I remember not-finishing Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was a child. Probably because I couldn’t deal with the harsh realities and character death. Historically fascinating, but not a happy story. The Secret Horses of Briar Hill is a WWII story set on a country estate that’s been turned into a hospital for children with tuberculosis. Only Emmaline can see the winged horses that appear in the mirrors. When one comes through the glass, needing help, she struggles to save her. Nostalgic and sad. Indigo (Water Tales, #2) is about Martha and the McGill brothers, Trevor and Eli, better known as Trout and Eel. Who have webbed fingers and toes.

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A Single Shard is a historical piece set in Korea and introduces an orphan boy who would do anything to become an apprentice to the best potter in the village. Working with the area’s gray-green clay is harder work than he realized. Wings is about a lanky misfit of a boy who sprouts wings. A riff on fallen angels with a side of talking animals. And I finally decided to check out The Land of Stories. The Wishing Spell introduces twins who fall through a book into the world that inspired all our fairy tales. Solid storytelling here. Good first impression!

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The Tea Dragon Society is a graphic novel set in a fantastical world where a small group of friends tend to dragons inspired by different blends of tea. Skellig won my heart and will be one of my top books for the year. A boy finds a strange winged man/thing in his shed and tries to help. And The Samurai and the Long-Nosed Devils is the first in the Zenta & Matsuzo mysteries, set in 16th century Japan. Lots of cultural details for this historical setting, with two wandering samurai (ronin) solving the case.

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I’ve discovered a fondness for novels in prose, and Rhyme Schemer is a fun one. A boy who bullies and posts rebel poems finds the tables turned. But he also finds support from his English teacher (who is awesome). Hour of the Bees brings a blended and estranged family together to sell the family ranch and move Grandpa Serge into assisted care.  He’s getting senile, except Carol is beginning to think there’s some truth to his strange stories. And in Hoot, new-to-town Roy allies himself to a feral boy in order to save a colony of burrowing owls from an incoming pancake house.

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