Mel's Book Corner

Title: Joey Pigza Loses Control Genre: Newbery Author: Jack Gantos Major Awards: Newbery Honor Age Group: 4th-8th grade This is the story of middle schooler, Joey. Joey suffers from a very bad case of ADHD, which makes life difficult. He is newly medicated with a patch, which is the only reason he can keep sane most days. His parents are divorced, and he has always lived with his mother. One summer, Joey's mother decides it is time that Joey get to know his father, so she takes him to Pittsburg to spend the summer with his father. What Joey does not know is that his father is exactly like him without medication. His father talks a mile a minute, and is filled with a ton of energy. His father struggles with his own issues: he is an alcoholic, drug addict, and has spent a lot of his life in jail. Despite these challenges, Joey is excited to spend his summer with his father because he so desperately wants to have a relationship with him. His father coaches a baseball team, an...

Title: The War That Saved My Life Genre: Newbery Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Major Awards: Newbery Honor Age Group: 5th-8th grade This is the story of siblings Ada and Jamie and their experience during World War II. Ada was born with a clubfoot, and was basically useless in the eyes of her mother. She was not allowed to go to school or outside of their apartment her whole life because her mother was ashamed of having a daughter with an "ugly foot." Her mother (Mam) malnourished her, locked her in cabinets, and verbally and physically abused her because of her foot. Her brother, Jamie, on the other hand could do no wrong. He went to school, was allowed to play with friends, and he lived a more normal childhood. One day, word got out that children were being sent away from London, where Ada and Jamie lived, because of a possible invasion by Hitler. Jamie would leave, but Mam said that Ada would be stuck at home, bombs or not, because nobody would want her. This p...

Title: Merci Suarez Changes Gears Genre: Newbery Author: Meg Medina Major Awards: Newbery Medal Age Group: 4th-8th grade Merci Suarez is a sixth-grader navigating school and home life. She is a student at Seaward Pines Academy, where she and her brother, Roli are scholarship students. Merci's family leads a pretty modest life and cannot compete with the wealthy students they attend school with. Merci is very close with her family, especially her grandfather, Lolo. She tells him everything and he is her safe space. She lives in one of the three "Las Casitas" with her family and next door to Tia Ines, cousins Tomas and Axel, and Lolo and Abuela. As she enters the school year, challenges arise. She is assigned a Sunshine Buddy named Michael Clark who is a new student at school who she helps mentor and be a friend to. This does not sit well with Edna Santos, a girl who loves-to-hate Merci, and quickly becomes jealous of after developing a crush on Michael. As if thi...