MMGM- Small Wonder and Writing Toward Justice

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
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Always in the Middle 

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Unleashing Readers

Montgomery, Ross. Small Wonder

March 3, 2026 by Candlewick

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Tick and his younger brother Leaf have been raised by their grandfather in a remote cabin along the coast of Ellia. Since he has passed away, Tick is trying to prepare for the upcoming winter. When he and Leaf see Drene ships with black sails approaching, Tick remembers his grandfather's warnings and heads home to pack so the boys can flee to the Kings Keep. When he gets home, however, there is already a Drene Hunter there. Tick roots in his bag for supplies and grabs a handful of papers before he needs to escape. With their horse, Pebble, the boys take off across the Forest, planning on making the six day journey to the Keep so that they can shelter there. Along the way, they find a wagon overturned, and try to get some supplies, but get attacked by bandits. Later, they come across the bandits again, and Tick daringly frees the man they have captured. The current king, Cass, is the son of the Good King Avery, but has not done a good job ruling, and is even rumored to have killed his son Brandon and his wife Brianna. The emperor of Drene needs to conquer Ellia, because it is the gateway to the Five Kingdoms. Kings Keep is situated at a critical point of access to the other kingdoms, which is why it is so well fortified. The papers that Tick has found indicate that there is a weakness in the keep's walls, and he feels even more compelled to get there to warn everyone. At one point the boys stop at an old woman's house, and while she seems helpful, she ends up drugging their food and drink and stealing their supplies! Luckily, Pebble comes to the rescue. The mountains are the hardest part of the journey, and while Tick realizing some shocking information about his brother, Leaf becomes ill.  The boys are helped by Ffiona and Daniyal, knights of Ellia who have been banished by King Cass. They help Leaf recover, tell Tick to look for a knight named Lara, and help the boys take a daring ride up to the Keep. The narrowly make it inside, and luckily find Lara right away. Tick has an audience with king Cass. The king is determined to surrender Elia, but Tick confronts him with proof of his betrayal of the country. The Hunter who has been stalking Tick shows up, as does the entire Drene army and the emperor. Will Tick be able to use his knowledge and skills to save Ellia?

Even though there isn't any magic, Small Wonder does read like a medieval fantasy quest. There's even a map at the beginning of the book so that we can track our hero's journey. While the grandfather is dead, he is with Tick every step of the way, and the lessons he taught the boys save them many times. There are plenty of good details about riding through the Forest, across the Deep, and struggling up the mountains to the Keep. The Hunter is quite ominous, and his hawk frightening! Luckily, Tick is extremely clever, even pitted against the emperor of the Drene! 

There are some excellent twists and turns in this story that I don't want to ruin, and some great hidden identities. Some of these I got early on, but there was a big one that was quite a surprise! The pacing of this was extremely good, and I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. This is a perfect choice for young readers who desperately want to read Tolkein but are not quite ready for The Fellowship of the Ring. 

I'm not sure why the book description says this is "perfect for fans of Percy Jackson, Michael Morpurgo and Wild Robot". It's much more of a fantasy adventure title similar to Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series of Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain, and made me wistful for Banks' 1976 The Farthest-Away Mountain. It had a classic feel to it, and my feelings would not be hurt if this became a series. The Keith Robertson cover is fantastic! 

Thomas, Peggy and Engel, Tonya (illus.)

Writing Towards Justice: The Life and Reporting of Alice A Dunnigan

January 27, 2026 by Astra/Calkins Creek

Copy provided by the publisher

Born in 1906, Alice Allison was always passionate about education, equal rights, and writing. She demanded to go to school at a young age, and let people in her hometown in Kentucky know about the unequal treatment that Black residents faced. She wrote for the Owensboro Enterprise, and became the first high school and college graduate in her family. Career paths for women were limited, so she taught school for a while, but soon embarked on a difficult path to be a reporter. This became even more difficult during the Great Depression, but she was always looking for opportunities. When she saw an ad for typists in Washington, D.C., she got the job, and wrote stories for the Associated Negro Press in her part time. It wasn't easy, since she was often denied access due to her race. This was especially true when covering events for the White House or Congress. Eventually, after a heated congressional hearing, she because the first Black women reporter in the Capitol Press Corps. She traveled with President Truman's entourage on a cross country train trip, and managed to tell him about all of the problems that she and other Black people were having. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s made some more progress, but Alice A. Dunnigan was at the forefront of this cause. 

It's always fascinating to read about historical figures who haven't been celebrated, and Dunnigan's life is certainly worth learning about. I was amazed that she even wrote a 1974 memoir, A Black Woman's Experience: From Schoolhouse to White House, and yet I still had never heard of her! Peggy Thomas has done a great job of weaving historical facts in with messages about the qualities that propelled Dunnigan's work. Engel's acrylic paintings with oil finishes capture the feel of the early twentieth century nicely, and her use a colors underlines this period feel. 

There are great notes at the end of the book, and a complete list of resources, along with a photograph of Dunnigan. It's always good to see these things included, but I prefer picture book biographies to include relevant years in the text. I look for this as a way to place historical figures in context, and it's especially important for young readers, who might think the subject is still alive. 

Journalism continues to be an important career, even though traditional newspapers may not enjoy the readership that they once did. Include this with other picture book titles about groundbreaking writers like Christensen's The Daring Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter,  Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told by Myers, Christensen, Blumenthal, Baddeley, and McCartney's Revolutionary Mary: The True Story of One Woman, the Declaration of Independence, and America's Fight for Freedom,  The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne by Cline-Ransome, and Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber by Macy and Payne. 

Didn't read as much this month, since we didn't have a full week of snow days!

Hail Mariam and Magnitude

Al-Marashi, Huda. Hail Mariam

February 24, 2026 by Kokila

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mariam Hassan is concerned about starting 6th grade at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School, especially since her family is Muslim. Her mother, an Iraqi immigrant, has been told by one of her friends that the school is more academically rigorous, but Mariam is concerned about the fact that there are so many depictions of Jesus around the school, since she thought the Muslim faith (which considers Jesus a prophet) didn't approve. Her younger sister, Salma, doesn't have to attend. Sister Geraldine seems nice, and Mariam decides to run for class president, devising a clever speech complete with props. She makes friends with Isabella, whose family is Latine, and even gets along fairly well with the popular Lauren despite her political run and the fact that she is cast as Mary in the Nativity play, a role that Lauren was hoping to get. Mariam encounters some academic trouble with her penmanship and math, and worries about what her parents will think of her role in the play. When Salma is diagnosed with a lung problem that might be cancerous, Mariam doesn't want to bother them about issues at school. She even manages to message her teacher, writing as her mother, about several different problems. One of these arises when she whispers to another student during a service at school. A nearby adult thinks that she is being disrespectful because she is Muslim, but Mariam is actually trying to get help because she has just gotten her period. Not wanting other students to think poorly of Muslims, she asks Lauren for help in spreading the information that she was talking because she got her period to all of the students! When her grandmother (Bibi) visits, Mariam wonders if she is right, and that if Mariam were a better Muslim and wore a hijab, her sister wouldn't have gotten sick. Mariam also asks to read a passage about Jesus from the Quran before the Christmas play, since she has dropped out of playing Mary after Salma's diagnosis. She isn't granted permission, but reads it anyway, with the help of her schoolmates. It is a huge relief to find out the truth about her sister's condition, and Mariam makes a tentative peace with being a Muslim student in a Catholic school.
Strengths: This story is based on the author's own life. She is Muslim and attended Catholic schools, which is a rather singular experience! I grew up in a largely Catholic community, so many of my classmates transitioned back to public school after elementary; I can't imagine hitting middle school and starting at a religious school! There was a lot of fairly positive, open religious discussion, and I learned some things, like the fact that there isn't music in masjid. Mariam's desire to fit in but also remain true to her background is realistic, and she has a fairly positive attitude, running for class office and putting herself forward for the play. It was interesting to see Ramadan occur right around Thanksgiving and Christmas time. The impact of Salma's health on the entire family was also informational. This author also had a story in Ali's and Saeed's Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices, and I'll be interested to see what else she writes.
Weaknesses: Other than the mention of Mariam's period, this didn't seem to have much in common with Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. I reread the Blume title not long ago (and watched the movie; have to love the vintage set design!), and just didn't see many similarities. While the religious details are interesting, they do slow the story down a bit.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who would like to see more representation of children coming to terms with religion in books like Butler's Rabbit, Rabbit, Ma's Rainbow Fair, Algarmi's Almost Sunset, Siddiqui's Barakah Beats or Braden's Opinions and Opossums.

Nielsen, Jennifer. Magnitude.

March 3, 2026 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Cora and Oliver both live in San Francisco in 1906. Their families were friends, but after Cora's father lost the family gold mine and he went to Los Angeles for work, the two were forbidden to speak. Cora owes money to bullies Vincent and Tony, of the Union Street Gang, and when she is going to meet them in the early morning hours, she sees them bullying a young Chinese girl, Chi, and trying to take her bicycle. Cora intervenes, and the girl gets away, but an earthquake hits. Both girls are trapped underground, but work to escape. When they finally free themselves and see the devastation, they both want to find their families. Cora has stolen some gold coins while trapped. Cora runs into Oliver, whose father is a fireman, and the two defy the authorities and head back to her house to find her my other and brothers. They aren't there, but Cora picks up some possessions. Vincent is looting, and tries to extract payment from Cora; he shows up and again and again, as does Mr. Hinkle, who seems helpful but who hides a secret. General Funston is trying to help the fire by blowing up buildings, which seems like a bad idea. Oliver and Cora occasionally listen to the authorities and evacuate to Union Square and the Praesidio, but always seem to go back to get into more trouble. Cora also comes across Chi several times, and eventually helps her get to her family on a boat. She also finds her mother, but goes off and loses her again. In the end, it turns out the gold she is worried about really belongs to her grandfather and will help the family after the father miraculously returns and finds everyone. 

I love Nielsen's work (Free State of Jax, One Wrong Step, Uprising, Iceberg, Lines of Courage, Rescue, Words on Fire, Resistance, A Night Divided, The False Prince ), but this novel had so many coincidences and bad safety protocols that I'll feel compelled to tquiz all students who check this out  with "What do you do in case of fire/flood/earthquake?". It was well written, compelling, and had a lot of historical details that will appeal to readers Hopkinson's Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco 1906 and Deadliest Fires: Then and Now, Blundell's A City Tossed and Broken,  and Lee's Outrun the Moon. 

If authorities tell you to evacuate, FOLLOW THEIR DIRECTIONS!" May have grilled my daughter about this, and luckily she knew that if you go into a danger zone, it endangers not only you but the rescue workers, as well as other people they might have helped had you not been stupid. 

Whew. Sorry. Visceral reaction to this one.