Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming is by Jacqueline Woodson. A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read. This is a stunning memoir written as fiction in verse. It tells the story of Woodson's childhood growing up in Ohio, South Carolina, and New York. You walk with Woodson through the Civil Rights movement in the south and get a first hand look at what it was like to be African American during the 60's and 70's. The writing is beautiful and descriptive. This is a wonderful book for young readers - all readers really. Totally appropriate for readers below 7th grade, although they may need to be in 7th grade to understand the historical setting without help.

Ratings: 7th grade - 10 out of 10.

Upstream: Selected Essays

Upstream: Selected Essays is by Mary Oliver. A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read. If you love Mary Oliver's poetry, and I do, you will love these essays. Oliver has a way of making you feel like you are with her observing nature even as she does. This is a marvelous collection of essays from a poet whose body is work is all worth reading.

Ratings: 9th grade - 10 out of 10.

Everything is Teeth

Everything is Teeth is by Evie Wyld. A wonderful little memoir done as a graphic novel. The illustrations are beautiful, especially the full color pictures of the sharks. The writing is well done and you get a good look at Wyld's fascination with sharks and her childhood with her family. Really enjoyable! Some of the drawings of shark attack wounds might not be okay for some young readers.

Ratings: 8th grade - 9 out of 10.

Cannery Row

Cannery Row is by John Steinbeck. A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read. First published in 1945, this book follows the lives of the various inhabitants of Cannery Row in Monterey, California. The story is alternately funny and heartbreaking, much like life itself. The reader follows the adventures of Doc, who runs a marine laboratory; Dora, the local madam, and the other residents of her house of ill repute; Mack and his friends, who manage to live relatively happily without consistent employment; and a host of other loveable characters. This book is a excellent introduction to Steinbeck, being shorter than Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden, and more cheerful than Of Mice and Men. Definitely on the list of books you must read before you die.

Ratings: 10th grade - 10 out of 10 - AC (some mature thematic content) - P (profanity).

Stranded

Stranded is by Jeff Probst. This is the first book in the Stranded series. Probst is best known as the host of the television show Survivor. This is the story of four kids from a blended family who go on a boat trip with their uncle. A storm hits and the adults are swept away in the lifeboat as they try to get the kids off the boat. The kids are then shipwrecked on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific and have to survive on their own. Younger readers will enjoy this series.

Ratings: 6th grade - 6 out of 10.

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader is by Anne Fadiman. A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read! This small book of essays is a must-read for any book lover. Each essay deals with the joys, and sometimes frustrations, of being a book lover and someone for whom books truly matter to your existence. These essays also help explain biblioaddicts to those with whom they interact. The essays in this book are funny, touching, and poignant; every book lover will be able to relate to all of them.

Ratings: 8th grade - 10 out of 10.

This One Summer

This One Summer is by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. A graphic novel for young adults that is well written and well illustrated. It is the story of a teenage girl, Rose, whose family vacations every year at Awago Beach. There she and her younger friend Windy spend a fun summer with their families. But not this year, Rose's parents keep fighting and when she and Windy seek other diversions they become involved in the drama of the local young adult population. A wonderfully done graphic novel that teens will enjoy.

Ratings: 8th grade - 7 out of 10 - AC (Some mature thematic content) - P (profanity).