Since We Last Spoke by Brenda Ruffener, 287 pages

This was a hard book to read subject wise but you know that's a possibility by the blurb on the back.  I kept putting the book down but then almost instantly picking it back up because I had to know what happened. I didn't cry until the end of the book at which point I started sobbing. It's the type of book that I hope everyone will read. It brings to light things people don't always want to talk about but should. Grief should never be bottled up. Teen readers and adults readers will both get a lot from this book.

24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling 260 pages

I saw that this book was being compared to Holes by Louis Sachar.  How could I not read it?  Nowhere is a tiny town that most people dream of fleeing.  A group of kids form an unlikely alliance to satisfy a demand from the local bully and enter into the most dangerous local, condemned mine.  Their search for gold yields more than they ever thought possible.  It also often made me think of The Goonies, which is one of my all time favorite movies.  For 4th graders and up who love realistic fiction with a bit of adventure and mystery thrown in, you can't miss with this one.