

The plot was pretty simple, as the boys thought of strange and new things to do. The story contained a lot of humor, and it was funny how Henry had the ideas, but Reed always got stuck doing them. Reed complained quite often about the poop smell that was stuck to him after the various adventures. Don't take the book seriously, but it was kind of fun!

A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

This book was recommended by my neighboring teacher, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. The story is told from a dog's point of view, and he describes almost anything you can imagine might go through a dog's mind. The plot is broken up into four parts as the dog dies and is reincarnated as another puppy. The first part describes the dog's life as a mutt in the wild until he is taken in by a woman who saves lost dogs. Later, he is reincarnated as a Golden Retriever and is adopted by a family. He finally gets a name, Bailey, and becomes Ethan's pet. They play all of the time and are inseparable until Ethan has a terrible accident and later leaves to go to college. The dog dies and comes back as a female German Shepherd. Her handler is a police officer and the dog, now named Ellie, becomes a search and find dog. She is called in to find missing children and adults; some are found alive and some are dead. When her handler is shot for the second time, Ellie gets assigned to a new police officer. Ellie has a serious accident when she's searching for people in El Salvador after an earthquake. She retires but has one last feat of heroism before she dies. Finally, the dog is reincarnated as a black lab and spends his time trying to figure out his purpose in life. The plot ends up coming full circle.

The book started off a bit slow for me, but it picked up once he was adopted by Ethan's family. The second half of the book was very engaging, and the last two parts were emotional and hard to put down. The first reincarnation was a little hard to understand, but I was prepared for the next two. It was interesting how the dog remembered his previous lives and was able to use that to help him in later lives. He struggled to figure out his purpose as a dog and thought the search dog was it, but he later discovered it was more than that. A great book for dog lovers!

Lexile level from lexile.com 970