Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Book Review: We’re Not From Here

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 4 Comments

35615208We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey is a quick, funny read, and at the same time, it makes you think. It’s the story of a kid named Lan, who has to convince the aliens of Planet Choom to accept a spaceship full of human refugees.

At the beginning of the story, Lan and his family are living on Mars. Life on Earth is no longer an option. Life on Mars isn’t so great either. Lan and his friends try to keep their sense of humor by making funny videos, but the truth is that the station is running low on food and oxygen.

Then, they’re invited to immigrate to Choom, a planet that will support human life. It’s inhabited by several alien species, including the Zhuri, who look like giant mosquitos, the Ororo, who look like giant marshmallows, and the Krik, who look like little, green werewolves. About a thousand people opt to make the journey. When they come out of their bio-suspension pods twenty years later, though, they find that they are no longer welcome.

In the end, the Zhuri government allows one “human reproductive unit,” Lan, his sister, and his parents, to come to Choom as a test case. They’re being set up to fail, of course, but if Lan can make friends and make some of his new classmates laugh, they may have a chance. Luckily, the Zhuri can’t resist a good pratfall.

Everyone agrees it makes for an entertaining story. (And you’ll have to read the book to get this joke.)

On a more serious note, it would be interesting to read this book in a classroom along with a book of realistic fiction about refugees, such as Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle by Victoria Williamson, or The Eleventh Trade by Alyssa Hollingsworth.

Book Review: Small Spaces

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 10 Comments

36959639._SY475_When Halloween approaches, the kids at the library always start looking for spooky books. This year, I have a new recommendation for them: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. It’s a quick read that combines chilling action sequences and a satisfying supernatural mystery.

One day, Sixth grader Ollie Adler sees a woman preparing to throw a book in the creek. She can’t bear to see a book destroyed, so she grabs it, takes it home, and starts to read it. It’s a very old book called Small Spaces about a farmer from Smoky Hollow who makes a deal with the Smiling Man.

The next day is Farm Day at Ollie’s school, and the whole sixth grade class takes a field trip to a local farm. As Ollie explores, she discovers hints that Small Spaces is a true story set on this very farm. Then, on the way back to school, the bus breaks down. With darkness falling and the mist rising, Ollie flees with two of her classmates, Brian and Coco, and the real adventure begins.

I promise you, after reading this book, you will never look at scarecrows the same way again!

And if you want more chills, check out the sequel, Dead Voices.

Book Review: Dragon Pearl

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 6 Comments

34966859Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee combines Korean mythology, science fiction, and mystery in a terrific adventure story. Larrabee and I both loved it.

Min is a 13-year-old fox spirit living on a poor planet with her mother, aunts, and cousins. When her older brother, a cadet in the Thousand Worlds Space Forces, is accused of deserting his post to search for the fabled Dragon Pearl, Min runs away from home to find him. Her quest takes her across the galaxy toward the Ghost Sector.

Some of the things I liked best about this book are:

  1.  Min’s fox magic. In addition to acute senses of smell and hearing, Min has the ability to shape shift and to use Charm to influence other people’s behavior. Although she’s grown up assuming a human form and hiding her magic at her mother’s insistence, all of her special abilities prove useful in her search for her brother.
  2. The Thousand Worlds. From Min’s dome house on dusty Jinju to the sleek corridors of the battle cruiser Pale Lightning, the book’s settings drew me into the story.
  3. Min’s allies. Throughout the story, Min finds friends and allies in unexpected places. I particularly liked the goblin Sujin and the dragon Haneul.

Dragon Pearl is a fast-paced, suspenseful, and immersive read. I recommend it.

Book Review: The Reckless Club

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 5 Comments

38526585In The Reckless Club by Beth Vrabel, five students arrive at an assisted living home on the last day of summer. They’ve all been invited by the principal to do a day of service instead of serving a suspension for their bad behavior on the last day of school.

At the beginning of the day, they know each other only by reputation. Lilith is the Drama Queen. Wes is the Flirt. Ally is the Athlete, Rex is the Rebel, and Jason is the Nobody.

The story is told over the course of a single day from alternating viewpoints. As the five kids interact with the residents and with each other, they unravel the mystery of the Teddy Bear Nurse and reveal what they did to earn this punishment. In the process, they develop a surprising bond and figure out both who they’ve been in middle school and who they want to be going forward. 

The book’s title is a nod to The Breakfast Club, of course, a movie I loved when I was younger. I expect that most middle grade readers (Larrabee included) haven’t seen it, but that won’t impact their enjoyment of the book.

Book Review: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 4 Comments

36595887._SY475_Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez is one of my new favorite books!

I knew I’d like this book based on the “back seat” test. Larrabee often reads in the car on the way to baseball practice, martial arts, etc. If I hear him laugh, I put his book on my to-be-read list. If he insists on reading lines out loud to me, I move it to the top of the list. And if he brings it inside rather than waiting to read more during the next day’s car ride (like he did with this one), I have to blog about it.

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe is kind of a hard book to describe. On the one hand, it’s science fiction. Sal is able to tear a hole in the space-time continuum and see into other parallel universes. He can even bring people and things from them back into our universe. On the other hand, it’s a story about a middle school for the arts, a friendship story, and a story about family relationships.

What you really need to know, though, is that it’s a book that hooks you from the first page. The main character, Sal, is a talented magician (even when he’s not using the multiverse). He’s just moved to Florida with his dad and stepmom, and he’s dealing with a lot of issues–being the new kid in school, missing his mom, and managing his diabetes. His counterpart, Gabi, is the student council president and the editor of the school paper, and she has lots and lots of dads. Both are kind-hearted kids who make you root for their success.

This book was published by Disney-Hyperion under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. Larrabee has read most of the books they’ve published in the past year and a half and has enjoyed them all. We are particularly looking forward to Sal and Gabi’s next adventure (coming in 2020).

Book Review: Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 1 Comment

31180257Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire by John August is a fantasy adventure with plenty of action and lots of mystery.

Twelve-year-old Arlo Finch has just moved with his mom and older sister to live with his uncle in a tiny Colorado town. In an effort to fit in, he joins a scouting organization called the Rangers. He expects that he’ll learn to tie knots and navigate using a compass–and he does. But the Rangers also practice unusual skills that involve harnessing the magical energy of the nearby Long Woods.

Soon, Arlo receives a mysterious warning that he’s in danger. He’ll need all his new skills and the help of his new friends from Blue Patrol to stay one step ahead of the supernatural forces that are after him.

Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire is the first in a planned trilogy. Larrabee and I both enjoyed it. We just borrowed the second one, Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon, from the library.

And if you’re curious about how the book came to be, John August has recorded an interesting podcast (Launch) about the whole process from writing to printing.

To Night Owl from Dogfish

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 6 Comments

Meg Wolitzer children's book - The Night Owl From DogfishI watched The Parent Trap over and over when I was a little girl. I loved the story of two identical twins raised apart who meet at summer camp and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer caught my attention because its premise sounded like The Parent Trap in reverse. Two twelve-year-old girls, Avery and Bett, are being raised by single, gay dads on opposite sides of the country. When their dads meet at a conference and fall in love, they decide to send the girls to the same summer camp. But Bett finds out and emails Avery. The two agree that they don’t want to meet at camp, and they don’t want their families to change.

The story is told entirely in letters (mostly emails) over the next year and a half. I’m not always a fan of epistolary novels, but this one works because the two girls have such distinct personalities and writing styles. Avery (a.k.a. Night Owl) is an intense New Yorker who worries about a lot of things. Bett (a.k.a. Dogfish) is an outdoorsy and fearless Californian. It’s fun to see the story unfold through their different viewpoints.

Book Review: The Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 4 Comments

35631756My dad is a big Civil War buff, and I grew up among the battlefields of Middle Tennessee, so I was intrigued by a middle grade novel about a twelve-year-old Civil War reenactor. The Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody by Matthew Landis did not disappoint. It’s a terrific school friendship story with a historical mystery on the side.

Oliver is an expert on the Civil War, so he’s thrilled about his new social studies project. But then he gets paired with Ella, a girl who never does her homework and is rumored to be failing the 7th grade. To make matters worse, they’re not assigned one of the famous generals he knows so much about. Instead, they’re tasked with researching Private Raymond Stone, a low-ranking soldier who lived near their Pennsylvania town and died of dysentery.

Both Private Stone and Ella turn about to be a lot more surprising–and complicated–than Oliver expected. The same could be said for this book. I recommend it.

Book Review: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 4 Comments

36292177In the first chapter of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, 12-year-old Ella (a.k.a. Coyote) accepts a free kitten from two boys outside a mini mart. Despite her dad Rodeo’s strict no-pets policy, she smuggles the kitten aboard their converted school bus home. And she names him Ivan after the gorilla in her favorite book, The One and Only Ivan. At that point, I was hooked and eager to follow Coyote on her remarkable journey.

Coyote and her dad have been living on the road for five years. They haven’t been back to their home in Washington state since her mother and two sisters were killed in a car crash. But one day, when they’re in Florida, Coyote talks to her grandmother on the phone and learns that her neighborhood park is going to be torn down in less than a week. She and her mother and sisters buried a memory box in that park, and she’s determined to retrieve it. The problem is that home is even more of a no-go than a pet for Rodeo. So, Coyote hatches a plan to get back there without her father figuring out their true destination. Along the way, they pick up several interesting passengers with missions of their own, and they have lots of adventures.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good road trip story. It’s one of those stories that has sad parts but overall has an upbeat tone. Larrabee enjoyed it too. Thanks to my friend Lindsay for recommending it to me!

 

Book Review: The Doughnut King

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 7 Comments

41800976The minute Larrabee finishes a book he loves, he always asks, “Is there a sequel?”

If, like us, you loved The Doughnut Fix by Jessie Janowitz (a 2018 Cybils finalist), then I have good news for you. Tris’s adventures continue in The Doughnut King!

The doughnut business that Tris started with his friend Josh is a huge success. It’s so popular, actually, that they can’t keep up with demand, and that’s a problem. Meanwhile, the town of Petersville has problems too. If it’s not able to attract tourists, it may disappear.

When all his other options to fix his supply issues fail, Tris reluctantly goes on a reality TV kids’ cooking show in the hopes that he can use the prize money to buy a doughnut-making robot to save his business and his new town. But the contest will test more than just his baking skills.

The best thing about this book is the characters. They’re vivid and interesting, especially Tris and his family. His dad speaks French when he gets angry and takes on crazy projects, such as trying to make maple syrup from sycamore trees. His mom, a professional chef, thinks baking is a more important life skill than swimming. His middle sister Jeanine is an academic superstar, and his youngest sister Zoe eats chocolate cream straight from the pastry gun. And Tris is one of those ordinary kids who ends up doing extraordinary things.

I recommend this book to kids who are foodies, bakers, entrepreneurs, or fans of fun stories. Just don’t read it when you’re hungry!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Jabberwocky and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. Its expected publication date is May 7.