MotherReader

"Books for Ballou" is not a hot new title for the preschool set, but instead a book drive for Ballou High School in Washington DC. The book fair is run through Guys Lit Wire with all the info available there, but basically the project has a wish list of books at Powells to be purchased for the far-too-empty library shelves at the high school. Also, while this project is not a chance to get rid of your leftovers, if you have new copies of books on the list, contact guyslitwire (at) gmail (dot) com to see if you can send those along. Here are three titles I am sending, with publisher copy since I haven't read them:

Under the Mesquite 
by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
"Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother's battle with cancer in this young adult novel in verse. Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey toward hope is captured in moments that are alternately warm and poignant. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about testing family bonds and the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience."

My Name is Mina 
by David Almond
"A blank notebook lies on the table. It has been there for what seems like forever. Mina has proclaimed in the past that she will use it as a journal, and one night, at last, she begins to do just that. As she writes, Mina makes discoveries both trivial and profound about herself and her world, her thoughts and her dreams. Award-winning author David Almond reintroduces readers to the perceptive, sensitive Mina before the events of Skellig in this lyrical and fantastical work. My Name is Mina is not only a pleasure to read, it is an intimate and enlightening look at a character whose open mind and heart have much to teach us about life, love, and the mysteries that surround us."

Paper Covers Rock 
by Jenny Hubbard
"At the beginning of his junior year at a boys' boarding school, 16-year-old Alex is devastated when he fails to save a drowning friend. When questioned, Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also at the river, begin weaving their web of lies. Plagued by guilt, Alex takes refuge in the library, telling his tale in a journal he hides behind Moby-Dick. Caught in the web with Alex and Glenn is their English teacher, Miss Dovecott, fresh out of Princeton, who suspects there's more to what happened at the river when she perceives guilt in Alex's writing for class."