Holes – Louis Sachar

“If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy.” Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be “the largest lake in Texas” is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character.
Stanley Yelnats has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!” Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies-styled pack of boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character-that in fact the warden is seeking something specific-the plot gets as thick as the irony.

Amazon

Looking for Alaska – John Green

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Good Reads

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Into the wild (Warriors) – Erin Hunter

For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to laws laid down by powerful ancestral clans. But now things are changing: ShadowClan has banished WindClan and is threatening RiverClan and ThunderClan by insisting on hunting rights within their territories.

What’s more, each year the TwoLegs encroach further into the forest, and prey is becoming scarce. A prophecy reveals, “Fire alone can save [the] Clan.” Into this dangerous situation wanders a “kittypet,” a young, bright orange tomcat whose courage earns him, despite objections by some, a place as an apprentice ThunderClan warrior and the new name of Firepaw.

The curious incident of the dog in the night time – Mark Haddon

The behaviors and demands of adults are mysterious and confusing to most children.

To 15-year old Christopher Boone, the narrator in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, it’s completely beyond the realm of his understanding.

Christopher is an autistic savant and while he’s a whiz at math and science, human emotions are particularly complex for him.

As the novel opens, he tells us “I know all of the countries of the world and their capital cities, and every prime number up to 7,057.”

He finds a neighbor’s dog, named Wellington, murdered and decides to write about it.

With the help of his teacher, Siobhan, he decides to write a book about his attempt to solve this mystery.

It’s a search for information that will ultimately upset his carefully constructed world.

James Logan

How to get to Rio – Julie Fison

For months Kitty MacLean has been crushing on Rio Sanchez – who is probably the cutest guy in the world. But it looks like she might never get a chance to hang out with him. Until…

– Kitty goes camping with her best friends like she promised them, and finds out Rio just happens to be staying not too far away. But should she meet up with him? Or is a grubby camping holiday not the best time to meet up with your mega crush?

– Kitty breaks her promise to go camping with her bests and goes to the beach with popular-girl Persephone instead. The offer is sweetened with a promise they’ll definitely get to hang out with Rio. But should Kitty really ditch her friends to hang out with the cool girl? And will Rio even like Kitty?

Good Reads

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