24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling

Thirteen-year-old Gus is small for his age, but much smarter than most of his classmates. And he's hoping his good grades will be his ticket out of Nowhere, Arizona, a small boring, poverty-stricken trailer park town in the middle of, well, nowhere. Gus' size makes him an ideal target for bullying by the not-too-bright Bo Taylor; unfortunately, Gus' smarts don't always help him when it comes to Bo. Such is the case when Bo tries to force feed Gus with a Jumping Cholla cactus. Fortunately for Gus, Rossi Scott, a Tohono O'odham that Gus has a crush on comes along to save him, by offering Bo her beloved dirt bike, Loretta.

Feeling guilty about his safety costing Rossi her bike, Gus heads over to Bo's trailer to try and buy it back. But there's a big dirt bike race coming and without Loretta, Rossi doesn't stand a chance of beating Bo again. So Bo offers Gus a challenge - that Gus go into the Dead Frenchman Mine and bring back a big chuck of gold. Gus accepts the challenge even though he knows the mine is dangerous, that cave-ins have killed a number of gold seekers and coming out alive would be quite a feat.

While buying supplies, Gus runs in into his former old friend Jessie Navarros. When Jessie started hanging out with the other Mexican kids in school lunchroom, and speaking Spanish, Gus, who doesn't know Spanish, thought it was a pretty clear sign that Jessie was no longer wanted to be his friend. And yet, he feels compelled to tell him about the deal he made with Bo.

Later, just as Gus sets off for the mine, one of Bo's pals, Matthew Dufort, shows up. Matt has been ordered to accompany Gus into the mine to make sure he brings back a piece of real gold, not just a painted rock. Once inside the mine, they hear voices that turn out to be Rossi and Jessie, there to talk Gus out of the challenge and the mine. But Gus is determined.

No sooner does he start chiseling away, than he breaks though the wall that reveals another chamber in the cave. But then, they hear a rumbling sound and the old Dead Frenchman Mine does what old mines often do - it collapse around them. No one is killed, but with the entrance blocked, will the be able to find their way out? More importantly, will they actually find gold?

24 Hours in Nowhere has everything - excitement, humor, adventure, all contained in a dangerous setting. And it all happens within a 24 hour time frame, measured by Gus' watch, the only thing his dad ever gave him. All of these characteristics will hold a young readers attention, as will Gus' wry wit, and the vocabulary words he inserts in his first person narrative (preparation for the SATs - his real ticket out of Nowhere). 

Bowling has also sensitively addressed some pretty intense themes - poverty, bullying, child abuse, child neglect, and prejudice - and somehow the hot, barren desert in which a collapsing mine is located seems the most appropriate setting, almost as though it were another character. But then I remember how beautiful the desert is when it is in bloom, and we see the characters in this novel also starting to bloom. Of course, a death-defying adventure could do that to a person. So Bowling also addresses themes hope, friendship, and personal growth in some of her characters.

I lived in Arizona for four years and I still love it, especially the desert, and I thought it especially clever that Bowling has taken one of Arizona's more popular historical legends - the Lost Dutchman Mine - and reworked it as the Dead Frenchman Mine.

24 Hours in Nowhere will definitely take young readers somewhere and it is really worth the trip.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an ARC received from the publisher, Sterling Children's Books

You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly

Separated by 1,000 miles, middle schoolers Ben Boxer, 11, living in Louisiana, and Charlotte Lockard, 12, living in Pennsylvania, have been playing online scrabble games with each other since elementary school, though they have never spoken to each other, let alone met. In fact, they only know each other by their online names Lottie Lock and Ben Boot. And both kids are gifted, but lonely outsiders in their respective schools. Yet, over the course of one week, they will help each other when both of their lives suddenly change dramatically at home and in school.

It all begins on a Monday when Charlotte, sitting in life science class, is called out only to be informed that her father has had a heart attack and is in the hospital. Later that day, Ben learns that his parents are getting a divorce and his father will be moving out. Ben retreats to his bedroom and locks his door, while Charlotte, on the other hand, can only stand in the hospital hallway, unable to enter her father's room. That night, they decide to speak to each other for the first, but not the last time (they've always just texted with each other). Interestingly, they connect yet never discuss what is really bothering them.

By Tuesday, Ben, a boy with no friends and a favorite target of school bullies, decides to cope with things by running for Student Council President only to discover that sixth graders can only run for treasurer, and that means his opponent will be a popular girl he once ratted out in elementary school for cheating on a test.

A thousand miles away, Charlotte, who has always coped with her anxieties by withdrawing into what her father calls Rabbit Holes, online research that endlessly leads from one topic to the next, begins to realize that her best friend Bridget has changed and is now more interested in hanging out with other cooler, more popular girls now.

It proves to be a rough week for both Ben and Charlotte, adrift in the particular nightmare that life and middle school can sometimes feel like, but proving to be a much needed lifeline for each other (the cover of You Go First is just such a perfect representation of this) as they try to sort their changing lives out.

It's interesting that while Ben and Charlotte don't really know each other that well in terms of what they think and feel, their friendship is such a symbiotic on - Lottie is the person he would call with big news like winning the lottery, Charlotte knows that she can absolutely be herself with Ben, and that their online scrabble game the one real constant in their lives. And, I think, it is this symbiotic relationship, this one area where both kids are their true selves, that proves to be a testing ground for future friendships.

You Go First unfolds over the course of six days in short alternating chapters. Kelly's writing style is, as always, beautifully lyrical, and once again shows that she just what a master craftswoman she is by going right into the heart of preteen life. Slowly, methodically, subtly, without fanfare or major conflict, Kelly allows her character's stories to unfold and to let us get to know them and become part of their lives, building up our empathy and understanding through their personal crises to a very satisfying conclusion, so that the reader can close the book knowing that they will ultimately be alright.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was purchased for my personal library

2016 Cybils MG Finalist: Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan

Ravi Suryanarayanan has recently moved from Bangalore, India to Hamilton, New Jersey because of his father's job. Now, Ravi is about to begin fifth grade at Albert Einstein Elementary School, confident that his English is good since it is his first language, and that he will have not trouble keeping up with the work. After all, he was at the top of his class in India.

Ravi finds himself in Mrs. Beam's class, where he notices a boy, Dillon Samreen, who appears to be Indian American, and who, he quickly discovers, is the most popular boy in the class. Ravi is sure they will soon be best friends.

But things don't start off as well as Ravi hoped. First, Mrs. Beam, like most Americans, mispronounces Ravi's name.  The other kids in the class laugh at his formal manners, make fun of his buttoned up, ironed shirts, and no one can understand him when he speaks in class because of his accent. His teacher decides to send him to the resource room to get help, a decision Ravi finds insulting and humiliating.

Things aren't much better the second day. When Ravi goes to the board to solve a multiplication problem, he uses colored markers and the Vedic method, only to be told not to do that again. Humiliated yet again, Ravi is wondering when the next insult will happen, when a foot shoots out and trips him. As Ravi falls, Dillon manages to point the blame a Joe.

Ravi sits in front of Joe Sylvester and behind Dillon in Mrs. Beams class. Joe's two best friends have recently moved away and he finds himself alone and at the mercy of Dillon, who turns out to be the sneaky class bully who always has Joe in his sights. Joe also has APD, or Auditory Processing Disorder, which makes focusing in class difficult for him, so he spends a lot of time with Mrs. Frost, the resource room teacher. To make him even more of a target, Joe's mom has taken a much needed job as a lunchroom monitor, something Dillon immediately adds to his list of taunts. But Joe also knows Dillon's secret - that he is a petty thief, stealing things from his classmates whenever possible.

The first few days of the first week of school go pretty much along these lines - Ravi continuously misreading cues from the people in school, particularly Dillon, whom he continues to think wants to be his best friend, and Joe dodging Dillon and his insults, especially in the cafeteria.

But when Mrs. Beam gives her class an assignment in which they must bring in an object that reflects who they are, along with an unsigned one sentence explanation of why that object was chosen, due on Friday, will it be the thing that finally opens up Ravi's eyes to the truth about both Dillon and Joe?

Save Me a Seat is told over the first week on school, alternating between Ravi and Joe's point of view. Interestingly, they never really interact directly with each other that first week of school, even though they have a common bullier in Dillon. yet, they manage to get to know each other better than most friends do.

The story is a little predictable, especially given the title, but the fun is in getting to the end of the first week and seeing how things unfold. I think that knowing the outcome allows the reader for focus more on what is happening and what each boy is saying about his life in and out of school.

Neither Ravi not Joe struck me as stereotypical, though Dillon does. After all, a bully is a bully, this one just happens to be Indian American, and dresses in a manner that sounded very hip-hop to me (low pants, underwear hanging out). Ravi and Joe both made assumptions about each other, and in Ravi's case about Dillon, based on past experiences, and I think sometimes kids need to be reminded not to prejudge.

One of the things I really liked about Save Me a Seat is that both boys come from intact, loving homes. Talk about assumptions - I expected Joe's family to be just the opposite of who they turned out the be. And Joe isn't a typical loner, either, he really doesn't want to be one. He wants friends and fun and all the other things kids enjoy.

At the end of the book, there are two glossaries - Ravi Glossary and Joe's Glossary for words that may be unfamiliar to readers. There is also a recipe apple crisp and one for Naan Khatai's. I happen to love the taste and smell of Indian food, so I had a great deal of interest in Ravi's lunch tiffin everyday.

Save Me a Seat is one of my favorite books of 2016 and I highly recommend it.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Scholastic Press

Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai

When the Taliban first started to change things in Afghanistan, people welcomed them.  At the time, Fadi Nurzai and his family - father Habib, mother Zafoona, older sister Noor and young sister Mariam - were living in the United States.  Fadi's father had an American PhD and spoke English, and believing he could help rebuild Afghanistan with the Taliban, he moved his family back to Kabul.  But it didn't take long for the Taliban to begin suppressing the Afghan people and when they approached Habib, asking to join them, he knew it was time to leave.

One night, the family finds themselves waiting for a truck that will take then across the border into Pakistan, then on to the United States.  11 year-old Fadi's job is to hold on to Mariam, now 6, and make sure she gets on the truck safely. Suddenly, there is a swarm of other people trying to get on the truck, too, and Mariam drops her precious Gulmina, an old Barbie doll wearing a bright pink burka. When she tries to retrieve it, she lets go of Fadi's hand just as Habib pulls him onto the truck, which speeds away as the Taliban chases it, leaving Mariam behind.

Consumed with guilt, Fadi soon finds himself in a Fremont, CA middle school.  His mother, who had been ill in Kabul, has gotten worse because of losing Mariam; to help the family out, Noor has taken a job at a McDonald's until high school starts, and Habib, despite that American PhD, is driving a cab. And there are many people in Afghanistan are looking Mariam, but so far, no luck.

Fadi, who loved to take photographs with his dad in Kabul before it was banned, finds his way into a photo club and a new friend named Ahn Hong.  When it is announced that there is to be a photography contest in which first prize is a photo safari and one of the places the winner can choose to go is India, it is like a dream come true for Fadi.   He immediately makes plans to win, get to India, then Pakistan and find Mariam., who the family now knows has made it to Peshawar.

But then, on September 11, 2001, terrorists from al-Qaeda fly two planes into the World Trade Center, and one into the Pentagon and everything suddenly changes.  Now, Fadi finds himself the target of school bullies who think he is Muslim (he is actually Pukhtun) and decide he needs to pay for what was done.  And pay he does.

Between bullies, the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the guilt he feels about losing Mariam, Fadi knows he need to talk to someone and take responsibility for his sister before he is eaten up by guilt.  He knows it the honorable thing to do, but somehow Fadi just can't talk about what happened that night in Afghanistan yet.  Meanwhile, they are still looking for Mariam and Fadi desperately needs to win that photography contest so he and his father can rescue her.

Shooting Kabul was, to say the least, a page-turner.  I found Fadi to be a very likable character and thought his relationship with his father was wonderfully touching.  Noor is a typical teenager who usually wants nothing to do with her brother, but still comes through for him when he needs it.  In fact, the theme of family is strong throughout the story, as important as their religion is to them, and family members are very connected to each other, and that includes their very supportive extended family.

The other dominate theme is racism and the spike in race-related incidents after 9/11 towards anyone who looks like they might be Muslim.  Because of that, here is name calling and some violence in the novel.  I thought the example of Mr. Singh, the ice-cream man who is a Sikh, being beaten up by people who assume if you wear a turban, you must be Muslim was very telling  I remember riding the bus to school in the Bronx and everyday there was a man, a Sikh, on it going to work.  After 9/11, I didn't see him for about a week, then he was back, black and blue and wearing a button that said he was a Sikh.  I can't tell you how sad that made me.

Shooting Kabul is an excellent companion book to read while studying contemporary American history since it manages to make a very complicated period of time understandable for young readers. Habib's explanation to Mariam about what is going on in Afghanistan and why they must leave requires no prior knowledge of the situation to understand what he tells her.  And as the story unfolds, things become clearer for today's middle grader who might not completely understand why there is still so much animosity towards Muslims and anyone who looks like one in this country.

A Reading Group Guide is available from the publisher, Simon & Schuster, HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was purchased for my personal library