Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick is about Ben, a young boy who grew up without a father and recently lost his mother to a car accident, and Rose, a young deaf girl growing up during the 1920's.  Ben had hearing loss in one ear, but was rendered completely deaf after his house was hit by lightning while he was on the phone.  Ben was on the phone that night hoping to locate his long lost father.  He had gone back to the house he'd shared with his mother, just down the lake from the house he was living in with his aunt and uncle, when he saw a mysterious light inside.  Finding only his cousin, Ben decided to stay awhile and look through his mother's old things.  He made an amazing discovery:  a bookmark with his father's name and information on it!  After waking up in the hospital after the lightning strike, Ben snuck away from his Minnesota town to New York in search of the address and his father.  Upon finding the bookstore from the bookmark closed, Ben heads to the museum, where he finds something startling.  There is a wolf scene there that came directly out of one of Ben's recurring dreams.

Rose hated working with her tutor and snuck to New York to see her mother, a famous actress who had just married another man.  After being rejected by her mother, Rose ventured to the museum in search of her brother, Walter, who eventually took her in.

To find out how the stories of Rose, Ben, and the wolves come together in this amazing tale, read Wonderstruck!  This was a fabulous story.  I love the way it is told through full page illustrations as well as text.  I liked it so much, I finished it in only a few hours.  I just couldn't put it down - I really wanted to find out what happened to Rose and Ben, and how their lives intersected.

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret is the true story of Peg Schulze (Kehret), and her experience with polio at age 12. She was in 7th grade in Austin, Minnesota when her leg began twitching uncontrollably. As she left her chorus class, her legs buckled and Peg fell in the hall. When she got home from school that day, she was exhausted and had a high fever. This was the beginning of a long battle with polio, a disease that paralyzes people and causes strong and uncontrollable and excruciating muscle spasms. Through this painful and terrifying experience, Peg fought hard for recovery.

This book was AWESOME!! I was vaccinated against polio as a child, like all children are today, so I never feared this disease. I never really knew what the disease did until I read this book. I have had many 6th graders recommend this book to me, and now I see why - it is honest and triumphant. I will certainly be passing on the recommendation to new readers!

This video shows Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, and discusses some of the effects of the disease.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is about Grace, a Minnesota teen who survived a wolf attack in her backyard six years ago. She doesn't remember much about the attack, except that she's certain one wolf saved her from the rest. She thinks of him as her wolf, and waits for his appearance in the woods bordering her backyard - usually in late fall of each year. The older she gets, the harder it is for her to wait for him.

The story is also about Sam, a teen who 11 years ago was bitten by a werewolf and became one himself. He is still young enough that he retains his human form during the warmest months of the year, only becoming wolf during the cold. He is Grace's wolf.

Sam and Grace live for the small moments they each get to stare at one another across her backyard each season, sharing a bond neither of them fully understands. When a student from Grace's school is attacked and killed by a pack of wolves, the townspeople (including Grace's father) take matters into their own hands and go out hunting. Sam is shot, and amazingly returns to his human form, despite the frigid fall weather. Grace finds him on her doorstep, and recognizes him as her wolf immediately. From then on, the two are inseparable, falling madly in love with one another and constantly saddened by the reality that eventually Sam will change back to wolf... maybe for good. Things take a turn for the worse as Jack, the boy who was killed by the wolf pack returns - as a wolf himself - unstable and angrier than ever. Grace's best friend Olivia begins acting strangely, and Grace is being stalked by a she-wolf who is bent on rising to the top of the pack as Sam's mate.

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book!!!!! Mrs. Ruder (from the HOMS MC) recommended it to me, and she was right - it's my new favorite! I could barely put it down. The ending was AWESOME!! It's one of those endings that makes me want to start reading it again from the start. I would recommend this one to anyone who likes the Twilight Series, for sure! The sequel, Linger, comes out July 20, 2010, and I will be first in line to grab my copy!