Life in America is vastly different from Kim's experience in Vietnam.  There, she felt smart.  Here, people think she's dumb just because she can't speak English.  There, she had lots of family nearby.  Here, she's lonely.  There, she ate familiar food, chatted in her native tongue, understood her world.  Here, everything is different, everything is new.  Does she have any hope of fitting in?  Will America—a place so foreign—ever feel like home?

Based on the author's own experience as a child, Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai offers a uniquely authentic perspective on immigration.  Written in verse, it's a spare narrative, but one that's nevertheless vivid, poignant, and heartbreaking.  It's a story that will resound with anyone who's ever felt out of place, while teaching all of us a valuable lesson about acceptance.  Inside Out and Back Again proves that everyone has a story worth knowing—if only we'll take the time to listen.  A beautiful, award-winning book, this poignant novel-in-verse should not be missed.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The Girl in the Torch by Robert Sharenow and other stories about immigrant children)

Grade:

Gram says Lily's problem is that she doesn't think. But, that's not true. She does think. A lot. She thinks about her beloved Poppy, fighting the Nazis in some unknown land; she thinks about her friend Margaret, whose older brother's been MIA since D-Day; and she thinks about Albert, who worries about the family he left behind in Hungary. It should be another idyllic summer on the Atlantic shore - just like every other she's spent at Rockaway - but this is 1944 and nothing is the same as it used to be.

Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff, is the touching tale of an impetuous 5th grader whose life changes irrevocably during one remarkable summer. As she fishes, swims and enjoys her liberation from the nuns at St. Pascal's, she becomes an eyewitness to the drama and heartache brought on by the Second World War. She's not thrilled about eating boiled cabbage, receiving censored letters that keep her father's location secret, or eating bakery cookies made bland by the scarcity of butter and eggs. The war's one big inconvenience, destroying the lazy summer Lily was hoping to enjoy with her dad. Although she's known for telling whoppers, she can't lie to herself anymore - the summer of 1944 is the worst she's ever experienced.

When Lily meets Albert, her whole outlook changes. A refugee from Budapest, he escaped his war-torn home with only the treasures sewn into the collar of his coat. He doesn't know what's become of his parents, his Nagymamma, or his little sister. While Lily has observed the war, Albert has lived it. Desperate to bring their loved ones home, the pair hatch a plan - one that will put not only their friendship, but also their very lives, in jeopardy.

With authentic period detail, endearing characters and an adventure-filled storyline, Lily's Crossing is a beautifully-rendered novel about a special friendship between two aching children. It's funny, tender and true. Sniffling my way through the end made me realize it's been way too long since a book moved me as much as this one did. Lily's Crossing is simply a lovely little read.

Grade: A

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild language and suspenseful action scenes

Willow Run, the sequel to Lily's Crossing, follows Lily's friend Meg Dillon through her own adventures during the summer of 1944. The Dillons leave Rockaway, New York, for Willow Run, Michigan, where Meg's father has taken a job in a factory. A former pilot, his poor eyesight has kept him out of the war - anxious to help the war effort, he will be helping to build B-24 bombers. Meg wants the Germans defeated as much as anyone, but she's not happy about leaving her seaside home. Especially when she sees her new digs:

January 6, 1971 - That's the day Jesus walks into Frannie's 6th grade classroom. At least that's what the new kid calls himself - he doesn't pronounce it the Spanish way, either, but the regular, Bible way. As if that's not enough to make him stand out, the kid is white. Not just light brown like Trevor, who has a caucasian daddy, but white white. Almost blue-white. White like no one else at Frannie's school, like no one else on her side of the highway. The only explanation for his strange, sudden appearance, according to Frannie's friend Samantha, is that he really is Jesus. Even though Samantha's a preacher's daugher, Frannie can't help but wonder if she's a little delusional. Still, the boy's calm, cool in the face of ridicule, and forgiving of his tormentors. Frannie's not exactly the churchgoing type, but she's beginning to wonder if there isn't something to Samantha's theory. After all, as Samantha says, "If there was a world for Jesus to need to walk back into, wouldn't this one be it?" (33)

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson brings Frannie's world to vibrant life. It's a time of Afro picks, Black Pride, Michael Jackson moves, and bridges over troubled water. It's also a time of war, worry and racial tension. When Jesus walks in, it also becomes a time for Frannie and her friends to confront their own prejudices. The girls avoid the kid, preferring to discuss him from a distance; some of the boys, however, decide to confront the problem with their fists. When Jesus shows them his true colors, the questions really start to fly - who is this kid?

Frannie knows firsthand how ignorant people can be - she hates it when people assume her brother's stupid just because he's deaf. Still, Frannie's not exactly ready to sit with Jesus at lunchtime. She just wishes she could get the white kid out of her mind. His gentle example's making her think of hope and miracles and healing the world. If that's not God's influence, what is? The more Frannie questions, the more it all makes sense. Maybe not the world's kind of sense, maybe just her own kind. And, maybe, just maybe, that's enough.

It's hard to describe this middle grade novel, except to say that it's exquisite in its simplicity. It examines the idea of hope from the standpoint of the most hopeful among us - the children. It also looks at prejudice in its many forms - against those with impairments and disabilities, toward those with nontraditional families, and between different races/cultures. I've read countless books about racism, most of which focus on mistreatment of African-Americans by caucasians - it's oddly refreshing to read a story about racism exploding in the opposite direction. I don't mean refreshing in a "See-it's-not-just-white-people" kind of way, but in a "See-we're-all-just-human" kind of way. Feathers makes a brave admission: All of us harbor prejudices of some kind. The important thing is to be able to look past them, to judge people not by their appearance, but by their actions. I think Frannie's mother sums it all up very nicely: "If that's the way he came into the world, that's the way he's staying. It's us we need to change" (51-52).

This kind of understated eloquence is what made Feathers stand out to me. I know several reviewers rank it among their least favorite of Woodson's books, so I guess I'm in the minority when I say I love it. So be it. I loved it.

Grade: A

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG - Although there's no profanity, Feathers contains some mature subject matter (like miscarriage, racial slurs, etc.) that may not be suitable for children under 10

Turning 13 can be an adventure for anyone, but when you're part of the Beaumont clan, it's a

little more ... um, exciting ... than usual. When Rocket Beaumont hit 13, he created a crackling, lightbulb-popping electrical storm; with his brother, Fish, it was a swirling, whirling hurricane. Now, it's Mibs' turn to discover her "savvy" - will it be electricity, hurricanes or something less destructive, like her mother's perfect-in-every-way savvy? Whatever it is, one thing's for certain - no one outside the family can know about it. A Beaumont's 13th birthday is, and always has been, a very private affair.

Savvy by Ingrid Law begins two days before Mibs' big day. Even though Rocket insists that "Girls don't get the powerful jujubes," Mibs can't wait to see what she will get. She's excited, nervous and most of all, thrilled that she won't have to attend public school any longer. Since savvies can't always be controlled, she'll be homeschooled until she learns to "scumble" her powers. She can definitely do without a bunch of snotty kids reminding her what a freak show her family is. Mibs is delighted to spend her birthday at home in the midst of that very freak show - the people she loves the most.

When the Beaumonts receive an urgent phone call, all plans are thrown out the window. Poppa's been injured in a 10-car pileup on the freeway. Their beloved, non-savvy father lies in a coma at Salina Hope Hospital, 60 miles away. Momma and Rocket rush to Poppa's side, leaving Mibs, her grandpa, and 3 of her siblings, in the care of the preacher's wife. Miss Rosemary Meeks "had her own matching set of rights and wrongs - like suitcases she made other people carry - and she took it upon herself to make everything and everyone as shipshape and apple-pie as she felt the Lord had intended them to be" (17-18). Part of her plan includes a very public, 3-ring circus of a birthday party for Mibs. The birthday girl knows any crazy thing can happen - and it does. Before she realizes it, she's stowing away on a pink bus, convinced she can save her father with her new-found savvy. But, the bus is headed in the wrong direction; she's unexpectedly taken along a whole crowd of hostages; her savvy's not performing quite like it should; and Poppa's getting worse by the day. Despite all the magic inside her, Mibs has managed to get herself into the biggest pickle of her life. Is she savvy enough to get herself back out of it?

Savvy's gotten a lot of buzz in the book blogosphere; I, for one, think it's well-deserved. This quirky story charms from its colorful front cover, to its jacket flap plot summary, to the story itself, to Law's author bio. I loved this description:

It's January 4, 1935, and 12-year-old Moose Flanagan's the newest inmate at Alcatraz Island. At least that's how it feels. Leaving friends and baseball behind in Santa Monica to come to a "twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water" (3) isn't exactly his idea of a life. But, Moose is one of those kids who follows the rules, dutifully doing whatever he's told. He's also a boy who loves his sister, however odd she may be. He knows the move to Alcatraz will allow Natalie a chance to attend a special school for kids like her, while giving his father a steady job to help pay the pricey tuition. So, here he is. Okay, he's grumbling a little bit - after all, his dad's working all the time, his mother's stressed out caring for Natalie, and there's no one on the island with whom to play ball.

It's not as if there's no one else on the island. After all, the prison's home to a mess of the worst criminals alive, including the infamous Al Capone. Even the worst of the worst need cooks, doctors, guards and so on and those workers have families - all of whom live on Alcatraz. There are plenty of kids, too - 25 counting Moose and Natalie - so it's not like there's nothing to do. Still, hanging out with a pesky 7-year-old and her sports-challenged brother hardly counts as great times. And then there's the warden's daughter. Snooty Piper's as conniving as the criminals her father oversees. When she gets an idea, Moose soon learns, it's best to just watch out. Of course, when she taunts him for being a chicken, he has to prove that he's not, which is how he winds up searching for convict baseballs, spying on the inmates, and running a laundering scam. All with his weird sister trailing after him. Not that she notices anything amiss - Natalie's too busy counting her buttons, obsessively arranging and re-arranging them, solving complex math problems in her head, and sometimes, zoning out completely.

When Moose accidentally puts his sister in harm's way, he realizes just how dangerous Alcatraz is for someone like Natalie. She needs help, the kind of help only professionals can give her. But she's a teenager (despite his mother's insistence that she's ten) with a severe disability - most would dismiss her as a lost cause. Moose knows he has to help her, even if it means enlisting Piper's help, even if it means angering the warden, even if it means breaking the rules. Moose doesn't want trouble, but c'mon, he lives on Alcatraz - it's not as if trouble's hard to come by.

Although Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko brings Alcatraz to vibrant life, the book's not really about the island. It's mostly a story of a boy and his sister. It's the story of a brother forced to deal with conflicting feelings of shame, resentment, guilt, but also love and devotion. It's also a funny, very readable tale of adventure. Lots of historical detail makes it crackle with authenticity and life. It's unique, engaging, heartbreaking, brilliant. I loved it. The sequel will be out in September - guess who'll be first in line to buy it?

Grade: A

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild language and one disturbing situation