Jane Doe

A History of Jane Doe was good.  It was very good.  A very moving and real look at depression.  Very sad.  I do recommend it.  But it is very sad, but yet hopeful.  But yeah...sad.  I really liked Jane's parents.  And Ray and Simon and Ray's mom and Jane herself and also Ray's mom's boyfriend.  Good, good book. 

The Last?

Saving Mr. Terupt is the third in the Mr. Terupt series from Rob Buyea.  At first, I thought it was the last, but now I am not sure!  I am glad he continued with the series.  I find all of the characters to be sympathetic, real and interesting.  There isn't a lot of action, but it is just a really good look at middle school and what makes a really great teacher.

Mockingbirds

One of the best books I read last year was Sure Signs of Crazy, in which Harper Lee's classic, To Kill a Mockingbird plays a major role in the life of the main character.   Because I had such a great affection for Sure Signs, I was attracted to I Kill the Mockingbird.  Also, the cover is pretty fantastic.  I got the eARC from netgalley and for that I am most grateful.
I Kill the Mockingbird was a very different book.  Very original.  I'm not entirely sure I caught all of the meaning in it, but I am entirely sure I enjoyed it.
The main character, Lucy, is heading into high school, along with her best friends Elena and Michael.  Inspired by their recently deceased teacher, the three of them decide to experiment with summer reading.  They decide to hide as many copies of To Kill a Mockingbird as possible.  To create some buzz, to start something new, to inspire people to read the book, to become literary terrorists, I am not entirely sure why.  But it is all very captivating and different and cool and new.
There's so much more to this book, also.  Lucy's mom has just had an awful battle with cancer and has survived.  Lucy and Michael are testing the waters as far as what it means to move from friends to "more than friends" and all of them are concerned about moving from middle school to high school in the fall.
A beautiful, sweet little book.   Highly recommended.

I Had Forgotten

Just how good Rob Buyea is. Because of Mr. Terupt was his first book and Mr. Terupt Falls Again is the sequel, even though it is marketed as a companion piece. I'm not sure why, because it truly is a sequel. And it's great. You should read them in order, so you can get to know the characters- all 6th graders this year in Mr. T's class. The book is told from multiple POVs an fits together so well. Now I know there were complaints that the material wasn't appropriate for 4th graders and I guess so, but I think it is fine for 5th graders and the kids in the book are 6th graders. I don't know why you'd think it was automatically for 4th graders anyway. The truth is though- there are a lot of 4th graders who know exactly what this kind of material is all about. In fact I don't know what material was so inappropriate for 4th graders. I just thought that the kids were all different and some were mature and some weren't and well isn't that just like life.