Ms Rush Reads

 copyright date: February 2, 2021 primarily marketed for: Middle Grades I devoured this one in a single sitting. The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother)  by David Levithan is the book I did not know I needed.  The story opens when Aidan S. has gone missing. His parents are distraught. His brother, Lucas, is beside himself. The town is pitching in to help search. As the days pass, the outcome looks more and more grim.  And then Aidan shows up in the attic, wearing the same pajamas he had on when he left, and everyone wants answers. Is he alright? Where was he? What made him disappear?  Although Aidan's story is the driving force behind this novel, it is really Lucas's story readers enter. When Aidan returns with an explanation beyond belief, Lucas is left to decide what really matters. Levithan hints at classic tales, but his perspective is uniquely fresh and inventive. Readers will be left thinking about what really makes a story true....

copyright date: August 2009 primarily marketed for: young adults (13 and up) Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is not new to the world, but it is new to me.   I have had it on my shelf for years and just didn’t get around to reading it until a friend convinced me it was well worth it.   She is a good friend.   With impeccable taste in literature. Within the first few pages I was enchanted.   Shiver is not just an enchanting story, but the way it is written is beautiful as well.   Lines like this make me want to stop and marvel at Stievfater’s way of crafting words to trigger the readers’ emotions: “Behind the counter, I slouched on my stool in the sun and sucked in the summer as if I could hold ever drop of it inside me.” Shiver alternates between the voice of Grace and the voice of Sam throughout the story.   Grace was attacked by wolves as a young girl and saved by a single wolf out of the pack.   Since then she ...

copyright date: June 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Imagine waking up every day without a memory of the previous day.   Imagine relying on notes you write to yourself to keep track of the life you are living.   Imagine being able to remember the future, but not the past.   Imagine you are London Lane in Cat Patrick's Forgotten . Every night when London Lane goes to sleep, her memory of the day is wiped clear.   Because she is able to remember the future, she has a loyal best friend Jamie (which she knows without a doubt because they are still friends in her memories of the future).   However, Jamie’s current choices are having a negative impact on her future and London begins to test whether or not she can make an impact on or even completely change future events.   When she meets an attractive new student named Luke, she is unable to remember him from day to day since he is not in her future memories. ...

copyright date: January 2012 primarily marketed for: young adult (13 and up) Ana is a newsoul.   She is born into a world where every other human body is inhabited by a soul that has lived thousands of years.   Ana’s community, a town called Heart, does not welcome her into their world.   To the rest of the population, Ana, or as they refer to her: a nosoul, represents fear of the unknown.   The timing of her birth coincided with the disappearance of a beloved soul named Cienna.   The rest of the souls fear her birth means the beginning of a series of “replacements,” and they hold it against Ana. Ana ends up spending approximately the first 18 years of her life in a cottage outside of the village with her abusive and controlling mother.   Her father fled Heart upon her birth.   Incarnate by Jodi Meadows begins when Ana is ready to leave her mother’s home to travel back to Heart in search of answers. ...