Swinging on a Star

Swinging on a Star is by David Trinidad. A very good book of poetry, especially the "Ode to Buddy Holly."

Ratings: 8th grade.

A Thousand Mornings

A Thousand Mornings is by Mary Oliver. A beautiful selection of Oliver's magnificent poetry. 

Ratings: 8th grade - 9 out of 10. 

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra is by Vaseem Khan. The first installment in The Baby Ganesh Agency mystery series. This charming realistic fiction multicultural series is set in India. After suffering a heart attack, Inspector Chopra is forced into early retirement from the Mumbai police. The day he retires he is confronted with a drowned boy, whose death no one seems to want to investigate and a baby elephant which was left to him by a dead relative. His desire to solve the mystery leads him all over Mumbai, and his new elephant plays a role in solving the case. 

Ratings: 10th grade - 9 out of 10 - AC (some mature thematic content). 

Gingerbread

Gingerbread is by Helen Oyeyemi. A strange and at times confusing fantasy novel revolving around gingerbread. Perdita Lee, her mother, and grandmother seem like a normal British family, but Perdita's mother, Harriet, comes from the mysterious - and some say non-existent land of Druhastrana. When Perdita attempts to return to Druhastrana to meet her mother's best friend, and gingerbread lover, Gretel, it prompts a retelling of the the story of Harriet's life and the history of the Lee and Kercheval families. 

Rating: 10th grade - 6 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (some mature thematic content). 

The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10 is by Ruth Ware. A realistic fiction mystery set on a yacht in the North Sea. Laura Blacklock writes for a travel publication; when a colleague goes on maternity leave, Laura is chosen to go on a promotional cruise on a luxury yacht in the North Sea. She is assigned Cabin 9; looking for mascara, she meets a strange woman in the cabin next door. Later that evening, she wakes to hear a loud splash, rushes to the veranda and sees a bloody smear on the glass partition between her cabin and the next. She calls security and is told that there was never anyone in Cabin 10, and that she imagined the whole episode. Her search for the truth may cost her her life. 

Ratings: 11th grade - 6 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content). 

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is by Matthew Sullivan. Sullivan's first novel is a realistic fiction foray into a suicide in a bookstore. Lydia survived a horrible mass murder as a child, she now works as a clerk in the Bright Ideas Bookstore. When a young ex-con hangs himself in the bookstore and leaves all of his possessions to Lydia, she must face the possibility that Joey's death may be related to the crime she's spent her life trying to forget. 

Rated: 10th grade - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content) - V (violence). 

Sleeping Giants

Sleeping Giants is by Sylvain Neuvel. The first science fiction installment in The Themis Files series. A young girl named Rose rides out on her bicycle and falls into a hole. When the firefighters arrive to rescue her, they find her resting in a giant glowing hand. Seventeen years later Rose, now a physicist, is approached by a man representing, one supposes, "a vague yet menacing government agency" (Night Vale hat tip there) to head up a project to study the hand. Her team finds themselves in way over their heads. This series is combination X-Files and The Day the Earth Stood Still. It is told through journals and taped interviews with the participants and is wonderfully creepy and fascinating. 

Ratings: 10th grade - 9 out of 10 - AC (some mature thematic content).