Close to Famous by Joan Bauer

Close to Famous by Joan Bauer. Published by Penguin Group, 2011.

Foster and her mother flee Memphis to escape from her mother’s abusive boyfriend Huck. They wind up in Culpepper, living in a motor home. Her mother quickly finds a job. They are determined to make sure Huck can’t find them. He is violent.

Foster loves baking and she finds a local diner owner and convinces him to let her sell cupcakes to his customers. She hopes to have her own show on the Food Network someday. She practices baking and pretends to be in a recording studio. Baking can be a little tricky for Foster because she has trouble reading, but she is very determined.

Foster starts working for Miss Charleena, who was a famous actress and is now hoping to make a comeback. When Miss Charlena discovers Foster’s secret about her reading problems, they make a pact to help one another.

A young boy named Macon wants to be a documentary filmmaker someday. First he has to get a camera and a little experience. He and Foster decide to film people around the town and they get great footage. Their first story is about a home that helps families when they are visiting prisoners.

Many of the residents of Culpepper have big dreams they hope to achieve. Foster is determined to help them all.


This realistic fiction is recommended for grades 8 and up.


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As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott.  Published by Penguin Group, 2011.

Ava wakes up in a room where nothing is familiar. She panics, runs out into the street and faints. The next time she wakes up, she is in a hospital, surrounded by people she doesn’t know. One woman says she is Ava’s mother, but Ava remembers her mother- she was thinner and looked sad and died when Ava was young. The mysterious Clementine says she is there to help, but Ava’s mother seems to be afraid of her.

Ava is released by the hospital to go home with her mother. She has strange dreams of a different life. She grew up in a crèche. Survival was a struggle and she definitely didn’t have fancy clothes or live in a big house. When Ava wakes up, she is confused. Which world is true? Is the one she dreams about somehow real?

School is equally confusing. Ava’s recognizes her friends, but they are different. She senses that Sophy has a hard, power-hungry edge, but no one else seems to notice it. Ava remembers seeing Olivia die, but in this world, she is alive and well.

And who is Morgan? He seems to know Ava well (maybe even love her), but behaves furtively, as if he has something to hide. Ava’s mother calls the police on him and he disappears. Yet, Ava has memories of Morgan from another time or life. She remembers talking to him but he doesn’t belong in this world.

It seems that everyone has secrets. Clementine, Ava’s friends from schoool, Morgan, and even her mother. Every time Ava tries to remember things, she suffers crippling headaches. Through it all, she can’t deny the strong attraction she feels for Morgan. What does he want from her?

Some readers may initially be confused by the changes of scenes/characters, but for those who finish, this is an unusual and interesting book.  Recommended for grades 8 and up. 

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Hidden by Helen Frost

Hidden by Helen Frost. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.

Wren and Dara see each other at camp and immediately recognize one another from their previous encounter six years earlier. A man (Darra’s father) stole a car, not realizing that Wren was in the backseat. The man drove the car to his garage and Wren quickly hid from him, instinctively knowing she was in danger. She was terrified, hungry and thirsty and she was trapped in the thief’s garage, unable to tell anyone or get out.

Watching a newscast , Darra realized what must have happened and that Wren may be in the garage somewhere. She decided to try to help Wren and leave out food and water (ostensibly for the cat) along with a blanket. A few days later, the police come to her house to arrest her father and she realizes that Wren somehow escaped. Darra blames Wren for Darra’s father’s arrest.

Neither girl ever said anything to anyone else about what happened. Now, six years have passed and they are both grappling with events from that fateful encounter and with Darra’s father’s imminent release from prison.

This short novel in free verse is told from alternating viewpoints.  Recommended for grades 4 and up. 

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Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Published by HarperCollins Publishers, 2011.

Beatrice has a huge decision to make. Everyone must decide at age 16 which of the five factions they want to join- Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, or Erudite. This decision determines where people live, how they will make a living, and even who they can have as friends. Part of the decision making process is testing. Beatrice is told her test results are atypical. Rather than being identified with a particular faction, the test identified her as divergent. Beatrice is told this is both unusual and dangerous and to keep her test results secret.

On choosing day, her family is stunned when Beatrice joins Dauntless instead of Abnegation, and changes her name to Triss. She thinks she made the right choice during a thrilling and scary ride to her new home- the entire group must jump from a fast moving train. This also forces her to contemplate the alternatives – death or (maybe even worse) life without a faction.

Triss finds her new life challenging. The physical training is grueling and the psychological mind games are often traumatic. The combination of initiation and the expectations of the Dauntless faction create a highly competitive and distrustful environment. No one wants to be thrown out of the faction. At the same time, Triss is learning about herself and takes pride in her new abilities. Along the way, she has made a few friends and has a romance with one of the Dauntless leaders.

Some of the threats Triss and the others face come from the initiation challenges. But then Triss discovers secrets involving people from Dauntless and other factions and even some of the societal leaders. These secrets hide more dangers than Triss could ever imagine. 

This dystopian novel is recommended for grades 9 and up. 

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A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan. Published by Candlewick Press, 2011.

Rose goes to sleep in a stasis tube, expecting her parents to wake her a short time later. Instead, she wakes to a kiss from a boy she’s never seen before. She feels weak and nauseous and disoriented. She is shocked to find out that she’s been asleep more than 60 years! She realizes that her parents and best friend/boyfriend Xavier have been dead for many years.

It’s difficult for Rose to know whom she can trust. People think she is strange. Reporters follow her everywhere. She begins a new school connected to a very wealthy and powerful company- one she now owns. She doesn’t like school. She is behind on the academics and the other students stare at her and make fun of her. Her only friend is Bren, whose family is connected to the corporation. Her parents have been telling Rose that she is not very smart and she now knows it is true.

As difficult as things are at school, life outside of school is even worse. She tries to hang out with Bren and his friends, but most of them aren’t very receptive . She begins communicating with Otto through messages on the computer (he can’t talk because alien DNA was incorporated into him). She and Otto are both outsiders in this society. Otto can communicate with his mind, but he doesn’t like doing this with Rose as he says he can see an abyss inside her and it scares him.

The situation is pretty bad for Rose and it gets even worse when an assassin comes after her. She even considers going back into her hibernation chamber because she can’t cope with everything. She desperately needs friends and help.

This dystopian novel is recommended for ages 14 and up.

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