The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn

 This is a gorgeous book that is on the NH Great Stone Face list for 2024-25.  It centers around Maudie, a young girl on the autism spectrum.  For most of the year, she lives with her mom and her new stepdad.  In the summer, she lives with her dad.  It is now summer and Maudie is thrilled to go and spend her time with her dad.  However, they are forced out of his mountain home in a wildfire and have to relocate to his old hometown on the beach.  Maudie thrives here.  Her father understands her and she loves surfing.  But Maudie is hiding some secrets that threaten to ruin her life.  Can she find her voice and learn to love herself for who she is and not what others think she should be?  This is a bit heavy in its content, however, I think for mature 4th and 5th graders, it is so worth the read.  (FIC PLA)

Coyote Lost and Found

 

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise ranks as one of my all-time favorite young adult books.  Dan Gemeinhart is a brilliant wordsmith and author.  I read the book aloud to my fifth graders because they HAVE to hear her story.  When he came out with a sequel to continue the story, I could not wait.  It did not disappoint.  In Lost and Found, Coyote discovers her dad had been hiding her mom's ashes for 6 years.  When he tells her that her mom had written down where she would like her ashes scattered, Coyote is compelled to fulfill her mother's wishes.  Unfortunately, the book in which she had written her request was left at a book swap store.  So the gang gets back on the bus for another trip to find the book so she can finally say goodbye to her mom.  This installment had a few more borderline-swear words than I would have liked for this grade level:  freaking, sucks, damn, etc.  It also spoke of tweens dating and kissing.  However, I feel compelled to carry it for the more mature readers in my libraries.  (FIC GEM)

A Handful of Stars

 

When Lily's blind dog is saved by a young girl named Salma, they become fast friends, even though Salma and her family are migrant workers in the blueberry industry and will be leaving as soon as the season ends.  Salma learns of the yearly Blueberry Festival where a young resident can become the queen of the festival.  She sets out to not only enter, but to win.  She encounters some trouble though because of her residency status.  Lily roots for her because she sees how Salma was like her mother who died when she was just a baby.  This is a great story about friendship and bucking the system.  (FIC LOR)

Heroes

Yet another winner by Alan Gratz!  In this historical fiction story, we meet two friends who live near the Pearl Harbor naval base.  Their dads are pilots in the Navy.  WWII has started but Americans in Hawaii have not really felt its impact....until Dec 7, 1941.  Frank and Stanley are best friends touring one of the battleships when the Japanese attacks start.  They scramble for their lives, while chaos erupts all around them.  They survive but their friendship is challenged when after the attacks, their community turns on its Japanese1American members.   (FIC GRA) 

The Eyes & the Impossible

This year's Newbery-Award- winning novel by Dave Eggers centers on a wild dog named Johannes in a park whose role is to be the Eyes for all of the animals.  He is to report to the Elder bison who are the Keepers of the Equilibrium in the park.  When Johannes meets a newly-arrived herd of sheep, his world is shaken and he hatches a plan to help his friends get their freedom.  It has a cast of great characters who all play their roles in the park.  However enjoyable, I am apparently missing what makes this award-winning.  (FIC EGG)

Home Away From Home

Cynthia Lord's latest does not disappoint.  In this realistic fiction novel, we meet Mia who is spending the summer with her Grandma in Maine while her mom and future stepdad sell their house.  Mia is excited to have her grandmother all to herself until she discovers a next-door neighbor boy who is way too close to her grandmother, in her opinion.  They soon develop a friendship as they discover a rare bird visiting the island who is threatening the local eaglet celebrities.  Mia breaks a rule and the consequences snowball in a frightening direction.  Can she make it right?  Will she lose her new friend and the trust of her family?  (FIC LOR)

Nell and the Netherbeast

 

This is a fun mystery-fantasy story.  Nell and her sister are spending the summer with their aunt who owns a Bed and Breakfast.  Before they go, Nell finds a "cat" in an alley that she knows is not a cat.  She brings the beast with her and become fast friends.  When they arrive at the inn, the place is falling apart, even though it was fine the last time they were there.  They soon discover that there is a ghost in the basement and Nell and the Netherbeast have to figure out what he is mad about before their aunt loses the inn forever.  (FIC RUL)