Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

This is a great book! In fact on Monday I'm ordering it for my library and I'm going to recommend it for Battle of the Books. Fifth grader, Melody Brooks is a true hero. She's had cerebral palsy from birth. She can't talk, walk or do much of anything for herself, but she can certainly think for herself. And she wants to be normal. Though what is normal anyway. She gets a shot when she gets herself a Medi-talker and lands a spot on the Whiz Kids team. But don't expect a happy touchy feely ending. Her team mates (including the teacher) are uncomfortable with her on the team and they don't do much to make her feel included. One of the things that makes this books so good is that the ending is not a half hour sitcom ending where all ends well. This book will make you think.

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I was almost two thirds through the book when I realized that this is book 3 and I had not read book 2. But it appears to be a stand alone - so long as you read book 1. It's an interesting apocalyptic young adult novel that is very well written. And though apocalyptic it is not any where near as depressing as Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake or The Year of the Flood (great books, but not books to read if you are feeling really low.) In This World We Live In there is an unspoken sense of hope - a true belief in tomorrow. I think it's because the characters just continue to do despite all of the hardships. What would you do if your world had changed because a meteorite had knocked the moon off it's axis? Could you just keep going on? I guess that's a question we ask ourselves when contemplating any disaster. Funny how we always worry about what is going to happen to the sun. This series makes you realize that it's not just the center of the solar system that you have to worry about - but the other components as well.