Madeline Finn and the Library Dog

An absolutely adorable book about a young girl struggling to read and the library dog who helps her gain the courage she needs.  This is exactly why libraries want to have therapy dog programs.

What She Wanted by Julie Anne Lindsey

What She Wanted tells the story of Katy, and orphaned 17-year-old living with her grandfather.  Her mother died when she was just a baby after succumbing to cancer.  She refused treatment because she was still pregnant with Katy when she was diagnosed.  Her grandmother died when she was 8.  Her grandfather never recovered from the death of his daughter or wife and has kept Katy at a distance since she was 8.

Katy has one friend, Heidi, a camera, and a dream.  She just has to turn 18, move out of her grandfather's house, and figure out how to get into NYFA.  Her life is filled with one obstacle after another, and things go down hill when her grandfather suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma.  After discovering a journal that her mother wrote for her, Katy decides that she wants to live up to her mother's wishes.  With the help of Heidi and an unexpected friend, Katy discovers that family is what you make it and sometimes you just have to open your heart to the world.

Julie Anne Lindsey did a great job with this book.  Katy is a very likable teenager who gets dealt a bad hand from birth.  I found myself rooting for Katy and hoping that she would have something to celebrate instead of grieve.

Alone by D.J. Brazier

I almost stopped reading this book because it was just a bit too much for me to stomach at first.  I'm glad I didn't and kept reading.  It was a gripping story and Brazier did an amazing job telling the story of a young boy stranded in the Amazon following a plane crash.  As a reader, I felt every struggle and celebrated the triumphs as his will to survive is pitted against the harsh reality of being alone in the Amazon.