Gather, by Kenneth M Cadow

Ian (short for Dorian) is trying to keep things together.  Mom struggles with addiction, Dad left them a long time ago.  Ian's closest (and maybe only) friend is a stray dog he calls "Gather." But while Ian is alone, he is far from helpless.  He's resourceful, knowing how to triage a problem and prioritize what needs to be done.  And he has a talent for fixing broken things.  Combining those skills, he's been able to keep the house intact, the heat on, and food coming in.

But there are limits to what Ian can do as a fifteen year-old.  He can't earn enough money to pay the bills.  He has to juggle taking care of the house and her mother with going to school to avoid raising suspicions.  And when a true crisis strikes that he cannot fix, Ian is overwhelmed and chooses to run.  He's then surprised to find a large number of people willing to help him.

Recounted in Ian's rustic inflection and in his meandering style that drifts freely from one topic to another, Ian's voice is distinctive and his storytelling rich.  At times charmingly naive, his endearing modesty and kindness make him a sympathetic protagonist.  As for the novel itself, this is something of a throwback to the classic boy-becomes-man story and it has a timeless feel reminiscent of classic like Huckleberry Finn or My Side of the Mountain.

Ollie in Between, by Jess Callans

When Ollie is assigned a paper in her sex-ed class on the topic of what it means to be a woman, she figures that she'll just ask a few adults and get the answers.  What she finds is that every woman she talks to has different answers or no answer at all.  In fact, the only common denominator seems to be that everyone thinks it must have been easier for everyone else!

Ollie herself certainly is having trouble.  Her friends say she needs to start wearing a bra and being more girly.  The boys on her hockey team won't let her play anymore.  And there are the unavoidable physical changes.  Her older sister is telling her she needs to start shaving.  When her period comes, she doesn't want to deal with it.  

Everywhere she looks, she is being told what she must do to be a girl and what she must not do because she is not a boy.  None of it feels right for her.  There's a trans girl at her school, but Ollie doesn't think she is trans herself.  She might be non-binary, but she hasn't really decided.  All she knows for certain is that she's not sure what she wants to be.  If only someone could answer the question of what a woman is so she could figure out whether it is what she wants.

Beautifully and sensitively capturing the transition from childhood to adult, Ollie is an updated Margaret (as in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret) for the gender diverse world.  A supportive family and largely permissive school gives Ollie the chance to really lay out her feelings about puberty and the growing social expectations she is facing.  And thoughts she has!  Ollie has her small panic attacks and immature moments, but she's wonderfully level headed and well-spoken.  And it was fascinating to simply listen to her thoughts and concerns, many of which will resonate with grownups as well as children.  As for the story itself, I really appreciated the fact (spoiler alert!) that she doesn't manage in the space of this novel to figure everything out!

Try Your Worst, by Chatham Greenfield

Sadie and Cleo have been locked in competition with each other literally from birth, when their mothers tried to produce the first birth of the year (Cleo won that competition, but Sadie was the last baby born in the previous year).  Growing up, both girls competed for awards and grades.  Now, they vie for salutatorian and valedictorian.  At times, the competition grew intense and the girls lost perspective.

However, their senior year seems to be out of control.  Lockers are getting vandalized, tires slashed, and precious belongings stolen.  Their principal calls them in to warn both girls that they need to tone it down or he will expel them, putting an end to the competition for good.  However, neither Cleo nor Sadie are actually doing these things.  In fact, it seems that someone is actually trying to get them in trouble.  That's not hard to do as their homophobic school principal does seem to have an axe to grind with them.  

The question is who is doing this and can the girls expose that person before they succeed in getting them thrown out of school?  Complicating the investigation is the nagging suspicion that each of them have that the culprit is really the other person.  Sadie suffers from clinical depression and her unpredictable behavior makes her especially suspect and vulnerable.  Predictably, the shared adversity of having a secret enemy brings the girls together into an unexpected romance. That makes things yet messier as their trust in each other is serious tested throughout.  A bittersweet ending eschews easy solutions and felt right, even if it was also terribly unfair to the protagonists.

The competing storylines (mysterious malefactor, coping with depression, and romance) leads to a confusing story that I eventually lost track of.  The depression story, in particular, didn't work for me and seemed largely unnecessary.  That said, I enjoyed the characters and their struggle and rooted for them.

The Secret Language of Birds, by Lynne Kelly

Nina loves watching and learning about bird, although her passion goes largely unnoticed within her family.  When she gets invited by her aunt to come spend time together while her aunt sets up her summer camp, Nina grudgingly agrees to come. It's a good place to observe nature and Nina focuses on the birds and more or less ignores the other girls at the camp.

But one night, some of her fellow campers convince her to sneak out at night for a prank.  While they are out, Nina catches a glimpse of a large white bird in the woods that looks remarkably like a Whooping Crane.  That would be rare enough, as Whoopers haven't been seen around the camp in a century or more, but this sighting might actually be one of the first in Texas in a while!

Following her instincts. her existing knowledge of birds, and some help from the other girls. Nina is able to prove that it is a Whooping Crane.  Things get even more exciting when another bird appears and they seem to be a breeding air with a nest and eggs!  At this point, some adult supervision is called in and the rest of the story becomes a learning experience in wildlife conservation.

A mystery that helps Nina learn to get along with her peer and find her place. it is combined with academic material about cranes, their current conservation status, and interesting details about breeding, and calls.  The mixture provides a wonderful excuse to bring some focus on these majestic birds.  While the girls get to pursue their passion for animals, responsible adults provide valuable guidance about dealing with wild animals and how to be a good conservator.  A winning combination of heartwarming story and useful knowledge.

The Mystwick School of Musicraft, by Jessica Khoury

Amelia has always dreamed of attending the Mystwick School, her mother's alma mater.  Mom was once a great maestro who casted beautiful spells with her music.  But musicraft (the mixture of music and magic) was also what killed her mother.  Amelia's grandmother doesn't want Amelia to have anything to do with it. But Amelia nonetheless persists on apply and auditioning for a place at the school.

It does not go well.  A series of mishaps and bad luck derails her audition and it is pretty obvious that she won't be accepted and her hopes of becoming a musicrafter are ended.  But to her surprise, she is accepted!  It is not until she arrives that the mystery is solved:  a bureaucratic mishap has delivered her a place that was supposed to go to another girl.  However, fixing the mistake is complicated and the faculty make a deal:  if she can prove herself in the next two months, she can stay.

That is a tall order.  She plays well enough, but no way to the professional level of the other students.  And to make things even more challenging, she has lots of enemies: classmates who want to see her fail, teachers who distrust her, and -- something far more dangerous -- a vengeful ghost.  But with some sleuthing, a new friend, and perseverance, she will not only succeed but become a heroine of her class.

A Harry Potter-like fantasy about a seventh grade flautist who has to find herself to save her school.  The story lacks originality and has a pretty transparent target audience, but I enjoyed the combination of music and magic.  It danced a fine line between fantasy and metaphor -- making music into something that not only touches the heart but can manifest physical and material changes in the world.  Seventh graders who play flute (or any musical instrument) will appreciate the musical references and the story of a brave and hard-working girl who saves the day has broad appeal for anyone who wishes they could change the world with a song