Title: Save Me a SeatAuthor: Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Summary: Ravi is looking forward to his first week in an American school after moving from India. But his accent gets mocked, his habits are too formal, and he even gets sent to the resource room! And the other Indian kid in the class, who he expected to be his best friend, does some very peculiar things sometimes. Almost like he's not Ravi's friend at all.
Meanwhile, Joe, the class "dumb kid," watches Ravi try to fit in and make friends with the class bully. While he doesn't want to reach out and make himself even more of a target to Dylan, he can't help connecting with another outcast.
By the end of the week, both boys will have an unexpected new friend.
First Impressions: This was very good! It was so painful to see Ravi thinking the bully was his friend though.
Title: Just Like MeAuthor: Nancy J Cavanaugh
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Summary: Julia is not looking forward to a week at church camp with Becca and Avery. They were all adopted from the same orphanage in China, but she's never felt close to them, and she's definitely never felt as in tune with her Chinese side as they are. But being put in the same cabin together with three bossy and unlikeable girls, and trying to work together to win the camp competition, will bring them all together.
First Impressions: This felt exactly like it had been written by an adoptive parent. It hit a lot of adoption tropes and summer camp tropes but I never really felt like any of them landed. I did like that it took place at a church camp, with bible verses and theology as an integral part but never overwhelming or evangelizing to the reader.
Title: Handbook for Dragon SlayersAuthor: Merrie Haskell
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library
Summary: Princess Matilda wants to spend her life in a cloister, copying the beautiful books that she loves, away from people afraid of her deformed foot. But the threat of a scheming cousin and a forced marriage propels her out of her home and into a life of adventure, where she discovers that even a shy girl can save the day.
First Impressions: I like how this book handled her disability - no miracle cure. There did seem to be a lot of story threads by the end. One could have been dropped no problem.
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