I was captivated by Willow’s voice from the first page of Counting by 7s (Scholastic 2013) until the very last page.  Willow is not your ordinary girl, and she won’t let you forget it.  First off, she’s brilliant, but not the teacher’s pet.  I suspect her teachers don’t get her.  She loves numbers and is fascinated by plants and medical conditions.  She also picks up other languages such as Vietnamese in her spare time.

She also does not fit in at her new middle school.  When she scores a perfect score on the state standardized test (after showing no aptitude for high ability to her teachers), the principal accuses her of cheating and refers her to Dell Duke, the school psychologist.  Outside of his office, Willow meets Mai, a chance encounter that will change all of their lives.

What do I love about this book?  Let me count the ways.  There’ll be seven since that is Willow’s favorite number.

1.  Connections:  Even when life seems random and cruel, connections bring people together.  Willow has a real talent for bringing people together, especially people who didn’t realize they needed each other.

2.  Voice:  Once you read what Willow has to say, you won’t be able to get her voice out of your heart.  She is true and honest and sees the world a bit differently–more brilliantly–than the rest of the world.

3.  Alternating points of view:  Willow is not the only teller of this story.  A third person narrator fills us in on the rest of the characters from pseudo-psychologist Dell Duke to Vietnamese nail salon owner Patty and generous taxi driver Jairo.

4.  Unforgettable characters:  Even the ones who rub you the wrong way at first–like Dell Duke and the angry Quang-ha–turn out to have a better side.  Mai is a loyal friend from the start, and Pattie opens her arms and home to a little girl.

5 .  Coincidences:  Is life random and cruel?  Is life random and lucky?  Maybe it’s all of these and none of these, but Willow experiences them all.

6.  Passion:  Willow gives everything to her interests.  She has mastered medical textbooks and would be glad to sit down with you to discuss any concerns you have.  She has created a garden oasis out of a desert–not just once, but twice.

7.  Family:  Whether it’s the family she’s lost or the new family she’s found, Willow comes home to people who love her for who she is.  Now if we could all be that lucky.

Holly Goldberg Sloan has crafted a brilliant story of love and loss, passion and friendship, tragedy and miracles.

When I picked up From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun (Puffin Books 1995) at the Authors as Artists series with Jacqueline Woodson, I didn’t know much about it.  I chose it because I connected with the description of Melanin on the back cover.  Melanin Sun sometimes has trouble getting his words out when he speaks, so instead he writes them in his notebooks.  I sometimes stumble when I have to speak deep truths aloud, but if I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, the words flow much easier.

I loved how the first person narration and the excerpts from Melanin’s notebooks give glimpses into his mind and heart.  Melanin is happy with his life with his mother in their Brooklyn, New York apartment.  He hangs with his friends Raphael and Sean when he’s not poring over his stamp collection of endangered amphibians.  He carries Angie’s phone number in his pocket, dreaming of having the nerve to actually call her.  Then his mother brings home Kristen for dinner and reveals a secret that will change Melanin’s life forever.

Through Melanin’s eyes and words, Woodson explores sensitive topics of racism and sexuality with compassion.  In learning to accept who is mother is–opposed to who he thought she was–Melanin must find his own voice and strength.  He learns which friends he can count on and that he can open his mind and heart to more that he thought possible.  Woven through it all is an exploration of the power of words–power to shut out and to open up, the power to hurt and to heal.

Now that I’ve read all the books I bought, I’m ready to hit the shelves in the library to discover more.

My daughter picked this book up from our latest trip to the library.  As soon as she finished it on one of our many snow days, she handed it to me and said, “You have to read this, and you have to put in your classroom library.  It will be powerful birth control.”

Caela Carter gives an intimate look at the heartbreak caused by an unplanned, teen pregnancy in Me, Him, Them, and It (Bloomsbury 2013).  Evelyn is a good girl turned bad.  She’s still in the running to be valedictorian, but she has shortened her skirts and started drinking at parties in order to get back at her silent parents, who are no longer speaking to each other or to her.  As part of her bad-girl makeover, Evelyn hooked up with Todd, a friend with benefits.  She didn’t plan on falling for him–or to become pregnant–or to lose her best friend.  Now that her world is crashing down around her, Evelyn withdraws further and further into herself.

Evelyn is funny and heartbreaking all at the same time as she tells her story and tries to sort out what has happened to her and to her family.  She has no idea about what to do with this new life growing inside of her, and she is afraid to let anyone–even her beloved Aunt Linda–close enough to help her.  As the baby grows bigger and bigger, she is running out of time to make decisions.

I’m not sure any book is enough to be used as book control, but this novel certainly offers an eye-opening look at the changes an unplanned pregnancy can bring, and it does so without being preachy.  Thank you to my daughter for introducing me to another great book and author!

When I got the mail on Saturday, I had a dilema on my hands as I opened my package:

It really wasn’t much of a question.  I knew I would be reading–and finishing–The Impossible Knife of Memory (Viking 2014).  As my Twitter friends suggested, I couldn’t go wrong with Laurie Halse Anderson.  Indeed, this might be my favorite book of hers yet, though I hate to choose between them.

I liked Haley from her first appearance in detention, where she writes “Correcting a teacher’s mistake is not a sign of disrespect.”   No, that wasn’t quite the assigned lines to write,  but rather her interpretation of events.

Hayley is trying to survive–high school (where the zombies outnumber the freaks) and home (where her miltary father is haunted by his battles in Iraq and Afghanistan).   She and her dad had been on the road for the past five years, trying to outrun the ghosts, but now that they have settled in Andy’s hometown, the past is catching up with them.  Will a childhood friend and a quirky new guy offer enough hope for Hayley to cling to through a life that is spiraling out of control?

Laurie Halse Anderson has opened my eyes and my heart to the struggles of our country’s veterans, especially those struggling with PTSD, and their families with a powerful story that crackles with humor and heartbreak.

Here is a word from Anderson herself on the book: