

It'sMarvelous Middle Grade Monday
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and #IMWAYR day
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Reardon, Joan.
Dad Rock Dragon Quest
June 3, 2025 by Aladdin
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Zadie Drake, 12, is not pleased that her cool mother, Freyja, is dating the geeky Lloyd Clutterbuck, but it's even worse now that he's moved into the house. He's a risk analyst, so always harshing Zadie's mellow, prohibiting her from playing her guitar loudly in the garage in their Wilbury, Michigan home. Her father, Damian, is a park ranger in the George Washington Forest in Virginia, and isn't in contact very often because the forest is a dead zone for cell service. Zadie's sister Persephone, 15, doesn't mind Lloyd as much, and is busy with her environmental podcast, HabiChat, that she runs with online friend Ezra. When the girls get the opportunity to spend a week with their father, Zadie is thrilled, but Freyja and Persephone are not. They know that Damian is not responsible, so it's decided that Lloyd will take the girls and stay for the visit. Zadie isn't happy with Lloyd's music choices (Billy Joel is not head banging enough for her), or his extreme preparedness, but glad to be staying at her father's very cool house. There are some rules for staying in the park that seem excessive, but when there are unusual creatures flying around outside, the rule about not going out at night makes sense. Shortly after, the group is plunged into a crisis; Tex Venom and his poachers attack the cabin and try to take the girls hostages because... surprise... Damian is really a Gamewarden, has magical powers, and takes care of magical creatures like his dragon, Maverick. He's run across Tex before, and knows that he sells creatures to the evil Chadwick Berkshire, who gets big bucks for creatures that the buyers kill or enslave. While the family escapes, Maverick is taken hostage, so the group must work to get him back. This involves traveling to Berkshire's house, which they are able to find because Ezra is Berkshire's son! Damian makes poor choices in trying to save a Death Worm and gets bitten, necessitating a trip to a sanctuary near Cleveland for healing. After this, the group manages to find out where Berkshire is auctioning off animals, and Zadie and Lloyd come up with a plan to disrupt it and save the animals. Freyja isn't happy to find out that her daughters know about the family's magical secrets, but the true hero of the day is Lloyd, whose circumspect actions and handy fire extinguisher save the day. Will Zadie have further adventures into magical creatures?
Strengths: It's so much more interesting when all of the parents are alive, but hard to get along with! It was fascinating that Zadie idolized her father despite his faults, but Persephone was not a fan! Having the mother out of the picture for most of the book, and seeing Lloyd step up to watch out for the girls was wonderful. He really had Zadie's best interests at heart, and the two do have a discussion about how they treat each other. The role of the step parent in middle grade literature is ripe for exploration, and Lloyd gets my vote for best step dad figure, despite of (or perhaps because of) his New Balance shoes and polo shirts. Sibling relationships are also interesting, and since Zadie and Persephone have very different views on issues, it creates some fun tensions. Of course, any book with a dragon preserve is going to appeal to a good segment of the middle grade population, especially when there is also a road trip! I needed this fun, upbeat book after so many lyrical, heartprint titles!
Weaknesses: I had trouble connecting to Zadie. It was great that she had interests, but since her opinions were so strong, it was hard to connect with her. I was hoping that she would slowly come to understand that Lloyd really was a good guy, even before the two talked. Will middle school readers be looking for that nuance? Not anymore than they get invested in exploring grief.
What I really think: Comparison's to Mull's Fablehaven series are apt, and this is rather like Burke's
An Occasionally Happy Family, with the addition of dragons. This will also appeal to readers who want to play guitar, travel to national parks, or want to own their own dragon. I can see this being even more popular in elementary schools. Definitely looking forward to handing this to my students, and can't wait to see what fellow Youngstown native Reardon writes next. The author's note at the end mentions St. Charles school, which was about two miles from my house growing up!
Friedrich, Paul
Zebra and Yak: The Backwards Alphabet Book
June 3, 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by the publisher
Zebra is lounging in a beach chair with a glass of lemonade when this book starts with "Z is for Zebra". Of course, he is surprised, because that is NOT the way Alphabet books are supposed to work. Where is the xylophone? How can zebra be expected to be ready if there's no xylophone? Yak is up next, and he's also very confused. Apple was apparently not around, so the book started backwards. All of the characters are confused, and no longer suprised by anything. There's a joyous romp through pumpkins and oranges and boogers as Zebra, Yak, and the other letters try to figure out what was up with the arrogant apple. Spoiler: the alphabet book is now going to start with alligator.
This was delightful. I audibly snorted several times, especially when N for Nose leads to Zebra having his hoof up Yak's nose. Does he want his booger back? They save it, in case B is for Booger. As one does.
The simple illustrations have just the right level of goofiness, and the characters seem to romp across existing book pages that are just slightly altered. The other entry I love was S is for Snake, followed shortly thereafter by R is for Running!
As someone who has spent her entire life at the end of the alphabet (I graduated 503rd in my class, followed only by someone whose last name started with Z!), I had to appreciated this. It had the meta feel of Townley's The Great Good Thing, with the characters coming to life and acting out the story when the book was opened, and I'm always a sucker for that.
The only bad thing about this book is that I am now faced with a philosophical conundrum; I come from a family where we do not buy books because they cost a lot of money, and I've not been able to get over that, even though I have bought thousands of dollars with school board money for my school. It's hard to argue with the voice of your mother in your head. Do I buy this one for my grandson (whose last name begins with S, so he'll understand!) when I have two bookcases full of books that I've gotten in exchange for reviewing them? I might just have to, because I imagine it would become a fast favorite. "Do you want your booger back" sounds like a family catch phrase in the making.