Radio Free Texas

First and foremost, remember this takes place in the 1980’s. 

It is the start of Bowie’s senior year, and he has no idea what he will do next.  The only thing he knows is he is crushing hard on Comet Jensen.  So much so that he takes the blame for a prank she does because he doesn’t want her to be expelled.  Bowie gets stuck with a lot of community service, and he chooses to do his at the local radio station.  Wow, that community service does not go anywhere near what he possibly thought it would go, and that is enough about that.  You need to read the book to see how his senior year goes or doesn’t. 

This was great as I was an ’80s high schooler, but that time was very different than the high school experience of today.  I am hoping the kids might ask parents (ugh, grandparents, I can’t be that old yet) about that time, or heck, it would make a great adult and teen book club book.  This is a well-written and researched or lived, book.  But I really liked it a lot. I know it was written for YA and teens, but it was a blast from the past for me and maybe others.

 

Fatal Glitch: Let's Play a Game

 

On Lewis’ first day of school, he just wants to make a friend; maybe the toy, a kid AI panda bear his dad sent him, will help.  But as others in his school are able to get the pandas as well, he has a lot of new friends.  But as more of the bears link up, they decide to start asking their kids to do things so they can win the game against the other kids in the circle.  At first, they were weird things, but as time goes on, the tasks become dangerous. When the bear starts augmenting itself, Lewis gets concerned about where this is going, and if he knew the answer, he might be more scared than he already is.  But what can kids do against these now armed in a since bears?

If you read the first Fatal Glitch, this one is even better.  This is the next step up from Goosebumps, and even creepier.  This is a very imaginative book, and I really liked it a lot.  I will make you think about that Furby or Teddy Ruxpin in the closet a bit differently.  I love the characters and the premise of the book; it is just wonderful and fun for anyone from Middle graders on up, even reluctant readers.

Building 903

Tess lives in a world where people live long lives, and if they do what is expected of them, it is a great place to grow up.  But one day, when Tess’s twin brother Theo disappears, no one knows where he's gone or why, but they also don’t ever talk about it.  But her dad isolates himself to his home lab and hardly ever comes out.  But when Tess’s favorite person, her neighbor, Miriam, gets marked for retirement for no reason.  As Miriam is being walked out to go, she slips Tess a key, one that Tess soon finds opens a small closet filled with boxes of books.  Books are not allowed and can get you in big trouble, but Tess also finds the magic in the stories, and it is that magic that might bring her twin back, as it seems he got sucked into a portal and is stuck in a story.  Can Tess and her parents figure it out before they are caught or Theo dies?

This is a new and wonderful book by Lois Lowry.  Staying true to her form, this is set in the future and deals with censorship.  This book sucks you in and won’t let you go until you finish the book.  It is very suspenseful and will have you hanging on the edge of your seat.  It will also make you think, I think long and hard about book censorship, and once it starts, where will the censorship end?  At the same time, it reminds you of the magic of books and how you can go anywhere and at any time through a book.  This is really good and should not be one to miss.

 

Siren

Emery is starting Dartmouth and hopes to leave her old life and issues behind.  By chance, she meets a great guy named Eli, but it is his stepsister, Roux, who has the greater hold on Emery, and despite every effort by Eli, she still wants to be a Siren.  All Sirens, when they started, were nobody; now they are gorgeous and mystical.  When Roux asks her to join, Emery is all in and will do whatever it takes to become one.  She never expected what they would ask her to do or why.

This is one book I could not guess the ending from the start.  It was action-packed, mysterious, and suspenseful.  I really liked Eli’s character a lot.  I don’t want to say too much and give something away, but if you have liked any other Tomi Adeyemi books, you will love this one.  If you haven’t read anything by the author yet, this is a good one.  I loved it and hope you will too.

 

Keeper Chance and the Pigeon Predicament

Keeper and Toby are hired by a member of H.E.R.O., Pidgeon, which is really weird since Keeper and Toby are members of E.V.I.L. But the boys get together with their secretive friend Y and decide to do this so that they can get back to the lazy spring break they had planned.  Of course, Pidgeon enlists them for more and more jobs.  The only good thing for them is Keeper’s feared grandmother, whom no one wants to take on.  As usual, one thing leads to another, and they end up needing to break into the Dojo.  Good thing Y knows a lot about the Dojo and can get them in, and then the fun begins.

I won’t say much else as I don’t want to give anything away.  But this is a great third book in the series; I am holding out hoping for more.  This was an action-packed, suspenseful book, of course, with some really funny parts in there too.  If you read the first two books, then don’t miss this one. If you haven’t read any of the books yet, what are you waiting for?  This is a wonderful book/series, one not to be missed. 

 

The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society

Merrick is having a rough time.  When her grandmother gets sick, her mom can't afford her private school anymore.  She misses her best friends and is bored to death of being homeschooled in a little room in the back of a bookshop her mom runs, attached to an inn.  She also kind of resents her grandmother for all of this, even though she knows it isn’t her fault she is sick and had to move in with them.  But when a chance, a huge snowstorm hits, and as it happens, her friends and her grandmother get trapped with her and her mom and a few guests at the inn.  When one of the townspeople is murdered in Merrick's little room while staying there to celebrate his birthday with his family, the secret bookstore sleuth society is born.  Can the kids and grandmother, who turns out to be very cool, figure it out before someone else gets hurt?

This was such a fun book; I really cannot wait to see what the society gets up to next. Really, Ms. Currie, please write faster.  This book was so suspenseful, action-packed, and just plain joy.  It will make all ages read to the finish right away, even reluctant readers.  This will also make a great classroom read.  I really can’t say enough about this wonderful book.

 

The World at Midnight: Westfallen 3

 

Artie, Alice, and Lawrence are in 1944, and Henry, Frances, and Lukas are stuck in 2023 Westfallen.  Westfallen is their hometown; only this version has the Germans winning world war 2.  Lukas's job now is playing baseball, which was nearly impossible for him to get as he is Jewish.  But now each set of kids needs to work with the other to fix time back where it needs to go.  They are desperately trying to think of something when they find some comic books that outline how the Germans find out the plans for D-Day, and now the 2023 kids need to work with the 1944 kids to make sure that does not happen, and time will be fixed.  But issues arise; will time ever get fixed?

This is a really cool book with a bit of history thrown in along with all the action and suspense, and there is plenty of that in this book. This is the kind of book that will have you up past your bedtime reading one or more chapters.  This has been a wonderful series, and I really hate to see it end; maybe another time can get messed up?  This is just a great book for middle graders to adults.  It just shows what things could be like, and no one wants history, especially this kind, to repeat itself.