MAYDAY, by Karen Harrington

The story: Wayne Kovok survives the plane crash, but loses his voice. Literally--he was hit in the neck by a flying laptop and sustained damage to his throat and vocal cords. So Grandpa has come to stay with Wayne and his mom and help while they recuperate. Too bad Grandpa wants to run his grandson's life like Wayne was one of his boot camp recruits from back in the day. Too bad Wayne fills up the awkward silences in his life with random factoids--which is a lot harder to do when you have to write them on sticky notes. And too bad that life is about to change forever, with only limited warning.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (terminal disease, difficult relationships with parents) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Loved this one! Wayne's voice is spot-on for a nerdy 7th grader looking to find his way through middle school; his relationships with Grandpa, mom, and his kinda loser dad all feel real; his changes from beginning to end ring true. As he learns to accept and deal with the hard stuff, he realizes he truly is stronger than he knew, and that the hard stuff teaches you important life lessons. It's not often that the same book makes me laugh AND cry, but "Mayday" succeeded. Two thumbs way, way up!