8 - 2021 | Book Village

This time we read the books in the Sora Sweet Reads collection chosen for 9-12 year old readers. All of these books are available for simultaneous use for members of the Book Village digital library until 20^th August.

The first two we read were set in summer camps which are perhaps a right of passage for American children. South African children might not be familiar with summer camps, but will identify with the themes and characters in these books.

How to (almost) Ruin your Summer by Taryn Souders. 11 year old Chloe Mc Corkle goes to Camp Minnehaha where she decides to try to learn cake decorating to earn money so she doesn’t have to ride a baby bike to middle school. Of course, nothing goes according to plan in this laugh out loud, tween angst filled, action story!

In Just Like Me by Nancy Cavanaugh, three girls adopted from the same orphanage go to Summer Camp and are asked to keep a journal of their experiences. It is a funny, sweet story about a girl longing to fit in with her peers whilst discovering connections with her Chinese origins.

The next group of four books are in the magical or fantasy genre, and the book I enjoyed the most out of this group was The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold. This is a magical novel about 10-year-old Gabrielle who moves from Haiti to Brooklyn and discovers how hard it is to fit in as an immigrant.

Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron is a fantasy tale of 12-year-old Maya who goes in search of her missing father and finds herself part of her father’s bizarre comic book adventure stories. It’s a great action adventure with diverse characters that will be easy for our children to relate to.

The next two books are Star Wars Choose your Destiny Adventures by Cavan Scott. The two chosen for Sora Sweet Reads were A Luke and Leia Adventure, and A Finn and Poe Adventure. These are choose-your-own-adventure puzzle stories that I think would keep children entertained and would be good to get reluctant readers going.

Skateboard Sibby by Clare O’Connor is about super skateboarder, 11-year-old Sibby, who has to move to a new town and live with her Nan and Pops after her father loses his job. She’s a great girl character and there are some good life lessons and skateboard action in the story too.

I’m putting the next two books into the science category, even though Frank Einstein and the Space-Time Zipper by Jon Scieszkais definitely fantasy with crazy, fun inventions and great pictures. The story is interwoven with some good science facts though, that bring the concept of space-time to life for young readers.

Biohackers by Leah Kaminski.

This is the only non-fiction book in the group. It is a quick, interesting read that will keep the attention of readers in the 9 to 12-year age group. It introduces the topic of biohacking and explores future possibilities with excellent photos and diagrams and clear, easy to read text.

Next time, in our final post about the Sora Sweet Reads collection, we will look at the comic books, graphic novels and books chosen for younger readers.

We’ve been enjoying reading our way through the rest of the young adult titles in the Sora Sweet Reads collection over the past couple of weeks. These titles will be available for simultaneous use for all members of the Book Village digital library from 5^thMay – 20^th August.

Two of the books in the collection gave me some insights into events in history that I didn’t know too much about, and I really enjoyed reading them:

In the book, We are Not Free , the author Traci Chee was inspired by her own family history to create a story of the experiences of 14 Japanese American teenage friends, forced from their homes into incarceration camps following the bombing of Pearl Harbour during WW11. The book is beautifully written in the style of interconnected short stories, and I think most young adults and adults will find it very interesting and moving.

I could not put Girls on the Line by Jennie Liu down. Set in China in 2009 it is a fascinating story told from the alternating perspectives of two girls, Luli and Yun. The girls leave the orphanage they grew up in when they turn 16 to work in an electronics factory winding up cables (in case you’ve ever wondered how this was done). It describes how limited their options are when Yun gets pregnant with her bride trafficker boyfriend, and how they are trapped in a system that controls all aspects of their lives. This book is a great page-turner for older teens and adults.

The next two young adult titles will appeal to older teenage girls, and if I’m honest I quite enjoyed reading them too!

Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally is an easy to read, well-written high school romance. The book is narrated by Lulu with flashbacks from her friends, and describes four class trips taken over four years of high school. Lulu and Alex start their relationship on the first class trip and the story progresses through the break ups and re-kindling of the romance over subsequent trips. Lulu has a full house of fashionable interests – she is a vegan eco-warrior, has a gay best friend and is a talented graphic comic book author. I’m sure many teen girls will enjoy reading this book over the holidays.

In The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life by Dani Jansen, Alison Green– desperate to be the valedictorian, thinks that agreeing to produce the school play of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will help her achieve this. There are some funny moments and complicated teen misunderstandings and lesbian and pansexual relationships. Overall it is an easy “ beach” read – or in our case, a “tucked up under the blankets because it’s cold and we can’t go out because we’re isolating” sort of read.

Next time we will review the Sora Sweet Read titles selected for children in senior primary school.

Sora Sweet Reads no. 3

Young Adult Sora Sweet Reads 2

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