The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle

One of my current favorites from some of the newer books in our collection is The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox. Though we shelve it in our Mystery/Horror section, this book contains a touch of several other genres. It is set in 1940 Great Britain when children of city families were sent to the countryside to protect them from bombings, so it has a historical feel. The school to which our main characters are sent is not all it seems. There are both mystical fantasy and mystery elements to the story that are evident as our heroine, Katherine, has to discover why classmates are disappearing and why she is seeing other spectral children.

 A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen

This historical novel is set during the Cold War as the Berlin Wall is being built. Gerta and her family live in East Berlin, but like many families suffering under the conditions of the Russian held part of Germany, would like to escape to the Western section of the city that is controlled by either the Americans, French, or British.  Gerta's father and brother Dominic secretly slip into the western section on a scouting mission to prepare to bring the entire family, but end up trapped as the East Germans crack down on fleeing citizens and begin building the wall. Gerta is left behind with her mother and older brother, and all live in constant fear of arrest or death because of her father's previous "subversive" activities. After several years of separation, Gerta one day looks across the wall and to see her father on a platform doing a dance to a song he used to sing to her. Gerta feels sure he is trying to tell her something, and if she can figure it out, could it lead to a reunification of her family?

 The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore

I am part of a book club populated by OMMS teachers and staff. This book was our January selection. It is the story of how the author was intrigued by a news account of a man with the exact same name and of the same background - even growing up in the same area of Baltimore - who was arrested and incarcerated for murder. He felt that just as easily, this could have been his fate. The book is a look into the factors that made a difference in the two men's lives. I was so inspired by this book that I bought the Young Readers' version for the library:

 Discovering Wes Moore