The War That Saved My Life  was one of my favorite reads last year. I was excited when I read there was going to be a sequel, and The War I Finally One did not disappoint. The novel picks up a little bit later where the first book left off. Ada has had surgery to fix her clubfoot and her life moves forward.  As World War II rages on, life grows more difficult during war time as she struggles to find out who she really is as her life goes through some changes and she is still dealing with the memories of her harsh mother. This and the first book ( a duology )  are destined to become a classic. I will never forget Ada and the courage she needed to move through life as there were several stumbling blocks along the way.

Wishtree is the amazing new story by The One and Only Ivan's Katherine Applegate. I have been hearing about this book since the spring, and I bought it the day it was published! I loved this book almost as much as her others. In this story, Red is the red oak tree that sits between 2 houses. He is 216 rings (years) old and has seen so much in his life. He has become the wish tree where people place their wishes on his branches. A family has moved in next door to him, and he has noticed that no one will talk to this family , and the young girl who lives there wishes for a friend. Then, one day , and ugly word is carved on his trunk , and the owner of the house feels the tree is no longer needed. What will happen to Red?

Lemony Snicket is more known for his Unfortunate Events series. He has written a clever picture book called Goldfish Ghost. In this clever new book, Snicket writes about what happens when our pet goldfish crosses that rainbow bridge. All of the sudden the goldfish is floating upside down and decides to leave his bowl to find a friend because he is lonely. He encounters several potential friends but no one can see him. He cannot go back to his fish bowl because he has been replaced by a new goldfish. Then finally, he hears a voice.... Lisa Brown does an amazing job with the illustrations, and I think Christie readers will love this book!

Dan Gemeinhart is one of my favorite authors right now. His book Some Kind of Courage, is on this year's Texas Bluebonnet List, and his newest, Scar Island,  is just as good at his first book. Scar Island is about Jonathan who is sent to an island reformatory school , which resembles Alcatraz. Feeeling that he deserves to be sent to Scar Island, a freak accident happens on his 2nd day there that leaves the boys without adult supervision. What will the boys do on this remote island without any supervision? When a hurricane comes, what will they do? Already some students have checked out this book and have liked it as much as I have!

Andrew Clements has a lot of favorites in our library. Frindle is by far the most of his books that are checked out. It has been awhile since he has had a book out, but his newest, The Losers Club,  is definitely a sure fire winner. I really enjoyed reading about Alec. Alec has a younger brother Luke, and they are named Alec and Luke because their parents are huge Star Wars fans. Alec just wants to read all day and not participate in school. He gets a weekly report sent home from teachers, and if the report is good, then he doesn't  have to attend the homework group during the after school extended day program ( like Alphabest). While he is in the extended day school program, he doesn't like any of the groups they have there so he starts his own group called The Losers Club so he can just read and no one will bother him because who would want to join The Losers Club? Things are changing with this club, and everyone needs to read this great story to see how this club turns out.

Gordon Korman has always been an author that I always hear about. We have ton of his books in our library. I have read one of his books that we do not have in our library called Schooled.  I love that book so much that it is a 5th grade book club in the Spring. When his new book,  Restart,  was published a few months ago,  I knew I had to read it. I loved it almost has much as I loved Schooled. I have already put it into a reader's hands. In the story, Chase wakes up one day and cannot remember anything about his life. He has amnesia from falling off the roof of his house. When he returns to school, he is in for a big surprise. Many people flinch as he walks by. He cannot understand this , and learns why many people cannot stand him. He also finds out towards the end of the story why he was on the roof of this house. This is a wonderful story of a young teenager that has to navigate through a new world and  build a new life.

Children growing up around prisons has been the subject of several books lately. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T Cook is one of the latest to to have a main character living at a prison. Perry Cook lives with his mother in a minimum security prison of nonviolent offenders until a new local district attorney finds out and feels that Perry's life would be better by living with him and his new family. As Perry tries to adjust to his new way of life, he is able to still visit his mother and the other inmates. As he visits them, he decides to interview them for a school project,  and he finds out the true reason his mother is in prison. Fans of Jerry Spinelli's The Warden's Daughter  and Gennifer Choldenko's Newbery winner Al Capone Does My Shirts will not be able to put this novel down, especially as Perry tries to find out the truth behind his mom's incarceration.