MMGM- Let's Fly and Middle Grade on Ice

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
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Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

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Unleashing Readers

Irving, Barrington, Stiefel, Chana, and Knight-Justice, Shamar. (Illustrator)

Let's Fly: Barrington Irving's Record-Brekaing Flight Around the World

January 14, 2025 by Dial Books

Copy provided by the publisher

Born in 1983 in Jamaica, Barrington Irving moved to Miami with his family, where he was approached in his teens by Captain Gary Robinson, who walked into his parents' bookstore and asked Irving if he had any interest in flying. He hadn't really thought about it, but with his mentor's help, embarked on a career in aviation. After college and earning his pilot's license, Irving challenged himself to help others by doing something inspirational. He decided to fly solo around the world, and worked to get sponsors for his flight. He eventually secured some sponsorships and was soon on his way. Flying around the world is fraught with challenges, but after 97 days, on June 27, 2007, he finished his trip and became the youngest person (and first Black man) to complete a solo trip around the world. 

Told in an engaging, first person narrative, Irving's challenges with flying are clearly delineated, but shown as something that can be surmounted with hard work and diligence. It's interesting to see the influence that Robinson had on him, and how flying was more than just a career. Young people need examples not only of accomplishments, but also of helping others. Irving gives back to the community with both Experience Aviation, which uses Aviation to build STEM skills, as well as Flying Classroom, which offers a STEM based curriculum aligned to state and national standards. 

The digitally created artwork is bright and colorgul; Stiefel does a particularly good job at illustrating the sky! I particularly liked the flight map showing all of Irving's stops. 

Notes at the end showcase other, younger flyers who broke Irving's record, as well as Fab Facts. The timeline is very complete, and illustrated with thumbnail photographs. Many picture book biographies don't include photos, and modern readers seem to enjoy those. 

Inspire young readers to investigate aviation skills with this book, which goes well with Parsons and Christie's Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight, Barton and Walthall's Moving Forward : From Space-age Rides to Civil Rights Sit-ins with Airman Alton Yates,  Becker, Cooper, and Jaggar's Sprouting Wings: The True Story of James Herman Banning, the First African American Pilot to Fly Across the United States or Bildner's The Hallelujah Flight.

Deibert, Emily. Bea Mullins Takes a Shot
February 25, 2025 by Random House Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Netgalley

When Glenwood Middle School's gym is flooded, Bea thinks it's the best thing ever... until Coach Armstrong suggests that parents get their kids involved in sports to make up for the lack of gym time. There's an activities fair in the gym, and Bea's best friend, Celia Chan, wants to play hockey. Bea's older brother Tyler has played the sport, and it doesn't hurt that one of the cocaptains of the team, Gabi, is really cool. Bea wants to impress her, since she's in 8th grade, and is surprised when the older girl offers to coach her, since Bea hasn't skated much. Kitted out with Tyler's equipment, and hoping to make her father happy, since he no longer lives at home, Bea tries to pay close attention at practice. The team is really short of money, so put together several fund raisers, including a bake sale and a chuck-a-puck competition. When the Glenwood Geese run out of money and have to cancel the season, Bea's dad takes her and Tyler to the Hockey Hall of Fame, where they are all surprised at how little attention women's hockey gets. Angry, Bea really wants to save her team, and organizes a fund raising scrimmage with the teachers at her school. Her relationship with Gabi has been a little rocky; they enjoy spending time together, but neither of them talk about whether or not they are dating. Bea even falls out with Celia (who has two mothers) when she is not ready to admit that she really does have a crush on Gabi. Luckily, not only is the scrimmage a success, with a reporter and a famous woman hockey player showing up, but Gabi and Bea finally talk with each other, an decide that they really do like each other. 

Strengths: There were lots of details about playing hockey, which was great. Since Gabi had watched games with her father, but never played, there was just the right amount of information about positions, technique, and skills. I also enjoyed that while Bea and Tyler got along pretty well, there were some moments of typical sibling tension. The romance will appeal to young readers, and it was good to see that Bea and Gabi were friends and shared many of the same interests. Even though this is set in Canada, I don't think US readers will find anything odd. Funding problems exist everywhere!
Weaknesses: If Bea's mother had Tyler when she was 20, and he's 15, that makes her 35. This is roughly my own daughter's age, and I can't think of any of her friends who are big Abba fans. I was a tiny bit surprised that a bake sale was allowed at school; even before the pandemic, my school cracked down on homemade baked goods in the building. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like the hockey in Eyre's Mean Girl Meltdown or Being Sloan Jacobs, or the light romance in Dee's Star-Crossed.

Kim, Jessica. On Thin Ice
February 25, 2025 by Kokila
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Twins Phoebe and Dex Bae both skate; Phoebe is a figure skater who is partnered with Pete and hopes to compete in the Golden West competition, and Dex is a hockey player who wants to make the All Star team with his friends Nathan and Gabe. Their father passed away from cancer two years ago, and their mother is struggling to keep her acupunture clinic open, cook, and get the children to their activities. When Pete tears his ACL, Phoebe is devastated that she won't make the competition, since she wants to eventually make it to the US Championship competition. Dex doesn't make the team, and after talking to his friends, thinks it might be because he doesn't have expensive skates like the rest of the players. He asks his mom for the skates, and she tells him that she will buy them... if he partners with Phoebe so she can go to the Golden West competition. He reluctantly agrees, and finds figure skating more of a challenge than he imagined. The two work fairly well together, and even both befriend the new boy at their school, Jason, who has replaced Dex on the team. Phoebe has a crush on him, and is pleasantly surprised that Jason seems to have a lot in common with her. Dex finds out that Jason's father has left his family, and is able to talk to him about what it's like to have lost a father. When Phoebe and Dex are being fitted for costumes, they run into their competition, Max and Ava, who make snide remarks about their mother's Korean accent. This helps Dex to have a reason to do well, but he is also enjoying figure skating. When Dex accidentally breaks the coach's windshield, he ends up tutoring the coaches nephews at hockey while their mother is being treated for cancer. Dex also helps the boys deal with this traumatic experience, which helps him to process some of his own grief. While the Golden West competition ends with the twins placing fourth, they do get invited to participate in sectionals, which Dex agrees to do. To celebrate, their mother takes them for some Korean barbeque, at a restaurant run by Yumi Chung's mother.
Strengths: We are starting to see more involvement of families in the lives of middle grade characters, and I am so glad. Family plays a large role in the life of kids, and things don't always go smoothly. The Baes have their struggles (Mom can't cook well, the washer goes on the blink, they are all grieving in their own way), but work together. I particularly loved that Dex didn't give Phoebe a hard time about liking Jason, and even wanted to help the two of them get together, much like Ken helping his sister date his friend Steve in duJardin's Marcy Rhodes books! There was even a little friend drama with Phoebe and her former friend Chloe, and it was good to see them work that out. Lots of healthy relationships, lots of sports, and lots of leftover curry. Appreciated the character cross over with the author's other book; this helped me place it in Los Angeles. 

Weaknesses: While all of the elements of the plot worked really well together, and the view of processing grief was very realistic and helpful, I have come to the conclusion that the only thing worse than grieving is reading about others who are. This will not be the reaction of all readers, but we should be mindful that it will be the reaction of some. 
What I Really Think: This is a good choice for readers who liked the hockey in Irwin's Captain Skidmark or Siqqiqui's Bhai for Now or the figure skating in Chen's The Comeback or Maia and Alex Shibutani's Kudo Kids books.