When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Youth fiction - 4.5 stars

May's Mother-Daughter Book Club book was a short, but somewhat deep novel about friendship and support set in 1970s New York City. While her mother is prepping to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid, Miranda begins receiving a series of mysterious notes. While she doesn't immediately make sense of them, they are clues that her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time, may not be entirely far-fetched. She meets a series of friends, all the while trying to figure out why one friend has left her. the story comes together in the end, and Stead closes it up with a super happy ending.

That's all I'm giving away! One of Megan's book club selections was A Wrinkle in Time, and without reading it, this book would have been a little obscure. Overall, we really enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to middle schoolers looking for something a little deeper.

Boys are Dogs by Leslie Margolis

Youth fiction - 2.5 stars

April's Mother-Daughter Book Club selection was so bubble-gum/pop, I could not give it more than a 2.5. The story of Annabelle, a sixth-grader who comes home from summer camp to find that her mother has moved in with her boyfriend, Ted (or Dweeble), which causes Annabelle to leave her all-girls school and enter the world of the public middle school. She also gets a new puppy, complete with dog training book. Annabelle learns from the book how to talk so a dog will listen, and tries out her new techniques on some of the boys who torment her. She learns that self-confidence is essential when dealing with both. There is a lesson, but this book is in no way deep, and was definitely not my favorite selection.

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Youth fiction - 3 stars

Our March Mother-Daughter Book Club pick was the first in a series about human genetic experiments trying to discover the secrets of their origins while simultaneously trying to stay alive and out of the lab. Maximum Ride delivers a good story that is definitely for the early teen crowd. It's a light "beach read" kind of book, with little character development, but a lot of action and angst. I enjoyed reading it, as did Megan because of the action, but I don't think I'll go on with the series. I've seen a lot better from James Patterson.