Summer I Saved The World in 65 Days, by Michele Weber Hurwitz

Nina Ross didn't mean to start a pay-it-forward revolution that summer she turned 13. She just saw her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Chung, who had recently broken her leg and was on crutches, struggling to plant her annual marigolds... and Nina decided to help. So she snuck into her neighbor's yard and planted those flowers. 

This small deed gave Nina's happiness a boost, something she needed.

Nina had been feeling sort of lost lately. She's missing her grandmother, who passed away a few months back, and she's worried she's drifting apart from her BFF, who has become increasingly obsessed with boys, clothes, and beauty (things that Nina just doesn't "get"). But that one good deed, anonymously planting Mrs. Chung's marigolds, felt good. Really good.

It made Nina feel she had a purpose.

So Nina decides to anonymously do ONE good deed each day for the rest of the summer. All 65 days of it. She won't do it to get credit or praise. She'll just do it for the sake of doing it. Because it'll help someone out. Or just brighten their day. Nina doesn't realize what a difference these small, daily good deeds will make for the people living on her cul-de-sac. But suddenly her neighbors are smiling more and being kinder to each other. The cul-de-sac is a friendlier place.

But by helping everyone else can Nina sort out her own life dramas?

Additionally, not everyone is a fan of the mysterious "superhero" bent on helping people--and they want to expose that person for the mischief-maker they believe them to be.

Will things end happily?

You'll have to read the book to find out!

Michele Weber Hurwitz's sweetly inspiring novel The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days is one of the most adorable books I've read lately. Not only is Nina an extremely likable character, but she's real and relatable too. Reading this book just may inspire you to do something nice for someone too. This one is highly recommended. 

The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days is one of the books from our NEW Tween Section, where you'll find all sorts of awesome books aimed at younger readers--AJB

What It Is, by Lynda Berry

"Do You Wish To Write?" Cartoonist and writer Lynda Berry poses this question in her visually stunning how-to guide that's almost impossible to put down or fit into any genre or category. Part collage/scrapbook, part autobiography, part graphic novel, What It Is uses memories, imagination, dreams, hopes, fears, past experiences, future maybes, and the mundane-ness of day-to-day life to stimulate the mind inspire writing ideas. Read it cover to cover or open it at random. Either way, you're sure to find that cure for writer's block.

If nothing else, What It Is makes for a very entertaining read.