Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Leonard Peacock is pretty unhappy. And his depression has led him to a couple of conclusions: Asher Beal, his former childhood best friend, needs to die. And he would be much happier if he, himself, wasn’t alive anymore either.

But first, it’s Leonard’s birthday and he wants to give each of his four best friends a gift to say goodbye. The first gift is for his very best friend, the old man with whom he watches old Humphrey Bogart movies on days he skips school. The second is for a friend who isn’t really a friend; the rare fellow student with whom he has a relatively positive relationship, but maybe that’s only because they don’t really know anything about each other. The third is for the girl that he really, really wants to kiss, but who is inherently wrong for him (and him for her). And the last is for Herr Silverman, his Holocaust teacher and the only person in his life that invites him to speak and seems to really want to hear what he has to say. He also leaves a wrapped present for his mother (though he wonders why he bothers).

And he saves one final thing for himself: the P-38 pistol that his grandfather saved from Nazi wartime.

Recommended to all high school readers, and all adults, too. This novel is designed to make you think, and Leonard’s story is presented in such a way that we are not only rooting for someone to save him, but we are hoping that he - and all those who are hurting - can figure out a way to save himself, because all futures are worth having.

Requiem : Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko

Paul Janeczko is an award-winning author for youth and is best known for his lyricism and poetry, as well as his ability to tackle harsh topics with a simple hand.

Requiem takes on the lives of those who fought and suffered during the Nazi war era in Czechoslovakia. Verses based upon real incidents of cruelty, love, oppression, and innocence are told in a straightforward voice, and the various perspectives of war are gracefully acknowledged. Though this title may not have appeal to all readers, it's another important look at how the horrors of war affect all ages, abilities, religions, and sides.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Equal parts creepy and wonderfully mystical, this tale of peculiarities will surely take hold of any reader.

Jacob grew up listening to his grandfather's stories: of how he lost his family to the war, of when he took refuge from Poland in a children's home in Wales, of how he battled monsters, and of the wonderful special friends he made during his childhood. Of course, at sixteen years old, Jacob had long grown out of believing his grandfather's tales of his childhood friends who could levitate, become invisible, or grow fire from bare hands. And he had long grown out of believing that the monsters his grandfather supposedly battled were real.

But when Jacob finds his grandfather following some kind of mysterious vicious attack, and they share secret last words, his becomes determined to uncover his history, and to find what truth their might be behind the stories. With a trip to an isolated island of Wales, he uncovers more than any dreams are made of . . .

Recommended to all with a flair for the "different," the quirky, and the paranormal, for both children and adults.

Reviewed by kate the librarian. 

Book trailer from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m1DU2ULOKGGNSS/ref=ent_fb_link

And there's more on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/MissPeregrine

The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow

Karl Stern is a skinny kid who gets bullied by his high school classmates more than he would like, but he's always been able to hide in the background of life for most part. He's living in Berlin during the reign of Hitler and the Nazis, but having been raised in a family of no practicing religion, he certainly does not consider himself a Jew. And his fair looks do not broadcast his ethnicity either, something that separates him from his younger sister and her dark features.

But it doesn't take long for the fact that he is a Jew to get him expelled from public school, beaten, and even left for homeless. For a while he still has his boxing as a refuge, but even that gets taken from him eventually. Along with his parents and his sister, he must figure out how to survive even when it becomes harder and harder to believe that the injustice against Jews won't last forever . . ..

Recommended to mature middle grade and high school readers. Here is portrayed a unique perspective of Nazi-era history. The Berlin Boxing Club was named the 2012 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers and was placed on the YALSA 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Book Club - APR - The Boy In the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

(Be warned of spoilers! This book is best read when you know as little about it in advance as possible!)
Check out this massive discussion and information guide:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas depicts a fictional friendship set during World War II. Bruno, the eight-year-old son of a newly-promoted Nazi officer, moves with his family from a comfortable life in Berlin to a lonely existence in the countryside. An adventurous boy with nothing to do, Bruno ignores his mother's instructions not to explore the back garden and takes off for a "farm" he has seen from his bedroom window. As he approaches a barbed wire fence, Bruno sees Shmuel, the boy in the striped pajamas, on the other side, and an unlikely and life-changing friendship develops.

Some great thought-provoking questions are included in this packet.

A group of eighth and ninth grades got together at the library to watch the movie a few days before we met to discuss the book, and there were mixed reviews about the visual representation of the story. It seems that my readers either loved it or hated it. Me, I read an advanced review copy of the book almost three years ago, so the movie didn't conflict with my feelings about the story. I still cried at the end from sheer horror and sadness.

The official discussion of the book was fabulous. The group really "got" what was going on, and how history impacts the world we live in now. Any thoughts?

Jon suggested that we eat some chocolate cake as we discussed the book, in honor of Bruno's edible gifts to Shmuel during their short-lived friendship.