Guy Friday- The Team and The Tush Push Trouble

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. The Team

September 1, 2026 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The Cottonwood, Colorado Coyotes football teams for the middle school and senior high have a devoted following, as well as some standout players. When the "Destroyer" tackles an opposing team member, Hudson Ramirez, a little too hard and shatters his leg, there are a lot of reverberations. Ethan, who family is deeply into the sport but who doesn't want to play, throws up on the sidelines. Tommy, who is fairly new, has to put this into perspective with his own actions on the field, since he struggled with some anger management issues at his previous school. There is an undercurrent of unease surrounding the entire team, and especially Coach, and Simone, who works for the school paper, picks up on this. When her older brother, Brian, is accused of trashing Coach's office and destroying his computer, she doesn't think he is guilty, but he admits to the crime and is whisked off to live with his father in Denver. Simone talks to Tommy and Ethan, and they decide to investigate the incident and find the real culprit. Brian was on probation because of grades but other players were as well. The kids start asking questions, from player's siblings to players on the Wildcats team, because the Coyotes' players close ranks and won't talk. Not only that, but all three kids get text threats to back away, and someone even leaves roadkill on Simone's porch and lures Ethan to fall down steps at school. This just strengthens her resolve to prove her brother's innocence, especially since the siblings are dealing with their parents' divorce. Tommy's father has lost his job, and the family has m oved in with grandparents, so football is the one bright spot in his world. When our investigators finally realize that Brian really did trash the office, they discover that the story is really WHY he did this. Will they be able to brings some disturbing football allegiances to light? 

Strengths: Of COURSE sports can be dark. So why don't we have more books like Deuker's 2007 Gym Candy? It was really inspired to craft a mystery around not only sports but some anger management issues and evil doings of the coaching staff. There are also some challenges that Simone, Tommy, and Ethan face that will make adults happy. I can see this being a really intriguing book circle choice, and one which students wouldn't dread talking about in class! The kids mount their investigation in a realistic way, and Simone uses her journalism techniques to good adventage. The real crime takes a while to tease out, so I think the suspense will keep younger readers turning the pages. 
Weaknesses: Ms. Benedis-Grab is a school librarian , so I'm always confused by some of the freedoms her characters are given. At one point, Simone and company hack into the parent portal, mark themselves excused, take a bus across town to the other school, get in, and talk to other kids in the cafeteria. I can't see any part of this realistically working at my school, but it does give the children some freedom while still keeping the parents alive! I also wasn't as convinced the incident with Brian needed investigating, and Simone's efforts could have used more of an impetus. This will not stop me from buying at least one copy of this. Probably two. 
What I really think: I adore the fact that this is both a football book and a mystery, and the cover alone will make it super popular. This is a fantastic choice for readers who like Benedis-Grab's books like I Know Your Secret or Josh Berk's now classic 2010 The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin. 

Kelly, David A. The Tush Push Problem (Football Mysteries #3)
August 11, 2026 by Curveball Books
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Mike and Kate are in Philadelphia while Kate's mother covers the Eagles for American Sportz magazine. They are enthralled with the scent of cheesesteaks and the live eagle that flies around the stadium during games, but when the eagle seems to target Kate after landing near her, they are a little concerned. Lincoln's handlers, Rocky and Adrian (ha ha!)tell Kate that it is because she is wearing bright yellow, which the eagle associates with a landing pad, and invite Kate to be on the field when Lincoln lands during the game. Afterwards, the kids run into Jamal "Cheesesteak" Carter, who is down. His wrist coach is missing (I had to look this up!), and while he could replace the plays for the game, it also contained a piece of AstroTurf from Veterans Stadium that his grandfather had given him. Jamal doesn't think he can do the team's signature "tush push" play until he gets it back. Mike and Kate talk to Vinnie, Jamal's assistant, and check the locker room under his supervision, but can't find anything. Vinnie casts suspicion of a new intern, Kyle, who misplaces a lot of things, but he seems innocent. Is Vinnie the real suspect? With the help of the security team's footage, Mike and Kate are able to find the piece of AstroTurf in time for Jamal to break out of his slump and win the game. 

Strengths: I love that Mike and Kate are given the opportunity to run around ball parks and stadiums by themselves while Kate's mother is working; it makes perfect sense. There's not really anywhere they can go, or real trouble that they can get into, but young readers will love the freedom! They get to talk to ball players and people involved with the game, and occasionally get onto the field themselves. Pure wish fulfillment for young fans. I know my brother got to be a water boy at a game once (the details of where and when are cloudy after 50 years), and he was thrilled! Kelly's style is always fast paced and engaging, and young football fans will eat up Mike and Kate's adventures. 
Weaknesses: All the talk of cheese steak made me hungry! Also, I'm not sure what Random house was thinking, not publishing this series. This would be the very top of my list for purchase in an elementary school. 
What I really think: Fans of Jake Maddox's sports books will enjoy the mystery in this, as well as all the sports details. The books remind me of Ron Roy's ABC Mysteries, with which my own children were obsessed in elementary school. There should be more short, early chapter book series about sports! 

I Will Find You

Benedis- Grab, Daphne. I Will Find You

December 5, 2023 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

When Gracie's middle school class goes on a camping trip to Frost Peak Campground, not far from their town in the Catskills, everyone is looking forward to getting outside, but things start to go wrong right away. Gracie gets stuck in a cabin with Olivia and Jessica instead of her best friend, Jade. To make things evern worse, because one of the cabins is under construction, Leo and Nicky have to stay in the cabin as well. It has two rooms, and Ms. Becker is in the cabin with them, but it's just... awkward. Leo is just loud and annoying, but Nicky has repeatedly bullied just about everyone in the class. Everyone gives him a wide berth in the cabin, but the next day when they wake up, he's gone. Ms. Becker has already checked the entire campground, and the police have been brought in. They seem to think that it might be a familial kidnapping, but all of the children are sent home. Gracie feels responsible for Nicky's disappearance, Leo has reasons to find him, and Olivia thinks that they should all help look for him. Other classmates have reasons to want Nicky gone; Ryan is planning an expose of everything that Nicky has done, Jessica vowed to get back at him after he stuck gum in her hair, and Chloe, Ms. Becker's daughter, is afraid that her mother will lose her job if Nicky is not found. Starting with the clue that Nicky brought rubber boots instead of hiking boots on the trip, the children start an investigation. When they find Nicky in the cabin that is under construction, they learn things about his life that cause them to want to help him. He's being framed. Is this appropriate pay back, or should Nicky be cut some slack because of things that happened in his life? Will the real culprit be found so that Nicky doesn't get in any more trouble?
Strengths: There is a lot of positive modeling of behavior here; Olivia snaps at Gracie when they are picking bunks, but apologizes, Leo is sort of uncouth but the other kids gently try to correct him, and Nicky's past as a horrific bully is uncovered. His home life has been a mess; children's services got involved, and his mother made changes to their life style. Nicky apologizes to many of the people that he hurt, and most graciously accept. Ms. Benedis-Grab is a school librarian, so there is a warm description of the school librarian, and the details about school trips, and even about the possible trouble that Ms. Becker might be in, are quite good. The children are able to travel around their small town on bicycles, talk to residents, gather clues, and help Nicky out. There is also some good autism spectrum representation, and Olivia, whose brother is on the spectrum, makes sure to let her classmates know how to respectfully treat people who are neurodivergent. 
Weaknesses: I thought this was going to be more of a murder mystery; the cover is great, the chapter titles are in a blood like font, and the police are involved right away. Instead, it's more of a social commentary about bullying, with some detective work figuring out who is framing Nicky. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like Benedis-Grab's other thrillers like I Know Your Secret or I Know You're Lying, or clue oriented mysteries like Brockenbrough's To Catch a Thief or Souders' The Radcliffe Riddle. 

Middle Grade Books That Haven't Been Nominated for the Cybils

For a more complete list of Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, head over to Charlotte's Library. Here were just a few that I really enjoyed.

Fulk, David. Raising Rufus. 
Kessler, Liz. Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?
Margolis, Leslie. If I Were You 
Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Bayou Magic

For Middle Grade Fiction, take a look at these titles if you still need to nominate:

al Mansour, Haifaa. The Green Bicycle
Benedis-Grab, Daphne. Clementine for Christmas 
Brown, Jennifer. How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me from Robots, Traitors and Missy the Cruel.
Eyre, Lindsay. The Mean Girl Meltdown 
Greci, Paul. Surviving Bear Island 
McVoy, Terra Elan. Drive Me Crazy
Meyerhoff, Jenny. The Friendship Garden
Nickerson, Sara. The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose & Me
Nielsen, Susin. We Are All Made of Molecules
Pearsall, Shelley. The Seventh Most Important Thing. 
Rosengren, Gayle. Cold War on Maplewood Street

In making my own list of titles to nominate, I realized that I read almost exclusively Middle Grade Fiction, with some Speculative Fiction and some Young Adult Fiction. No book apps, no poetry, few picture books and graphic novels, and just not enough nonfiction!

Also, KIDLITCON!!! Have most of my packing done, horror panel intros and questions, need to check flight, but am ready to go! Have a substitute and have drilled student helpers in What Needs to be Done. Leaving right after school on Thursday!

I Know You Started It and A Secret Escape

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. I Know You Started It
April 7, 2026 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Snow Valley Secondary, which includes middle and high school, is not the safest place to be in we trust the events of I Know Your Secret and I Know You're Lying. When Jonathan, a popular high school student, has his locker set on fire, middle school students are called to the office to be questioned. These include Dany and Kate, who used to be friends, Gabe, who is blamed for everything in school, and Liam, who is brand new. When both principals are busy with other meetings, they are supposed to go back to class, but decide that they need to investigate the incident themselves. Kate's older sister is Gemma, who was involved in investigations in earlier books, and there is a strong journalism culture at the school. After talking to Susie, who works in the office, the group gets some information, and the members talk to other people at snack break and in between classes. When the true culprit, and the reasons for the fire, are revealed, the kids band together to see that justice is served.

This is told from multiple perspectives, and since there have been fires set at every middle school building I've ever been at, I can definitely see this happening. It seems somewhat less likely that the investigation could be conducted between classes no matter how generous the passing time is, but this is a darker investigation than most middle school ones. The cover is great. Sadly, this looks to be published only in paperback. It will be a popular choice with middle school students who aren't quite ready for books by Karen McManus or Freida McFadden.  

Gerber, Linda. A Secret Escape (Liar's Society #3) 

April 7, 2026 by Scholastic Press
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Having gotten into the Last Heir Society (aka the Liar's Club), Jack, Weatherby, and the others are in the society's Alpine Bunker in St. Moritz with the 18 new members. They are invited to participate in la Victoir garment to choose a new member of the voting council, and there can only be one winner of the scavenger hunt. This winner also gets 5 million Swiss francs a year, a private jet, and some islands. Cressida Held (who is Axton's mother) talks to Weatherby alone, and she is soon even more motivated to participate. There is sledding, murder, kidnapping, puzzles, anagrams galore, and lots of in fighting and treachery. But it's not over yet. The ending (which I do not want to spoil) leaves this open for yet another book.

I loved the first book, and I can see this being popular with readers who like clue oriented mysteries and puzzles like the ones in Currie's The Mystery of the Locked Room or Reese's Puzzle heart. If this were the last book in the series, I would buy it so I had a complete set, but my students are no longer reading past book three in series, and my budget has been cut 20% from what it was in 2003 (which is half of what it was in 2002), so I may not purchase.

The Liar's Society #1 

Risky Game #2

The Angel Tree

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. The Angel Tree  
September 30th 2014 by Scholastic Press
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Pine River is a town with lots of troubles, but the one saving grace is that every year around Christmas time, an anonymous benefactor puts up a lovely tree in the town square. People put pieces of paper with their wishes on it, and the people in the town who are able to fulfill them do. Four children in town are especially interested in this. Lucy, who was adopted from China and who has an assistance dog named Valentine because of her blindness, wants medical help for Valentine, who has cancer. Max's family's house burned down, and they are in a cramped apartment. Max is a troublemaker at school. Joe's mother is in the armed forces, and he is sleeping on the floor at his uncle's apartment, and is also having trouble making friends. Cami, who loves to play the violin,  lives with her grandmother, who favors Cami's cousin, who is interested in more academic matters. The four all are intrigued by the tree (and are all recipients of help) and are bound and determined to figure our who is behind the tradition. They investigate several people in town, and eventually decide they know who is behind organizing the townspeople to help each other out.
Strengths: Lucy makes this a good candidate for #WeNeedDiverseBooks, and the theme of children in need is indicative of the continued poor economy. I can see this being popular with teachers who still feel a need to read Christmas books to students, since there would be a lot of community service tie-ins. Well-written, with nicely developed characters and an overall pleasant message. 
Weaknesses: I did not care for this personally. It was depressing and required a lot of suspension of disbelief, and for me, finding the benefactor took away all the magic, even though it motivated the students to be more giving. I also am not a big fan of Christmas, and think that it is not a topic that needs to come up in books as much as it does.

Last call for Cybils' Nominations!

Head over to the Cybils' Website to nominate a book before the deadline tomorrow!

http://www.cybils.com/2015/10/the-2015-cybils-are-open.html

Need a reminder of what some good book were?
http://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2015/10/last-call-for-cybils-nominations-here.html




Double check these, but I think they still need nominated:

Fulk, David. Raising Rufus. 
Kessler, Liz. Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?
Margolis, Leslie. If I Were You 

For Middle Grade Fiction, take a look at these titles if you still need to nominate:

al Mansour, Haifaa. The Green Bicycle
Benedis-Grab, Daphne. Clementine for Christmas 
Eyre, Lindsay. The Mean Girl Meltdown 
Kidd, Ronald. Night on Fire.
McVoy, Terra Elan. Drive Me Crazy
Meyerhoff, Jenny. The Friendship Garden
Nickerson, Sara. The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose & Me
Pearsall, Shelley. The Seventh Most Important Thing. 
Rosengren, Gayle. Cold War on Maplewood Street
Vrabel, Beth. A Blind Guide to Stinkville

Young Adult Fiction:
http://stackedbooks.org/2015/10/more-cybils-suggestions.html

Poetry
http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=24607

Young Adult Nonfiction
http://www.jenrothschild.com/2015/10/cybils-nominations-what-to-nominate.html

I Know Your Secret

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. I Know Your Secret

December 7th 2021 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Four students get a mysterious text one night, saying just "I know your secret". They are each given very specific instructions to follow in order to escape being revealed. For Gemma, it's the fact that she hangs out with a high school boy, but the other secrets are more involved and have more consequences should they be found out. Ally, who was adopted but lost both of her parents in an accident, works with her grandparents at their animal sanctuary. Todd's mother works at a local grocery store and the two struggle to keep afloat, especially after the COVID shutdowns. Todd has anger management issues and has gotten in trouble for hitting others. The four meet up in a custodians' closet at school and realize they are all getting the texts. It is Explorer's Day at school, and there are all sorts of mini courses going on, and the afternoon will showcase the results of these, so it's easier for the kids to sneak around because regular classes are not going on.  They are instructed to get a bag of clothes from a dumpster, put them in a locker, phone the office about it, go into the principal's office to download a file onto a flash drive, and on and on. While doing this, they try to figure out who is blackmailing them, and also learn a bit about the others and their secrets. Will the four be able to complete their tasks and keep their secrets, or find out who is behind the plot and deal with the problem that way?
Strengths: This read a bit like a suspense movie, and there was a lot of good tension surrounding the texts, the tasks, and the mystery of who was behind this. The secrets that the students had were realistic and sufficiently serious for middle school without being too horrible. The kids worked together nicely, and were able to reason out a lot of key plot points. The cover is great, and it is more realistic that students would have the freedom to sneak around during a special event day. 
Weaknesses: The thought of not knowing where students are in school, even during Explorer's Day, makes me very worried, and I have trouble with any book where students conduct a lot of business out of custodial closets! I'm also not a huge fan of the evil adult trope, so this was just not a personal favorite of mine, even though it was well written and has a great premise. I was also a bit concerned about Gemma's relationship with the older boy, but nothing really came of that.
What I really think: YA titles where someone deals in secrets are popular, and this is an interesting middle grade twist on suspense books like Barnes' The Fixer or Elston's The Rules for Disappearing with a dash of Erlbaum's Let Me Fix That For You and even Rylander's The Fourth Stall. Definitely think that students will enjoy this one quite a lot, but I had purely adult problems getting past some of the logistics. I'll definitely purchase this one, and it will get read a lot.  

Project Mercury and Comet vs. Asteroid

 Smith, Ronald L. Project Mercury.
August 6, 2024 by Clarion Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ike Pressure knows the drill. His family has moved often, since his mother is an army specialist and his father is a recruiter. Their new posting is the Mercury Army Base in Nevada. There's not a lot to do there, but Ike is okay with that; he's rather be playing video games, and he does occasionally get outside. When he finds out that one of his mother's friends is also moving to Mercury, he's not all that happy, because it means he will once again have to deal with the loud and bossy Eesha Webb, who was born on the same day he was. The Webbs, who also have six year old twins named Jack and Jill, are a very athletic and competitive family. Eesha often refers to Ike as a nerd,  but when she mentions that Area 51 is very close to them and that she thinks Mercury has some ties to aliens, both are able to geek out on all things space and UFO related. They both think that their parents are probably involved, which mades it even more intriguing. When Ike finds an odd, old radio in the basement, and he hears things that sound like code, he is sure that something is up. Eesha and Ike investigate in the woods, and Jill finds something that looks like "alien tech". When Mixie shows up, they are astonished to find that she is from the year 2300! Should she have been time traveling? Of course not, but she was fooling around and traveled back in time. Life in 2300 is pretty good, but she knows better than to tell Ike and Eesha that. The three figure out that the army is involved in a project, and when Ike's mother's phone rings in her purse with the very same tune that has played through the radio, they suspect she is set to time travel. Mixie takes the children with her to the future, and as they are exploring New Glades, there is an emergency announcement; alien ships have been detected and they have to go to Mixie's home. Mixie's parents are NOT thrilled that she has not only traveled to the past but brought children home with her. They manage to contact the Peacekeeper so that Ms. Pressure isn't attacked. Ms. Pressure has traveled to the future to try to get help with the problems plaguing Earth, like climate change and global warming, and the future is glad to help out and send her back to the army with some solutions. Not only that, but the higher ups are so pleased that they offer the children an opportunity to be hired on as Undercover Kids. Will they get to have more adventures in a sequel?
Strengths: Smith gets a HUGE number of bonus points for his optimistic view of 2300 as a time when there have been no wars for over 500 years, society has not collapsed, they haven't had a pandemic in a long time, and they are willing to help the past out with practical solutions to climate change! There's a good sense of mystery about the army project, some tension with Eesha and Ike working together, and some comic relief from the twins. The depiction of life on an army base was very informative. I know that Smith usually writes fantasy, but I would absolutely LOVE him to write a realistic middle grade book about a tween army brat; I believe this was his upbringing, and I think he would write an excellent, funny novel about that life. There are so few (Benedis-Grab's Army Brats and Lesage's AWOL are the only two that come to mind) that this would be a great addition to middle grade books. 
Weaknesses: This could have used a bit more action earlier in the story, and fewer descriptions of tofu lasagna! The only thing worse than eating cardboardy cereal is reading about it! 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Murray and Smith's Alien Summer or Buxbaum and Naidu's Area 51. I couldn't help but think of Fleming's nonfiction Crash from Outer Space when the kids are talking about Area 51; I know that Eesha wants to believe in extraterrestrials, but I'm going to side with Fleming's research on this topic! 

Kuchner, Marc J. and Schu, Matt. Asteroid vs. Comet 

April 23, 2024 by MIT Kids Press

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Can we live on Mars? Is Pluto a planet? Star Wars vs. Star Trek? There's no shortage of geeky, space related questions that tweens readers can ponder, and Asteroid vs. Comet offers new opportunities for scientific thinking. In order to really calculate things properly, we first meet both an asteroid, in the Asteroid Belt, and a comet, in the Oort Cloud. We find out that while asteroids are hot, comets are cold, and learn the speeds, weights, and composition of the competing bodies. The two rarely collide, but this is a fun speculation. 

This is not quite a comic book (although it is a comet book!), but a nicely sized nonfiction book with lots of illustrations. Each topic is approached with a page from both the asteroid and the comet point of view, and the text is very readable. Words and ideas are nicely explained, and I was able to understand the scientific concepts. There is definitely an air of suspense in this, which is hard to create in a science related nonfiction book, and I won't ruing the ending and tell you who survived the hypothetical collision!

While some young readers love nonfiction and don't want to read anything else, it can be a challenge to get some readers to pick up books with facts. This is a perfect length, and is highly engaging. The pictures help, and I can see this being a book that I can recommend to my students who need to include some science themed nonfiction books in the mix, even if they aren't wanting to pick them up. 

I love when young readers have specific interests, and space is a topic that frequently sparks readers to search for information. Regas' 1,000 Facts About Space Aldrin and Dyson's Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet, Lowery's Everything Awesome About Space and Other Galactic Facts!,  McAnulty's Where Are the Aliens, and Drimmer's Can't Get Enough Space Stuff. 

Five Days of Famous

Noel, Alyson. Five Days of Famous
December 13th 2016 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Copy Provided by Young Adult Books Central

Nick Dashaway is a self-described brainiac who hangs out with his uber-geeky friends at school and fails to successfully navigate middle school, especially when it comes to his biggest crush, Tinsely. With winter break looming, he has nothing to look forward to except hanging out at the family hardware store and Christmas tree lot, dealing with his sister Holly, and wishing that he were famous like singer Josh Frost, who went to his school. When his friend Plum gives him an early birthday present and cupcake (his birthday is on Christmas and often gets overlooked), he is shocked when the bus he catches to get home drops him off in an entirely different life in a palm tree festooned area. All of his friends and family are there, but are different. His parents have little to do with his life, which is now managed by Ben Ezer, Josh Frost's manager. Holly is nice to him, Plum is completely different, and Tinsely is a singer who is going to record a song with him. Nick must work on his Christmas themed reality show, but runs afoul of people on social media and just can't figure out why he got thrust into another life. Will he be able to figure it out and return to his regularly scheduled life?

There are a lot of students who ask for books about Christmas, and there are very few out there. There have been a few recently-- Korman's Jingle (in the Swindle series), Stine's Young Scrooge, Fry's The Naughty List and two titles by Benedis-Grab, Clementine for Christmas and The Angel Tree. It's even harder to find Christmas themed books with boys as the main character, so Nick's story is one that will find eager readers. 

Despite the lack of holiday festooning on the cover, this has a lot of holiday details. The names of the characters are all vaguely holiday themed-- the town is Greetree, there's a Turtledove family, and even the dog is named Dasher. Nick's reality television show is a fun touch and involves him decorating Christmas cookies with his sister. 

Middle grade readers have a fascination with celebrity and often envision themselves as famous singers or television actors, so Nick's wish for a more exciting life is one that will resonate. Of course, for most readers this is not a possible goal, so Nick does eventually figure out that wile his life in Greentree isn't perfect, he prefers it. 

Noel writes a lot of teen novels, and the transition from those can be very difficult. This book was clearly written for a middle grade audience, but had more hallmarks of young adult fiction-- it was slow paced and generally angst-ridden. There was a lot of referencing Nick's geeky status that seemed odd and uncharacteristic of the age group. A good first try-- for some odd reason, our students still study A Christmas Carol every year-- but I am not sure that I will purchase. 

#WeNeedDiverseBooks Wednesday- Clementine for Christmas

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. Clementine for Christmas
August 25th 2015 by Scholastic Press
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Josie has a decent life in Frost Ridge, where she lives with her Vietnamese grandparents and mother. Her father passed away from cancer and her grandfather has had hip surgery, so the extra support is appreciated by all the generations. Josie is very grateful for Clementine, the dog she got for Christmas the year her father passed. She loves everything about Christmas, from the wild sweaters her grandmother knits to the play that is put on at the hospital where she volunteers with Clementine. Oscar, on the other hand, is NOT a fan of Christmas, since that is when his parents' arguments seem to become louder and more frequent. After a particularly harrowing morning at home, someone at school makes him angry, and he gets suspended for hitting another boy. He also has to do community service, and ends up volunteering in the children's ward with Josie. He doesn't want to get into the spirit of things, wearing a costume and singing to children the way that Josie does, but does enjoy hanging out with Clementine, and slowly understands why Josie volunteers of her own choice. When popular fashionista Gabby ends up as a patient in the children's ward, Josie and Oscar are a little surprised. Gabby is having trouble keeping her epilepsy under control, and is concerned that classmates will make fun of her just like they did din her old school, so she promises to help Josie organize the Christmas pageant, if she and Oscar promise to keep her condition a secret. In the end, the three help each other out tremendously, even though there are missteps along the way.

The characters in this book all reflect actual middle school students brilliantly. Josie feels unpopular, even though she is happy with her homemade sweaters and ill-fitting jeans. Oscar is angry at many things, and this shows itself in his behavior at school. Gabby wants to retain her hard-earned popularity by dressing like the popular girls even though it takes ingenuity to stretch her money and is a physical hardship for her when her epilepsy becomes unmanageable. The way that the three of them are thrown together isn't overly forced (although I don't know how the principal of the school could mandate community service without even talking with Oscar's parents!), and they aren't friends immediately-- in fact, they are wary of each other for most of the book!

There were many multicultural characters in the book without the book being about any one culture, which was refreshing to see. Josie is half Vietnamese, Gabby is Hispanic, and Frost Ridge is populated with characters with Asian, Italian and Indian names, as well as several African-American characters. Most of the characters struggle a bit economically, which is more realistic than having them all live in multimillion dollar houses! Middle grade readers like to know that other children are struggling with parents who fight or parents who are worried about their jobs.

Clementine is a fantastic character, too, and her service in the hospital is well-described.

There are not many Christmas related books for middle grade readers, and the cover on this is great, although I would have liked to see one of Josie's grandmother's sweaters in the picture somewhere! Fans of thought-provoking novels like Bauer's Almost Home, Booth's Kinda Like Brothers, or Schroeder's It's Raining Cupcakes will enjoy this tale of community service around the holidays.

I liked this much more than this author's The Angel Tree which was much sadder and felt forced.

The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman

Lowe, Mari. The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman

November 7, 2023 by Levine Querido

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Shaindy lives in a closeknit Orthodox Jewish community and attends a religious school, but has trouble connecting to her classmates and often feels awkward and lonely. She admires neighbor Gayil, who is bold, good at rollerblading, and has lots of friends. When Gayil has a secret she wants to share, Shaindy is intrigued and pleased. Gayil has found a key fob that lets the girls into the school building, and has a fun idea; she wants to go into the school and play small pranks that will be mysterious and take people's minds off the horror that is 6th grade. Nothing too bad, just things like putting slime into a girl's hairbrush. Shaindy is so pleased to have Gayil's attention that she agrees, although she doesn't feel great about the pranks. This is especially true when Rena's hair is practically shaved off after the prank with the slime. Rosh Hashanah is approaching, and the teacher, Morah Neuman, has the girls working on a Succos project, and there is a lot of discussion about the meaning of the holiday. Gayil goes on to switch everyones' notebooks in their lockers, which confuses people and is annoying, although one notebook does go missing. She also brings in a bee trap which lets bees out and causes chaos, especially since one girl is allergic. The girls manage to evade a teddy bear nanny cam in one classroom, and since the school doesn't have a surveillance system, manage to get away with all of their pranks. When bubble bath spilled on a floor almost ends in injuring another student, Shaindy wants to stop playing the pranks. Will this cause Gayil to stop being her friend? 

Strengths: Shaindy's plight is all too common in middle school; she feels pudgy and awkward, can't roller blade as well as her classmates, and just can't find anyone with whom to connect. She's glad to have the attention of the popular Gayil, even if she is actually dangerously unbalanced. Gayil always comes across as a "good girl", making her even more dangerous. There were some twists in this that I don't want to ruin, but it was certainly a great exploration of what children might do in order to have friends. The Orthodox Jewish represenation is interesting, especially in the small details about school and family life. This could have taken a much darker turn, stayed firmly in the realm of school and social drama stories rather than veering into the mystery genre like Benedis-Grab's I Know Your Secret. 
Weaknesses: The popularity of Heelys and rollerblading made this seem like it was set about 15 years ago, although this is never specifically mentioned. The scenes at school where the religious holidays were discussed where interesting and informative, but also slowed the story down. It's important to know about the different practices, but a little less detail would have made the story more engaging. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like stories like Soderberg's Sky Ropes or Arguelles's Flip Turns, or Eyre's The Mean Girl Meltdown where pranks play a pivotal role in the children's social challenges, or for collections that need Orthodox Jewish representation like that in this author's Aviva and the Dybbuk. 

Books that Could be Nominated for Cybils MGF

So far, there are 70 books that have been nominated: in previous years, there have been up to 150. I'd love to give everything a fair chance, and would like to see lots more nominations! Here are some books that I hvaen't seen nominated yet; if you were passionate about a title, hope over to http://www.cybils.com/2017/10/4794.html  to read the category descriptions and nominate away!

This is just SOME of the books that I would like to be nominated!

Asher, Diana Harmon. Sidetracked
Behar, Ruth. Lucky Broken Girl
Benedis-Grab, Daphne. Army Brats
Bowen, Fred. Outside Shot
Buyea, Rob. The Perfect Score
Carter, Caela. Forever, or a Long, Long Time.
Dee, Barbara. Halfway Normal.
Freeman, Ruth. One Good Thing About America.
Galante, Cecelia. Stealing Our Way Home
Gangsei, Jan. The Wild Bunch
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Genevieve's War
Greenwald, Tommy. The Real Us
Hashimoto, Meika. The Trail
Hughes, Dean. Four-Four-Two
Johnson, Terry Lynn. Falcon Wild
Johnson, Terry Lynn. Sled Dog School
Key, Watt. Hideout
Krishnaswami, Uma. Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh
Lambert, Mary E. Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes
Lupica, Mike. Lone Stars Mancusi, Mari. Princesses, Inc.
Margolis, Leslie. We Are Party People
Miller, Darcy. Roll
Palmer, Iva-Marie. Gabby Garcia's Ultimate Playbook
Palmer, Robin. Love You Like a Sister
Paterson, Katherine. My Brigadista Year
Pla, Sally J. The Someday Birds
Ridge, Yolanda. Inside Hudson Pickle
Rosenberg and Shang. This is Just a Test
Sheinmel, Courtney. Chloe on the Bright Side (The Kindness Club #1)
Sonnenblick, Jordan. The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade
Spradlin, Michael. Prisoner of War
Tarpley, Natasha. The Harlem Charade
Trueit, Trudy. My Top Secret Dares and Don'ts
Tubbs, Kristine O'Donnell. A Dog Like Daisy
Vaught, Susan. Super Max and the Mystery of Thornwood's Revenge
Van Draanen, Wendelin. The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones
Vrabel, Beth. A Blind Guide to Normal.
Vrabel, Beth. Caleb and Kit
Walker, Melissa. Let's Pretend We Never Met
Zhang, Kat. The Emperor's Riddle

Army Brats

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. Army Brats
March 28th 2017 by Scholastic Press
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Tom, Charlotte and Rosie Bailey are excited to be moving onto an Army base where they will have a little more freedom to roam. Their mother is in Army intelligence, and their dad works from home. All of the children have a few problems of their own, which come out as they start their new school. Rosie, who was adopted from China, has little patience for other children and is considered mean because of how she treats them. Tom has a tendency to startle and make a squeaking sound, and he manages to run afoul of Chase, the school bully, who dubs him "Major Wimpy". Charlotte is very concerned that she finds a good group at school, and is very glad when popular girls like her nail polish designs and ask her to sit with them. Charlotte is very concerned that her brother's troubles will spill into her own life, so when the children notice that neighborhood dogs are going missing and find a suspicious house in a restricted area of the base, they think it's a good idea to make a video of Tom going in there so that Chase thinks he is brave. They think they have uncovered a dog stealing ring and are working on solving it without adult intervention, but it turns out to be perfectly benign. Rosie manages to make a friend and works on being kinder, Tom finally sticks up for himself, and Charlotte realizes that her popular new friends are not worth hiding her true feelings. 
Strengths: The depiction of life on an Army base makes this worth purchasing. Shopping at the PX, worrying about parents who are on active duty in war torn countries, discussing moving frequently-- there are too few depictions of this in middle grade fiction. 
Weaknesses: The mystery of pets being kidnapped is very trite, but Charlotte's reaction to this was even more disturbing-- let's investigate this bad thing happening on an Army base without letting parents know. Then it wasn't a problem at all... just seemed a bit odd. 
What I really think: This author is hit or miss for me; enjoyed Clementine for Christmas, but couldn't get into The Angel Tree. Still, this is a good purchase for the depiction of military family life, and it's surprisingly upbeat. I think all of the children probably should have been in some sort of therapy for anxiety and socialization.

Friday- Underdog City

Negron, Chris. Underdog City
October 31, 2023 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mortimer Bray used to enjoy his neighborhood of Townsend Heights, where his lawyer mother is a councilwoman, but the last year has been tough. His father, a science teacher, has started taking apart a lot of small appliances, thinking he can "fix" them. A beloved elderly neighbor, Ms. Opal, fell and broke a hip and had to move to assisted living. Mortimer hasn't been in touch with her because he feels guilty. He also feels guilty about what happened to his dog, Trevor, who ran away from him on a walk and was hit by a car. This impacts his dog walking business, which he has handed over to his best friend, Frankie, since he doesn't feel capable of continuing with it. There are new neighbors in Ms. Opal's house, the Cortez family, who are at odds with the other neighbors, especially the Brewsters, because they have a rooster that wakes everyone up each morning. When the Cortez' granddaughter, Will, spends the summer with them, she starts a rival dog walking business. Even though he is no longer in the business, Mortimer feels like he should help out his friend Frankie and find out what is going on. He and Will start an tentative friendship, and start delving into neighborhood issues, mainly because of the problems the family is facing because of the rooster, Gustavo, as well as some prejudice because the grandparents have come from Puerto Rico. They find out that Mr. Brewster has some plans to buy an empty lot and build a development called Brewster Station. He claims that it will raise property values, provide needed businesses, and generally improve the neighborhood, but Mortimer has his doubts. He finally visits Ms. Opal, because he can remember that she always reacted strongly to the vacant lot, and he finds that she has deep ties to decades old "urban renewal" that negatively impacted her family as well as the entire neighborhood. Is Mr. Brewster using his project to cover up a similar building project that might decimate Mortimer's neighborhood? When Frankie gets him some secret information that ties in with Ms. Opal's historical perspective, he and Will feel that they need to go to the council to protest. Given Mortimer's anxiety, will he be able to get up and address the group to let them know what's going on in order to save his community, especially since his mother seems to be supporting Mr. Brewster?

Strengths: Townsend Heights sounds like an interesting neighborhood, and Mortimer's investment in it is an unusal example of Kids Doing Things. I appreciated that he was willing to get to know Will and became friends with her, instead of relying on the middle grade trope disliking neighborhood interlopers. The Cortez family's history, and their reasons for having a rooster, were interesting, although I'm not sure how well a rooster would go over in my neighborhood! The trauma of losing his dog, and the guilt Mortimer feels, are understandable. Ms. Opal is a great character, and her family history in Townsend Heights was so interesting that I wish Mortimer had visited her a lot earlier. The parents were some of the better middle grade ones I've seen; briefly but fully developed as humans with their own issues, supportive of Mortimer but annoying in various ways, and ultimately there for Mortimer. The friendships with Will and Frankie also made sense. This is a great example of the type of realistic fiction that I'd love to see published more, since it's the kind of title apt to be purchased for literature circles and class discussion sets. 
Weaknesses: The council meeting scene at the end of the book had a lot of information about the neighborhood history, as well as a lot of description about Mortimer's anxiety. The history would have been better presented spread throughout the book, and the entire scene tightened up a bit. 
What I really think: While I enjoyed this author's Dan Unmasked and The Last Super Chef, they haven't circulated as much as I had hoped, mainly due to the longer length. Underdog City seems a bit shorter, and has a fantastic cover. I've added a copy to my list to purchase, and will hand it to fans of Fairbairn and Assarasakorn's Paws graphic novel series, Hoyle's Just Gus, Finnegan's New Kids and Underdogs, or Benedis-Grab, Daphne. Army Brats.