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Fearless: A Dog Story
Eleven-year-old Jessie Nelson fears her soldier Mom won’t make it home from the War in Afghanistan. So, Jessie and her dad move in with Grandpa for the summer in small-town southern Minnesota where a historic tornado has made the townspeople fearful. With new friends in tow, Jessie and the boys stumble onto an old barn with terrified dogs inside. Jessie wants to save them all but knows she can’t. So, she saves one — the one dog cocking its head to the side and watching Jessie with its melty eyes. Soon Jessie learns the dog suffers from PTSD and needs TLC in order to trust again. Jessie hides the fearful dog in her bedroom until another tornado strikes and changes everything.
From author Kristin Johnson for Readers 8-12.
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Heartstopper #1: A Graphic Novel
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out.
Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn’t think he has a chance.
But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.
From author Alice Oseman for Readers 13+.
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Wish
Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true.
That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all.
From award-winning author Barbara O’Connor comes a middle-grade novel about a girl who, with the help of a true-blue friend, a big-hearted aunt and uncle, and the dog of her dreams, unexpectedly learns the true meaning of family in the least likely of places.
For Readers 9-12.
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The Snow Queen
I have always loved all kinds of fairy tales, and even as a grown-up I have an extensive collection of them from around the world. There are many I cherish, but by far my favorite has always been The Snow Queen by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. I’m not the only one who loves this story. It has been told in many forms from plays, ballets, operas, and even a video game.
It is the story of a little boy and girl who grow up next to one another and are very close. But the boy is struck by a very tiny and evil splinter in his eye and his heart. It makes him cold and mean. His vision is twisted so he only sees the evil in people. While out in the snow playing with his friends, he is taken by the Snow Queen to her Ice Palace, far up north. The girl travels for a very long time and over many lands to find him. Her tears of joy and sadness melt his heart and wash away the splinters. They are reunited and he is able to love her again.
What captivates me the most every time I reread this story is the steadfast love the little girl has for her friend. She must escape the eternal Spring of a witch, convince a Robber Girl to help her, and travel on the back of a reindeer to a cold and scary Ice Palace. But she never wavers in her journey to save him.
I would like to think I would do the same for those I love. My family and friends are the most important part of my life, and even if they were somehow hit by a flying splinter of a magical mirror that makes them see the world in a twisted way, I would love them anyway. I would never give up on them.
