Red Glass

Red Glass by Laura Resau

Summary from amazon.com:

"Sophie is an amoeba, a free-floating spirit who is not attached to anything besides her family and her books. Then one night she picks up a phone call from the hospital. Seven Mexican migrants and their guide have died crossing the Arizona border. The lone survivor is a six-year-old boy named Pablo who had Sophie's stepfather's business card in his pocket.

Pablo comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie's great aunt Dika, a Bosnian war refugee. Sophie grows to love her Principito, or Little Prince, but after a year her parents get in contact with Pablo's remaining family in Mexico.

Over the summer, Sophie, Dika, Dika's boyfriend, and his son must take Pablo back to his hometown so that he can choose between his new family and his birth family. The trip is hard at first, because Sophie is afraid that anything and everything will go wrong. But the stories and the struggles of her companions change her perception of danger and she grows attached to Ángel despite her fears that she will lose him.

When a terrible accident occurs, Sophie is forced to make a dangerous trip to Guatemala by herself. On the way, she realizes that while life has its risks, it is still beautiful and even fun. "

I found this to be a beautiful story that touches upon many subjects. The book discusses immigration, war, violence, self identity, and what it means to be a family.

If you are a fan of A Step From Heaven, then you will enjoy this story.

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Ella Enchanted is another version of the famous fairy tale, Cinderella. Upon her birth, Ella receives a gift of obedience bestowed upon her by the fairy Lucinda. This gift allows others to control Ella's life and make her follow their wishes. Ella has to overcome this curse in order to marry her prince.

Summary from amazon.com:

"At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the "gift" of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey. Another girl might have been cowed by this affliction, but not feisty Ella: "Instead of making me docile, Lucinda's curse made a rebel of me. Or perhaps I was that way naturally." When her beloved mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent and avaricious father, and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous stepsisters, Ella's life and well-being seem in grave peril. But her intelligence and saucy nature keep her in good stead as she sets out on a quest for freedom and self-discovery, trying to track down Lucinda to undo the curse, fending off ogres, befriending elves, and falling in love with a prince along the way. Yes, there is a pumpkin coach, a glass slipper, and a happily ever after, but this is the most remarkable, delightful, and profound version of Cinderella you've ever read."

If you are a fan of Cinderella, The Princess Diaries, or a fan of fairy tales, you will enjoy this story.