The Art of Being Stared At

Image from: www.lauralangston.com

By Laura Langston

Imagine being in high school, knowing that your only dream is to be a movie producer, and having a film company approach you about applying to their prestigious program. You are beyond excited, everything seems to be going your way, and nothing is going to get you down.

Then, your hair starts falling out. At first it doesn’t seem like a big deal but more and more is lost. You have to tell someone; you have to find out what is going on.

Sloane Kendriks, the main character, has to decide what matters most and how she is going to handle the news that she has alopecia areata in the midst of chasing her biggest dream.

The Art of Being Stared At is a White Pine selection this year, which means it was selected for the High School level for the Forest of Reading. I think Grade 7 & 8 students would also enjoy this book.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Image from www.amazon.com

The Invention of Hugo Cabret has to be one of my favourite children's books that I've ever read since becoming a librarian. I have read it three times now! I just finished reading it with my son who is in Grade 2. I love this book because Hugo is such a great person; he has a very difficult life and he does everything he can to survive. He is intelligent, brave, and sneaky. I think he is a great character and meeting interesting characters are one of my favourite parts of reading.

I love that this book looks impressive; it's over 500 pages but that's mostly because there are great illustrations throughout and some pages with hardly any words. With that said, there is a very strong plot as well so, really, this book is the whole package!

I would highly recommend this book for Grade 3 and up. I haven't seen the movie yet but if you like the book you can also check out the movie, Hugo, and let me know which one you like best!

The Rule of Three

Image from: www.ericwalters.net

I love many of Eric Walters’ books and this one was great too. Basically, it is a story that takes place in the GTA but the whole world is without power and computer network access. The neighbourhood that we get to find out about decides to fortify, grow food and try to survive the best they can. What’s really cool about this book is that the setting is so local you will likely recognize street names.

There is a second book in this series called Fight for Power. If you like books like The Hunger Games, Divergent, City of Ember, etc. I would definitely recommend this book, especially for Grade 7 & 8.

Liar and Spy

Image from: www.rebeccasteadbooks.com

In this story a family has to move out their home when the father loses his job. The family moves into an apartment building in the same neighbourhood.

Almost as soon as they move in, Georges, the main character, is invited to a spy meeting via a note posted in the laundry room. He is intrigued and writes back saying he will come. The first meeting happens and Georges meets a boy named Safer, the only other member of the spy club.

The boys continue their club with Safer making up a mystery for himself and George to solve. There are some unexpected turns at the end of this book that make it interesting and I had fun reading this book with both my boys who are in Grade 2 and 5.

This was my second Rebecca Stead book and I definitely  liked iit more than When You Reach Me, which was a Newbery winner. I would recommend this book for Grade 4-5.