Published by Scholastic Press

Summary:  Otto, lost in the forbidden forest, stumbles upon three mysterious girls and learns the story of how they were cast out by their father, the king, who wanted a son.  They give Otto a magic harmonica.  Many years later, the harmonica passes to Friedrich in Germany, then to Mike in Philadelphia, and finally, to Ivy in California.  Friedrich, born with a large birthmark on his face, is struggling to survive in 1933 Germany as Hitler is coming to power.  Mike is determined to keep himself and younger brother Frankie together when an unexpected stroke of good luck gets them out of their orphanage.  Is his new home too good to be true?  Soon after Ivy’s beloved older brother joins the army, her family is hired to run a farm owned by a Japanese family who has been taken away to an internment camp.  Are they spies, or just a family struggling to survive, like her own?  All three stories converge when the grown-up Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy are brought together in 1951 by their love of music.  Otto’s story concludes the book, revealing the missing part of the harmonica’s journey.  Grades 5-8.

Pros:  If you only read one book in 2015, here it is.  Look for this title next January when Newbery honors are announced.

Cons:  At 592 pages, this book is well into doorstop territory.  Younger readers may struggle to handle the four separate stories.

Published by Amistad

Summary:  Sisters Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are back in the final installment of this trilogy.  Having started their journey with their mother and the Black Panthers in Oakland, continued it at home in Brooklyn, they conclude with a visit to their grandmother and great-grandmother in Alabama.  Narrator Delphine is concerned that her family is breaking apart.  Her new stepmother is expecting a baby, Uncle Darnell and his favorite niece Vonetta are no longer speaking, and their great-grandmother and her sister refuse to see each other, although they both enjoy relating their own versions of family history to the three girls.  It takes a near tragedy to bring the family together again, but in the end all members of Delphine’s family, even her California mother, are under one roof, and the bonds of sisterhood are stronger than ever.  Grades 4-7.

Pros:  The first two books in this series were multiple award winners, and this one is sure to be too.  Chock full of unique, well-drawn characters, rich historical details, and you-are-there settings, this is historical fiction at its best.

Cons:  This book will be more enjoyable for readers who have read the first two.

Published by Algonquin Young Readers

Summary:  Pete finds himself suddenly ostracized from his seventh grade classmates when his teacher, Mr. Donavan, denounces Pete’s father as a Communist.  It’s 1951, and the Red Scare is in full swing.  Pete doesn’t believe that his dad, a history professor who loves America, could possibly be a Communist, but he decides to emulate his hero Sam Spade and do a little investigating.  He’s unprepared for what he finds as he digs deep into his family’s history.  When an FBI agent starts following Pete around his Brooklyn neighborhood, danger moves frighteningly close.  There seems to be a secret informant, possibly right in the family.  Will Pete be able to solve all the mysteries before his father loses his job or ends up in jail?

Pros:  A combination historical fiction and mystery, this story is a page turner from beginning to end.

Cons:  With 293 pages, lots of plot twists, and multiple historical references, the suggested audience of 8-12 seems a little young.  Grades 5-8 is probably more appropriate.  Also, do NOT judge this book by its cover, which features what looks to be a forlorn alien.

Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Summary:  In the opening scene, Stella and her younger brother Jojo see nine members of the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross in the distance.  The reader is immediately drawn into Stella’s world, the segregated town of 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina.  She is part of a loving family and tight-knit community who endure many hardships.  The KKK burns a neighbor’s house down, her friend Tony is beaten by two white men, and her mother is permanently crippled by a snakebite that the white doctor refuses to treat.  But there are happy times, too, like the visit from a traveling storyteller and the day the entire town escorts Stella’s father and his two friends to vote in their first election.  Through it all, Stella works hard on her writing as she struggles to record what she sees and hears.

Pros:  Based on the lives of the author’s father and grandmother, this is a fascinating historical novel about the harsh realities of the segregated South during the Depression.  The love and community spirit are every bit as powerful as the difficulties Stella and her friends and family encounter.

Cons:  Be sure to discuss this book with kids as they read it.  Some of the events could be disturbing.

Published by Scholastic Press

Summary:  Theo’s spent his whole life on a farm in Kentucky with his grandparents.  But now the farm’s been sold, and he’s living in Destiny, Florida with his Uncle Raymond, whom he met for the first time a few weeks ago.  Uncle Raymond doesn’t seem to like him much, which makes sharing a room at the Rest Easy boarding kind of tough.  But Theo’s determined to make the best of his situation.  For starters, there’s a piano at the Rest Easy, which Theo can play by ear (even though his uncle hates piano music).  Then there’s his new friend Anabel, who’s an even bigger Atlanta Braves fan than Theo.  She signs him up for her extra credit school project, which is to figure out if Braves players ever spent time in Destiny.  Now Uncle Raymond thinks he wants to move.  Can Theo figure out a way to stay in Destiny?

Pros:  The characters are memorable and likable (even Uncle Raymond by the end of the story), and the writing is beautifully evocative.

Cons:  There’s not much to the story.  The description promises a mystery and an adventure.  I’m not really sure what the mystery was and any adventure was pretty tame.

Published by Dial Books

Summary:  Ten-year-old Ada has spent her entire life in a one-room apartment, kept prisoner by her mother who is ashamed of Ada’s club foot.  When parents are ordered to evacuate their children to the country at the start of World War II, Ada sees her chance to escape and manages to get evacuated along with her younger brother, Jamie.  They are reluctantly taken in by Susan Smith, a woman who is dealing with her own grief and isolation and does not want any children in her home.  Slowly, though, the children and their guardian learn to live with each other, and Ada discovers the world around her that she has been locked out of all her life.  She assists during the Dunkirk evacuation, discovers a spy, and survives nightly air raids.  But her greatest test of courage comes when her mother reappears and demands to take the children back home.

Pros:  I got this book right before two snow days.  Thank goodness, because I could not put it down.  Ada, Susan, and Jamie are fabulous multi-dimensional characters.  The author does not whitewash their lives or their reactions to events, which only makes them more endearing.  Compelling historical fiction for fourth and fifth graders.

Cons:  There didn’t seem to me to be adequate explanation as to why the children’s mother was so horrible.  True, she was poor, uneducated, and apparently coerced into having children by a husband who then died, but it was hard for me to get a handle on why she was so hateful.