Laugh With the Moon By Shana Burg

2013-2014

Bluebonnet Book





 

 

Thirteen-year-old Clare Silver is stuck. Stuck in denial about her mother’s recent death. Stuck in the African jungle for sixty-four days without phone reception. Stuck with her father, a doctor who seems able to heal everyone but Clare.
Clare feels like a fish out of water at Mzanga Full Primary School, where she must learn a new language. Soon, though, she becomes immersed in her new surroundings and impressed with her fellow students, who are crowded into a tiny space, working on the floor among roosters and centipedes.
When Clare’s new friends take her on an outing to see the country, the trip goes horribly wrong, and Clare must face another heartbreak head-on. Only an orphan named Memory, who knows about love and loss, can teach Clare how to laugh with the moon.
Told from an American girl’s perspective, this story about how death teaches us to live and how love endures through our memories will capture the hearts of readers everywhere.

Wonder by PJ Palacio

2013-2014 Bluebonnet Book
Definitely 5 Stars!

 

 

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

In a world where bullying among young people is an epidemic, this is a refreshing new narrative full of heart and hope. R.J. Palacio has called her debut novel “a meditation on kindness” —indeed, every reader will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to root for, a diamond in the rough who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.



Walls within Walls by Maureen Sherry with illustrations by Adam Stower

 

2013-2014

Texas Bluebonnet Book

 

Walls Within Walls is an appealing mystery novel. You will need to find a comfortable place to begin reading this novel because chances are, you will become completely absorbed in the storyline, you will be compelled to finish it without putting it down!

This is a children's novel written for 3rd - 6th graders, but as an adult (and teacher) I found it captivating! Walls within Walls is on the Bluebonnet list for the 2013-2014 school year.
I highly suggest you read this nail-bitting mystery.