Mockingbird

Caitlin is a ten-year-old motherless girl with Aspergers and Devon, her supportive and understanding brother. Devon has taught Caitlin everything she needs to know about how to be normal, but when tragedy strikes, Caitlin must fend for herself. With the help of her father and guidance counselor, Caitlin must try to find closure and make friends.

This book was very good. I was very impressed with how Erskine really got into the head of a girl with Aspergers. Unfortunately, I felt there were many scenes where Erskine wanted the reader to cry along with Caitlin and her father, but it didn't come to me. Although this book was touching, it wasn't sob-worthy until the very end.

I recommend reading Mockingbird if you like touching, heart-warming stories. I enjoyed it, and I think you will, too!

Runaway

Holly has been moved around to more foster homes than she can count, and has runaway multiple times. But this is the first time she's gotten away with it, and she spends the first month or two reveling in her new found freedom, jumping trains and stowing away in buses in order to get as west as possible. But as time goes on, Holly has to face the fact that there is a thin line between being a gypsy and being homeless, and that over the past few months she has indeed crossed over that line. With only her journal for company, Holly endures the pains of living on her own and looks back on the hard days when her mother was alive.
Runaway was an amazing book. It was capable of being both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and forces you to think about your life. You'll find yourself considering everyday occurences, a warm meal, a happy family, a roof over your head, as true blessings. Holly is an inspirational character, who never asks "why me?" even in the worst of times. Runaway, written in journal-form, is a wonderful book, and I strongly suggest it to all teenagers.

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters

Cornelia Englehart is a lonely girl who drives people away with her knowledge of uncommon words. Who could blame her, when the only peers she socializes with are daughters of women who are just dying to spend time with her mother, a world famous pianist. Cornelia would love to spend some time with her mother as well, since Lucille Englehart is always touring the world or holed up in her piano room practicing for her next world tour. Cornelia feels like her life has no meaning, until Virginia Somerset moves next-door with her crazy dog Mister Kinyatta. Virginia also has a love for words, and tells great stories of her adventures around the world with her sisters, Alexandra, Beatrice and Gladys. Cornelia finds herself lost in the world of Virginia's past. Can Virginia help Cornelia come out of her shell, or will she hide behind words forever?
Cornelia isn't the only one who gets completely wrapped into Virginia's stories. I was completely enraptured with the tales, too. I could totally picture the souk in India, the hidden palace in Morroco and the Haughty club in England.Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters is a heart-warming read, one that I've poured through multiple times. I strongly suggest this book to anyone and everyone.

Elephant Run

Elephant Run is one of the best books I've ever read. In this novel, the year is 1941 and Nick Freestone has just moved from his mother's apartment in London to his father's teak plantation in Burma. Relieved to have escaped the German bombings, Nick can't wait to rebuild his relationship with his father, Jackson Freeston, with whom he's has little contact over the past ten years. Their reunion is disrupted, however, when the Japanese take over the plantation and send Jackson to a POW camp. Now a slave to the Japanese, Nick must work with his new friends, Hilltop and Maya to try to escape and rescue both Jackson and Maya's brother Indaw from the camp.
While reading this incredible book, I often found my knuckles white from gripping the pages at intense parts, or a wave of relief wash over me when the protagonists got out of a sticky situation. I have never seen a picture of Burma, I don't even know where it is on the map, but Roland Smith's articulate writing made me feel the humidity in the air as well as the rocking of the elephant's people rode on, and I could easily picture the scenery. I enjoyed the writing immensely, and this book is a must read.