The Lost Conspiracy

Gullstruck Island is ruled by the Lost, a group of revered oracles whose souls are not permanently connected to their bodies. The Lost send their minds to gather information, track storms, spy on neighbors; meanwhile, their bodies remain behind as empty shells until their minds return.

The Lace people are poor, as well as distrusted and unsupported by any other towns. Their last hope of survival lies in Hathin's sister Arilou, who, with her absent mind and vacant expressions, may be the town's first Lost in generations. They desperately need to believe this, because her existence is the town's only remaining form of revenue. Hathin has been raised with the sole purpose of assisting her sister, of tending to her every need, and of helping to convince the world of Arilou's status as Lost--her body may be empty of all thoughts, but is Arilou really a Lost? Or is she simply feeble-minded? With the alternative too devastating to consider, Hathin sets out to convince the Lost Inspector that her sister is the real deal. And in a world in which souls travel silently and invisibly, one must be careful at all times, especially when dealing with deception.

There are so many twists and turns that I can't say much more of the plot. But I can say that the world created in The Lost Conspiracy is entirely unique and fascinating to no end. The island's politics and prejudice are elaborate, complicated, and real. And the journey Hathin finds herself is exciting because of the many obstacles she faces, but also because of the growth we, the reader, can see in our sweet little friend.

The Wednesday Wars

Why hello there! Welcome to my first blog post. Since my goal is to read and discuss middle grade books, I decided to kick things off by rereading one of my all-time favorite books: The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. And I am so glad I did.

It's 1967. Seventh grade is not shaping up well for Holling Hoodhood. Out of all the kids in his class, Mrs. Baker hates his guts. And to make matters so, so much worse, the only other Presbyterians in his Long Island town have moved away. Now, on Wednesday afternoons, when half the class goes to temple and the other half goes to Catechism, Holling is the only one left--stuck with Mrs. Baker. And she, with all the hatred Holling just knows she harbors toward him, decides that they should read Shakespeare together, every Wednesday afternoon. For the whole year.

I adore this book with all my heart and soul. No summary can capture what is so wonderful about it, because I found the plot to be nowhere near as important as the pitch-perfect middle-grade voice and the way it made me feel in both my heart and the pit of my stomach. That is not to say that the plot is uninteresting; it's actually quite wonderful. And the places Gary Schmidt takes us, which include both the remarkable and the ordinary, range from spectacularly touching and tremendously funny and fantastically sweet when described by Holling.

Gary Schmidt is just incredible.

It was a Newbery Honor book in 2008 and got all sorts of fabulous reviews, but was published with a cover that, quite frankly, I can't ever see a kid picking up. (See photo at top of post.) It was repackaged last year with a more kid-friendly image (pictured on the left) but I still don't think they hit the mark. I hope I'm wrong, though, because this is a book that everyone should read. It is poignant, funny, and sad. Oh man. It is so funny and sad. Some parts make me laugh so hard I cried. Other parts just made me cry.

Also, I grew up on Long Island, in a town called East Meadow. East Meadow is bordered on one side by Eisenhower Park. My mom grew up in East Meadow, too, but when she was little, Eisenhower Park was called Salisbury Park... and some really wonderful scenes in The Wednesday Wars take place in Salisbury Park. That's fun for me. But there is something--quite a bit, I believe--in this book for everyone.