These Unlucky Stars by Gillian McDunn

These Unlucky Stars by Gillian McDunn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this awesome book as part of the #BitAboutBooks Spring Reading Challenge; a photo of a book outdoors. Annie Logan is a 6th grader who has just begun her summer vacation. Living in a small town with her father and brother, Annie is prickly, doesn't have many friends and has many questions and grief about her mother's leaving the family a few years ago---questions her father refuses to discuss. Her father and brother work at the family hardware store and have been losing business due to a larger chain store the next town over. Watching her brother play basketball; Annie is dared to ring a doorbell and run away but since Annie has been born under unlucky stars; calamity ensues. The old woman in the house falls with Annie running for help. Gillian McDunn has such a relatable protagonist in Annie Logan. Annie shuts down, gets angry and/or irritating when things go wrong but it is through a chance counseling session in school with teachers concerned that she has no friends since her mom left, that Annie makes her first real friend, Faith, using suggestions her teachers gave her. When the town decides to have a festival, Annie uses her artistic talents on many of the floats, while spending her days with Grumpy Gloria and her dog Otto as she recuperates from her fall, a broken arm. As Annie struggles with Gloria's cranky personality she ends up helping Gloria and herself as they forge a friendship that compliments their personalities. I loved everything about Gloria's dog, Otto. Even though Annie was bitten as a child she becomes enamored with Otto and how he cares for Gloria (and Gloria cares for Otto). I just loved turning the pages of this book as Annie and her unlucky stars begin to grow, feel, and journey toward new relationships with family, friends, and community. Highly recommended for middle grade students!

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Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, just as I finished Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic (adult book about child sexual abuse) I read this as part of #BitAboutBooks Spring Reading Challenge because my librarian friend, MaryAlice, recommended it along with another book I will be reading for this challenge! Della and Suki are burned into my heart; they have had a tough life and it is about to get much more difficult. When their drug addled mother has a psychotic break and burns a hotel room down while doing meth---Della and Suki were there. When they are taken into protective custody their mother's boyfriend arrives and sweeps them away. Clifton drives a tractor trailer all week and comes home Friday nights. the way Kimberly Brubaker Bradley unfolds this story about sisters is gripping...When Clifton tries to sexually abuse Della, Suki sweeps in with a cell phone taking pictures and quickly sends to next door neighbor, Teena. The girls are placed in a foster home with Francine, going to a new school, a trial and trying to deal---but as we learn from Della---her sister Suki is always her protector, singing to her and taking care of her since age 6---but who is taking care of Suki? As Suki gets a job at Food Giant, tries to ignore her friend, Teena, and keep her away from Della, Della begins noticing/remembering things (both past and present) about Suki and she grows concerned, so is foster mother, Francine but no one seems to hear their cries and act on it. This was a harrowing book to read, process, and follow along as these traumatized sisters deal with abandonment, drug abuse and sexual abuse, suicide, the foster system, bullying in the classroom, consent and much more...but the author's words, characters, and plot are all strong, important, authentic, and compassionate. A must read for all in the school system teachers, guidance counselors, school nurses and principals and the middle grade and YA reader and parents. This book tells the reader how often this occurs, urges healing through therapists and doctors, and encourages speaking up (sometimes maybe again and again until you are heard) and always the power of love in healing. A must read!!!

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