The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh

 Kelsey Worthington, an aspiring editor living in New York, wakes up one day in the hospital.  She had been hit by a car while on the sidewalk, and had a concussion. While in the hospital she meets another patient, Georgia Tate, a cosmetics mogul. Ms Tate is facing kidney failure.  Ms Tate is brusque and abrasive, but when Kelsey leaves the hospital and returns to her hum-drum job, she keeps feeling that she needs a vacation and that she is fated to take Ms Tate with her. That begins the summer of "Yes." Kelsey is determined that she and Ms Tate are supposed to really live life by saying "yes" to all the things they were too afraid to try before.  As they spend time together, Kelsey comes to realize that much of Ms Tate's off-putting behavior is due to regrets related to her family, a family that includes a very handsome and very nice estranged son, who is just Kelsey's age. Perhaps,  along with saying yes to sea food, and road trips, she will also be brave enough to say yes to love.

One of my co-workers recommended this book when she found out that I enjoy clean romance.  This totally fits into that category, but it also has a strong message about the importance of overcoming fear to live life to its fullness. The relationship between Kelsey and Ms Tate reminds me a lot of the relationship in "The Devil Wears Prada," so much so that I can't believe it wasn't one of the author's inspirations. The book suffers a little because Ms Tate's son, the love interest, is just too perfect.  He isn't as bad as the Richard Paul Evans male protagonists, but close. He is incredibly handsome, creative, successful, and volunteers teaching classes to children at the local community center. Authors need to learn that a man doesn't have to be perfect to be loveable. Still, if you are looking for a clean, feel-good read, this isn't a bad choice. (2024, 504 p.)

Emily's Tree by Lisa Washburn

 Emily's home life is less than ideal.  Her mother drinks, her grandfather sits in an armchair smoking and watching TV, and the whole house is a mess. The only light part of Emily's life is her love of art, and a recurring dream she has had since she was small, about a beautiful place with a tree and and kind woman. One day Emily has a fight with her family and flees the house. As she sits on a bench in a park two young sister missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints approach her and offer to buy her hot chocolate. That is the start of her journey from darkness into light.  She eventually goes to the local LDS church and meets the Baker family.  They are kind to her and ignore her worn out clothes and the smell of smoke the hovers around her.  In fits and starts, Emily comes to recognize the spiritual meaning of her dream and make her way toward a better life as a member of Christ's church. 

This is a new novel, self-published through Amazon, by a  LDS author who is the relative of one of my friends.  It is very heartwarming and earnest.  The story is sweet, if a little predictable, and the two protagonists are likeable and relatable. The transformation that occurs in Emily's life during the story reminded me of the changes in some of the people I saw who joined the church when I was an LDS missionary, though to my knowledge none of them had visionary dreams to help them along. It is a decent first novel and portends good things to come from this author in the future. (302 p. 2026)

My Friends by Frederik Backman

 Louisa has been in the foster care system most of her life.  Her best friend has recently died, and now she is breaking into an art gallery to get a glimpse of a painting of three boys on a pier. When security guards chase her away, she hides in an ally where she bumps into a man she thinks is homeless, but who is really the famous artist of the painting she loves. The connection between the two is instantaneous, but the guards are still chasing her and she has to run away. The chance encounter changes the course of her life.  She gets caught up in discovering the history of the artist, his friends, and what happened on the day that was immortalized in the painting. To help her on the path of discovery is one of the boys depicted in the painting.  He is now a middle aged adult, hardened and reclusive due to all he has suffered, but when he meets the girl, he is reminded of his own youth, and he begins to talk.

I don't know of any current author who can tug on a reader's heartstrings as much as Frederik Backman. Reading the book, one cannot doubt that he had a youth similar in some way to the characters he depicts.  He captures the crushing affects of abuse, the heartache of neglect, and the joy of a teenager's unfettered summer like someone who really knows what it is like.  At the beginning of the book he hints that things are not going to turn out well and that the story will be a tragedy. By the end, however, even though there are some tragic elements, there is more hope that you expected. His books are quiet sentimental, but if you are in the mood for all the "feels" he really can't be beaten as a writer. (2025, 448 p.)

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

 Jade is a "scholarship" student and one of only a few black students at an elite school in Washington. She knows she should feel grateful for the opportunity to get such a good education, but she often feels like she doesn't fit in.  However, when she gets together with the kids in her own neighborhood, she feels like an outsider with them as well, since they don't go to school together. When she meets a new girl, Sam, at her school who, although not black, at least has a family with as many challenges as Jade's, she begins to hope that she has at last found a friend at the school. As they hang out together, Jade begins to see that, even though Sam is from a similar neighborhood, life is different for her since she is white.  Sam doesn't seem to understand what it feels like to be the object of prejudice. Meanwhile her school councilor enrolls Jade in a "mentorship" program with a previous graduate of Jade's school who is a successful black woman. That doesn't work out as well as Jade had hoped either.  Why does everyone see her as someone who needs help instead of someone who could give help?

After I read All the Blues in the Sky by Ms Watson, I decided to read this, her earlier Newbery Honor book. It is well written. Watson tackles difficult questions about identity and race relations with sensitivity, and doesn't give in to any easy answers. It is probably inspirational to people in similar situations to Jade, but in the end I didn't enjoy it. Maybe that is the point. It is supposed to make white people feel uncomfortable. It helped me understand the defensive and combative attitudes I see in some of my minority students better, I guess. Still, I think there are other books about the same topic that I would recommend before this one, like anything by Jason Reynolds. (2017, 272p)

All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson

 On Sage's 13th birthday, her best friend is hit by a car and killed. Sage is overcome with grief, and works with councilors to try to deal with it.  She is part of a grief group at school, but feels that her own situation is far more difficult than those in the group who lost their grandmother or someone through a long drawn out sickness, because her friend died so suddenly.  Can Sage ever feel joy or happiness again?

This novel, written in verse, won the Newbery Medal this year  It is very well written and feels like it authentically represents what a young teen might go through while grieving the death of their friend.  I can see why the committee chose it for the Newbery Medal, but I am also disappointed that it won.  It really is a bit of a downer.  I could see that it would be valuable for a child going through grief, but I don't know if I would ever recommend it to a child who was just looking for a good book to read. I think that sometimes the committee is moved by these kinds of Rx books, thinking that they would be "so good for children."  The truth is, no book is good for children unless they are willing to read it. Only a small subset of children are interested in a book where someone's best friend dies. (2025, 208 p)

Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

 As Khosrou struggles to find a place for himself in Oklahoma, he remembers stories from Iran: his own story, stories of his family, and Iranian legends.  As he shares his stories with his class, they don't know what to believe and what not to believe.  His own life seems as fantastic, amazing, and cruel as the folktales of his culture.  Nor are his struggles over.  His stepfather is sometimes violent, and so are some of the bullies at his school. Although his mother was a doctor in Iran, they now struggle to get enough food and to meet basic needs.  He keeps a notebook where he writes ways that he has learned to cope, and clever things to say to the girl he likes, who thinks he is scum.  Through it all, thoughts of his heroic mother, his affectionate grandfather, and his absentee father help him make it though, one day at a time.

I didn't realize when I checked out this book that it was the winner of the Printze award for outstanding teen literature the year that it came out. The book is formulated kind of like the tales of Scheherazade.  The author jumps from the past to the present, from folklore to reality with the turn of the page.  As I read, I wondered how much of the story was based on Nayeri's own experience. An afterword explains that it all was.  He admits that his memory might have been inaccurate, but every cruel thing that happens to Khosrou is something he experienced. The reader should be warned that this is a hard tale to hear, though Nayeri does a good job of sticking in a funny story after a heavy one to the the book is much less depressing than it could have been.  It is the kind of book that sheltered white kids should read so that they can get a perspective on what it is like to be a refugee from a different culture in America. I could see a kid being assigned to read the book, expecting to hate it, but ending up really liking it. Hopefully they would become a better person from the experience. (368 p. 2020)

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

 An old man shows up in a small southern town. He calls himself Theo and has a charming Portuguese accent.  He finds a coffee shop and notices some beautiful portraits, done in pencil and charcoal on the walls of the shop. Intrigued, he discovers that they were drawn by a local artist and depict local residents.  Impressed by the emotional depth of the art, he decides to purchase the portraits one by one and give them to the people they depict. Thus begins a magical year during which Theo's gentle charm and big heart blesses the people of Golden, and helps unite them as a community. 

It is ironic that the last book I listen to in 2025 might be my favorite of the whole year.  This is the most charming and heartwarming book I have listened to in a long time.  Theo is an amazingly likeable character, as are almost all the characters the reader comes to know in the small town of Golden.  Even though Theo is amazing, the author wisely doesn't make him flawless. We see him get angry, tired and impatient some times.  Throughout the book we get to hear stories of the errors of his youth. All the main characters have checkered backgrounds, which is maybe why the book feels so hopeful.  They all receive a little bit of redemption by seeing themselves through Theo's kind eyes.  I can imagine that some readers might think the story slow or boring, but I loved it and savored it like rich chocolate ganache. If you want to listen to a book that will set your feet on the right path for the new year, this is the one for you. (2023, 399 p.)
 

The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

 Hercules Beal has a lot on his plate.  His parents have recently died, and his older brother has come home from his "dream job" to take care of Hercules and take over the family nursery. On top of that, he hasn't yet hit his growth spurt so he is the shortest kid in his whole junior high class. He is bummed when his brother enrolls him in a charter school that focuses on environmental science, especially when he finds out that his home room and English teacher is an ex-marine major. His teacher assigns him to somehow recreate his own version of Hercules' seven labors as his year-long English project. As Hercules tries to find his name sake's motivations and trials reflected in his own life, he begins to process all that has happened in his life--the good and the bad--and learn the importance of facing everything on his own.

Besides Jason Reynolds, I think Gary Schmidt is my favorite contemporary writer for kids. His 12-year-old boy voice is spot on, and his characters are all fully developed and sympathetic. This story is super heart-warming.  I think I cried four different times while I was listening to this book, not because it was sad, (though there are sad parts) but because it was so touching. Schmidt's setting is good as well.  It is realistic enough to be believable, but quirky enough to be interesting. I finished the book and thought to myself, "I hope they make this a Battle of the Books selection some day because I want  thousands of kids to read this."  (352 p, 2023) 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Patrick used to be a sit-com star, until his partner, Joseph, got killed in an accident and Patrick secluded himself in a large house in remote Palm Springs. Then his sister-in-law, who was also his best friend in college, dies after a battle with cancer and Patrick races off to Connecticut for her funeral.  After the funeral his newly widowed brother, Greg, asks if Patrick will take care of his two kids, Maisie, age 10, and Grant, age 6, while Greg goes to rehab to get over a prescription drug addiction. Over the course of the summer, Patrick bonds with the children and, in very unconventional ways, helps them grieve for their mother.  Meanwhile Patrick has to face his own grief over Joseph and learn to reclaim life. 

I read this book because a picture book call My Guncle and Me by Jonathan Merritt has been officially challenged at my library.  I know this book is by a different author, but I thought the challenger might be uncomfortable about that book because she was familiar with this book. I had mixed feelings about this book.  The writing is great and all the characters are really endearing.  There are funny scenes and really heartwarming scenes where Patrick and the kids interact with each other.  The book is successful in showing how having kids in your life changes your outlook in the world but also how children are real people who have real emotions that need to be acknowledged and understood. However, the book portrays the children in situations that the white-straight-conservative-mother in me cringes at.  Patrick drinks alcohol incessantly throughout the book, swears frequently, and goes skinny dipping and has sexual encounters with a much younger TV star with the children in the house. This doesn't seem like an appropriate environment for kids to me. The author represents this opinion using a character in the book, Patrick's sister Clara. Clara is an active feminist who rants about white male privilege, but secretly is harboring a personal tragedy that is manifesting itself in her prudishness. I kind of resented the fact that the author seems to be suggesting that if you are worried about the kids being in the environment of profanity, alcohol, and sex, you are a deeply troubled man-hater. Still, if I am honest, I enjoyed the book overall, though it felt a little like a guilty pleasure. (2021, 336 p)

Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon

Chester lives with his mother, but he is convinced that his father works as a spy for the government. Chester knows how hard his mother works to keep food on the table, so he hides from her trouble he is having from a bully at school. One day Chester receives a mysterious note that seems to be a clue to a mystery.  Chester believes it must be from his spy father and sees it as a chance to help him and make him proud.  A girl from school, Skye, also gets a clue, and Chester finds himself the unwilling partner to a girl who is opposite from him in almost every way. As they work together on the clues, they form a friendship, but that friendship is strained by Chester's feeling of urgency to find and help his father. Soon they are in more trouble than either of their could dream of, and only team work, patience and friendship can get them out of it. 

After reading The Night Letters I was looking for something much lighter to read.  This one was listed as "humorous" so I thought I would give it a try.  It wasn't really very humorous, but it was well written and I am not sorry I read it. Chester is a authentic character, trying so hard to believe something despite all the evidence to the contrary.  He is also on the spectrum, and the author clearly has had experience with kids who can't abide changes in their schedule, or need the familiar and routine to feel safe. Skye is also a very endearing character, and the picture of the "ideal friend."  This is a good choice for kids who like the "social issues" kinds of books like Wonder or Fish in a Tree. (2022, 304 p.)

Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

 Jenny Quinn is 77 years old and a great fan of the Britain Bakes TV show.  She is, herself an accomplished baker, and so decides to apply to be on the show. She has been a stay-home wife of Bernard for almost 60 years, and is embarrassed to tell him that she has applied.  Instead she makes excuses for trying out new and ever more complex recipes.  As her journey toward fame goes forward, the old family recipes she bakes bring up memories of a single devastating mistake from her past. Will her success in the kitchen give her the courage to face the bitterness of the past?

A friend recommended this to me and I really enjoyed it.  After all the shallow, self-centered characters of the previous book, the deep rich relationships in this one are as sweet and Jenny's treacle tarts. The writing is lovely, and Bernard is the most unlikely but likeable of all love interests.  I also enjoyed the "behind the scenes" view of being in a televised baking show.  I wonder if the author was allowed to visit and research what it is like to be on the British Baking Show (for that it what it was) or if she just has a very vivid imagination. The book was very sweet and poignant, but also delightful. I will be recommending this one to a lot of friends who like clean reads. (284 p. 2024)

The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Mark Oshiro and Adam Silvera

Brett has moved in with his best friend's family while his adopted mom battles cancer. The loss of his home with her has thrown Brett into deep mourning which he deals with by binge eating and drinking. His best friend, Reed, tries to support him as much as he can, but is dealing with his own feelings of loss about his parents' divorce. As Brett's mental state swirls deeper into destructive behaviors, his only life line is a girl, Malory, who is a "super fat" and is struggling with self acceptance. The three are a hot mess but eventually find the path to healing and acceptance. 

One book that I have thought about writing is either a fiction or a memoir of my own teenage eating disorder, so I was interested to read this one.  It was clearly written by someone that has gone through the experience. Bretts thoughts, feelings and mood swings are authentic and sympathetic.  The reader comes to respect and admire his steps to get help, even when he makes one stupid choice after another.  There were some really poignant scenes and some laugh-out-loud ones.  One part of the story that is heartwarming is the amount of affection and devotion between Brett and Reed.  It was nice to read about, but I kept wondering, would two teenage boys really be that warm and fuzzy to each other?  I hope Reed is based on someone the author had in his life as he was going through his disorder but I think it is more likely it is a depiction of someone the author wished he had had in his life.  The reader should beware that this is a fairly gritty book.  The dialog between the kids contains a lot of language and explicit discussion topics.  It sounded authentic to me, not gratuitous, but it was still hard for me to listen to. Still, I would certainly recommend this book to anyone looking for a story on this topic. (313 p. 2024)

When I was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

 Ali, age 15,  lives in the Bed Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York with his mom and sister.  His dad is an ex-con who his still working a "hustle" to support himself. Ali befriends two brothers who live in a nearby tenement.  Noodles is toughened by a hard life, and his brother, Needles, deals with Tourette's. Ali tries to steer clear of the worst elements of his environment, and Ali's family try to support Noodles and Needles because they often don't have enough food to eat. Ali takes boxing lessons from an old Vet in exchange for cleaning up his place. One day the boys find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Ali has to use his boxing skills to keep them from being beaten up. As a result, some bad dudes are after all three of them. What can a basically good kid in a bad "hood" do?

This was Jason's Reynold's first book and his genius was already evident. His portrayal of life in the "hood" is authentic, and his characters are sympathetic.  He doesn't sugar coat anything. For example, even though he never states it, it is clear the Noodles and Needle's mom is a sex worker. He lays out what the temptations and dangers are, and then tries to model how someone can successfully navigate them. He also deals with issues about friendship, and how far should you go for a friend. I am so grateful that a writer like Jason Reynolds exists.  I can only imagine all the good he has done in the world. (256 p. 2014)

note: this book is squarely YA.  There are some elements that aren't appropriate for middle grade. 

Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim

Wen Zhou's parents immigrated to Australia looking for a better life.  Instead, Wen's father gave up his medical training and is working at a Chinese restaurant.  There is not much money in the house, but Wen's father expects everyone to maintain appearances even if their clothes are threadbare and discretely mended. He rules the home with an iron hand and has a sometimes explosive temper. Wen is a constant disappointment to him, and she finds solace from his verbal abuse in her friendship with Henry, a first generation Chinese immigrant in her class.  Even though his English isn't very good, he is smart and has dreams of qualifying to attend an exclusive charter school. He and Wen are working together toward that goal with tragedy strikes in Henry's family.  Wen wants to reach out and help her friend, but her mother is afraid of the retribution they would both receive if her father found out. Can Wen find the "tiger" within to help her friend, and maybe heal her own family?

This got a ton of starred reviews when it was first published in the US In 2023. Lim creates such an authentic voice for Wen that one must wonder how much is autobiographical.  I have read many immigrant stories about Chinese Americans, but never of Chinese Australians.  If this story is accurate, the immigrant situation for Chinese people in Australia is just as bad, if not worse, than in America. It was a little different to have the book narrated by someone with an Australian accent, and it made me remember that the US is not the only place where immigrants struggle to adjust to a new life. I thought Lim did a good showing how a girl can realistically stand up to a domineering father.  I also liked seeing Wen's mother be inspired by her daughter's show of strength. This is a good choice for kids who like reading books from other cultures, but young reader beware that it deals with some heavy issues. (192 p. 2023)

Olivetti by Allie Millington

 Some of Ernest's early good memories involve playing with his mother's old electric typewriter.  He and his brother and sister used to make a game of making up stories and having their mother type them out. Then they all went through a terribly hard time and because of the trauma have drifted apart.  Ernest has stopped talking to his family very often, and struggles at school.  The typewriter, named Olivetti, is sad that no one types on him any more, but still watches over the family silently hoping that time will heal them and they will start using him again.  Then one day Ernest's mother takes Olivetti to a pawn shop and sells him for $126 dollars. How could this happen to him and who will look after the family?  Olivetti feels sure that if the family could read what their mother has typed with the typewriter over the years, it might help reunite the family, so he decides to break the cardinal rule of typewriters.  He decides to communicate with Ernest. 

I don't remember why I put this one on hold.  Maybe I was just intrigued by its cover.  It is an interesting book and the premise of making a typewriter a POV character is clever and original.  The writing in the book is good and all the characters are fully drawn and sympathetic.  It is, I think, an realistic portrayal of how hard it is for a whole family to overcome a shared trauma. That being said, it is a very heart wrenching book, and it was a little hard to read. (spoiler alert.) We find out later in the book that the mother has gone through cancer treatments that were hard on both her and the family. They think she is healed, but then two years later she finds out the cancer has returned.  There is a scene in the book when a bad guy has the typewriter and starts to take it apart. In the book the typewriter is a sentient being and the description of the man taking the typewriter apart feels really brutal. As I was reading it I thought, oh, the writer is using this scene to show how brutal cancer surgery and treatment are.  It was all really well done but really heavy. I could see a situation where this book could be helpful for a child trying to process their own or a loved one's trauma, but I think a parent should read through the book first before giving it to a sensitive child. (2024, 256p.)

PS. I will be surprised if this doesn't end up on a lot of "Potential Newbery" lists this year.

Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

In the 1970's south, Ferris and her family are having a crazy summer. There are raccoons in the attic, Ferris' artistic uncle in the basement, and Ferris' sister is determined to become an outlaw.  Most of all Ferris' grandmother, Charrise, is seeing a ghost. Ferris is worried about her grandmother who has been ill, and so she and her best friend, Billy, undertake to fulfill her grandmother's and the ghost's greatest wish.

Kate DiCamillo has had such a wonderful career. She has written two Newbery winners, one honor and two Theodore Geisel winners.  The thing that she is good at is writing heartwarming relationships between children and the adults in their lives. This book is along the same vein.  The main relationship in the story is between Ferris and her grandmother.  It is a sweet relationship and the book, as a whole, is a feel-good type of book.  The writing is very lyrical. If you have a poetic heart, you will enjoy reading it.  It is so poetical that I never really felt like Ferris was a real child. Her thoughts are all too deep and self-aware.  It is if Ms DiCamillo was trying to take her own thoughts and musings about life and cram them into a 10-year-old's mind. I enjoyed reading the book, and I think a lot of children who have sensitive spirits would enjoy it, but it felt more like her Tale of Despereaux than Because of Winn Dixie.  It is a fairytale set in a retro US south setting. (240 p. 2024)

Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

 Simon and his parents have just moved to Grin and Bear It Nebraska, near the large radio telescope. The town is a national radio quiet zone but Simon is glad none of his class mates have internet.  If they did and if they googled his name, Simon's biggest secret would be out and people would start acting all weird around him.  Simon makes friends with a girl named Agate who wants to fool the scientists at the radio telescope into thinking they are receiving a message from outer space. Simon goes along with her just because it is so nice to have a friends who doesn't know his secret. Simon is still dealing with trauma but Agate seems to understand that some things act as triggers for him and tries to support him when he has a panic attack. How far is Simon willing to go to keep his secret and make Agate happy, and what will it cost him?

This was one of the Newbery Honor books this year, and the award was well earned.  The books is a hearty mix of both humor and tenderness. Bow does a great job of portraying two vulnerable kids who are trying to get through life, and find it is better to do it together.  She also writes some really funny scenes that break up the heaviness of the topic of dealing with trauma. I also liked that fact that both Agate and Simon has two supportive parents.  That is so rare in middle grade fiction.  She also shows how Simon's near death experience traumatized his parents as well as him. I will be recommending this to kids who like stories like Wonder and Fish in a Tree. (2023, 320 p)

A Simple Wedding by Leigh Duncan

Jenny is the personal assistant to a Academy Award winning actress, Kay, who also happens to be her cousin.  When Kay gets engaged to her equally famous co-star, she sends Jenny to make the arrangements  Heart's Landing, a small town dedicated to making every bride get her ideal wedding. Kay makes Jenny promise to pretend to be the bride and hide the identity of the real couple getting married in order to avoid the paparazzi. As Jenny starts to interact with vendors, she develops friendship relationships with many of them, but especially with the baker, Nick, who has agreed to do the wedding cake. Sparks of attraction fly, but both try to suppress their feelings because Nick thinks Jenny is engaged. Things get even more complicated when Kay changes her plans, and Jenny is left to try to make excuses to all the vendors for difficult last minute adjustments. 

After finishing the Great Courses series, I decided to try something much lighter, and went with a contemporary clean romance.  I hadn't read anything from this author before and I didn't realize when I started that this book is published by Hallmark, and is very much like a Hallmark movie. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, I didn't end up liking the book very much.  The main thing that drove me crazy is that, with all Jenny's problems there was such a simple solution, but she wouldn't take it. In my mind I kept shouting, "Just tell the guy the truth, that you are arranging someone else's wedding."  But no, even though her bratty cousin was being totally manipulative and inconsiderate, Jenny stuck to her promise to impersonate a bride and keep her cousin's secret. Not only was it frustrating, it didn't really fit her personality.  It felt like the author was making her character do something out of character in order to make the plot work.  I am afraid Ms Duncan is not making it on my Favorite Clean Romance Writer's list. (2020, 300 p)

Wrecker by Carl Hiaasen

 Valdez Jones VIII calls himself "Wrecker" because his ancestors worked as wreckers, salvaging shipwrecks in the Florida Keys. Wrecker has inherited his ancestor's love of the sea and spends his free time fishing in his own little skiff in the bay.  One day he comes across a fancy speed boat that has become stranded on a sandbar.  The boat belongs to smugglers, and Wrecker unwittingly gets caught up in their nefarious deeds. He has also recently become reacquainted with a girl from his school, Willi, who is dealing with her own issues, but is willing to help Wrecker in his attempts to free himself from his entanglement with the smugglers. Meanwhile, Wrecker's step sister, Suzanna, is leading a campaign to prevent cruise ships from returning to Key West after they stopped during the pandemic. It will take all Wreckers courage and sea smarts to help his step-sister, win the trust and friendship of Willi, and keep himself from being killed by cold hearted crooks. 

Hiaasen does a good job with his middle grade environmental novels. I have enjoyed his earlier ones like "Hoot" and "Scat" and I enjoyed this one.  All the main characters of this story are complex and interesting.  Valdez is smart, but also acts like a real teenager and both he and Willi have authentic teen voices. Hiaasen adds interesting messages about history and environmentalism, but they are not so heavy handed that they overpower the plot and characters. This is a good choice for kids who like action and adventure, but enjoy realistic fiction instead of fantasy. (2023, 336 p.) 

Tom Lake by Anne Patchett

Lara knows that the global pandemic is a huge tragedy, but it has brought her three young adult children back to the cherry farm and she can't help but rejoice at their presence. To fill the long days picking cherries, Lara tells the girls about one summer from her childhood when she had a fleeting affair with a man that later became a huge movie star. The girls, each on their own life's path, examine their choices and come to see their mother, and her first great passion, in a new light.

This book has been on the top 10 most requested books in the Libby App for a couple of months now. Ann Patchett is one of the most successful authors currently writing. Every character is fully drawn, utterly believable and heartbreakingly complex.  The story is at the same time tender and--in a few spots--brutal. The emotion is raw and intense in some places and gentle and subtle in others. As a whole, the story is hopeful.  It is a testament to Ms. Patchett's popularity and prowess that they got Meryl Streep to be the narrator of the book.  Ms Streep is masterful and it is hard to imagine a better performance of the text.

All that being said, I almost gave up on the book half way through.  It is hard for me to watch characters make stupid choices, and Lara, as a young hopeful actress, made some pretty stupid choices. I guess the reason the book feels hopeful is that the worst stupidity is in the past, and the reader knows, from the very beginning of the book, that she has both survived and overcome her youthful mistakes.   After I finished the book it haunted me so much that I couldn't fall asleep. I kept thinking, "I am so grateful that my religious upbringing helped me avoid some of the pitfalls Lara went through."
(2023, 320 p.)