My Jasper June

This is a BEAUTIFUL story about friendship and its power to transform people and situations.  It deals with several mature issues, though, so I would probably not recommend it for anyone under 4th grade.  Leah and her family are dealing with a tragic loss.  Their relationships have suffered.  They are "ghosts" going through life but not really living.  Enter Jasper, a joyful, bright light that fills Leah's brokenness. "There is a crack in everything.  That's how the light gets in."  (Leonard Cohen)  Jasper needs Leah as well, but in a different way.  Can their friendship save them both?  (FIC SNY)

Planet Earth is Blue

Wow.  Just wow.
I have read many novels written from the perspective of an autistic child.  This was beautiful and suspenseful and tragic and poignant.  I am so glad it is on the Great Stoneface List this year.  More students will read it.
Set in 1986, Nova and her sister Bridget have been shuffled around foster homes since they were taken from their mother, who was mentally ill.  Nova is in a new home, without Bridget now, and is doing great.  They love her, and understand that she is not "retarded" and stupid as everyone else thinks.  Nova is waiting for Bridget to come back, as promised, on the day the Challenger will launch.  But the day comes, and with it, the anticipated tragedy.  This climax triggers Nova to remember everything.  (FIC PAN)

The Best of Iggy

Annie Barrows (author of Ivy and Bean) wrote this Great Stone Face Nominee about a boy who always seems to get in trouble.  He's not a bad kid.  He just makes some bad decisions a lot of the time.  Think Horrible Harry or Junie B. Jones.  In this story, he lays out the three levels of things you shouldn't have done.  1.  Not too bad - you just got caught.   2.  Going a bit too far.   3.  Should NEVER have done it and you feel horrible.   Iggy provides one example of each in this story.  This was a funny book.  Iggy is likeable and relatable.  Students will enjoy its short length, easy readability, and many illustrations.  (FIC BAR)

Other Words for Home

In this 2020-21 Great Stone Face nominee, we meet Jude - a young girl from Syria who moves to the United States.  Leaning English, living with her distant cousin, and navigating middle school are hard enough without the world looking at Muslims like they are the enemy.  She wants to be in the spotlight, but for good reasons, not bad.  She tries out for the school play and meets friends who share her experience as an immigrant or being different.  This story is a wonderful and touching story of accepting and loving who you are, but it is a bit mature in places when it speaks of WHEN a Muslim girl moves to wearing the head scarf.   It is a quick read, written in verse.  (FIC WAR)