Hooray!
More books for you!
Every Friday I recap what I’ve read during the week.
I post the picture of the book
that I took when I finished reading it,
and underneath, my thoughts. 
ES, I know I skipped last week.
I read exactly one book, and am busy working on a post about that whole experience (hearing Elizabeth Gilbert speak!) and promise to get it to you next Friday.
Double book reports! I bet you can’t wait!
This week I had A LOT of driving for work and went to a concert during the work week, so not a lot of sleep and not a lot of reading time. I still managed to get three books read though! 
SWITCH
By Ingrid Law
Remember Mibs, from the book SAVVY? That was all about her turning 13 and getting her savvy, or special ability, like all the kids in her family.
In this story, it’s her younger sister Gypsy’s 13th birthday. Her savvy allows her to see the future and the past, but no matter how hard she tries, she can’t do anything to help people.
She lives with her Momma (savvy: being perfect), older brother Samson (savvy: being invisible and passing strength to someone; we met him as a little guy in Mibs’ story) younger brother Tucker (too young for a savvy!) and her Poppa (not magical but they think he has a never-give-up everyday savvy!) but soon someone else will come to live with them: her Grandmother, her poppa’s mom, who has no magical powers, thinks the kids are weird, and now has Alzheimer’s.
When they get the news of their Grandmother coming, the kids savvys (and their Mom’s!) go haywire! I won’t give away what they switch to, but they do switch. And that’s just the start of a crazy adventure that runs through the whole book.
I love this world, and was glad to be back in it again. The family is so sweet and the siblings care so much about each other. Gypsy does a great job navigating her savvy and finding out what kind of girl she wants to be in the process; she really settled into her own skin. Most of the book is about an adventure the kids and some new found friends go on; it’s wacky and thrilling and dangerous…it’s just a great story.
If you want to read in chronological order, start with the companion novels SAVVY and SCUMBLE. But really, you can read all three separate from each other and they’re still awesome. 
THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE
By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ada lives with her mother and brother in London. She doesn’t know how old she is; her mother never told her. They don’t even celebrate birthdays. She stays at home while her brother goes to school; Ada has a club foot and her mother tells her she can’t do anything but sit by the window, because she doesn’t want people to see Ada.
Everything changes when the war starts (WWI) and the kids are sent out to the country. They live with a woman named Susan who says she doesn’t know what to do with them, and they encounter things that they’ve never had before, especially Ada. Her amazement over running water, horses, tree, grass, pajamas, and many other things is masterfully done. Susan guesses their ages; Ada feels like 11; her brother, 7.
Soon the kids are having fun, but Ada is not sure if she can trust Susan. The only adult she’s spent a lot of time with her mom, is abusive. Both kids thrive under Susan’s care, but will they have to go back and live with their Mom?
Oh this book is deliciously good. I guess there’s some Newbery buzz and it is so deserved. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before. Ada is a character that your heart breaks for, but you root for her too. You follow along as she learns new things and tries to figure out this new world. The historical details, especially about the war, are great. An amazing middle grade novel you HAVE to read! 
YOU AND ME AND HIM
By Kris Dinnison
Maggie and Nash are best friends; have been for a while. But when Tom comes to town, he shakes things up. Nash calls dibs, but then it seems like Tom likes Maggie. Nash has problems at home; Maggie has her own too…mainly dealing with her mother who’s always giving her grief over her weight. Throw in a popular girl who was once a friend of Maggie who wants to be friends again, and you get this story about friendship, being true to yourself, finding your place in the world, and how you relate to others.
I LOVED this book. The characters were so great! I especially loved Maggie and her random acts of cookie kindness. I loved the record store she worked at, her amazing friendship with Nash, and all the complicated parts of her character. The voices were so well done; I felt like I knew these characters right away. Tom was crush worthy, which is always great.
Everyone in this book was trying to figure themselves out, bumbling through all the questions. There were many moments in the book when people messed up and hurt people they cared about, but the characters navigated through it. I loved the ending; it’s not typical of a YA novel with a love interest, but it was so realistic and genuine and refreshing.
Check out this book! I can’t wait for more from this talented author. 
Have you read any of these?
I’d love to hear what you thought of them!
See you next Friday with more books!
Bye for now,
KE
P.S. Full disclosure: The links above go to Indiebound and are affiliate links. If you buy at Indiebound, I’ll get a little kick back. That would of course be nice, but really I’m happy to be linking to an Indie site 
