“The Dragonfly” by Leila Meacham

In a heartfelt and thrilling story set in WWII, a team of young Americans recruited by the OSS, are kept in the dark as to the other team members’ real names and assignments, even as they are dropped behind enemy lines into German-occupied Paris to masquerade as everyday citizens, living in constant peril of being revealed as the spies they are. The backstories, friendships, problems, and lives of the team members –two women and three men, are revealed in alternating chapters, and as the tension mounts and some of their lives intersect, the danger closes in and they each face situations that call for them to put their lives at risk in unbelievable ways. 5 Stars

“How the Penguins Saved Veronica” by Hazel Prior

I was in need of a charming read, and this book delightfully filled the bill, as wealthy, rigid, 85-year-old Veronica McCreedy, suddenly starts questioning her legacy, looks for a long-lost grandson, and becomes involved with a group of scientists studying penguins. Full of fun and yet tender at times, the story is told with engaging appeal by three narrators, whose lives eventually intersect: grandson Patrick, a scientist named Terry, and Veronica herself, who all start to deal with the past, redefine family, and find they are growing in humorous, poignant, and unexpected ways. 5 Stars

“The One-in-a-Million Boy” by Monica Wood

This poignant, tender book is difficult to describe, so let me tell you what it’s not -it’s not a compelling page-turner, or a literary classic, not a thrilling mystery, a historical masterpiece, a chic-lit farce, or a sci-fi extravaganza, but instead, it is an essentially human story of grieving and loss, that celebrated the miracle of human acceptance, companionship, and care, and caused me to reflect on the quality of my own life, my own friendships, on all that makes a person valuable, and all that makes a life worthwhile.  Sometimes this story made me giggle and sometimes I was moved to tears, as an 11-year-old Boy Scout who is obsessed with the Guinness Book of World Records, begins working on a badge by doing odd jobs for 104-year-old Miss Ona Vitkus, and ultimately the echoes of that relationship have a deep effect on the boy’s father, Quinn, a struggling musician with a myriad of regrets, the boy’s mother, Belle who is paralyzed by grief, and surprisingly, on Ona herself. 5 Stars

“Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah

If you read “The Grapes of Wrath” in school, or learned about the Dust Bowl in history class, you probably think you know what it was like, but in Kristin Hannah’s new book, the reader comes face to face with the author’s frighteningly explicit descriptions of devastating dust storms, the terror of surviving their assault, the mounting sense of despair, the ravages of the land you love and depend on, the loss of dignity and self-respect, the agony, depression, and tedium of year after year of onslaught, the rising poverty, the greed of the wealthy who disparage and take advantage of the destitute, the sicknesses developed by breathing dirt and dust, the fight for survival, and the risks inherent in leaving to find a better life.  The book explores all this using role models of several strong women, while emphasizing  the legacy and strength that a family provides, as Elsa Martinelli, who had a difficult start in life, finally finds a loving family, but when the Dust Bowl continues for an entire decade, she must overcome unbelievable odds to save her family and find within herself, the courage to carry on in circumstances that would daunt even the most determined. 5 Stars