The Girl Who Could Fly is a slowly unfolding adventure. The story begins with Piper McCloud, a young girl living a simple life on the family farm. That is of course until she discovers that she has the ability to fly. Piper takes to the sky and is so awed by what she sees and experiences there that it is difficult to give up the feeling, even though her parent disapprove. Piper is asked repeatedly to keep two feet on the ground, but she can't help herself and ends up at an institution for other kids with exceptional abilities. There she makes interesting new friends both human and animal. The book centers on the basic question of "Who can you trust?" Just when Piper thinks she got it figured out, something else happens.

One thing that I really liked about this novel is that even though it include a lot of sci-fi/fantasy elements, Piper still felt like a real person to me. She was feisty and feeling, stubborn and compassionate.
I do think Stephanie Meyer said it best when describing this book as "part Little House on the Prarie and part X-men."

Little Blog on the Prairie

Little Blog on the PrairieLittle Blog on the PrairieBefore I talk about this book there is something that you need to know about me. My name is Jenna and I'm a Little House on the Prairie Junkie. I LOVED it. I watch old episodes that ran during my summer vacation and call my friend Holly and discuss Almanzo and whether or not he would ever propose to poor Laura. Yes, I was that crazy.

So you can imagine what would happen when I found a book with this particular title - the little fan girl inside me went squeeeee all the way home.

This book did not disappoint. It is definitely a fun summer read at the beach kind of book. The perfect light and fun fare that you need to remind you of what it was like to be a tween. Gen Walsh was looking forward to her summer when her mom announces that this year they'll be going on a "special" summer vacation. Instead of heading to the beach, Gen discovers that her family is going to a frontier life fantasy camp for the ENTIRE summer. No phones, No ipods, No running water, and No indoor bathrooms. Gen smartly sneaks her cell phone into the camp and the ability to text her thoughts (and observations about a certain cute boy) to her friends back at home are her only lifeline to the present day. Her family is making her crazy, oh and there is that whole if you want to eat you're going to have to grow your own food thing, to worry about.

This is a fun story about the importance of family, hard work, and choosing the kind of person you want to be.  It is sweet fun story that girls will definitely love.

Belly Up

belly up by Stuart Gibbs is a perfect pick for summer reading.

Teddy Fitzroy,age 12, has never had a normal childhood. He has always grown up around animals and is truly fascinated by them. With a famous Chimp expert for a mom and wildlife photographer for a dad, how could you not be? When Teddy's mom gets a job at what is supposed to be the world's best new zoo, Fun Jungle, Teddy is excited. He is pretty happy roaming around the zoo causing trouble for the security guards (like giving monkeys water balloons to throw at the visitors) until one day the zoo's star attraction turns up dead. Now he is determined to find out what really happened to Henry. No matter how many times he is chased down by hungry tigers.

This book truly has it all.There is definitely humor, exploding hippo guts, adventure, a mystery with an ending that I didn't see coming, and just the tiniest bit of romance! It will definitely be on my Ms.Y's favorites section in the fall.