I just finished HEAVEN IS PAVED WITH OREOS, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock--a MG in the same world as DJ Schwenk (DJ's brother Curtis's friend Sarah is the MC.) Also Natalie Lorenzi's FLYING the DRAGON (finally!). I thought she really nailed the cultural differences and just how it feels to be uprooted and plonked in a new culture. It's not the big things, it's the small ones that unnerve and discomfort you...
Currently reading GHOSTS WHO WENT TO SCHOOL by Judith Spearing to my kids. It's a gentle, humorous, somewhat episodic MG from 1966 (thank you, Scholastic Book Clubs!) about a couple of ghosts who are brothers. It goes well with the slightly spooky 1880 house we just moved into...
And can I just say that I'm glad there are so many different books? Sometimes when you're going through something hard, you need that serious book that validates your experience, or gives you suggestions for a way out. But sometimes when you've been shouldering a lot of stress for a long time, you really do need something that is completely unserious. Unrealistic, even! That will give you a break. Which is why I picked up VOSS by David Ives to reread. Vospop Vsklzwczdztwczky (Voss for short) sneaks off somewhat illegally to American from his native Slobovia along with his father and uncle and some illegal "chizz poffs" (cheese puffs). Then they run into the REAL bad guys, Mafiaeque Bilius Opchuck and his criminals, and have to outwit them. It's full of crime and satire and funny. Just what I need after a highly stressful move!