Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hannah Baker is gone. She committed suicide, but nodoby is sure why. When Clay Jensen comes home to find a package addressed to him on his front steps. It contains 7 audio tapes recorded by Hannah Baker. She left these 7 tapes to explain to 13 people how they are each one of the reasons why she decided to end her life. In one night, Hannah's voice leads Clay around town narrating a painful journey back in time over their high school years, explaining how each of these 13 people impacted her life, many in ways that they wouldn't realize until it was too late!

Thoughts - This was a powerful, gripping story! It made me think of how what we may see as small incidents in life may actually be momentous to others. This is a book that once you have read it, you will never be the same!

Peeled

Peeled by Joan Bauer

Hildy Biddle, a passionate reporter for her high school newspaper, lives in the small apple farming town of Banesville, New York. There are some pretty spooky things going on around town with a new psychic moving in and a ghost lurking around an old mansion. Hildy uses her journalism skills to try to get to the bottom of things, but that is a difficult mission. The truth is being distorted and suppressed by various people in town. Will Hildy be able to bring the truth to light before it is too late?

A light, fun, quick read!

The Possibilities of Sainthood

The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas

While regularly petitioning the Vatican to make her the first living saint, fifteen-year-old Antonia Labella prays to assorted patron saints for everything from help preparing the family's fig trees for a Rhode Island winter to getting her first kiss from the right boy.

Thoughts - A first kiss is important! How will Antonia know who the right boy is for this special kiss?

* Summary taken from the CIP data.

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter

Cammie is ending her summer before her junior year with a visit to her friend Macey in Boston, who is on the campaign trail with her father. The visit takes a terrifying turn when Cammie and Macey are nearly abducted from the roof of a hotel. Something is up, but Cammie can't quite figure it out and nobody is trying to help her either. The school year begins and Macey comes returns to the Gallagher Academy with a Secret Service body guard in tow! Cammie and the rest of the girls set themselves up as Macey's bodyguards on the campaign trial because someone really is after her! But who? Can Cammie, Bex and Liz keep Macey safe?

This third book in the Gallagher Girls series is a fast, fun read!

How Not to Be Popular

How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler

Seventeen-year-old Sugar Magnolia Dempsey is tired of being dragged all accross the United States by her hippie parents! Every few months she has to move to a new place and a new school. She has to leave all of her new friends who quickly forget her each time. Now Maggie is on her way to Austin, Texas. Her boyfriend has just broken up with her via text message! She can't take it anymore this making friends and trying to fit in, just to pack up and leave again in four months! So Maggie comes up with a plan! She will not be popular! She sets out to do everything she can to prove she is a supreme dork - carrying a Star Trek backpack and lunch box, wearing the weirdest clothes from the thrift shop where her dad works, and shunning all of the popular kids. Will her plan work?

This is a laugh-out-loud funny story about being the new kid at school!

Jennifer Ziegler will be visiting Stafford Middle School in the fall of 2009!

Escaping into the Night

Escaping into the Night by D. Dina Friedman

Thirteen-year-old Halina Rudowski narrowly escapes the Polish ghetto and flees to the forest, where she is taken in by an encampment of Jews trying to survive World War II.

This is a great but little known story of how some of the Jews survived the Holocaust by escaping into the forest and living in small groups away from the Nazi soldiers.

*Summary taken from the CIP data.

Darkness Over Denmark

Darkness Over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews by Ellen Levine

This non-fiction book is the true account of the Danish Resistance to the Nazi's during World War II. The stories of the many people who worked and risked their own lives to save their friends and neighbors is told. The true story is captivating! If you liked this book, try "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry.