Category: tween

Author: Normandy D. Piccolo
Publisher: Normandy’s Bright Ideas
Genre: Urban youth fiction
ISBN: 978-0-578-10096-8
Pages: 253
Price:  $7.99

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The year is 1974. Trey Johnston and his friends are growing up in the Po’k n’ Beans Project outside of Washington, D.C. Trey’s Momma works hard to keep food on the table and rent paid for their slum apartment, but Trey wants more out of life. Trey, called Bonehead because Momma makes bone soup for nearly every meal, visits the House of Fossils Museum on a field trip. He then decides he will make himself and Momma rich by finding the very first dinosaur bone in the Beans Project.

Although this dig begins to consume his waking hours, Trey has an active social life with the residents of the Beans. As children of the 1970’s, they watch the classic TV shows, like “Good Times.” They discuss iconic sports heroes of the day, like Mohammed Ali. And they play games like “Rock ’em, Sock ’em Robots” although their Beans version is a bit different. The lingo is groovy, and the kids are true urban African American pre-teens.

Trey grows up surrounded by poverty and “lazy-bone” (as Momma would call them) residents in the Beans. But despite his circumstances, he rises above them by choosing to do something special. Although unsuccessful, he makes his Momma proud. Material possessions may make life easier, but Trey learns that love and friendship matter more than anything else.

Reviewer: Alice Berger

Author: Michael Thal
Publisher: Royal Fireworks Press
Genre: Middle Grade
ISBN: 978-0-88092-469-6
Price:  $9.99

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David Rothman is on top of the world. After bringing down the house as soloist in the Youth Orchestra, he and the group are invited to play for the Queen of England. But just days after his triumphant moment, he suddenly finds himself unable to hear a single note.

Deafness has struck the Rothmans in the past, and now David has the family curse. Playing the violin is as meaningless to him as holding a stick of wood, since he can’t hear the music. Putting it down for good, he embarks on a journey to understand and deal with his new course of life.

Over the next six years, David enrolls in a school for the deaf, switching to mainstream high school once he is proficient enough in communication. He makes new friends and learns to adjust, hoping he will eventually find a career path to follow. And when he graduates from high school, he heads off to a mainstream college, finally knowing exactly what he is called to do.

Finding yourself deaf, literally overnight, is a scary thing, and David’s response to his disability is understandable. It takes courage to accept what he can’t change, and he tries to make the best of a bad situation. Goodbye Tchaikovsky is a touching portrayal of a boy who just wants to fit in, but finds himself pulled between the hearing and the deaf world. Ultimately, what he really needs to find is himself.

Reviewer: Alice Berger

Author: Elizabeth Atkinson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Genre: Children’s fiction
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5604-2
Pages: 234
Price: $16.95

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It isn’t easy having a name like Emma Freke – which when said out loud sounds like am a freak. But it’s even worse that Emma is too tall, has too red hair, and suddenly finds herself a social misfit in sixth grade. She has no idea who her father is, and her mom is too New-Agey and insists on being called by her first name.

So when Emma is invited to the Freke family reunion, she’s finally given the chance to find out more about the other side of her family – the one she knows nothing about. And for the first time, she realizes that she’s not as freaky as she thought.

Now that Emma has been accepted by her new family, she embraces her mother’s wisdom in raising her, and returns home with a new sense of self-confidence. After being judged herself, she learns an important lesson about what it means to judge others, and that sometimes it’s better to keep an open mind.

I, Emma Freke is an enjoyable read for all middle-schoolers, but especially those who just don’t seem to fit in, no matter how hard they try. Elizabeth Atkinson has a great understanding of the trials and tribulations facing pre-teen kids, and it comes through in Emma’s thoughts and actions. I highly recommend this fun and well-written story.

Reviewer: Alice Berger

Author: Laurie Gray
Publisher: Luminis Books
Genre: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-1-935462-34-7
Pages: 200
Price: $11.95

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Matthew’s best friend, Kyle, has gone away to spend the summer at a farm. His younger brother has reached a growth spurt and is now bigger than he is. And his mom is pregnant. Again. Since Matthew is being home-schooled, he doesn’t even get the summers off, and he has to write a research paper on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It was going to be the worst summer ever – until he met Dinah.

Dinah is on the run from Child Welfare, waiting for her mom to come home and get her. But until then she needs a place to hang out and hide. Matthew takes an instant liking to Dinah, and offers her his friendship and a sanctuary. The two new friends share ideas, laughter, music and companionship over the next few weeks, forging a strong bond in the process.

Matthew never expects to get so close to this homeless girl, and their time spent together is all too brief. Will they stay in touch by email, as Dinah suggests, or will time apart bring inevitable distance? But in the moments they do have together, they touch each other in ways neither could anticipate.

Summer Sanctuary is a warm and tender story of two teens who find true friendship in a world that is often much too harsh. Matthew and Dinah are interesting and deep characters, and I enjoyed getting to know them both. I highly recommend this beautiful story for all who long to still find caring and goodness in humanity.

Reviewer: Alice Berger