WAR GAMES by Alan Gratz Thirteen-year-old gymnast, Evie Harris, is on her way to compete in the Olympics in Berlin. This could be the answer her family has been desperately waiting for. Known as "Oakies," Evie's family has been living out of their car since they lost their land and belongings in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. Joining the mass exodus of people that left Oklahoma and moved to California, they're on the hunt for a new start. With this unbelievable opportunity, Evie could help her family get their feet on the ground again, but only if she brings home the gold. Arriving in Berlin, Evie is amazed at the beauty and perfection that surrounds her and the other participants in the Olympic Village. That is until she gets outside the borders of the Village and finds a different story. People are living in a state of fear and terror, but why? It all seems to come down to a man named Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Now Evie is being asked to help out in a very, risky plot that could have serious consequences if she's caught. A plot that may force her to choose between the people of Germany and her family. HEADS UP- There are a couple of profanities. Also the book includes the persecution of the Jewish people, but it also mentions the other groups that Hitler tried to eradicate: disabled, homosexuals, Black, and Romani. One of the secondary characters in the story is homosexual and his partner has been taken to a concentration camp. There are not a lot of details on their relationship, but it is mentioned.

A BOOK OF MAPS FOR YOU by Lourdes Heuer. Illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III How about a picture book recommendation that will make you gasp at the end with emotion? Then check out A Book of Maps For You. We all know how much kids like maps. Handmade ones can hold a bit of mystery, discovery, treasure, and favorite spots. It's no different for the child that is creating all of the maps in this book. Favorite spots in town, the library, and in their house are part of the collection. The question is why are all of these maps being created? You'll have to read the story to find out, but it's absolutely beautiful! Highly Recommend! ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES - Take some time to examine different types of maps. How about one for the country you live in, the state, the county? Then gather some fantasy maps. Consider looking at some of Tolkien's from Lord of the Rings. Finish out by supplying your child with a large piece of drawing paper, pencils, eraser, colored pencils, ruler, and possibly the set of rubber stamps from Lord of Maps. I'll include the link! Allow them to create a map either of a place they are familiar with or one from their imagination! https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://lordofmaps.com/products/map-making-stamp-kit-16-pieces&ved=2ahUKEwj_-OW35-CQAxV8kokEHTg0Bq0QFnoECA8QAQ&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw3JLm5mItjn0cpoBwnNljI9

WELL LIVED: SHAPING A LEGACY OF GRATITUDE AND GRACE by Sally Clarkson How many of us feel that we are living a life that is "Well Lived?" How many of us desire this with the deepest part of our hearts, and yet, the days just slog together and run by in an endless race of getting everything done? If you want to take the exit ramp off the expressway of the fast forward life, but aren't sure how, this book can give you some great direction! Have you ever stopped to think about how many wonderful older folk try to speak into the lives of the younger generation? They're on the down side of the Hill of Life evaluating the areas they feel they got it right in and areas that they wish they could change. Their words are often full of wisdom, because they recognize the value of the things in life that truly matter. I always loved when my grandparents would share with me what they had gleaned in life especially after I became a mother. That's what I would equate Well Lived to. It helps us focus on purposeful living both in our families and with the people we come in contact with in life. Sally invites us into her world in Oxford. While it's clear that Sally is still busy in life when she's in Oxford, there's no doubt it's become a place that she does a lot of reflecting. We get the benefit of that in Well Lived. Reading the book is like sitting down across from her with a cup of tea at a cozy little table and hearing all the treasures of knowledge she has gained over the years. It's priceless, and it can help you change the trajectory of your life.

THE BLACK WOLF by Louise Penny I am a reader of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series. After closing the cover of Book 20, The Black Wolf, I appreciate and am as invested in this series now as I was with Book 1. Actually, maybe even more so. With each book that passes Penny's characters grow with complexity, but ironically, relatability. It is imperative that I start this post with some fair warning. The Inspector Gamache series contains content to be aware of. You will definitely want to read the HEADS UP section at the end of this post. The series typically revolves in some form around a small village in Quebec, Canada named Three Pines. Three Pines is the type of place that many of us would like to live except for the glaring fact that in some of the books murder knocks and enters the village's doors. As a reader, you become deeply invested in the characters and businesses located there. Set against Canada's brutal winters, warm hearths, comfort food galore, deep friendships, and loyalty to the very end fan a warmth inside the reader's soul. Even though Gamache resides in such a small out of the way place, don't let that fool you about his importance in the Surete du Quebec (provincial police force of Quebec) and the reach of his connections. He is a rugged man, but one interfused with an air of refinement that calls people in the highest positions in Canada friends or enemies from personal encounters. What makes readers embrace Gamache so deeply as a character boils down to three things. One, his dogged commitment to finding the truth no matter where it may lead whatever the cost. He has followed cases to the highest offices and born the cost professionally. Two, he has an uncanny ability to take officers thrown away in the system as worthless and see the potential in them. Three, he is known for four sayings that he teaches all his recruits. "I don't know. I need help. I'm sorry. I was wrong." Barebones honesty. Four, he is imperfect. His face is a map of lines and scars. Some created from the joys of life. Others from the sorrows. So how is Gamache relatable? We all desire a warm hearth and a place that truly feels like home to come back to like Three Pines. A place where a person is known and loved. We desire the pursuit of justice and truth, and our hearts beat a bit faster when the final stands occur and right wins out. There is a beauty that we crave when people who have been thrown away, written off, and disposed of are redeemed and their value is immeasurable. There is a peace that is felt and surrendered to knowing someone like Gamache is on watch. Deeply complex and yet relatable. HEADS UP- There are a lot of f-words to navigate. There are uses of other profanities and the use of the Lord's name in vain. This is not a series you would want to listen to as an audio book with children around. That is the biggest issue with the book. There is a gay couple, but their intimate life is not discussed. The books deal with intense, very moving scenarios, but they are not gory. Gamache is not a believer. He recognizes religion but is very passive towards it. However, he is what we would consider a moral man.

THE SHATTERED CASTLE by Jennifer A. Nielsen THE SHATTERED CASTLE (BOOK 5 of the ASCENDANCE SERIES) by Jennifer A. Nielsen Get ready for more twists and turns that we've come to love and expect in The Ascendance Series! It's time for the final stand. The faces behind the attacks are now revealed. Despite everything he's been through, King Jaron is committed to seeing this through to the end, because his life and purpose have been given to Carthya. Throughout this journey, he's depended almost solely on himself. He can no longer do that. With most of his friends at his side and help from some unexpected places, Jaron will stand until the end or die trying. Highly Recommend!! Thank you, Jennifer A. Nielsen for a squeaky clean, fast-paced-to-the-end series for middle grade and YAers!

THE ACCUSED by Cara Putman The Accused by Cara Putman is a Christian legal thriller that I am adding to the YA Booklist. Law professor, Margeaux Robbins, is woken up in the middle of the night to a phone call. Anneliese, an international student, needs help immediately and has no where else to turn. Her roommate has been murdered, and Annaliese is the prime suspect. Once she is formerly charged, Margeaux knows as a professor she's not the best option to represent Annaliese. Since Annaliese has no money to put towards an attorney, Chase Crandall is assigned as Annaliese's defense attorney. Chase Crandall, a lawyer that is recovering from a blow he received in his last court case. He's going to have to leave that in the past and step up, because this case is going to take everything Margeaux and Chase have to unravel it. There's a lot more going on than what appears on the surface, and it's going to take them both to get to the truth. Author Cara Putman is both an attorney and a professor which helps lend this story an element of believability. HEADS UP- Alcohol, drugs, and partying are mentioned without going into detail. Sex is mentioned but without intimate details.

BECAUSE OF AN ACORN by Lola M. Schaefer and Adam Schaefer. Illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon When your seventh grade daughter picks up a picture book, reads it, hands it to you, and says, "we should get it, " I slip it into the pile. Something tells me that once I slip it into the book basket it will make its way to her bedside. Have you ever stopped and looked at the woods and thought about the interconnectedness of everything in it? Have you thought about how a tree grows and spreads from one into the forest? Because of An Acorn tells that story in a simple form. While not attributing this amazing design to God, I do as I read it. Nature is so beautiful and fascinating, and this sweet picture book sings its story.

POPPY by Avi A couple of years ago I tried to read Ragweed (Book 1 of the Poppy Series) aloud to my youngest daughter. I'm not sure why, but we really struggled getting into the story and ended up not finishing it. Fast forward to now. I was browsing our bookshelf and came across Poppy (Book 3 of the Poppy Series). I pulled it off the shelf and sat down to read it, and overall found myself pleasantly surprised. There is a debate as to what order you should read the Poppy Series in. I'll just tell you it's not necessary to read Book 1 to enjoy Book 3. Poppy is the coming of age story of a shy, little deer mouse that finds her strength in life. Poppy plays it safe and follows the rules of the mouse clan. Ragweed, her deer mouse love interest, scoffs and laughs at the restrictions put on them and writes them off as completely unnecessary. One night, Poppy and Ragweed climb to the top of a hill where they're not supposed to be, and before they know it, Mr. Ocax, the owl, swoops down, and kills Ragweed instantly. (There's nothing like consequences for our actions is there? Avi doesn't shy away here!) Stumbling back home, Poppy interrupts a meeting of the mouse families discussing the shortages that they are dealing with in their current location. They need to move to a bigger area. The problem? Mr. Ocax has forced them to stay there with lies about the outside world and the promise of safety if they remain and follow his rules. Poppy knows the clan must move, and so against the wishes of her father, she sets out to find a new home where they all can thrive. To do this means to face Mr. Ocax one on one and the fears she's been led to believe. Yes, there is a streak of disobedience in Poppy. However, this book is more about facing fears and that the biggest things in life that hold us back are not usually worthy of the amount of mental time we give them! HEADS UP- As previously stated, there is a bit of a rebellious streak at the beginning especially with Ragweed, but then he ends up dead. Avi goes so far as for Poppy to find Ragweed 's earring in an owl pellet. The book is not gory in detail, but it doesn't stray away from the hardness and reality of life at times.

KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE by Roger Lancelyn Green I recently took a group of 5th-8th graders through King Arthur. I have such an appreciation for Arthur. It is not light reading. It allowed me to step into some pretty deep conversations with the kids that do not typically arise in lit discussion. Right from the start we jumped in and talked about Arthur pulling the sword from the anvil. It gives us such a perfect life picture. Only Arthur could do it. It was created for him - waiting for him to put his hands on and draw out. Each one of us has a sword in the anvil in our own life that we have been specifically created for. No one else can pull it, and we can't pull someone else's sword no matter how much we might want to. We dug in deep on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Green Knight has been sent to test the best Knight of the Round Table, because the honorable reputation of the knights is getting around. We talked about the truth behind that. Our reputation in life is what we're known for, and if we have a good one, people will test us and try to make us fall. The last section of the book deals with the internal fall of Camelot. We looked at Scripture, talked about the sanctity of marriage, and the destruction of an affair. Often an affair will lead to divorce which always has a ripple effect in life. It's never just the husband and wife who are affected by it. Oftentimes, it's an explosion that causes destruction all over the place. I'm truly grateful for literature like King Arthur. Ultimately, the truths come from the scriptures, but just maybe, someday, when one of these kids encounters one of these situations, they'll think back to our discussions and count the cost of some of life's choices thanks to the lessons learned in King Arthur's tales. HEADS UP- There is magic in some of the stories. There is the start of the affair of Launcelot and Guinevere. There is violence in the stories such as heads being chopped off but without gory details.

HEIR by Sabaa Tahir Heir is the complicated, dark read by Sabaa Tahir. It is one that I pushed myself to read, made it 75% of the way through and skim-read to the end. I reached a point I was so bogged down in it, I couldn't go further. Heir follows the journey of three characters coming from different places that become intertwined together: Aiz, Shirsha, and Quil. SPOILER ALERT part of what took me a minute to figure out was that part of book is in the past and part in the present, but it's not written as such. It's written initially as all taking place at the same time. Aiz has known tragedy all of her life. Born in the slums of the Kegari, she has grown up hearing the stories of Mother Div from the local clerics that have helped to raise her. Mother Div was a hero that has turned to a person of worship for the Kegari people. There is a series of stories that are told about her with the last being unknown since it is understood that she is imprisoned somewhere against her will waiting to be freed. Mother Div is able to speak to and direct Aiz, calling her to come and free her, so she can return to the Kegari people and free them from their oppression. Quil is the crowned prince of the Empire. When some of his people, including those closest to him, begin dying from their hearts being taken out by a strange enemy that no one can visibly see, he is determined to find out and put an end to what is going on. Shirsha has been thrown out from her people and commanded not to use her magical powers for tracking in which she is very gifted. When she is hired by someone unknown to her to track down the killer of the people of the Empire, she knows it is going to take everything she has to follow the trail of this unearthly assassin. SPOILER ALERT The creature that is hunting people is doing so for their hearts. The creature turns out to be working for Mother Div who was imprisoned by a "vengeful" woman who used magic to make it necessary that when she is eventually freed, she must consume (eat) hearts to continue. This puts Aiz in a terrible spot, knowing that her people need Mother Div's help to free them, but at the expense of oftentimes other innocent people including a young boy that Aiz has befriended. From here we are in a downhill slide of twists and turns that dumps us at the doorstep trying to decide if Mother Div is good or evil. There is a second book coming out, but it won't be in my TBR pile. HEADS UP- There is a sprinkling of language. No f- bombs. It is known that sex occurs between some of the characters. No details given. There are passing mentions of same sex relationships. No details given. The most difficult part of this book is the dark magic and heaviness that occurs from it. There is very little relief from it. Sorcerers, warlocks, etc. are part of the story.

LAUNCH INTO THE TEEN YEARS by Focus on the Family Parents, if you would like some help navigating THE SEX TALK with your preteens, I highly recommend Launch! Typically, the summer before 7th grade is a crossover threshold in our home from childhood into the teenage world. Don't get me wrong, life offers opportunities of discussions before this point due to what is observed in our current culture, what shows up in movies/music/social media, chats with peers, etc. I answer questions from my kids when I believe the info is age appropriate, but the main mom initiated talk happens during the summer crossover. When you order Launch, a box arrives with a journal for your child and one for you, the parent. Inside the cover is a QR code that allows you access to 2 videos before the start of each of the 6 sessions. One video is just for you, the parent. The other is for you to watch with your tween. These videos include a bit of fun that ease the parents and tweens into the deeper topics. What are the 6 sessions? They are as follows: Who Am I, The One About Friends and Other Enemies, Of Memes and Meanies, About Male and Female, What's Happening to My Body, and The Big Talk. I absolutely loved that this talk started with the value of our tweens and who they listen to to get advice. On the whole I loved this resource. There were a couple of times that I felt a question or two got a head of where we were in our discussion. When this happened, I just marked them to come back to when we covered the topic I felt it more appropriately fell under. Just so you know, I chose this resource on my own and purchased it for our home with no compensation from Focus on the Family.

JULIA' S HOUSE GOES HOME by Ben Hatke If you have read any of Ben Hatke 's books, you've encountered lots of unique creatures. It's not uncommon to find unicorns, mermaids, trolls, ghosts, skeletons, dragons, gnomes, and a few of his own creations mashed up together on some form of adventure. Julia's House Goes Home is no different. Julia's House is looking for a place to finally call home. Somewhat living like a metaphorical ship on a sea, it's ready to set down it's roots. Looking through her spy glass, Julia spots a glittery area in the distance that looks like a perfect location. Gathering up her band of unique creatures they all set out together towards the desired spot. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned (do they ever in life?), and a bit of a catastrophe occurs. Now, Julia is stuck. Her band of creatures (along with a few others she's picked up along the way) have been promised a home, and she has no home to take them to. The fun part about this book is that in the end everyone works together and a great solution is reached. The beautiful part of this story is Hatke 's realization that in this world there are a lot of lost people that come in all shapes and sizes. Julia's desire is to give them all a home. HEADS UP- One of the unique places they go through is a cemetery and they pick up a few ghosts.