For our final meeting of the spring, we each made book recommendations for summer reading.

Jamie recommends:

Beyond All Expectations : The Story of Paige Barton by JoAnne Putnam

The remarkable story of how Paige overcame tremendous societal barriers to gain independence from institutions, obtain her Bachelor's degree, and earn a professional position in state government advocating for people with disabilities.

CSI : Binding Ties by Max Allan Collins

When a man dies in a crime similiar to an unsolved decade-old series for whom a serial killer known as CASt took credit, Gil Grissom and his team investigate, and a reporter gets a letter from someone claiming to be CASt who denies responsibility for the latest killing.

Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson

Tells the story of the little Skye terrier who, for 14 years, returned every night to the shepherd's grave in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh, so dearly had he loved his master.

Katie Rose recommends:

Jude by Kate Morgenroth

Still reeling from his drug-dealing father's murder, moving in with the wealthy mother he never knew, and transferring to a private school, fifteen-year-old Jude is tricked into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit.

Playing in Traffic by Gail Giles

Shy and unremarkable, seventeen-year-old Matt Lathrop is surprised and flattered to find himself singled out for the sexual attentions of the alluring Skye Colby, until he discovers the evil purpose behind her actions.

Wintering : A Novel of Sylvia Plath by Kate Moses

A fictional account of the last months of Sylvia Plath's life and the painful creation of her Ariel poems finds her moving with her two children to London after divorcing Ted Hughes, who is saddened by her latest writings and who works to remind her about happier times.

Amanda recommends:

Crime Lab Case (Nancy Drew #165) by Carolyn Keene

Nancy, helping out with a "chemystery" camp, a special forensics program for high school students, finds herself with a real mystery to solve when the professor who runs the camp suddenly falls into an unexplained coma.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Mrs. Gordon recommends:

Deep End of the Ocean by Jacqelyn Mitchard

Beth Cappadora finds herself in the midst of every parent's nightmare when her three-year-old son vanishes without a trace from a Chicago hotel lobby, throwing Beth, her husband Pat, and their son Vincent into a turmoil that ravages their lives.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.