MMGM- Dive

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
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Always in the Middle 

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Unleashing Readers

Anderson, John David. Dive

August 19, 2025 by Walden Pond Press

ARC provided by Follett First Look

Kass Conner is struggling. Her parents have enrolled her in the prestigious St. Lawrence Academy rather than the urban public school where her friend Leah still goes so that she can take advantage of their diving program. She enjoys diving, but never feels as good as her teammates, especially the "perfect" Amber Moore. Since she and her parents live in an apartment upstairs from the restaurant they run, she takes the city bus to and from school. One day after practice, a slightly older teen boy asks for help getting a television out of a dumpster. Intrigued, she starts up a conversation with him, and he even offers her a pair of boots that he has found. Miles tells her about some of the places he scavenges, and the type of items he finds while dumpster diving. The two talk the next day, and keep arranging to meet. Kass keeps the boots, and goes with Miles on an expedition to go through clothing a boutique is getting ready to send to the thrift store, and gets a jacket to go with them. The two also go visit The Professor, an unhoused man Miles has befriended, to give him a coat and some jeans. Miles is an excellent distraction from the tensions of swimming, as well as the worries about her parents' finances. While the two aren't drawn to each other romantically, there is something comforting yet exciting about meeting up. It's not always easy to get away, and when Amber covers for her when the girls meet while out at the mall with their mothers, Kass finally gets a chance to talk to Amber, whom she has considered her nemesis. It's another much needed friendship, since she isn't able to meet with Aleah in person. After meeting several times with Miles, learning a tiny bit about why he has dropped out of high school to keep an eye on his father, who struggles with mental health issues, Kass decides to go back to see The Professor to give him a pair of gloves. His outdoor accomodations aren't in a good part of town, and some men follow Kass, although The Professor warns them off. The next time she sees Miles, he's angry, but with himself. He tells her that he doesn't want to see her anymore; they are from backgrounds that are too different, and there is no point. Kass isn't happy, but sees his point, and has plenty of other issues to deal with. She has a sleepover with Amber that Aleah that gets off to a rocky start, but ends with her and Amber looking at diving with new eyes. When Miles needs help with his father, he calls the restaurant to ask Kass and her parents to lend him a hand. Her parents aren't happy that she has been lying to them, but help out. There are consequences, and she doesn't see Miles again, but having had him in her life for a short while gives her a new perspective about her own situation. 

Strengths: Not all of the people in our lives stay there for a long time. Miles' and Kass' relationship is one of those weirdly satisfying but sad happenstances that can stick with us for much longer than they should. Most middle grade readers haven't quite experienced this, but it's such an intriguing premise. It's perfect that Kass is in middle school, but Miles is a couple of years older, and I loved that Anderson didn't really make this about romance, although there is the vaguest of frisson when she tells Aleah and Amber about meeting an older boy. The information about dumpster diving and repurposing objects, as well as the philosophical musings about what constitutes value and worth of an object (and people) was so well done, and a topic that is near and dear to my own heart. Involving sports is always a good idea. While this isn't as humorous as Ms. Bixby's Last Day (2016), it's also not as sad. Instead, there's a palpable feeling of longing for something that Kass can't even identify or express. This is definitely part of the middle grade experience, but rarely seen in the literature. It's so much more widespread, and interesting, than all of the expressions of grief to which authors seem to default. Bravo, Mr. Anderson. Bravo. 
Weaknesses: This is a bit too perfectly constructed for class discussion, so teachers will all want to champion this one and assign this one to students. It will also catch the attention of all of the influencers and awards committees, so could well end up winning a Newbery. And then I'll have to hate it. (N.B. There's some sarcasm here!)
What I really think: I've followed Anderson's work for a long time, and watched with interest as he transitioned from superhero and fantasy books like Sidekicked (2013), Minion (2014), and Dungeoneers (2015) to more introspective novels like Posted (2017), Finding Orion (2019), Riley's Ghost (2022), and Keep It Like a Secret (2024). He's tried a little bit of everything, including realistic humor (Greatest Kid in the World (2023), One Last Shot (2020)) and speculative fiction (Stowaway (2021) and Granted (2018)), but I think Dive really points out what he does best; lightly philosophical works with unexpected adventure and complicated middle grade emotions. Definitely purchasing, and handing to students who enjoyed Choldenko's The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman. 

King, Billie Jean, Badiu, Alexandra (artist) and Christine, Jolie.
Trailblazers: The Unmatched Story of Women's Tennis, Young Readers Edition
August 12, 2025 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Women have been playing tennis for a long time; it's right up there with basketball as something women were able to play even 100 years ago. Certainly, Billie Jean King made a huge impact on women's sports in the 1970s, so it is interesting to see her put together a collective biography of tennis players. The illustrations are fantastic, and this is the sort of book that I always want to take apart to make bulletin boards! There could have been more biographies in this short book; I always was fascinated by Tracy Austin, who doesn't appear.

This is a great book to have in the 920s in most elementary and middle school collections along with Albee's Troublemakers in Trousers, Smith and Tariq's Game Changers: Stories of Hijabi Athletes from around the World Roberts, Russell and Jacobs' 100 Athletes Who Shaped Sports, and Buckley, Labrecque, and Walthall's Fearless Firsts: Athletes Who Changed the Game: 50+ Athletes Who Overcame the Odds.

Kamin Science Center, Brown-Wood,  JaNay, and Uroda, Kristen (illus.) 

Scientists Like Me: Stories, Advice, and Inspiration from 25 Trailblazers with Experiments to Try at Home  

August 5, 2025 by Workman Kids

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

This is more than a collective biography (although there are certainly lots of biographies!): there is also a lot of information about science, scientific inquiry, and experiments. After an introduction that has a good discussion about asking questions and what makes a good investigation, there are five chapters broken down into formal, physical, life, social, and medical sciences. Each chapter starts with a nice graphic detailing the different fields within general science area.  Within those chapters, we get several biographies, which each include inserts on "Science You Can Explore" and "Did you know...?". At the end of the chapters, there are several activities related to types of work similar to the work of the scientists profiled. 

There is a wide range of scientists from different countries, backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities, although there are more from North America. The biographies give a bit of personal information, but concentrate on the work that the person did. There are no photographs, but the bright and colorful illustrations are realistic. I liked the use of color to define each branch of science. 

I did not try any of the experiments at home, but they seemed reasonable. Many were more focused on information rather than anything requiring a lot of supplies. 

Recent years have seen a lot more collective biographies that include diverse representation, but single volume biographies have yet to catch up. Books like these are great for students to find subjects for biography projects, and hopefully they can find more material in encyclopedias online. Include Scientists Like Me in a collection of other STEM biography books like Miller's Groundbreaking Scientists, Lawlor's Super Women: Six Scientists Who Saved the World, Tiner's 100 Scientists Who Changed the World, Fletcher's Wonder Women of Science : Twelve Geniuses Who Are Currently Rocking Science, Technology, and the World, Bolden's Black Lives: Great Minds of Science, and Ignotofsky's Women in Science.