MMGM- Swing and Your Ultimate Adventure Travel Guide

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Meeker, Audrey and Davidson, Sarah. Swing
October 22, 2024 by Feiwel & Friends
E ARC provided by Netgalley

School projects can make for strange companions, and in this graphic novel Marcus, a reluctant soccer player, and Izzy, an aspiring fashion designer, are thrown together in a dance project for physical education class. Starting 8th grade is hard for Marcus, who is not as interested in soccer as his older brother is, especially since his former best friend and teammate, Ted, is a jerk. Ted, who also has an older brother, demands that Marcus show up for soccer practice so that the two can beat their brothers' team record, but Marcus wants to distance himself both from the sport and from Ted. Izzy, who often rocks a quirky quasi-Goth style, is on the recieving end of lots of negative comments from classmates, and is also under a lot of pressure from her mother to get good grades. Marcus and Izzy have to do a swing dance for class, which leads Ted to make fun of them, especially when they also end up sitting together in advanced language arts class... for the whole year! Marcus does go to team tryouts but is increasingly bothered by Ted's actions, even though he isn't brave enough to stand up to him. Izzy, meanwhile, finds a welcoming place in the theater group, where Ramona is excited to have her on board for talent show planning and costumes. Marcus and Izzy practice, and do a decent job, although Marcus has trouble leading. When the two do their dance for a grade, Marcus is distracted by Ted's comments, and it ends in disaster. Mr. Walsh, their gym teacher (and retired dancer!) says that their poor grade is enough that they might have to retake the class... unless they do a swing dance for the talent show. Izzy is NOT going to have her grades affected so that her mother has an excuse to pull her out of theater, so the two work on their dance. They actually enjoy being together, and may even have a little crush on each other, if we believe the many flushed cheeks in the pictures. They even hang out, eating popsicles on the driveway, and talk about the pressures they face at school. Of course, Ted isn't happy with Marcus' relationship, especially when he gets put on the silver team instead of the gold one, ruining their chances of beating their brothers. He even spies on the two and posts negative pictures of them on social media. Marcus finds out, and tells Ted that it's not like he's REALLY friends with Izzy--imagine the sorts of things tweens would say to try to save face. Of course, Izzy overhears and asks Mr. Walsh if she can dance solo in the show. Since Izzy's mother had to get the principal involved when Ted bullied Izzy in 7th grade, this is allowed, and Marcus ends up cleaning gym equipment. When Ted is mean about how Marcus plays during a big game, Marcus has had enough, and goes to Izzy's house with a box of soccer treat popsicles to apologize and ask to be able to dance with her. Izzy agrees, as long as Marcus will wear whatever costume she suggests. Marcus ends up in a silly shirt and pants, which rip as they are getting on the stage. Throwing caution to the wind, he dons a skirt, and the two do a great dance. They win second place, Izzy's mom apologizes for trying to deny Izzy the opportunity to do theater, and both Marcus and Ted have heart-to-hearts with their brothers. 

Strengths: This is middle school bullying. It's calling people "clown show" when they're at their locker and teachers can't hear. It's Ted giving Marcus a hard time about not playing soccer and hanging out with Izzy. It's a thousand tiny paper cuts of social pressure and judgement. The sibling rivalry is also very true; I have to admit to motivating cross country runners to best their older sibling's time by reminding them that they would have bragging rights at Thanksgiving forever! Marcus' desire to drop out of soccer but he inability to do so is quite common, and it was good to see that Izzy did find a place where she was happy. The constant embarassment and discomfort pretty much defines middle school for many people. It's good to see a happy ending and emotional growth, because that gives readers struggling with their own issues hope that there may be a happy ending for them as well. 
Weaknesses: This is not how grades work. Had Mr. Walsh failed the two, Izzy's mom would have thrown a fit with the principal and gotten Mr. Walsh in trouble. It's much more likely that Mr. Walsh would have taken pity on them and let them redo the dance at lunch, and one project is rarely enough to torpedo grades in any classes in today's academic climate. Pretty sure that if Marcus and Izzy showed up for class every day and tried, they would have gotten at least a B. The skirt seemed over the top to me, but since I have a lot of boys who wear eyeliner and nail polish, I don't think today's tweens will think it's as scandalous as Ted seems to. 
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and this will be a popular title with fans of books with plenty of friend drama. Looking forward to seeing more titles from this author. 

Thank you, Lenny D. , for being so nice during 6th grade square dancing. Not sure how well we did, since you were a full foot taller than I was, but I got a B in gym class, and there was never any drama. Dancing of any kind in gym class is a deep, deep trauma for many of us, isn't it? 

Lonely Planet Kids. Your Ultimate Travel Adventure Guide

October 22, 2024 by Lonely Planet 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

"If you could jump on a plane tomorrow and go anywhere in the world, where would you choose?" What a great way to get kids engaged in learning more about the world and planning future adventures. When I was twelve, I swore that by the time I turned 40, I would get to England, and that's where I spent my 40th birthday, even with the subway bombing happening days before I was set to leave. This book describes the best adventures and most intriguing places on different continents, and gives kids good tips on how to find their idea of a perfect trip. 

There are a wide range of experiences for all tastes; outdoor scenery, theme parks, notable cities, science related sites, and cultural touchstones and celebrations. This does focus largely on natural wonders of the world, which makes sense; not everyone gets as excited about book related venues like Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House as I do. 

Each brightly colored spread gives a short description of the location and its significance, some statistics when applicable, different things to do and see, and additional information. The pictures are fantastic, and give great glimpses of landscapes, animals, and events to look forward to. This starts with a helpful table of contents and does have a good index at the end. 

This is a perfect book to have in the car as you make an interminable fifteen hour drive to visit grandparents in Iowa. You can have the kids describe the different places you are not going (the underwater scultpure park in Grenada, the Grand Canyon, the Kangaroo Islands ), and then tell them that if they want to go to these really cool places, they need to start building their travel skills and stamina by visiting the World's Largest Truck Stop on I-80 and the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend. And if they're really good, you'll take them to the capitol building in Des Moines and sing the Schoolhouse Rock song about the preamble to the Constitution with them very, very quietly. It you're a better parent than I am, you can actually TAKE your children to some of the cool places in this book. For even more outdoor sites to see, I highly recommend Lonely Planet Kids' America's National Parks books as well. 

Assorted Reading

Sumner, Jamie. Rolling On (#3)

Atheneum Books for Young Readers (October 22, 2024)

E ARC provided by Netgalley

 **Spoilers** 

It's now January of Ellie's 8th grade year, and things are changing as she and her classmates prepare for high school in their small town of Eufala, Oklahoma. Her best friend, Bert, has just returned from a Kentucky Young Environmentalists camp at Brighton Academy, and Ellie is surprised that she is starting to think that he is... cute. Bert, whose family runs the local Food and Co. grocery and has thirteen children, is very engaged with environmental issues, especially those concerning vegan diets and organic crops and excited to tell others about it. Coralee is still in the picture, and enjoying Ellie's baked goods, since Susie is always on a diet. Ellie still gets to visit her grandmother and grandfather at the Autumn Leaves senior living facility, although they have had to move up several levels of care as her grandfather's dementia has worsened. Hutch is still a supportive stepdad, and Ellie has made peace with her father, stepmother, and their new family. When she finds out that Bert is applying to go to high school at Brighton Academy, she is angry, and wishes that life would just stay as it always has been. After her grandfather has an incident in the kitchen where he threw things out of cabinets and injured himself slightly, the facility meets with the grandmother, mother, and Ellie to explain that it would be better for him to go into the secure health unit where he can have constant care. Ellie is very upset, and the grandmother demands that he be kept with her, since they haven't spent a night apart in 60 years. When Ellie's grandfather runs away and calls her from the lake, demanding to know who has stolen his boat, he has to be retrieved, and ends up in the hospital with slight hyperthermia. When he dies, Ellie is devastated. Her grandmother faces her new situation with stoicism, and Hutch offers to build a mother-in-law suite onto the trailer. Ellie has to come to terms with the fact that many things in her life will change, and there is nothing that she can do about it but to keep going. 

Strengths: This wraps up Ellie's story (Roll With It and Time to Roll) nicely, and I appreciated that the covers were all similar in style, with different colors to differentiate them. Ellie continues writing letters to famous cooks and food companies (her letter to the Campbell company about green bean casserole is especially nice), and faces a lot of challenges that will resonate with middle school readers. I also liked the fact that while she had different feelings for Bert, she also realized that he was very passionate about his new interests, and that going to Brighton Academy would be the best thing for him. 

Weaknesses: I wish that Ellie and the grandmother had not been so dead set against the grandfather going into nursing care, even if he couldn't take his favorite chair and have instant coffee whenever he wanted. The fact that he wandered off did, in fact, kill him, which is a good lesson that sometimes being in a nursing home insures a person's safety. 

What I really think: This is a good conclusion for fans of the series, or for readers who enjoyed other books about a variety of middle school issues like Messner's The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. 

Oh, Ellen (editor). On the Block 

October 22, 2024 by Crown Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

There have been a number of short story collections lately that highlight a particular cultural background, like Ali's Once Upon an Eid (Muslim), Khan's The Door is Open (Desi), Baron's On All Other Nights (Jewish), Rosen's Coming of Age (Jewish), Mbalia's Black Boy Joy, Smith's Ancestor Approved (Native America), and even Oh's You Are Here (Asian). These are especially nice to have on hand when students from those background want a "mirror" book, but the good thing about On the Block is the wide variety of cultures and ethnic backgrounds that are represented. Like Oh's Flying Lessons (also prepared in conjunction with We Need Diverse Books), this has a nice selection of backgrounds, and I loved the idea of setting the book up like an apartment building. I will definitely purchase this one, since language arts teachers have been using more short stories in the classroom. I do wish that the name of the authors had appeared at the beginning of the chapter so that I hadn't had to go back to the publication data page to see which author was writing. It was a nice touch to name the apartment building the Entrada; I'm assuming this was in support of Erin Entrada Kelly, who has been fighting cancer, but also means "entry" in Spanish.

Daniel, Danielle. Reasons to Look at the Night Sky

October 29, 2024 by Tundra Books 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse, Luna McKenna is struggling with issues many eleven years old face. Her best friend Maggie isn't able to spend as much time with her because her parents are divorcing. While father who works in a science museum and her mother who is a florist are supportive and have fun things like Taco Tuesday nights, her older brother Leo is in high school and often doesn't spend time at home. Luna would like to be an astronaut and is applying to a space camp, and hopes that her project for Mr. Griffin will help with that, but when he has to be out and there is a substitute, Ms. Manitowabi, she worries that it will affect her application. She wants her science class to be about science, not art, but when Ms. Manitowabi, who is Ojibwe, tells the class about Indigenous Sky Stories, Luna is enthralled. She asks her father why she never knew about these. She ends up enjoying her time in class, and things work out, although there are many changes in Luna's life. 

This is one of the few novels in verse I've seen that employed concrete poetry. It's a quiet story that might interest readers who enjoyed books with characters who are very interested in space. 

History Comics: Prohibition

Viola, Jason and Langridge, Roger.
The Prohibition Era: America's War on Alcohol
October 22, 2024 by First Second
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Even though I live in the former "Dry Capital of the World", Westerville, Ohio, I would disagree only with the author's assertion that everybody thinks they know about Prohibition. Fifty years ago, certainly. There were people around with active memories of the time, and there was more representation in books and films. We also need to remember that today's tweens and teens seem to have only the vaguest sense of the past. Westerville sadly started to allow alcohol to be sold again in 2004, and I would imagine that most of my students don't know that it was ever banned. 

That being said, this is a fantastic book. It is absolutely packed with a myriad of details, so much so that I'm not even sure where to start. The book itself starts with what alcohol actually does in the body, which I can't say I knew in so much detail. It talks about the history of alcohol in the world and the US, touching on topics like the amount of beer consumed by the average person in Colonial times, and even a bit about Johnny Appleseed and fermented cider. The fact that alcohol was often problematic in families is definitely addressed, as is the political reasons behind Prohibition. We do see famous players during this time, like Carry A. Nation and Al Capone on the cover, and Speakeasies definitely get a thorough exploration. This even manages to tie in the women's movement, which is really a crucial element. 

These History Comics are all extremely well done and informative. I, for example, learned that saloons were sort of like settlement houses for men, who could come to get loans, jobs, food, and various kinds of help, but that they were funded by breweries that had political interests, so in exchange for help, the men would vote however they were told to vote. I knew about the political corruption in cities in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but I didn't know about it on this grassroots level. 

This is told from the perspective of "John Barleycorn", a concept that is well explained at the beginning of the book, and it's a fun way to personalize and approach the topic for young readers, but I would have been fine with a more straightforward approach. I wasn't all that happy with the way that Carrie Nation was illustrated, but she was portrayed in a fairly sympathetic fashion, when she so easily could have just been the punch line to a joke. My grandmother was in the Women's Christian Temperance Union because she was a very religious Presbyterian, and I've always found it odd that some people don't know that Prohibition was in large part a feminist and family safety issue, since men would often drink up the family's earnings and then become abusive. This issue is addressed and treated fairly. 

Prohibition has also become associated with racism, and this book even unpacks that information in a fair way, which I appreciated. There is a helpful timeline at the end of the book,  but no index. It's understandable-- the index would probably add another 15 pages to the book-- but regrettable, because an index would make this much easier to use for research. 

The Prohibition Era: America's War on Alcohol had even more information than the traditional nonfiction book Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition (2011) by the fantastic and sadly missed nonfiction author Karen Blumnenthal. I'm not entirely sure how many of my students will actually make it all the way through the book, but I buy these comics because they are so informative. 

Ormsbee, Kathryn. Turning Twelve
October 29, 2024 by Random House Graphic
E ARC provided by Netgalley

In this sequel to Growing Pangs, Katie is dealing with the fact that her two best friends have to go visit a sick relative for a long time, and she has to go to her church group by herself, where she doesn't feel very comfortable. She does have a job babysitting, which is a challenge she enjoys. She also likes going to the local theater group, where she tries out for the lead role in ANNIE. She doesn't get it, but makes friends with Grace. Katie is not a fan of all of the trappings of puberty, especially when talk at church turns rather sexist and judgemental about girls and women, and especially about the "evils" of same sex relationships. Since she starts to recognize that her feelings for Grace are more of a crush, what does this mean?

This is a good choice for readers who like the tween angst in graphic novels like Miller's Curlfriends, Hale's Best Friends, Johnson's Twins, Gros' Jo, or Knisley's Stepping Stones. It's similar to Dee's Star Crossed, but set in the 1990s.

Lost in the Empire City

Avi. Lost in the Empire City 

October 29, 2024 by Quill Tree Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Santo Alfonsi, born in 1896 or 1897, lives in extreme poverty in Baracca, Campania, Italy with his mother, siblings, and grandfather. His father travels to the US because there are so few resources for the family, as many men in that time and place did. Things are dire, and Santo occasionally resorts to stealing apples from the padrone's orchard because the family is so hungry. He has no opportunity for education, but does at least  have sympathy from the local Catholic church. When the his grandfather died of cholera, and his older sister succumbs to malaria soon after, things look bleak. When the father sends four tickets to the US in 1911, the family walks a good distance from their home to Naples to board the Fulda. It's a perilous and unpleasant journey, and Santo goes to work in the kitchens, earning a little food in exchange for washing dishes and peeling vegetables. When they arrive at Ellis Island, the family is on high alert; they have been told time and again that if their health isn't good, they may be sent back to Italy. Santo manages to hide the limp he has from a badly healed leg wound, and makes it through. He waits, and his mother, sister Francesca, and brother Tullio never get off. He ends up in New York City hungry and despondent. Willie, a slightly older boy, finds him and offers to get him food. He also offers to make him part of his gang, known as the Downtown Dukes, along with Toby, Anton, and Louie. The boys steal food, small items from street vendors, and occasionally larger items like watches, and Willie gives them a cut. It's a hard life, but Santo sees no other way forward, as he despairs of ever finding any of his family again. When a heist goes awry, Willie turns Santo over to the police, who in turn turn him over to Mr. Ashbury. Mr. Ashbury takes him home, feeds him, has the maid, Nora, clean him up, and offers him a deal. Santo can live in the attic and steal for Mr. Ashbury, or he can be turned over to the police. Mrs. Ashbury knows what her husband is up to and doesn't like it, and Nora warns Santo that Mr. Ashbury is involved with Sargeant Becker, a corrupt cop for whom Willie has worked. Santo is to get into houses through the coal chute and open the door for Mr. Ashbury, who then steals paintings and other valuables when families are away from their homes for extended periods. There are some close calls with domestic staff being unexpectedly at home, and one day Santo runs into none of their than his sister Francesca. They arrange to talk, and she tells the tale of how the mother had an eye condition that delayed her entry until after treatment, and that she was sent to be trained as a domestic so that she could earn her living. She doesn't know where Tullio is. Mrs. Ashbury has taken a liking to Santo, and when she finds that he has snuck out, tells him that she will help both him and his sister. When Santo is caught in a house and recognized, he goes back to his gang to try to warn them, but Willie sees him and gives chase. Santo gets away when Willie falls and crushes both of his legs. Before he can get to the person whom Mrs. Ashbury has contacted, he sees his brother Tullio shining shoes on the street, and finds out that his mother is also living in the city. He goes to live with them, and gets a job making wheels for automobiles. He even managed to send Tullio to public school. Things turn out fairly happily, but the family never again see the father. 

Strengths: Whew. I started this book a little apprehensively, because it had 123 chapters. Never fear: some of these chapters are just one paragraph, and Avi employs the James Patterson cliffhanger style of narration by ending many of these short chapters with teasers. This is a perfect format for reluctant readers, and really sped the book along. The bare and dire details about how hard life was for Santo are ones that I would like all of my students to read. Yes, things can be hard today, but it is rare that teenagers go days without eating and have to resort to petty thievery for mere survival in my community. Avi has been writing for over fifty years, but has managed to tell this newest story in a way that modern readers will still find engaging. There is a nice historical note at the back about Sgt. Becker, the only actual person described in this fictional tale. 
Weaknesses: Santo finding his brother and his sister by happenstance is rather coincidental, but at least he never did find his father. The ending is perhaps happier than reality, but satisfying nonetheless. 
What I really think: One of my favorite historical immigration tales is Napoli's 2005 The King of Mulberry Street, and this is an even more exciting tale. Santo would have been about the age of my grandmother, and it's hard enough for me to imagine the trauma that so many in her generation had to endure. Young readers should know about this period of history, and Lost in the Empire City is a great choice for making this an engaging topic. 

The Shape of Lost Things

Everett, Sarah. The Shape of Lost Things
October 22, 2024 by HarperCollins

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Skye dreads her brother Finn's birthday, because ever since he was kidnapped by their father four years ago, her mother throws a party on the day. It's difficult, because Finn was Skye's favorite person. She's tried to move on; her mother has a boyfriend, Roger, the family has a cat, and Skye has an interest in taken photographs with a Polaroid camera. She has two friends, Jax and Reece, at Rowland Waters Middle School and also hangs out with classmates and neighbor Nico as they walk dogs. Reece is starting to change, and frequently bothers Skye about whether or not she has a crush on Nico. Roger, whom Skye really likes, asks her if he can propose to her mother, and she says yes. When Finn is found walking alone on a highway in Arizona, her mother is overjoyed that he is coming home. The Finn who returns, however, doesn't seem like her brother. He's 14, very quiet, and doesn't even skateboard anymore. He's become secretive, and when Skye overhears him talking on the phone to their father, she knows he is lying as well. She is so sure that this new brother isn't her real one that she even e mails the police, sketching out her reasons. There are some glimmers of the old Finn, but he doesn't use her old nickname, doesn't remember their old games, and generally seems too distanced to be the real Finn. As the wedding planning ramps up, Skye's doubts grow. When Finn doesn't come home one night, the mother panics. The police won't do anything,    but Skye finds Finn's phone and calls their Dad. He picks up, but says Finn isn't with him, and doesn't sound right at all. Skye thinks about everything she remembers about her brother, and manages to find him. He eventually returns home, and the family has to work hard, get help from a family therapist, and relearn what family looks like after a very traumatic experience. 

Strengths: Back in the 80s and 90s, there were a fair number of books about parental abduction (Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton and Mazer's Taking Terri Mueller), but these have all fallen apart in my library. It's still a topic that resonates with young readers. Skye has very realistic reactions to her brother's return, and the family handles it as well as can be expected, with Finn in therapy and everyone trying to be attuned to his needs. Skye's apprehension is also well portrayed. I liked that the storyline of Roger's proposal occurs at the same time, especially since Skye is glad that her mother is remarrying. This is a well constructed tale of family trauma and resilience that will circulate well, especially given the intriguing cover. 
Weaknesses: It would have been interesting to know more of Finn's story when he was with his father, but since he is not in a position to tell it, that would have been hard. I also was very curious about the fate of his father, especially since he was clearly in need of help. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who liked this author's The Probability of Everything, or stories like Henry's The Girl I Used to Be or or Rellihan's Not The Worst Friend in the World. 

Happy Town and Hot Mess

van Eekhout, Greg. Happy Town

October 22, 2024 by HarperCollins

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Keegan moves to Happy Town, in the Nevada desert, with his mother and step father, Carl, so that both of them can take jobs with the megaconglomerate run by Arlo Corn. The community serves as a hub for the distribution of Happy Town products, which is the biggest online shop in the world. Corn also hopes to eliminate poverty and hunger in his city under the glass dome. Keegan is a little doubtful, but glad that the adults in his life have jobs. He's a bit concerned about school, since the curriculum seems to center largely on the Corn mythos, and seems overly controlling. He does meet Tank, who is always getting in trouble for reading on school transportation instead of listening to the propagandistic messages, and Gloriana, who is so frustrated by the strictures of Happy Town life that she keeps a supply of Happy Town mugs around for the express purpose of smashing! The two spend a lot of time together after school in work opportunities, which serves the purpose of detention. Of course, there is no detention in Happy Town! Keegan starts to notice that there is a lot of advertising being broadcast, especially to the adults, who have implants ("imps") that are inserted into their ears and meld with their brains. First, all of the adults get very enthusiastic about band instruments, then a variety of hates, and then the Happy Town Meat Cramwich, sandwiches crammed full of meat. The first two are a bit odd, but harmless enough. The brainwashing about the Cramwiches, however, is so intense that all of the adults are basically turned into meat craving zombies. The children are not, so Keegan and his two new friends go to Arlo Corn's office to try to bring this to his attention, but find that he is trying to destroy all of the evidence about the Cramwich publicity plan and is attempting to leave town. This leaves Keegan and his "band of plucky youths" to try to figure out how to stop the now ravenous hordes of adults from eating them and wrecking everything in their wake. They align themselves with the Feral Gang of younger children, run by nine-year-old Bobbie Feral. After some misguided attempts to control the zombies (Bobbie has Tank tied to a flagpole to "lure" the adults!), Keegan realizes a way to reset their brains. Will he and the others be able to get to neutralize the threat before becoming Meat Cramwiches crammed full of TWEEN?

Strengths: I love it when a book surprises me, and this one certainly did. I was grooving along with Keegan in Happy Town, watching him settle in to his new school and seeing how he did with his parents when this became a slightly goofy dystopian tale with zombie parents and electric shock dealing Automals! I was just thinking about levels of quirky on my walk this morning. Tween quirky is hard to pull off. You need some goofy names, but they can't be too goofy. The situations have to be somewhat believable. I loved that van Eekhout worked advertising into this; the parallels with social media BEG for this one to be released in paper back so it can be used for class studies! There are the obvious comparisons to other gigantic online retailers, and having the city under a dome pushes it closer to science fiction. I love the cover; it's a great color. I was also glad to see that Keegan was described as being half Indonesian, and to see that once a week his mother would have Indonesian food. 
Weaknesses: I would have loved to know more about life in Happy Town before things went wrong, but for actual tween readers, this is perfect. The stage is set, and action follows quickly. I would love to see some middle grade novels where eutopias hang on for a little longer before going bad. 
What I really think: This goes along beautifully with titles like Laybourne's Sweet, Korman's Masterminds, and Hautman's The Flinkwater Factor. If you haven't looked at van Eekhout's other titles, make sure that you do, especially my favorite, Voyage of the Dogs. I love the idea of Barkonauts! 

Kinney, Jeff. Hot Mess (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #19)

22 October 2024 by Abrams/Amulet

Ohio Digital Libray Copy

Greg's mother Susan hauls the family out to Ruttyneck Island because his Gramma wants a family picture with everyone on the beach. Even though she has stepped up as the head of the family on the strength of her meatball recipe, she's living in a retirement home, and who knows how long she will last, she is 75. (Sigh. At least the pictures of her are decently nondecrepit). Greg just hopes she passes along the sacred meatball recipe before she shuffles off this mortal coil, although he personally WANTS to be a burden to his children when he is old. Off the family goes, with Susan's sisters, who include Cakey, Gretchen, and Veronica, who is a social media influencer along with her dog, Dazzle. There are assorted cousins and uncles as well. The family goes to the beach, and up into a lighthouse, as well as several other activities that are vaguely amusing but don't really support any plot or character development. There is some talk of Susan taking over as the family matriarch, but other than wielding the television remote and planning activities, we don't see her conspiring with Gramma as much as I would like to make this a thrilling tale of family power, because the grandmother has stayed behind. There are family board games, disastrous kitchen experiments, and a family dinner out to Palazzo Pomadoro, where the meatballs taste suspiciously like Gramma's. The police get involved, and everyone decides to head back, and surprise Gramma at her facility for her birthday. It turns out that she sent the family away so she could have some alone time. She's having a birthday party, and afterwards, Greg finds out the secret to her meatballs. 

Strengths: The best Wimpy Kid Books involve vacations, like The Long Haul or The Getaway. Greg doesn't have the opportunity to be pathologically mean to Rowley, and we hear very little about Roderick. There was a good start to a plot about the mother taking over control of the family from the grandmother, and it was interesting to see glimpses of the other family members. Probably in my top five favorites of this franchise, mainly due to Ruttyneck as a setting.
Weaknesses: There are still way too many anecdotes that don't really add anything to the story other than a mild chuckle, and while I had hope for the development of Susan and Gramma's relationship and family position, this was overshadowed by the random stories. Dazzle's plot arc also could have been developed more. 
What I really think: I'll buy a copy of this eventually, but my students aren't as excited about these books as they have been in the past. Too many words. The demographic that used to crave these titles now doesn't want to read anything but graphic novels. 

Lonely Planet Kids A Treasury of Traditional Tales

Lonely Planet Kids A Treasury of Traditional Tales
October 22, 2024 by Lonely Planet
Copy provided by the publisher

Our sixth grade used to do a massive folk and fairy tale project that involved students reading a story from one specific culture, then choosing a country from a completely different continent, and retelling the tale with details from the new country. I vividly remember my younger daughter retelling the German tale of Clever Gretchen, but setting in India. The language arts standards have changed, but I still have a collection of global tales, and this will certainly be one that students enjoy. 

Lonely Planet, which publishes a lot of travel books, does a great job of grouping the stories by continent, and each one lists the specific country or culture of origin. While there isn't a large map at the beginning of the book (they have conditioned me to always look for a map!), there is a smaller inset of the continent with the location highlighted for each tale. There is also a brief introduction for each tale. 

The thing that really amazed me about this collection was that I wasn't familiar with any of these stories! The sixth grade project went on for a long time, so I have a pretty good knowledge of what's out there, but these were all new to me. There are only so many versions of Cinderella that I need to read, or different variations on Tales of the Brothers Grimm that I need in my collection. This is a fresh crop of intriguing tales, and the colorful illustrations make it even more appealing. 

This collection of retold traditional tales boasts quite the array of authors. I've read books by David Bowles, Anita Ganeri, and Shirley Marr, and am glad to have other authors to investigate. There are thumbnail drawing of the authors with short biographies at the end of the book, which might have been my favorite part. 

MMGM- Dog Trouble and Star Sailor

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Varner, Kristin. Dog Trouble 

October 29, 2024 by First Second

E ARC provided by Netgalley

**Spoilers**

Ash lives with his mother, a busy nurse who is also taking classes for her CCRN certification, in a large coastal city. This starts with a memory all of us can relate to; having to wait at school for a parent who is running late to pick us up*. He doesn't see too much of his father, who lives about an hour away on Ferncliff Island with his new wife Cheryl and her daughter Parker. When Ash makes a bad choice to skateboard with friends in an abandoned warehouse after having some other problems, his mother decides to send him to his father's for the summer. Not only that, but he's required to do community service every weekday. He thinks about going to a senior center, but he still misses his gradfather, who recently passed away. Instead, he ends up at the animal shelter, where the supervisor, Joanna, has him working with dogs, even though he doesn't like them very much. There's a ton of work to do, and Ash uncomplainingly does piles of laundry, updates dog's fecal scoring charts, cleans, posts on social media, and eventually walks dogs. He starts with the dogs who are very well behaved, and takes a liking to one dog, Cooper, who has some behavioral issues because he has been neglected (sound familiar, Ash?). Ash also finds that there is a skateboard park in town, and meets Joanna's young relative Bella there. She introduces him to mountain biking, and the two get along well. Ash likes his step family, but has some small irritations with them. The same is true of work, as well, but he has a positive attitude and starts coming early to work because he enjoys it. He does make some mistakes, like letting a dog off the leash, but Joanna is very understanding, and uses the moments to teach Ash valuable information. She is also good about rewarding his diligence. One afternoon,  he takes Cooper on a walk in the woods, carefully keeping him on the leash. He asks his dad if they can adopt Cooper and keep him at the father's house,  but the next time he comes to the shelter, Cooper has passed away after suffering a fatal spider bite. Ash is understandably beside himself with grief and guilt. He fights with Bella, but does manage to still be nice to Parker. He has made friends with a man who runs a local restaurant, and when the man gives him a bone for Cooper, as is his wont, Ash is upset, and the man helps him process his emotions a bit. Joann asks for Ash's help with Roxy, a tripod, and shows him that even though things didn't end well with Cooper, he is making a difference in the lives of dogs at the shelter. Ash is able to make up with Bella and make plans for spending more time on the island with his father and his new community. 

Strengths: Where to start? First of all, there's skateboarding, which needs to be portrayed a LOT more in middle grade literature. I love that Bella was into the sport, and introduces Ash to mountain biking as well. There's great depictions of family dynamics that are very realistic. Single moms are often overworked, and tweens often get into trouble. A father and hour away might be more distant, even if the relationship is cordial. There is a ton of good information about the work that animal shelters do, and there are notes about a wide variety of activities and terms associated with rescues. The animals' problems are well explained, and I adored how Joanna used things that went wrong to help Ash learn things. I rather hoped that Ash would get to stay on the island, but it's reasonable that he had to go home. The cover on this is fantastic, and I know that this will fly off the shelves like kittens at an adoption event.
Weaknesses: Normally, I would complain about the grandfather dying, as well as Cooper passing away, but these events are both really used to inform Ash's character and are not "soggy" at all. Bad stuff happens, and I think that tweens process bad stuff more like Ash does; there's other stuff to worry about as well, and so even big, sad events aren't necessarily dwelt upon. But yes, Cooper does die. 
What I really think: This was really quite brilliant. Do I buy two copies, or three? This might be one of my favorite graphic novels after Tatulli's Short and Skinny, and I am not personally a fan of the format. Readers who enjoyed Lloyd's Allergic or Fairbairn and Assarasakorn PAWS series will definitely want to pick this one up. 

*To be fair to my mother, the reason that she was late to pick me up from Burtonsville Elementary School in 1972 was because a subcompact had run up onto the trunk of her Buick Electra as she was waiting to turn into the school where she was substituting. Had she been driving the Opel she usually drove, she probably would have been killed. The Electra was folded like an accordion, but she taught that day and did call the school. The injury she sustained, along with a childhood of spreading chemicals on farm fields with her bare hands, may have led to her Parkinson's. As Dog Trouble points out, life is messy, and a lot of unsuspected things can happen, both good and bad. 

Bolden, Charles F., Jr. and Bolden, Tonya. 

Star Sailor: My Life as a NASA Astronaut

October 22, 2024 by Candlewick Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This was a fantastic career biography of long time astronaut "Charlie B." Bolden, but I was very distracted, reading faster than I should have because I wanted to know HOW he was related to Tonya Bolden. He's not, but how wonderful that the two were able to work on this together!

While there is a little bit of personal biography at the end of the book in a fantastic illustrated time line (let's see more of those, please!), this concentrates more on the arc of Bolden's career, starting with a chance meeting in the late 1970s with Ron McNair, who encouraged him to apply to NASA. I did not know about this accomplished scientist and astronaut at all, even though he did so many things! This was somewhat similar to Massimino's Spaceman, Buckley's Michael Collins: Forgotten Astronaut, Kelly's Endurance, and Melvin's Chasing Space, but is much better formatted, with lots of great photographs and side notes. I will definitely purchase this for fans of Harris' Segregated Skies and the fantastic Sally Ride: A Photobiography by O'Shaughnessy. 

From the publisher:

Space science and shared humanity shine as the first Black head of NASA offers an up-close and thrilling account of his shuttle missions, including some of the defining moments of NASA’s history. With immersive full-color photos.

Sail the stars with astronaut Charlie Bolden as he recounts his amazing shuttle missions, including deploying the Hubble Space Telescope, training with Sally Ride, and leading the first US space mission that included a Russian cosmonaut as a crew member. Charlie even got to congratulate Star Wars creator George Lucas at the Academy Awards—from space! Follow Charlie’s incredible story, from watching movies as a kid about Flash Gordon flying to Mars—from the balcony where Black people had to sit—all the way to becoming the first Black NASA Administrator. From the thrill of watching lightning storms from the mesosphere to the heartbreak of the Challenger disaster, Charles’s life as a star sailor is full of adventure and discovery, told in his own words along with award-winning author Tonya Bolden. In-depth looks at how astronauts train, work, and live are complemented by diagrams, highlighted vocabulary, scientific sidebars, and incredible personal photographs. Back matter includes an author’s note and timeline.
 

Chai Jinxed

Pinto, Emi. Chai Jinxed

October 22, 2024 by HarperCollins

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Misha has been expelled from six schools, and her classmates refer to her as 'the Teapot Princess" because she seems to be just as cursed as the Teapot Prince of legend. At her latest school, her fiasco involves giving Professor Hamster a love chai instead of a family brew, and when he chucks it out of the window, it lands on a frog who comes into the classroom, enamored of him. When Misha tries to find an "anteadote", she only succeeds in making the frog gigantic! She must go back to her family's Diyann Tea Shop in shame. There, her problems mount as she tries to help her cousin Aahori, even though she has instructed her to touch nothing. When Emery Sunny stops by with a gift from her parents' shop, Misha uses the sugar Emery has brought, only to find out that it is sabotage spice, and more chaos ensues. Customers have come by the shop looking for the little witch who makes everything go wrong, but Misha is most interested in the person who says that she will get an invitation to Margaret's Academy of Tea and Brewing. It's a strict school, so her cousin didn't want to go there, but Misha is desperate. On the grounds, she meets new students Percival, and well as Emery Sunny, who claims she didn't know about the sabotage spice. Misha fails her test, but another student, June, gives her a gold apron anyway. Students at the very best levels wear these; those at the bottom wear gray. Misha is paired with Emery in Professor Mariposa's class, and manages to brew up a duplication spell that forces the students out of the classroom when it fills up with candy conversation hearts! June finds Misha a place to sleep, and things seem to be going well. Emery even invites her to go to the Night Bazaar with her. When the students find out that the renowned Wizard of Chai is looking for an apprentice at their school, things become complicated with challenges and double crossing. Will Misha be able to escape all of her bad luck to save the day and really earn her gold apron?

Strengths: Making it through the day without embarrassing oneself is a challenge for many middle school students, so reading about someone who is constantly having troubles is rather a relief. Misha has many mishaps, but they involve delicious sounding tea and a variety of cakes as well. Her friend drama with Emery is realistic; middle school relationship often run hot and cold. Magical academy stories are always popular, and the cover of this will appeal to readers who liked the Yummy and Tasty graphic novels. The cover is adorable. 
Weaknesses: I would have liked some explanation for why Misha was always having REALLY big disasters and feel like I might have missed something. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like Abe's Eva Evergreen books, O'Neill's Tea Dragon Society books, or other magical books like Nichol's The Apprentice Witch or Burgis' The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart. 
 

Cartoon Saturday- Noodle and Bao

Lu, Shaina. Noodle and Bao
October 15, 2024 by Quill Tree Books
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel, we meet Momo, who loves living in Town 99. Her favorite place to eat is a small restaraunt run by Noodle Yi Yi and her grandchild, Bao, Momo's best friend. When Noodle has to sell the restaurant, it is bought by Ms. Jujube and turned into the expensive and upscale Fancé Café. Momo is very upset, and she also notices that there are other things changing in her neighborhood. Her parents have to work all the time, and there are overdue bills posted on the refrigerator. Noodle sets up a food truck outside her old location, but doesn't have the proper permit and is told to clear off. Momo and Bao decide to fight for their neighborhood.  They sneak into Fancé Café planning to order something inexpensive off the menu to find out how horrible it is, but Ms. Jujube spots them and comps them a complete meal. Bao is fascinated by the different flavors, and talks to Ms. Jujube with some interest, but Momo is upset. She challenges Ms. Jujube to a cooking contest at an upcoming neighborhood festival, and both agree that if Noodle and Bao wins, Fancé Café will close down, but if Ms. Jujube wins, the food truck will be removed and Bao will come and work for her. Bao spends a lot of time trying new dishes that they think represent the neighborhood, which include things like Cheeseburger and Chicharon Bao (which is a filled steamed bun). Momo is a little leery of these new twists on traditional cuisine, but she is very upset because her parents have told her that they are being evicted and have to move. When the festival arrives, Bao wins the contest, but it is a Phyrhic victory: Ms. Jujube will close down Fancé Café  as planned, but also tear it down and build a ninety-nine story hotel with a restaurant on the bottom floor. She claims it will bring jobs to the area, but Momo and Bao know it will destroy Town 99 as they know it. They start to protest, getting government officials involved, and casting a lot of bad publicity on Ms. Jujube's plan. She finally agrees to sell the land back, and the community is able to remain as it is. There are notes about real ethnic enclaves in the US that have fought gentrification, as well as information about Chinese immigration and an explanation of the different dialects of Chinese that are used alongside the English in the text. 

Strengths: I would suggest to readers that they start with the notes first; while I knew a little about the Chinese Exclusion Act and other bits of Chinese history (thanks to books like Lee and Soontornvat's Made in Asian America and Blackburn's Exclusion and the Chinese-American Story), having a brief background will make this more powerful for readers. I was also intrigued to learn about the Parcel C protests in Boston in the 1990s and would love to see a middle grade novel about that. The descriptions of food are very detailed and enticing. Momo's love for her neighborhood is very clear, and it's encouraging to see her work to save her neighborhood. 
Weaknesses: The illustration style seems a little young for the topic, and there were some odd things, like the fact that Momo's parents were depicted as pandas and Noodle looked like a cat. I suppose that is just a stylistic choice, but it was a little confusing; it would have made more sense to me if Momo were also depicted as a panda. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to learn about gentrification and want a graphic novel instead of traditional novels like Dilloway's Five Things About Ava Andrews, Vivat's Meet Me on Mercer Street, Nelson's The Umbrella House, Giles' Take Back the Block, or Broaddus' Unfadeable. 

Second to None

Howell, Destiny. Second to None
October 15, 2024 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

D.J. has a crew who can be hired to do whatever needs to be done; when Siena Chase's sister gets sick and the unreasonable Mr. Kind won't give her more time to take a math test, he puts his people in place to arrange a plausible way for the teacher to lose the test, since his policy is to give 100% to anyone whose paper is lost. He has Monty for muscle, his best friend Conor, and Audrey (on whom he has a bit of a crush), for the "face". His nemesis is Lucky, who runs a lotto and lends money, but Lucky broke his leg in a skiing accident and Mariposa is now running the show. One of the worst things that can happen at Ella Fitzgerald Middle School is to be mentioned on the announcements as a "Rocket Booster", and Lucky's group is able to make this happen due to their office connections; D.J. had to mastermind stealing tickets from the local Starcade to pay off Conor's debt to Lucky to avoid this fate. D.J. gets client referrals, as well as office passes, from David, who is a peer counselor, and is wary of the "Space Cadets" who are office helpers but often serve as spies. D.J., who had a scheme go badly wrong at his old school, is dismayed when a former classmate shows up at his new school, and when he finds broken number one pencils circulating in the school, he feels like something is afoot. His investigation uncovers a lot of the seedy underbelly of competition, tainting everything from the illegal gaming in the computer lab to scandals with the spelling bee and the art contest. When Choi, the local purveyor of black market candy is busted and Royce moves in, D.J. finds out that there is a group called the BPS behind these things. Is Mariposa running it? With the annual Snow Princess competition on the line, D.J. and his associates work together with Mariposa to find out who is really rigging contests across the school and unseating students who are usually number one. 

Strengths: It's hard to find humorous books for middle grade readers, and this certainly had a lot of funny circumstances. D.J. is a well meaning kid who has a Robin Hood kind of attitude when dealing with his classmates, and tries to fight on the side of good. I loved the idea that there was a group that could arrange somehow for the underdogs to take first place in various competitions; it's so true that chairs in band, team captains, and other positions are often fought over by the same couple of kids. The cover on this is great and will remind readers of Gordon Korman books. 
Weaknesses: This requires a LOT of suspension of disbelief. While I was a hall monitor in middle school, I've not seen one since, and there's no way that a student would be able to issue a pass to get another student out of class. Still, all in the name of a good grade level appropriate heist novel. This is a little on the long side. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who liked this author's High Score, or other Donald Westlake knock offs like Rylander's The Fourth Stall, Ferraiolo's The Big Splash or Johnson's The Great Greene Heist. 

We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord

Nix, Garth. We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord
October 15, 2024 by Scholastic Press 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

It's 1975 in Canberra, Australia, and Kim Basalt is living on an experimental farm with his sister and hippy parents who refuse to get a color television set. His best friend is Bennie, and both of them are twelve. They also both have ten-year-old sisters, Indigofera and Eileithyia, who bonded over their unual names. Kim is the dungeon master for the local Dungeons and Dragons games, and loves the Lord of the Rings books, and Bennie has been able to buy the supplies necessary to get them started. When the four are out one night, they find a glowing globe in the lake, and when they try to take it out of the water, it tries to take over Kim's mind. He manages to push it away, but it invades Eila's thoughts. She says it's fine; the spirit calls itself Aster, and wants good for the people of Earth. When Kim threatens to tell their parents, Eila points out that there is no plausible story he can construct for what has happened. It's a little alarming when he catches Eila sneaking out and standing on a hill of fire ants because Aster wants to study them, especially when they are dead the next day, but Kim also has things to do like read LeGuin's The Wizard of Earthsea and run errands for his mother up to Mrs. Benison's house. Their neighbor is 96 years old, has a daughter who is a police officer and lives in an old house that the neighbors would like to see torn down. Kim and Bennie are unable to get the globe away from Eila, and are even more concerned when Aster studies an injured kangaroo to find out how it's body works, and reduces it to a boneless mass of fur, and also when Aster accidentally kills two pet guinea pigs. Its influence is so strong over Eila, however, that she has it cure Mrs. Benison of her aches and pains, and convinces her parents to buy a television set. When it becomes clear that Aster is actually mounting an alien invasion, Eila finally sees the error of her ways and works with Kim and his friends to thwart this, helping them remotely through Kim's connection with the globe. They must get Aster out into the sunlight, but must first go on a harrowing journey. I won't spoil the twist at the end, or the explanation of who Aster is, but the title gives you a little bit of a clue. 

Strengths: While this is a science fiction fantasy tale at its core, there is also a good bit of Nix's personal past in the historical fiction nature of the book, and is dedicated to his younger brother Jonathan, who passed away. The geek references are strong; not only is there D&D and Tolkien, but also Dr. Who, and Geryhawk, although (oddly) not Monty Python. The foreword says this is set in an alternate Australia, but I couldn't quite tell what made it different. I liked the relationship between all of the children, and the fact that Eila is represented as knowing Latin, Greek, French, German, Italian, and Spanish! Australians have been very good about honoring the contributions of Indigenous peoples, and Nix not only mentions this at the beginning of the book, but I believe that the Benison's might be Indigenous. This was a quirky fantasy that the blurbs say will appeal to fans of Stranger Things. (Which I should probably watch.)
Weaknesses: The cover and title of this aren't great, and might cause my students to leave this on the shelves. Twenty years ago, this would have been an automatic purchase, but I don't have Nix fans or avid fantasy readers the way I used to. 
What I really think: This is more along the lines of Nix's middle grade The Keys to the Kingdom series or Troubletwisters than Sabriel and his young adult fantasies. I can see this being a good choice for readers who enjoyed Greenland's Scouts or Sedita's Pathfinders series. 

The Best Friend Bracelet

Collier, Nicole D. The Best Friend Bracelet
October 15, 2024 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Zaraiah Brown is the best friendship bracelet maker at Hurston Middle School, and gets the most likes for her creations on the school LookBook page, but can't seem to make friends of her own. Her father is a photographer/videographer who is on assignment, and her mother is busy with her travel agency and nursing school. Older brother Anthony often teases Zaraiah for her "occasional awkwardness", and she wonders if that's why she doesn't have friends. When her science teacher, Mr. Clearwater, assigns a group project, no one will work with her, until Theo, aka "The Dark Diva", says she'll work with Zaraiah if she's willing to come to Theo's house, so her mom thinks she has friends. When Zaraiah gets a commission to make a friendship bracelet for her former best friend, Naomi, she's conflicted. She goes to her favorite supply store, and talks to the someone odd proprietress, who sells her an intriguing item. Zaraiah makes a beautiful bracelet, and posts it on the Look Book for October 6, the day of the big homecoming at her school. Or at least, she thinks she does. Kids in her school see it, and think it is awesome. Kele puts it on, and suddenly acts like Zaraiah's best friend. She invites Zaraiah to sit with the "Dolls", the most fashionable clique in the school, but Zaraiah quickly tires of their superficiality. Is the bracelet magic? The next wearer of the bracelet is Alaia, and Zaraiah hopes that the two can hang out at the Pajama jam that she didn't think she'd have anyone to attend with, but she can't keep up with the dances that Alaia wants to do at the talent show that night. She gives the bracelet to Willow next, and the two have a great time hanging out, but Willow's best friend Carla feels left out. Not only that, but Zaraiah has been spending a lot of time with Theo, and the two have shared a lot of their hopes, fears, and secrets with each other. Has Zaraiah been able to make a best friend without the power of the magic bracelet?
Strengths: If I had to guess what the biggest tween fear was, I would guess it is not having any friends. Not dead parents, not being popular; not having someone to sit with at lunch and go to dances and events with. If there were a way to have magical powers and make people be friends with them, tweens would definitely use them! The craft store is just spooky and magical enough to be intriguing, and friendship bracelets seem to be having a moment of resurgence, perhaps because of Taylor Swift? This was constructed particularly well, and I liked how Zaraiah was trying out different types of girls to be her friends and finding out she really didn't have anything in common with them while slowly and steadily becoming friends with Theo. I also appreciated that Theo was being raised by her grandmother because her parents were unable to care for her; there are many of my students in this situation. 
Weaknesses: There were some aspects of the school that seemed odd to me. Middle schools don't usually have homecoming, although some may have sleepovers. Students at my school are definitely not allowed to sell things, cliques are not very pronounced (and we definitely don't have people obsessed with clothing), and the LookBook seemed odd as well. Perhaps these things occur at other schools. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Mlynowski's Best Wishes series, Greenwald's Fortune Tellers,  or other books with magical realism and friendship issues. 

Sophie: Jurassic Bark and Frankestein's Hound

Anderson, Brian. Sophie: Jurassic Bark (#1)

October 15, 2024 by Marble Press

Copy provided by the publisher

Sophie is a chocolate Labrador retriever who has a fantastic life with her humans... until baby Doug appears. He's smelly and takes a lot of attention away from her, which she does NOT appreciate. Still, Sophie ends up spending a lot of time with the tot, who is often in sitting up in a baby walker, right at Sophie's eye level. This leades to Calvin and Hobbes style fantasy adventures. Sophie styles herself as Indiana Bones, and has an adventure with the Temple of the Lost Cookie. Doug gets bonus points for being willing to share. There's a monster until the bed as the two "siblings" are snuggled in the crib, but of course the monster is misunderstood. He doesn't want to eat them; he's just there for the peanut butter. There is an adventure in the monster's world as well. Two rescue cats, Equinox and Chewy, are added to the family, and they are fashioned as evil felines who secretly (or not so secretly) want to take over the world. They have a hidden lair, a time travel machine, and are a big concern to Sophie. This doesn't stop Sophie from having flights of fantasy where she reimagines Star Wars (Commander Doug vs. the Labradorian), Yellowstone (Labstone, where they fight off the Binky Bandit Gang), and Batman (as the Canine Crusader and Cat Boy). Sophie also teaches Doug to get his own way by being adorable, but Doug goes supernova cute with his efforts, and the two are sucked into a cutesy cartoon world where Doug has to be convinced there is no percentage in being Lord Dimple Cheeks. 

Anderson, Brian. Sophie: Frankenstein's Hound (#2)
October 15, 2024 by Marble Press
Copy provided by the publisher

Sophie and Doug are back after their adventures in Sophie: Jurassic Bark, and are ready for more adventures loosely based on some popular stories. Doug is crawling now, and is a dangerous hugger! The two reprise their roles as Batman characters in The Bark Night, and are determined to thwart the efforts of cats Equinox and Chewy to dominate the world. For their part, the cats are consulting Cat Thulhu about how they should best conquer their home, and it's suggested that they must first endear themselves to be truly effective. Just when Sophie is used to the baby as well as the cats, a new challenge is introduced: the family takes in three foster puppies! James and Jenny are soon adopted, and Sophie is relieved to get them out of her space,  but James remains. He's sad that his siblings are gone, and Sophie not only consoles him, but tries to instruct the interloper on how to best snare a human. Even the cats are asked for help, but they of course have other evil plans to work on, like highjacking the smart speaker and trying to harness its technology. When Jack is also adopted, Sophie is glad because she got what she asked for, but soon realizes that she is actually sad, which is a hard situation to justify in her mind. Soon, though, there is another foster dog, Annie, who is a very large dog who is tired of everyone making assumptions about her personality just because of her size. This leads into a Frankenstein fantasy with Annie in the title role. There is also a plot by the squirrels to retrieve a flash drive from the cats, kidnapping by aliens, and an Alice in Wonderland style adventure. 

These books are compilations of Anderson's web comic, Dog Eat Doug, and based loosely on his own life with a small child and multiple pets. Like Schade and Buller's Scarlett: Star on the Run, McDonnell's Mutts books, or Dunn's Breaking Cat News, Sophie introduces us to intrepid animal characters (as well as an infant and then toddler who communicates solely through saying "Bak!") who have the kind of adventures we all imagine our pets have when our backs are turned. I, for one, am glad to see that my theory that cats are evil and are planning world domination was upheld by Equinox and Chewy's antics!

While I haven't taken a deep dive into the web comic on which this is based, I imagine that the episodes in the compilations are mostly based on the daily comics, but given chapter headings that tie together a series of strips on particular topics. This works well, and fans of Lincoln Peirce's Big Nate (who says this strip is "the perfect mis of heart, humor, and hilarity) will be glad to pick these up. 

I'm never  a huge fan of drawings where the characters don't have eyeballs, so I was a bit put off by the style of eyes, but there's always something about cartoon style drawings that distract me; at least the noses were perfectly fine, and the humans are rendered ala Peanuts; only seen off panel or from the waist down.

Middle school students today have a much different relationship with comics than I did. They don't read newspapers, so don't get a daily dose of dozens of favorite characters. They are more likely to pick up a collection of strips and immerse themselves in the world. As someone who read Funky Winkerbean every day for nearly fifty years, it makes me sad, but that's the way the world works. My students will pick up Sophie and be enthralled by her fantastical adventures with Doug.  

MMGM- They Saved the Stallions and Dinopedia

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Hopkinson, Deborah. World War II Close Up: They Saved the Stallions

October 15, 2024 by Scholastic Focus

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

I am convinced that there is so much interesting information about World War II that books will still be published on the topic in 2095! It's still a popular topic with young readers, especially when undiscovered facets, such as the plight of the famous Lippizaner stallions in Austria, come to light. 

The action starts at a high point, with Alois Podhajsky's need to leave the Spanish Riding School in Vienna with the Lipizzaner stallions. He'd been keeping them safe for four years, but could see that the current rounds of bombing were  making it impossible to stay. How does one evacuate so many horses? But first, we flashback and find out how he came to be involved with this fabled institution, and how one of the horses, Nero, was responsible for all of the others being safe at the end of the war. 

Born in 1898 in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, Podhajsky moved frequently with his father, who was in the army. Because of the changing boundaries during the early part of the twentieth century, he learned many languages. He was very interested in equestrian pursuits, and joined the army in 1916, and his life was saved by one of the horses. In 1932, he started working for the Spanish Riding School, which allowed him to use his many skills at dressage. In 1938, Austria was annexed by the Germans, which meant that Podhajsky had to answer to them. He took it as his personal mission to keep the horses and the school safe. 

This was not an easy task. The stud farm, and the mares, had been moved to the relative safety of Czechoslovakia. As the war progressed, Podhajsky used the horses to haul the furnishing and memorabilia of the school to a safer area. He also found a castle in St. Martin, and got permission in 1944 to evacuate the horses to the stables there. This was no small task. It involved getting the horses onto trains, which were frequently attacked. Once the horses were in St. Martin, there were problems with their accomodations (the horses ate some of the new wooden enclosures!) as well as with the local residents, who thought that horse meat would be a good way to supplement their meager meat rations! Still, he was able to keep the horses safe. 

When the US troops arrived, he was able to get an audience with Patton, thanks to a horse named Nero who had been in the 1936 Olympics. Podhajsky asked Patton for special protection, as well as help in evacuating the mares to a safer place, since they were in an area upon which the Soviets were advancing. Patton was glad to provide both, and the groundwork was done by various soldiers who were fond of the horses. Operation Cowboy is one of those WWII initiatives that was unknown to me, but was utterly fascinating. 

Hopkinson always does excellent research, and there's a small example of how thorough she is. There's a brief description of deciding the date of one particular photo of Podhajsky and Patton that will gladden the heart of any historical researcher. I also loved the fact that fellow historican Candace Fleming makes an appearance, showing up the Spanish Riding School, to which she traveled. 

Neither WWII or horses is a hard sell in middle school, and this was a tremendously engaging book that will find a wide readership. It's right at home with other nonfiction books like Weintraub's No Better Friend but is a great companion for fiction books like Kerr's tremendous The Winter Horses, which covers the plight of Przewalski's horses in Ukraine during WWII, or Earle's When the Sky Falls, about animals in the London Zoo during the Blitz, as well. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to hunt down a way to watch Robert Taylor in The Miracle of the White Stallions (Disney, 1963)!

Jackson, Tom. Dinopedia: An Encyclopedia of Prehistoric Beasts
October 15, 2024 by Laurence King Publishing
Copy provided by the publisher

While I have never been personally that interested in dinosaurs, elementary and middle school students definitely can become obsessed with this topic and want more and more books about these prehistoric creatures! Titles like How to Survive in the Age of the Dinosaurs, and The Dinosaur Atlas are in steady, if not constant demand, and the one thing that I have learned about dinosaur books is that they MUST be current. Just one book on the shelves with a brontosaurus in it (back in the day; the name has been restored as a creature somewhat smaller than the apatosaurus) will lead to a very long conversation with an enthusiast who  needs me to actually care about these small differences!

Jackson's Dinopedia is a good overview of dinosaur facts, and is arranged in a sensible, chronological way. There are a handful of dinosaur predecessors for the Paleozoic period, and four dinosaurs from the Triassic. The Jurassic and Cretaceous period have the really cool creatures, and in between the two page spreads for each entry, illustrated in the same brightly enthusiastic colors seen on the covers, there is supplemental information about fossil hunters, what dinosaurs sounded like, how flight evolved, how dinosaurs moved, and even a brief description of the Bone Wars in the 1860s between paleontologists Edward Drinker ope and Othniel Charles Marsh. Let's just say that scientific practices have become much more ethical in the last 150 years! 

The text is very colloquial and conversational, and offerrs details about the various attributes of each dinosaur. These are a little sensational when it comes to descriptions of dinosaur methods of fighting and eating each other; what's the point of dinosaurs if not to read about them crushing each other and attacking with banana shaped teeth or pointy horns? 

There's a solid explanation of how dinosaurs died out, but a chapter of animals today that have some similarities to their bygone kin, and a brief note about the world today and the rise of humans. There is a nice glossary, although no bibliography or source notes, which librarians like to see, but young readers don't necessarily require. 

This would make an excellent gift for a young dinophile, since the bright pictures are very appealing, but would also be a good addition to a public or school library. The cover feels like it is either cloth or textured paper, so I'll have to see how well it survives without a dust jacket.