Anson's Way, by Gary D. Schmidt (1999)

In a small sod house scooped out beneath an embankment of hedges, a master teaches fifteen or sixteen students.  Sometimes there are more, sometimes fewer, depending upon the farm season.  The house - if it might be called a house - is invisible against the embankment.  Nevertheless, one boy stands hidden on guard.

Anson Granville Staplyton has always wanted to be a Staffordshire Fencible.  

I've waited for this day all my life, he thought, and here I am in it.  Drummer for the Staffordshire Fencibles, just like my father, and his father, and his father before him.

He is sent from England to Ireland to keep the king's peace.  In England, anyone said to be teaching superstitions and "the evil customs of his nation" are seeds of Irish rebellion, in violation of King George II's laws.

No one may tell an Irish tale.

There are to be no schools, no, places of learning, no teachers, no lawyers.

There are to be no Catholic churches, no priests, no saying of the Mass...

No Irishman may own a horse of value.

No Irishman may apprentice to a gunsmith.

No Irishman may travel abroad for schooling.

And no Irishman may own the fields he works.

Anson sees the beauty in Ireland and learns that things are not so simple.  And when he is faced with a decision, will Anson remain loyal to the Fencibles, or will he find another way?

Rating:  8 out 10 stars

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Not available at NOLS...yet!

Promised, by Caragh M. O'Brien (2012)

Gaia notched her arrow and drew back the taut string of her bow.

Book 3 of The Birthmarked Trilogy begins where Prized left off.  Gaia is the Matrarc of the people who fled Sylum.  They have crossed the Wastelands and are back at the Enclave.  

"What was I thinking, bringing us all here?" she said.  "This is insane."

"It wasn't all your decision, remember?  And it's not insane," he said.  "It's less insane than staying to watch us all die off in Sylum.  Not one girl born this past year.  Not one."

Not only does Gaia need to ask the Protectorate for refuge, she learns that her former home has changed.

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars

*sexual references, sensitive issues related to adoption/fertility

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Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos (2011)

School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer vacation when my mother walked p to me and ruined it.

Jack Gantos has a penchant for getting into trouble; during his summer vacation, he's been "grounded for life."  Anytime he gets stressed or scared, his nose gushes blood.  

Even though he's grounded, his mom lends him to an old neighbor, Miss Volker.  Miss Volker was one of the original Norvelt inhabitants, and she writes the obituary for each original inhabitant.  She needs Jack's help to write and type up the obituaries, but Jack learns interesting and exciting details about his hometown.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language

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What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell (2008)

The match snapped, then sizzled, and I woke up fast.  

Evie is 15 years old.  She lives in Queens with her mother and step-father.  It's been two years since World War II ended, and live is getting back to normal.  

After receiving yet another phone call from an ex-GI looking for a job, Evie's step-father, Joe, takes the family on a vacation to Pam Beach, Florida.

Suddenly Evie is caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. Murder and intrigue surround this delicious read!

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars

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Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein (2012)

I am a coward.

I wanted to be heroic and pretended I was.

Told from the two main characters, Code Name Verity describes the extraordinary lives of best friends Queenie and Maddie during World War II.  Queenie has been caught by the Gestapo in France.  Maddie is missing.  

Code Name Verity is an excellent story worth telling.  I loved each and every word!

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language

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