Title: Cures for Heartbreak

Author: Margo Rabb

Intended Audience: Young Adults and up

Fifteen-year-old Mia has a lot of spunk and a good sense of humor, and she’s going to need both. Her mom has just died unexpectedly, leaving Mia feeling very alone. She misses her mom terribly. She argues with her sister and feels like she barely knows her dad. Her school work suffers drastically. All of this may sound like it would make for grim reading, but author Margo Rabb has created a wonderful story, and given her young narrator such an engaging and authentic voice that you will want to read every word.
Mia’s mother gave her daughter a precious gift before she died. As Mia expresses her sorrow and works to navigate her new world, the value of her mother’s gift becomes ever clearer. Read Cures for Heartbreak to learn about that gift, and to enjoy a story that will stay with you for a long time.
The library has one copy of Cures for Heartbreak. You can find it in the Young Adult Room on the “new books” shelf.

Reviewed by Gail Hintze, Young Adult Coordinator

Sahara Special

By Esme Raji Codell

Recommended for grades 4-8

We’ve all heard the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Things—and people—aren’t always what they seem on the outside. No one knows this better than Sahara Jones, the title character in Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell. Though she is an avid reader, writes her own “Heart-Wrenching Life Story and Amazing Adventures,” and aspires to be a writer, she has spent years in school turning in incomplete, half-heartedly attempted assignments and trying hard not to be noticed. This behavior gets her assigned to a “Special Needs” teacher (thus her classroom nickname “Sahara Special”) and leads to her repeating the 5^th grade. As she begins 5^th grade for the second time, Sahara finds that a new teacher, Madame Poitier, has been assigned to her class. “Miss Pointy,” as the children call her, is slowly able to persuade Sahara to show her secret self and unleash her writing talent. In the process, Sahara also learns to deal with the hurt of her father’s absence and begins to imagine an exciting future.

Esme Raji Codell uses much humor and beautifully descriptive language to tell this story of a girl not daring to live up to her potential. Students (and adult readers) will identify with many of the school experiences, humorous and otherwise, included in the book. Miss Pointy is an especially wonderful and quirky character who is shown being patient and loving with her class as well as openly exasperated at times with their behavior. Sahara’s story will remind readers of the importance of making peace with our past and striving to be who we were meant to be.

Sahara Special was a 2006 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award nominee. It is the March selection for the Mother & Daughter Book Club at the library. Two copies of the book are available in the KPL Youth Department in the Junior High Fiction section.

Reviewed by Laura Abbott

KPL Youth Department Clerk

Peace like a River

Peace like a River by Leif Enger
KPL Adult Book Club selection for March 2007

Set in rural Minnesota and North Dakota during the 1960s, Peace Like a River captures the feel of its era authentically. That alone makes this book pleasing enough without considering the plot or writing. However this novel also has excellent prose and a riveting plot that make it a must read.
Peace like a River tells the story of the Land family, who put their faith to the test in a journey that ultimately reinforces the importance of home and family. The four main characters are believable yet each posses certain fantastic characteristics that reinforce the novel’s biblical themes. For instance, the narrator Ruben is the middle son who suffers from lung ailments. He views himself as quite ordinary yet knows that he is called to serve as a witness” to miracles. His role in the story becomes pivotal as he must decide who to share his knowledge with.
An additional bonus to this novel is the character of Swede, the younger sister. She is a brilliant and precocious youngster whose fascination with the old west lends an epic, even more nostalgic flavor to the book.

The Kewanee Public Library has one copy of Peace like a River in the Adult Fiction section of the Library.

Reviewed by Jill Gray
Information Services