Please Pay Attention

Sumner, Jaime. Please Pay Attention. 2025. 240p. ISBN 9781665956079

Bea Coughlin's life is irrevocably altered by a school shooting that claims the lives of three of her school mates and her 6th grade teacher, dividing her existence into a stark "Before" and "After." Struggling to cope with the overwhelming grief and the sense of helplessness she experienced in her wheelchair during the tragedy, Bea finds herself disconnected from the wave of activism that sweeps through her community. The marches and protests, while well-intentioned, fail to alleviate her internal turmoil, leaving her feeling isolated in her grief.

Seeking solace and healing, Bea discovers the therapeutic benefits of horseback riding. Through her interactions with the horses, she gradually begins to reconnect with herself, her adopted mother, and  she rediscover a sense of normalcy. As her emotional wounds begin to heal, Bea finds her voice and the courage to advocate for change, transforming her personal trauma into a powerful force for action. She moves beyond her initial feelings of helplessness to become a driving force in the fight against gun violence.

Maniac Magee.

Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee. 1990. 184p. ISBN 9780316807227. 

Orphaned at a young age when his parents were killed in a trolley accident, Jeffrey Magee first went into foster care with his aunt and uncle who were fighting with one another. Soon, Jeffrey realized he would be better off living on the streets than with those crazy folks, and that's exactly what he did. He not only ran away, but he ran for the sake of running. He crossed the bridge to the town on the other side of the river, and he never looked back.

Jeffrey's legend grew as other kids and even adults noticed him running through town. He made friends with an African-American girl who loves to read. He made enemies of the boys who were star athletes by demonstrating that he was faster and better than they were. His reputation grew, and his lack of fear gave rise to the name Maniac Magee. Living with Amanda's family for a while gave Jeffrey a sense of comfort, but it did not give him what he wanted more, an address.

Over the next years, Maniac Magee moves from one place to another within his new home town, never staying long but changing lives along the way. And, much to his surprise, Maniac Magee's most impactful change may be on himself!

The Raven's Tale

Winters, Cat. The Raven's Tale. 2019. 368p. ISBN 9781419733628.

Following the death of his mother, Edgar Poe became the ward of a rich family, the Allans. His foster father hoped to guide Edgar towards a productive and responsible role in society, but the teen's desire, no, the existential need to write poetry created a rift between them that could not be mended. Inspired by the  muse Lenore that proves to be real, Poe heads to university, but his father is witholding funds from him and refuses to pay the full tuition, leaving Poe in the throes of poverty and starvation.

Struggling to make ends meet and put food on his table, Poe goes from bad to worse as he gambles away the little money he has. Meanwhile, he continues to write feverishly, and Lenore haunts his days and nights. Is Poe condemned to settle for his foster father's desired path for him, or can he make a break and lead his own poetic life?

School's Out -- Forever

Patterson, James. School's Out -- Forever. Book 2 of the Maximum Ride series. 2006. 409p. ISBN 978-0-316-06796-6. Available both as an ebook on Overdrive and at FIC PAT on the library shelves.

Maximum Ride and her family escaped the clutches of the laboratory where they were experimented on, but are confronted by flying Erasers. They escape, but Fang is hurt. In the hospital, Max is connected to Anne, an FBI agent who takes them home so they can enjoy a normal life. Max and her family go to school, and get plenty of opportunities to interact with normal kids and go through activities like dating. 

Agents return to threaten Max and the rest of the family, and the flock fights them off again. Iggy discovers that his birth family his nearby, and he escapes to join them, only to discover that all they want from him his money, and that they don't care about him as much as the rest of the flock does. When Max realizes that Anne has connections to the lab, the flock flees and heads to Florida.

There they stumble upon a plot by a company named Itex, which is somehow connected to the lab. Hoping to stop the plot, Max, Iggy, Fang, Angel and Gassy infiltrate the facility and are confronted by a a genetically identical clone of Max. The clone is intent on eliminating the real Max so she can take her place. Can the flock survive a battle between two Max?

The Lovely and the Lost

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. The Lovely and the Lost. 2019. 328p. 512 mins. ISBN 978-1-982596-26-2. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

As a young girl, Kira was found lost in the forest, where she had been fending for herself for days, if not weeks. Cady Bennett and her team of search-and-rescue dogs located her deep into the woods. Kira was never claimed, so Cady adopted her and raised her as her own daughter, forming a family of three with her own son, Jude. For Kira, it took years of therapy before she could trust other humans again, and even now she doesn't like to be cornered, has trouble interpreting subtle signals people send, and would much rather work with her dog than with others. Nevertheless, she managed to make friends with Free, a neighbor girl, who joined Kira and Jude as a now infamous trio, and all three of them have joined the search-and-rescue business, training dogs that are later purchased by various organizations. Kira's goal is to become a certified search-and-rescue dog trainer.

During a regular training session, Kira's dog finds a strange man on their property. He is Bales Bennett, Cady's father and someone Cady hasn't spoken to in years. Even Jude has never met him. He brings news that a young girl has walked away from her camp site in the Sierra Glades National Park, and has now been missing for two days. As this case is similar to Kira's own life, Cady accepts to participate in the search, and she brings Kira, Jude and Free along to gain valuable field experience. They meet Gabriel, a ward of Bales, with secrets of his own and, like Kira, hard to approach.

Able to draw from her own past, Kira and her dog quickly locate evidence that the child was still alive recently, but there's clear proof that she is with someone who is intimately familiar with the forest. The case transforms from a missing person's to a kidnapping. As the teens spend time in the forest and in the local villages, they realize many visitors have gone missing in the last year. In a race against time to find the missing child, secrets will be revealed, lives will change forever, and Kira will need to decide whether she can put her trust back in humanity.

Author of The Naturals and Every Other Day, Barnes successfully builds a psychological thriller with a unique premise of a human / animal partnership and an emotionally crippled main character. Fans will appreciate Kira's tenacity and dedication to make sure this girl does not become like her.

A Time to Run: Stuart & Sam

Nicholson, Lorna Schultz. A Time to Run: Stuart & Sam. Part of the One 2 One series. 2018. 203p. ISBN 978-1-9883-4709-7. Available at FIC NIC on the library shelves.

Stuart was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and in order to cope with his issues he has learned to run away. A member of the Best Buddy program at his school, Stuart was paired with Sam, who is the captain of the basketball team and one of the best player. Stuart was convinced to be the team manager, but he doesn’t really want to be there. When Sam’s heart stops during a tense basketball game, Stuart is besides himself.

Sam is thankfully revived, but with a new cardiac monitor in his chest he can’t play sports anymore. Goodbye athletic scholarship. Dejected, Sam really doesn’t want to deal with Stuart, but realizes that his commitment to his Best Buddy is important. When he hears that Stuart is getting in trouble, Sam decides to get involved again.

Meanwhile, Stuart is approached by Donnie a local thug and drug dealer who drives a fast car. Unable to see danger, Stuart begins to ride with Donnie and make drug runs for him. Sam notices Stuart getting in Donnie’s car when Stuart is pretending to be participating in track and field at school, he tells Stuart’s mother. With dangerous Donnie still hovering in the background, Sam convinces Stuart to actually join the track and field team, so he can put his running to good use. Stuart turns out to be really good at running, but there are times in life when you can’t run away from your problems.

Told in alternating perspectives, Sam and Stuart’s story provides a glimpse in the life of someone affected by FASD. If you like this book, you will enjoy Bent Not Broken: Madeline and Justin.

Solo

Alexander, Kwame. Solo. 2017. 464p. ISBN 9780310761839. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Rutherford Morrison is multi-millionaire star that struck it rich with amazing music, Morrison eventually lost his guiding star when his wife, died of a heart attack following an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Now addicted to drugs and hoping to accomplish a comeback that never concretizes, Rutherford is more famous for his antics and his myriad rehab stints than his music.

Morrison has two kids, Storm and Blade. Storm has released her own music album, but everyone except her find it a terrible mismash of sounds and a clear lack of talent. Blade is ready to graduate high school and move on. He misses his mother terribly, and he wishes his father would reconnect with the music he loved so much. Blade is in love with Chapel, a beautiful girl, but her parents have forbidden them seeing each other based on the pretext they don’t want her introduced to drugs, even though Blade is the opposite of Rutherford.

When the valedictorian bows out, Blade, as salutatorian, is expected to deliver a speech. A born songwriter and poet, Blade is encouraged by Chapel to write a song instead of a speech and perform it in front of his peers. Unfortunately, Blade’s performance never gets off the ground as his father, drunk and high, crashes graduation on a motorcycle accompanied by a scantily clad woman. In an event recorded by many and posted online, Rutherford ruins Blade’s graduation. During a particularly epic fight that night, Storm reveals that Blade is in fact adopted.

Crushed by this revelation, Blade turns to Chapel for comfort, only to discover her in someone else’s arms. Feeling abandoned by the love of his life and by a birth mother who gave him up and never looked for him, Blade decides to look for her. Unfortunately, she now works in Ghana as a missionary. Blade resolves to find her and forge a relationship with someone he didn’t know he missed until now. Will going to Ghana help Blade heal his mind and emotions from his chaotic life?

Filled with mentions of rock and roll and interspersed with original songs, this audiobook is a classic coming of age and finding oneself novel using a slightly different approach. Blade is self-centered, but he is a realistic teenager, and his desire to know more about his roots and reconnect to the music he loves drives this story. Readers who enjoy books about music will appreciate this tale.