Ms Rush Reads

copyright date: January 1, 2021 primarily marketed for: middle grades The Greatest Superpower  by Alex Sanchez is a gem. I was in a bit of a reading slump until I picked up this book, thanks to NetGalley .  This middle grades book is about comic book loving Jorge who is navigating his parents' divorce and his first crush on a girl. Jorge's parents not only announce they are getting divorced, but his father also reveals to Jorge and his twin brother Cesar that she is transgender and wishes to live as her true self.  Although this announcement is a confusing surprise to Jorge, his love for his father ultimately trumps all. Cesar, however, is angry at their dad and works to prevent Jorge from sharing the truth with his friends.  In the midst of the changes in Jorge's family life, he and his friends are trying to invent a new superhero for a comic book contest. When Jorge blurts out the idea of the superpower to gender-shift, his friends jump on board.  Conversatio...

copyright date: 1991 primarily marketed for: young adults (8 th grade up) If you like A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer and think What Daddy Did by Neal Shusterman is going to be another true story to indulge your desire to read about the human spirit’s will to endure, think again.    What Daddy Did is so much more.   So much bigger. I started reading it one night before falling asleep.   Two hours later I still hadn’t closed the book and I don’t remember having taken a breath.   I awoke the next morning still within the powerful grip of this story. What Daddy Did is the fictionalized true story of young boy who Shusterman calls Preston Scott.   When Preston was only eleven years old, his Mom was shot in the back of the head and murdered by his father after marital struggles tore their family apart.   Although the book tells about the events leading up to the murder as well as the moments during which the news un...

BOUNCE by Natasha Friend copyright date: August 2007 primarily marketed for: young adult (7th grade up) Bounce by Natasha Friend has sat on my shelf for years.   Because it is nominated for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award this February, I finally picked it up and cracked open the cover.   And, boy, am I glad I did.   In its pages I not only discovered reasons to laugh and reasons to get choked up, I also discovered a new favorite author.   Since reading Bounce , I have been on a mission to read all of Natasha Friend’s books. Bounce is the story of a girl named Evyn , who, although her mother died years ago, is not ready to see her father move on.   While she and her brother were away at camp for the summer, her father has met a new woman and plans to marry her.   To make matters worse, Evyn’s future stepmom has 6 children for Evyn and her brother to embrace as siblings.   With hilarious scenes th...

copyright date: October 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (high school) The books I love the most are the ones I find myself most compelled to write about.   I am woefully behind on posting about the books I’ve read this school year, yet here I am making time to share another incredible story. I find it is most difficult to share the books I love.   Something about my connection with a story like this makes it seem almost as if nobody else could possibly enjoy it as deeply as I have—surely it was tailor-made to fit my heart and stick to my ribs—how could anyone else find it as perfect a fit?   I don’t know the answer to that, but I sure hope you try this one on because part of me suspects it might fit you just right, too. Since I closed the covers of Maggie Stiefvater ’s The Scorpio Races early this morning, I have been haunted by the rhythm of the story.   The magic of sea still beats in my chest.   Puck’s connectio...

copyright date: February 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) This summer I officially became a fan of graphic novels.   Somehow, I am more willing to suspend my disbelief when reading a graphic novel.   Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks is no exception. Maggie, who has been homeschooled up to now, is starting high school.   Her only companions have been her older brothers, who become her only support system in high school as well.   That is, until she meets Lucy and her somewhat elusive brother Alistair. Maggie, Lucy, and Alistair eventually find themselves in the midst of an adventure involving a museum, a graveyard, and a soul plagued with a sense of unrest. While Maggie gets to know her new friends and works through the adventure they’ve uncovered, she also gets to know herself better.   There is depth to her personality and although the ghost story Maggie’s life becomes is fanciful, the dynamic within her f...

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (14 and up) Kekla Magoon is the amazing author who won me over with The Rock and the River (historical fiction) and captured my heart with Camo Girl (contemporary realistic fiction).  I have been waiting impatiently for her latest book 37 Things I Love to be released.  Did you know she will be our visiting author for the 2012-2013 school year?  I. Can’t. Wait. 37 Things I Love has been described as Magoon’s first book that is really meant for a high school audience.  I agree.  Although, I think mature 8 th grade readers will also appreciate this story. High school sophomore Ellis is struggling to remain positive in the face of some major challenges.  Her father is on life support, putting strain on her relationship with her mother, and her best friend is becoming increasingly self-centered and self-destructive.  With little support around her, Ellis turns to a ...

copyright date: December 2011 primarily marketed for:   young adults (13 and up) Maybe it is because I am not very athletic that this book appeals to me.  Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally is sort of an athletic girl fantasy story.  Jordan Woods is a teenage girl who is not just on her high school football team, but she is the quarterback of the team.  Not only is she surrounded by athletic guys, she also gets to lead them.  Talk about girl power.  At first it sounds like it might be a simple story about how difficult it is to be the only girl on the guys’ team.  However, Catching Jordan has much more depth than that.  Jordan does not face much resistance about being a girl who plays football from her teammates or even her rivals.  Her biggest challenger is her father, a pro-football player whose protective attitude prevents him from supporting his daughter, even though he has no trouble supporting her older brothe...

copyright date: May 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (14 and up) I picked up this book because I had fallen in love with Alyssa B. Sheinmel’s first book for young adults The Beautiful Between .   I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with The Lucky Kind because I had such high expectations.  Both books are about family secrets, but I found the relationships and dialogue in The Beautiful Between to be much more realistically drawn than the family relationships and dialogue in The Lucky Kind.   I am wondering if that might not be due to the protagonist of this book being a guy instead of a girl.  I am curious to hear if guys find Nick more or less believable than I did. The Lucky Kind tells the story of Nick Brandt, a high school senior who is well-adjusted and wants for nothing in life, other than to get Eden Reiss, the girl of his dreams, to notice him. When things start to look like they’re working out with Eden, his ...

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) I am a sucker for a novel told in verse.   I am a sucker for anything having to do with Mexican culture.   I am a sucker for a metaphor involving a tree.   I am a sucker for a novel that makes me feel .   So, needless to say, Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall has found its way into my heart. The protagonist, Lupita, is the oldest of 8 siblings!   She is used to caring for her brothers and sisters and almost has a friendship with her mother as opposed to a mother-daughter relationship.   But there are still some things her mother doesn’t think Lupita is ready to hear.   When Lupita hears her parents whispering and realizes they are keeping something from her, she demands to know the truth, and finds out that her mother has cancer.   From that point forward, Lupita’s life will never be the same.   She does all she can to keep...

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) This is Geoff Herbach 's sequel to Stupid Fast and continues Felton Reinstein’s story in true Felton fashion.   This is definitely a smart guy book—a book for smart guys, who definitely love a good chuckle. The story opens at the end of summer with Felton typing a letter to his girlfriend Aleah while flying in an airplane on his way to retrieve his younger brother from Florida.   The entire book is written as one giant letter to Aleah explaining how his summer led him to this moment in time.   After Felton and his brother Andrew got some help with their mother’s issues, Felton went right back to throwing himself into football and track—because he is stupid fast.   However, Andrew did not cope quite as well as Felton did.   Felton ignores his brother’s cries for help and continuously lets him down.   His brother ends up cooking up an elaborate plan to run ...

copyright date:   October 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (high school) Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King is unlike anything else I have ever read.   Lucky’s story has lingered in my mind long after I put the book down.   {The ants cheer.} Lucky Linderman has been ruthlessly bullied by Nader McMillan since second grade.   Needless to say, high school is not a pleasant experience for him.   His mother is a squid; she swims laps to escape reality.   His father is a turtle; he works long hours at his restaurant to escape reality.     His grandfather fought in the Vietnam War and never returned.   He is officially listed as Prisoner of War/Missing in Action.   When Lucky’s grandmother died, she charged him with the duty of continuing the search for his missing grandfather.   The book covers a summer in Lucky’s life when the bullying reaches a point where it can no longer b...