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.


Visit Joan Bauer's website

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. 

Visit Elizabeth Scott's website

Sparrow Road

Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor. Published by Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011.

Sparrow Road is the last place Raine wants to spend the summer. She hates leaving her grandfather but her mother accepted a new job at an artists retreat in the country. Raine knows she will be lonely (no other kids are living there) and bored (no TV or radio) and probably go crazy not being able to talk at all (except on Sundays)! What was her mother thinking?

But Sparrow Road turns out to be a pretty interesting place. Raine likes most of the artists, especially Josie. Raine discovers her imaginative, creative side. This is especially true when she learns about the unusual past of Sparrow Road- it was an orphanage for many years. Soon, she is able to not only imagine what it was like for those orphans, but she finds herself developing an unusual relationship with a boy from the past.

Raine is still puzzled by her mother’s decision to accept the summer job. Repeated attempts to ask her mother are ineffective but Raine is determined. She discovers someone she had given up on meeting- her father. The truths she learns about him, his alcoholism and the bad choices of his past continue to reverberate in Raine’s life.

This realistic fiction is recommended for grades 6 and up.   

Visit author Sheila O'Connor's website

How to Save a Life

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. Published by Little, Brown and Company, 2011.

Jill’s father death was traumatic. She misses him and finds her usually dependable mother changing in some bizarre ways. For one thing, her mother has a sudden desire to adopt a baby and has contacted Mandy, an unwed teen mother. Jill’s mother refused to make any of these arrangements through proper legal channels and Jill’s gut instincts tell her Mandy is hiding something.

Mandy’s arrival puts more pressure on the relationship between Jill and her mother. Jill tries to share her concerns with her friends but each person has a different viewpoint about Mandy and the situation. Mandy has even formed friendships with Jill’s friends, putting an additional strain on Jill.

A blow-up in the obstetrician’s office results in a cascade of other problems. Jill finds herself bewildered about how to help her mother when many of Jill’s worries about Mandy seem to be coming true.

One thing Jill knows- she and her mother cannot take any more heartbreak.

This realistic fiction is recommended for grades 8 and up. 

Visit author Sara Zarr's website