Generations

You Bring the Distant Near was a "fall into this book" kind of book.  Mitali Perkins just writes so well and it just sucked me in and brought me into a world very different from my own.  Not just because my family isn't from India but also because our family tradition is one:  We have no traditions.  So I have no sense of family in that way.  Beautiful and engrossing. 

Save Me a Seat, Please!

Save Me a Seat was such a fresh book!  From the cover to the first page to the last.  I really, really enjoyed this book!
It is told from alternating POVs, Joe, an American born kid going to the same school he has always gone to, dealing with the same stuff he has always had to deal with, like his Auditory Processing Disorder and the bullying behavior of Dillon Samreen; Ravi, an Indian born kid who has just moved into Joe and Dillon's class and is having a hard time figuring out who he is in this new country.  Middle school is hard for everyone!
Both Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan do an incredible, evenly awesome job bringing their characters to life.  And also the bully character and the supporting characters.  Just so great and so real.  I need to read more Weeks books and Varadarajan needs to write some more!  Highly recommended!