WAITING FOR NORMAL by Leslie Connor

Addie's mom creates a life for herself and Addie which resembles a roller coaster. Either the frig is full or there is only toast for supper. Either Mommers is home giving Addie pointers on upping her vocabulary--or she is out "job interviewing" and doesn't return before midnight.

Addie longs for a life like her sixth grade contemporaries, with clothes that match and freedom from heckling by the other kids. Instead, she faces daily challenges and must hone a hopeful spirit. She gets help from unlikely people including neighbors across the vacant lot. Her stepdad, Dwight, who is parenting Addie's half sisters, comes by when he can. He's always on her side but must work outside the community, leaving Adddie to fend mostly on her own.

Sometimes courage and a hopeful spirit need a boost. Readers will want to find out how Addie's life changes in ways that cause both sadness and relief.

Ten Little FINGERS and Ten Little TOES by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury

This delightful large format picture book celebrates babies all over the world. Fox and Oxenbury present heartwarming images of babies born in different places on the globe and in different circumstances. Each has ten little FINGERS and ten little TOES.
"There was one little baby who was born on the ice, and another in a tent, who was just as nice. And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had ten little fingers and ten little toes." With simple rhymes likes these, and happy images of babies from many cultures, the author and illustrator encourage readers and toddler listeners to engage in the joy of knowing and loving babies from many cultures.

WILD BOARS COOK by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall

Boris, Morris, Horace, and Doris appear again. Readers of MEET WILD BOARS will recognize this rollicking foursome with their bad manners and hefty appetites. In this sequel, each hungry boar craves a special treat. However, Doris finds a good recipe for the "biggest, messiest, stickiest, gooiest, chewiest, most delicious pudding in the whole wide world." They proceed to make it.
Adults and small children alike will want to read and re-read this tale while chortling over each hilarious picture of boars cooking...and eating.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts struggling to survive. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and younger sister. She steps up to take her sister's place when her sister is designated for the fight. But Katniss is a survivor. The story revolves around her use of her skills, values, and courage to bring a new shape to the role of contender. Her choices and her attempts to develop alliances instead of enemies are a fascinating web of tensions and satisfactions.
The author, who dedicates herself to writing about the effects of war and violence on young people, has created a disturbing but realistic metaphor for the world our young people inhabit.

The Day Leo Said I HATE YOU! BY Robie H. Harris

The author, along with illustrator Molly Bang,portrays what happens when a little boy feels SO frustrated and SO mad at a parent who has said NO all day long. Together, they navigate not only the momentary angry feelings and outbursts of young children, but also the most profound bonds between parent and child.
This is a fine book for every small child who has ever said: I HATE YOU!and wondered what comes next. And for every adult who has been devastated and challenged by such an interaction. Adults who read this book to children--and the children, too--will find the ending reaffirming.

Jon Scieszka presents GUYS WRITE FOR GUYS READ

Jon Scieszka has compiled a rich collection of stories, comics, mini-memoirs and other treats from world-famous writers, illustrators, cartoonists and editors of boy-favorite publications like Sports Illustrated and The Onion.

All write about being boys, from their unique perspectives. Each piece is short, bitter or sweet, and often illustrated. A new foreword and an excerpt from Scieszka's Knucklehead is included to round out this newest edition.
Writers range from M.T. Anderson to Paul Zelinsky with ninety-one others in-between.

GUYS READ is Szieszka's Web site connecting guys with the stuff they like to read. www.guysread.com

Off to War: Voices of Soldier's Children by Deborah Ellis

The author specializes in creating fiction and nonfiction which carries to her readers the voices of children throughout the world. These are some of her words about this important book:

"Beyond the financial and political costs of these(Iraq and Afghanistan) wars, there is a high human cost. Untold numbers of civilians living in Iraq and Afghanistan, including many children, have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives due to these wars....

But participating in a war as a soldier also carries a high cost. Part of that cost is being paid by the military families who are left behind, especially the children. As the wars drag on, deployments(time spent in war zones) are extended and repeated. Mothers and fathers are returning home altered by their experience of being involved in killing and surrounded by devastation, and sometimes finding their families changed, too in their absence."

OFF TO WAR contains mini-interviews with young children, ages 6-17, from Canada and the US. Their parents are in either the regular military or members of the Reserves and National Guard who have been deployed. The kids are honest about the negatives and positives of being a military kid. Kids in similar circumstances, but who have no one to talk to about it, will find this book refreshing.