Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg

Sweet Home Alaska, is set during the Great Depression and while Terpsichore and her family are made-up characters, the book is inspired by actual events that took place.  The government decides to try to help some of the many families that are struggling by giving them land in Alaska that they can farm, and hopefully become self-sufficient.  Terpsichore and her family are on of the many selected for this endeavor.

Everyone is excited about this adventure except for Terpsichore's mother.  However, she says that she will give it until just after the first harvest before she decides to move the family back home to live with her mother.  Terpsichore loves Alaska, and she wants to do everything she can to make sure that her mother will want to stay.  She has a plan, but it isn't going to be easy.  With the help of her new friends, some family members (her father and twin sisters) and a neighbor, she sets out to ensure that Alaska will be just as perfect for her mother as it is for her.

I highly recommend this book.

Wish by Barbara O'Connor

I read an ARC and really enjoyed this book.  It follows Charlie, a young girl who is sent to live with her aunt and uncle after her father is put back in jail and her mother sort of checks-out.  Charlie is a pro at making wishes, and she know countless ways to make a wish.  She takes every opportunity to make her wish - of course, we are not told what the wish is.  We can only guess.

While living with her aunt and uncle, she reluctantly makes a friend, Howard.  Everyone should be lucky enough to have a friend like Howard in their lives.  I think he was my favorite character because he does so much to help Charlie, and he never turns his back on her even though she makes some mistakes along the way.

Charlie slowly begins to learn what family is all about.  With the help of her aunt, uncle, Howard, and a four-legged friend, Wishbone she begins to see that she might just have everything she needs.

I highly recommend this book.

I recently finished reading an advanced reader copy of this book, and I can't tell you enough how good it was.

Six kindergarten students go missing.  Eleven years later, five of them return with no memory of where they were or what happened to the sixth kid.  Each of them has one distinct memory of something they did - a hot air balloon ride, a carousel.  As they struggle to remember a past that has escaped them, there are suspicions that they might know more than they are telling.

Tara Altebrando did a wonderful job with this novel.  It was suspenseful and kept you guessing throughout the story trying to figure out who did it? why? and do the kids really not remember where they were and what they were doing for the past eleven years?  The story is told from many different perspectives, including that of the younger sister of the still missing sixth kid.

I give this book 5 stars and definitely recommend it.