Whale Rider, by Witi Ihimaera. The language in this so far is pretty good, lyrical enough to evoke oral histories. Unless the reader is fascinated with language, however, this book will not immediately grab. My kids don't like historical fiction-- too bad-- and this won't sell them on the genre.
True (... sort of), by Katherine Hannigan. I'm loving this book so far. It's really great and reminds me a lot of Savvy. Unfortunately, for reasons I could not identify, I wasn't successful at selling Savvy to my middleschool patrons. But I think this will be a great book, and acurately captures how alot of kids feel.
How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous, by Georgia Bragg; illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. This is a fairly decent book, but I'm going back and forth on whether or not to book talk it. It's just gross enough to appeal to a range of boys, but I don't like the writing: it's a little too flippant, and the book doesn't mention when there is controversy or disagreement over a fact.
--and then some non-book-talk titles--
The Rain Train, by Elena De Roo; illustrated by Brian Lovelock. The boy loves trains, but I found this book annoying. How many onomatopoetic words can one author create?
A Monster Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Kids, by Sarah L. Schuette. My son is a pretty good eater, so I don't need to trick him into trying things. Yeah, there's a cool gross-out factor in calling it a squid sandwhich, but there isn't anything in here that normal children wouldn't eat anyway. The seven recipes are for, basically, rice crispy treats, smores, chex mix, that weird church salad (jello mix, pineapple pieces, and cottage cheese), hot dog rollies, oatmeal, and raw broccolli. Libraries should save their money.
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