The Girl with the Silver Eyes and Haunted Summer

In The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts, Katie Welker is different.  Her eyes are silver, and she can make objects move just by thinking about them.  Some people think Katie might be a witch, and none of the children like her.  Katie feels very alone until she learns that her mother worked for a pharmaceutical company while pregnant.  Mrs. Welker used a drug that was later discontinued for safety reasons.  Katie also learns that three other workers were pregnant at the same time.  Katie wonders if these other children are like her, and she tries to find them.

This was one of my favorite books when young.  I read it multiple times.  I decided to read it again recently to see if it would hold up, and it does.  I still find the story to be excellent.  Now that I am much older, I do see some flaws in the plot that were not apparent to me when I was young.  Katie finds the other children too easily, and the ending of the book is a bit rushed.  However, the story is still great and is quite engaging.

In Haunted Summer by Hope Dahle Jordan, Rilla Marston hits something while driving the florist's delivery truck on a foggy night.  Rilla is horrified to see that she has run over a boy on a bicycle.  She takes him to the hospital, then she panics and flees.  Later, Rilla learns that the authorities are looking for a boy—Rilla has short hair, so the nurse must have thought she was a boy.  Rilla is safe; no one is looking for her.  However, Rilla is consumed by guilt when she learns that the boy was seriously injured.  How can Rilla go on with her life when she knows what she did?

Rilla's full name is Marilla Marston.  I love her name.

This is an excellent story.