Crossing the Wire

Title: Crossing the Wire
Author: Will Hobbs
Recommended for: Grades 5-8

Do you like adventure? Then, Crossing the Wire, or pretty much anything by Will Hobbs, is the book for you.

Victor Flores lives with his mother, brother, and sisters in Los Arboles, Mexico. Since his father's passing, family survival has been difficult with little opportunity for enough work to feed a family. After Victor's best friend Rico decides to head across the border for a better life in the United States, Victor and his mother decide that crossing the wire to find work might be the only way their family can survive. As difficult of a decision as that was for Victor, who doesn't much care for adventure, the actual journey itself is full of danger: border patrol, robbers, drug smugglers, wild animals, as well as the bitter cold and scorching heat the desert can bring.

Will Victor make it across the border alive? Will he find a way to help his family survive in Mexico? Read Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs to experience a human face to the controversial issue of illegal immigration.

To read more about Will Hobbs, visit his web site at: http://www.willhobbsauthor.com/

Double Identity

Title: Double Identity
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Recommended for: Grades 5-8, especially fans of Haddix, science fiction, and adventure.

Today I finished reading Margaret Peterson Haddix's thriller, Double Identity. I'm in such awe of authors like Haddix and Shusterman who have incredible imaginations and always ask, "What if?" in their writing. In Double Identity, thirteen year old Bethany discovers that her parents had another daughter years before Bethany was born. Not only that, but Bethany holds an uncanny likeness to her sister Elizabeth from the color of their hair and eyes, all the way down to their love of strawberry oatmeal. Bethany's parents all but disappear, but leave her wondering, "What if I am Elizabeth's clone?" Not only is Bethany haunted by her likeness to Elizabeth and her parents' disappearance, but now a stranger is in the midst. Is Bethany a clone? Who is this strange man? And, what are Bethany's parents hiding from? You'll only know if you read Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Neal Shusterman

Today I had the opportunity to meet one of the best young adult authors out there: Neal Shusterman. Shusterman received a Golden Sower Honor in 2001 for The Dark Side of Nowhere and again in 2006 for Full Tilt. In addition, The Schwa Was Here is nominated for the Golden Sower Award for the 2007-2008 school year. If you haven't read any Shusterman books, then you must. His books are adventure, mystery, science fiction, drama, sometimes a little romance, and a lot of imagination all rolled into one.

Shusterman began writing as a teenager and hasn't stopped since. Hopefully, someone reading this blog is about to begin his or her life as a writer. Could it be you?