OMG...Is He Also A Witch by Talia Aikens-Nunez

This is a short, fun to read book about April, a 5th grader, who is a witch.  In this, the third book in the series, she has to stop a bad witch from causing her school to overheat and birds to attack the students.  She has help from the ghost of a good witch and two of her friends.  I think that elementary school children will enjoy this book!

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

What if you knew that you would die today?  Would you live your life differently?  What would you do?  In this book, a mysterious company called Death-Cast calls people between midnight and three a.m. on their last day to give them a heads up.  There are businesses that cater to the Deckers - those people who will die that day, including some with virtual reality experiences, and the Last Friend app where you can find someone to spend your final day with.  It is Mateo and Rufus's last day and they find one another through the Last Friend app.  We follow them and others through the day and see how various people react to their last day or to the last day of others.  Can your last day be different than the rest of your life?  Can you find a true friend through the Last Friend app?  I read this whole book in one day and I highly recommend it.

The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts (The Unbelievables #1) by K.C. Tansley

This is a fun YA paranormal mystery with a bit of romance.  Seventeen year old Kat, who has been able to see ghosts all of her life, but has been ignoring them for years, is drawn into a family curse mystery that she and her friends and others have to solve.  Can they break the curse before another family member dies?   In order to do so, she must travel through time, but is that enough?  With time travel, ghosts, secret passages, and more, this is a fun book to read and I look forward to the next one in the series!

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

So, this novel is a psychological thriller in which a teen girl appears to be possessed very much like the girl in the exorcist movie and so her family, because the father has been out of work for over a year, and for other reasons, decides to be on a reality tv show based on the girl's possession/psychological problems, which is to culminate in the exorcism of her "demons".  The story is told by Merry, the younger sister of the possessed teen, Marjorie, in a series of interviews and blog entries given 15 years later.  Merry had been 8 years old at the time of the incident and we see the whole thing through both her 8 year old point of view and her older self's point of view.  The story is captivating and contains plot twists and surprises.

Wunderkids: (Part 1: Wildwood Academy) by Jacqueline Silvester

This is a captivating new YA book.  Just when fifteen year old Nikka's mom is struggling financially, Nikka is accepted into a prestigious boarding school that she has never heard of.  She is an artist, but the school also includes musicians, math whizzes and other talented teens.  Nikka makes friends with several students and they realize that there are things about the boarding school that are not right.  Can they solve the mystery and survive?  This is the first book in a series and I look forward to the next book.

Truthers by Geoffrey Girard

When Katie's drug addict father is put into a mental institute after ranting about 9/11 conspiracies, threatening Vice President Dick Cheney and beating up a co-worker, Katie begins to research the 9/11 conspiracies in order to help get her father out of the mental institute.  She is aided by a 17 year old boy genius who she meets at the law library where she is doing research.  The more she learns about the Truthers, the conspiracy theorists, the more plausible some of their theories sound.  Katie, however, is in danger and is not sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  I found it interesting that the book ties the belief in conspiracy theories in with PTSD.  The story is captivating and intriguing.

Brave Red, Smart Frog: A New Book of Old Tales by Emily Jenkins

This lovely book retells 7 classic fairy tales in a slightly quirkier way than before.  The stories included are: Snow White, The Frog Prince, Three Wishes, Toads and Pearls, Red Riding Hood, The Three Great Noodles, and Hansel And Gretel.  I think that children in 2nd through 6th grade will enjoy reading the stories!

The Bookshop At Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry

This summer beach read book is told mainly by three of the characters: Bonny, an ER doctor who made a tragic error at work and who has decided to divorce her husband; Piper, her 19 year old daughter who has been getting into trouble in college; and Lainey, Bonny's best friend since they spent childhood summers together at in a beach town.  They go to stay at a house that was left to Bonny and work through problems from their past and present.

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo

This is a fascinating memoir told by Michelle, who taught middle school English in a school for kids who had been kicked out of the regular schools for various reasons.  Michelle learned how to connect with her students through literature though not the way she had originally thought she would.  She went on to law school in order to better make a difference in the world and learned that one of her former students, Patrick, was in jail for murder.  She visited him in jail and taught him there as well.  The story highlights the poverty that still exists in the deep south and the way that black people are treated there and what their lives are like.  She sees how just a little bit of care and effort on her part brought out Patrick's intelligence and helped him to grow and see the world differently.  I think the book is eye opening and I highly recommend it.

Growin Up White (Paperback) by Dwight Ritter

This book reads like a memoir told by Rick, the son of a white doctor growing up in the 1950s during the civil rights era.  Georgey, the family's black housekeeper, takes Rick to her neighborhood where he makes friends with the children there.  As a result, Rick lives in two worlds, the white, racist world of his high school and the black neighborhood where his best friend lives.  We see through his eyes the difference in the two cultures and the behind the scenes fight to bring them together in equality.  The story is well told and intriguing.