It Happened At The Fair by Deeanne Gist

A transporting historical novel about a promising young inventor, his struggle with loss, and the attractive teacher who changes his life, all set against the razzle-dazzle of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Gambling everything, including the family farm, Cullen McNamara travels to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with his most recent invention. But the noise in the Fair’s Machinery Palace makes it impossible to communicate with potential buyers. In an act of desperation, he hires Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.

The young teacher is reluctant to participate, and Cullen has trouble keeping his mind on his lessons while intently watching her lips. Like the newly invented Ferris Wheel, he is caught in a whirl between his girl back home, his dreams as an inventor, and his unexpected attraction to his new tutor. Can he keep his feet on the ground, or will he be carried away?

Goodreads Summary

The Chicago World's Fair is coming and Cullen McNamara must be ready!  He is an inventor who wants to use his invention to save lives (his reason behind this is very touching).  Cullen doesn't have the best hearing and the convention hall is loud, bustling, and busy.  Desperate to promote his product, Cullen contacts Della, a teacher who can help him learn to lip read.  Della isn't sure if she should teach Cullen, but she is eventually convinced when he promise to guide her around the Fair.  With obvious chemistry sparking between them, can Della and Cullen both get what they want out of the Fair?

Della's character was interesting.  She isn't immediately welcoming and takes a little bit of time to warm up to.  Her decision to teach young, deaf children is admirable.  Cullen's invention of an automatic sprinkler system is aimed at saving lives-his own mother died in a fire.  Both characters are the type that are impossible not to root for and like.  The reader will only want the best for them.  This was the perfect relationship-to me-because the author allowed it to develop over a period of time and shared experiences.  It was far more believable that the pair could love each other.  

Having hearing loss myself, I loved the addition of the unusual topic to the novel.  The author discusses signing versus lip reading and describes both experiences very well.  This book is recommended to adult readers.

4 Stars

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The One Good Thing by Kevin Alan Milne

For as long as Halley Steen has known her husband Nathan, he has carried a handful of stones in his pocket. Each day he uses those stones to remind him to follow the Golden Rule, moving a stone from one pocket to the other with each act of kindness. So it's not unusual that Nathan stops to help a stranger on the side of the highway while on his way to his son's football game one Friday evening. But that one act will change all of their lives forever, when a car hydroplanes off the road, killing Nathan instantly.

As Halley and her children Ty and Alice struggle with their grief, Nathan's spiritual legacy lives on. A Facebook page appears, where countless stories about Nathan's selfless acts are shared. But among them is one that stands out, from a woman who says that Nathan saved her life. Neither Halley nor her children have ever heard of Madeline Zuckerman. But soon Halley discovers years of e-mails from this woman to her husband on his computer that refer to "our little girl." How could her husband have kept the secret of this other child for their entire marriage? Why had he lied to her? Was he not the man she thought he was?

Only thirteen-year-old Alice maintains unwavering faith in her father. She knows there's an explanation. When she sets out to find Madeline and learn the truth, she will start to unravel the complex story of The One Good Thing Nathan Steen did that had the greatest impact of all.

Goodreads Summary

Nathan is an unusual man.  He carries stones in his pockets, shifting them from one pocket to the next after completing a good deed.  He strongly believes in the Golden Rule and does his best to live accordingly.  On one tragic day, Nathan's good deeds result in his death.  After the funeral, Nathan wife, Halley, and children, Ty. and Alice, discover a disturbing fact:  Nathan may have had an affair that resulted in a child.  Could this really be true?  It would be so hard to believe that about Nathan.  His wife and children decide to investigate...what they find will change their characters for the better.

The reader will get to know each main character very well as the story is told from all of their points of view.  Halley is easy to love and sympathize with.  She is now the glue that holds the saddened family together.  Her children are very well-adjusted and try to live life as their father would want them to.  The mystery of the woman who claims to have been "saved" by Nathan adds an element of suspense to the novel.

This book was an unusual one and unlike any I usually pick up.  I liked the entire family and most of the secondary characters.  I wasn't too big a fan of Madeline, the woman who claimed to bear Nathan's child, but I understood her purpose in the story.  I loved the subtle hints and reminders that it doesn't take much to brighten someone's day.  The lessons the story provides will stick with me later on.  

4 Stars

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Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome by Marissa Moss

As if traveling to a new country in search of her missing mother weren't difficult enough, Mira has to do it dressed as a boy. In a different century.

A new postcard from her time-traveling mother points Mira to the 16th century Rome. But before she can rescue her mom, she must follow the clues left around the city to find Giordano Bruno, a famous thinker and mathematician, who discovered something so shocking that important Italian officials don't want it revealed. All the while avoiding the Watchers--time-traveling police who want Mira back in her own time.

It's another whirlwind adventure for Mira, and this time she is determined to bring her mother out of the past.

Praise for Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris

Goodreads Summary

Looking for a good book for a middle grader during the summer?  Home Sweet Home provides the perfect balance of entertainment and education.  Mira and her mother are time travelers.  Mira's mother takes it upon herself to correct horrible injustices throughout the course of history.  These acts, as one could imagine, are not allowed and severely punished.  When Mira's mom leaves another clue to her whereabouts, Mira knows she must follow-even if it means that she must dress as a boy to do so. While trying to track down her mother, Mira receives another order: to find and help Giordarno Bruno ensure the safety of his work.  He is a mathematician and  philosopher who dares to defy the Church's beliefs involving the sun revolving around the Earth.  When Bruno insists that the Church has it backwards, his very life is threatened.  Can Mira help Bruno preserve his work?

Mira's character is fun and engaging.  She will certainly appeal to middle grade readers with her enthusiasm and determination.  I loved how she enjoyed the past and her job as a time traveler.  This book was full of history and small tidbits/details that are easy to remember.  When I read this book to my little cousin, I felt like she learned without actually trying-the best way!  The other characters ranged from fascinating to formidable.  The author clearly took her time to develop the characters to best connect to the reader.  This book is recommended to middle grade readers.

5 Stars

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This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy J. Cavanaugh

A debut middle grade novel about a girl named Ratchet and her quest to make a friend, save a park, and find her own definition of normal. Ratchet tells her story through the assignments in her homeschool journal.

If only getting a new life were as easy as getting a new notebook.

But it's not.

It's the first day of school for all the kids in the neighborhood. But not for me. I'm homeschooled. That means nothing new. No new book bag, no new clothes, and no friends – old or new. The best I've got is this notebook. I'm supposed to use it for my writing assignments, but my dad never checks. Here's what I'm really going to use it for:

Ratchet's Top Secret Plan

Project Goal: turn my old, recycled, freakish, friendless, motherless life into something shiny and new.

This year, I'm going make something change.

Goodreads Summary

Ratchet isn't your average girl.  Her mother passed away when she was very young and her unusual father gives Ratchet a "weird kid" vibe to the other children her age.  Ratchet is homeschooled and doesn't have many friends.  Ratchet decides she wants to model herself after her mother instead of her environmentalist, homeschooling father.  The more Ratchet discovers about her mother, however, the more questions she has and the more she learns about herself.  The reader will love getting acquainted with Ratchet and her father.  

The book is told from a diary point of view.  Ratchet writes lists, thoughts, poems, etc... and really allows the reader to get inside her head.  She is funny, brave, and sarcastic-easy to like.  It will feel like the reader is reading streams of emotion rather than just words.  When Ratchet finds something belonging to her mother, she begins to investigate and learn about the past.  Not all is as it seems.  It was easy to fall in love with Ratchet and her father.  I loved how I felt like I really knew the characters at the end of the novel.  This book is perfect for middle grade readers. 

4 Stars

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The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos

The Planet Thieves is the first thrilling installment of a new middle-grade series by Dan Krokos.

Two weeks ago, thirteen-year-old Mason Stark and seventeen of his fellow cadets from the Academy for Earth Space Command boarded theSS Egypt. The trip was supposed to be a short routine voyage to log their required spacetime for summer quarter.

But routine goes out the airlock when they’re attacked by the Tremist, an alien race who have been at war with humanity for the last sixty years.

With the captain and crew dead, injured, or taken prisoner, Mason and the cadets are all that’s left to warn the ESC. And soon they find out exactly why the Tremist chose this ship to attack: the Egypt is carrying a weapon that could change the war forever.

Now Mason will have to lead the cadets in a daring assault to take back the ship, rescue the survivors, and recover the weapon. Before there isn’t a war left to fight.

Goodreads Summary

Looking for a book to entice young male readers to read over the summer?  The Planet Thieves is the perfect blend of action, humanity, and aliens!  Mason, the main character, is forced to think on his feet and make intelligent decisions in order to stave off an alien attack.  Originally, Mason was taking a short trip; however, that short trip went awry when the Tremist attacked and killed off or took prisoner most of the adult crew.  The Tremist is an evil alien race who have loathed the human race for many decades.  How does one combat an alien race?  Pick up this book to find out!

Mason's character was really fun to read about.  He managed to maintain his sanity in the upheaval of his ship, organize a resistance, and come up with a solid plan of attack.  The other characters in this novel were also interesting to get to know, but Mason will likely emerge as the clear favorite.  The plot itself was very fast-paced, making the book difficult to put down.  Many older readers will find this an enjoyable and fast read, but this book is perfect for younger readers, too.  The author kept the vocabulary at a level where older readers didn't feel like they were reading a grade-school book and younger readers felt like they could understand the dialogue.  Overall, this book is recommended to readers from middle grade to young adult.

4 Stars

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The Buttersmiths' Gold by Adam Glendon Sidwell Cover Reveal and Giveaway!

The Buttersmiths' Gold

BATTLES. BLUEBERRIES. BOVINES.

TORBJORN AND STORFJELL’S HISTORY UNFOLDS IN AN EPIC EVERTASTER NOVELLA.

Everyone knows the most coveted treasure of the Viking Age was blueberry muffins. Blueberry muffins so succulent that if you sniffed just a whiff, you'd want a whole bite. If you bit a bite, you'd want a batch; if you snatched a batch, you'd stop at nothing short of going to war just to claim them all. 

Young Torbjorn Trofastsonn comes from the clan that makes them. He's a Viking through and

through – he's thirteen winters old, larger than most respectable rocks, and most of all, a Buttersmith. That's what he thinks anyway, until a charismatic merchant makes Torbjorn question his place among the muffin-makers. When Torbjorn lets the secret of his clan's muffin recipe slip, he calls doom and destruction down upon his peaceful village and forces his brother Storfjell and his clansmen to do the one thing they are ill-prepared to do: battle for their lives.

About The Buttersmiths' Gold

The Buttersmiths' Gold is a spin off novella in the Evertaster series that tells the story of two Viking brothers and their adventurous past. The Evertaster series (Book #1 released June 14, 2012) is about Guster Johnsonville, who goes searching for a legendary taste rumored to be the most delicious in all of history. Along the way he meets a slew of mysterious characters, including two Viking brothers Torbjorn and Storfjell. The Buttersmiths' Gold is their story. 124 pages. By Adam Glendon Sidwell. Published by Future House Publishing. 

Evertaster, Book #1:

A legendary taste. Sought after for centuries. Shrouded in secrecy.

When eleven-year-old Guster Johnsonville rejects his mother’s casserole for the umpteenth time, she takes him into the city of New Orleans to find him something to eat. There, in a dark, abandoned corner of the city they meet a dying pastry maker. In his last breath he entrusts them with a secret: an ancient recipe that makes the most delicious taste the world will ever know — a taste that will change the fate of humanity forever.

Forced to flee by a cult of murderous chefs, the Johnsonvilles embark on a perilous journey to ancient ruins, faraway jungles and forgotten caves. Along the way they discover the truth: Guster is an Evertaster — a kid so picky that nothing but the legendary taste itself will save him from starvation. With the sinister chefs hot on Guster’s heels and the chefs’ reign of terror spreading, Guster and his family must find the legendary taste before it’s too late.

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