ALAN Online

Ann Howard Creel. UNDER A STAND STILL MOON. Brown Barn Books, 2005. Born beneath the lucky Stand Still Moon, Echo, a young girl in a tribe of People who live in the prehistoric Southwest, seems destined for great things. Unfortunately, her birth leads to a life she had not imagined—as the wife of the elderly Sun Watcher, one of the High Priests. When warrior nomads and fire destroy the corn crop and threaten…
her village, Echo must grow into a woman capable of helping her people survive. (M/H). Under a Stand Still Moon gives voice to a people, Anasazi, who disappeared over seven hundred years ago, leaving their villages without a trace. Creel's powerful, understated narrative voice and exquisite eye for detail make this novel an accessible and satisfying read.

Elizabeth Levy. TACKLING DAD. HarperCollins, 2005. Cassie has football in her blood. Her divorcee dad has a high school legend, and as a pee wee player, she had all of his moves and speed. As she grew older, though, she had to drop football, because girls don’t play the game as they get older, supposedly. But when a powder-puff game ignites Cassie's desire to play, she joins the middle school team as a running back. (M). Both funny and dramatic, Cassie's fight to cast of gender roles and to get along with her divorced parents makes a compelling read for middle grades readers.

L.A. Meyer. UNDER THE JOLLY ROGER. Harcourt, 2005. Jacky Faber returns to high seas adventures. This time, after returning to London to seek out her love, Jaimy Fletcher, she into service again. This time, it's on the Wolverine. In time, she gains command of on of Majesty's ships, only to branded a pirate. (M/H/RR). Meyer's fast-paced and rollicking narrative keeps the action flows fast and furious, and even the most reluctant reader will find enough adventure to keep reading.

Bart Moeyaert. BROTHERS. Front Street, 2005. This novel of vignettes, forty-two in all, tells the story of his life in Belgium with his brothers. Beginning in the '60's and ending the 80's, these vignettes show the arc of a family's life—from the death of loved ones to the arrival of a girl named Francoise (H). Translated from the Flemish, each of the vignettes stands alone, making them perfect for short read-alouds.

Eve Tal. DOUBLE CROSSING. Cinco Puntos Press, 2005. Raizel Balaban and her devoutly orthodox father, Benjamin, are Jews who leave the Ukraine for America. Along the long ocean passage, Raizel and her father become ill, and when they arrive in the US, Benjamin's poor health and odd appearance get them sent away. Raizel persuades her father to shed his beard and to eat kosher food, and they return to the US, this time Boston, to it another try. (M/H). Tal's recreates the fear of programs and the tension of the crossing to the US while telling the story of a remarkable young woman whose gift for language helps her father survive.

–David Gill, "Bill's Best Books."

M indicates appropriateness for middle school
H indicates appropriateness for high school
RR indicates appeal to a reluctant reader (A reluctant reader is someone who can read but for whom reading is not important. There are "honor" students who fit this definition.)
* indicates available in paperback