Thirteen-year-old Patricia "Sweet Pea" DiMarco navigates her parents' divorce after they decide to live in nearly identical houses just two doors away from each other. Between them is eccentric advice columnist Miss Flora Mae who befriends the young Sweet Pea. One day, Flora goes on vacation and asks Sweet Pea to send out her letters for the column. However, Sweet Pea sees a letter with familiar handwriting, and what she does with that letter has unexpected consequences. I adored this book because it accurately introduced the ideas of being gay and divorce.

Caleb Franklin and his big brother, Bobby Gene, spend an extraordinary summer with their new, older neighbor, Styx Malone, a foster boy from the city. Styx has a lot of knowledge on how to trade things and knows a lot of people too. He isn't ordinary. Caleb doesn't want to be ordinary either. So he follows Styx in whatever he does. Hopefully, that won't lead to trouble. This book was awesome and everyone should read it.

It has been eighty years since the Axis won World War II, and America was divided between the victors--the Nazis in the East and Imperial Japan in the West. But now resistance is growing in the Eastern territories and sixteen-year-old Chinese American Ren Cabot, who has every reason to hate the Japanese who executed his mother, gets drawn into a resistance group and confronted with choices that could lead to either freedom or death. I loved this book because it takes place in World War ll. It gives a chilling picture of a world where the Axis powers won and makes me remember what America stands for.

Twelve-year-old Sunny St. James has a new perspective on life after she gets a heart transplant. Now that she's healthier, she sets out to do things she could never do before, which includes making a new best friend and kissing a boy. But as her plans progress and she seems to be moving in the right direction, Sunny's mother comes back into her life, dampening Sunny's happiness. And as she enjoys her new best friend, Quinn, she begins to suspect that she's not interested in kissing boys after all. I loved this book and how it introduced the idea of being lesbian. In fact, it is one of the Lone Star Books. (Texan librarians choose this book because they thought it was awesome.)

Twelve-year-old Coyote and Rodeo (her father, but don't tell him that!) rush to Poplin Springs, Washington in their old school bus to save a memory box buried by coyote's dead mother and sisters in a park that will soon be demolished. This book literally made me cry. It had a special way of describing grief and sadness. I loved this book and I think everyone should read it. Plus Coyote and Rodeo have good taste in books.