Unstoppable Octobia May

Flake, Sharon G. Unstoppable Octobia May
September 30th 2014 by Scholastic Press 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Octobia lives with her Aunt Shuma because her delicate health frightens her parents. Her aunt runs a boarding house, and Octobia is obsessed with one of the residents, Mr. Davenport, a writer whom she believes to be a vampire. Octobia spends a lot of time in the local graveyard and is a fanciful child, but Shuma lets her run wild through the neighborhood, sometimes wearing boys' clothes. Her best friend is Jonah, with whom she gets into all kinds of trouble, and she tries to befriend new neighbor, Bessie, who has been mute ever since her older brother was killed in Korea. Octobia and Jonah think that Mr. Davenport has killed a woman, so they start an investigation and steal money and other things from his room. This gets them into a deeper mystery involving banker Mr. Harrison, who seems to have known Mr. Davenport in the past. What seems like childish fantasies about vampires turn in to real intrigue when secrets about both men come to the surface, and Octobia and Jonah find themselves in real danger.
Strengths: This book covers a lot of historical topics that are very interesting and not much covered in middle grade literature. Bessi is racially mixed, Aunt Shuma tries to get a bank loan to build a hotel but no one will loan money to a black woman, and some of the boarders are Holocaust survivors. Even Officer O'Malley talks about the prejudice that the Irish faced. A fair amount of action and mystery, and the secret involving Mr. Harrison is quite interesting.
Weaknesses: Octobia is an unreliable narrator, so I was very confused at the beginning of the story. The topics covered in the book are so important that having Octobia's vampire fascination made the book seem... odd. Perhaps Ms. Flake wanted us to think that Octobia was making up things about Mr. Davenport so she could surprise us with the seriousness of reality, but this didn't quite work for me in a way that I find I cannot effectively articulate. I will be interested to see what others think of this book.

Preus, Margi. West of the Moon.
April 1st 2014 by Amulet Books

Astri's mother is dead and her father has gone off to America, so she and her younger sister Greta are staying with an aunt who can't afford to keep them. Astri is sold as a servant to Svaalberd, the goat herder, an unpleasant man who is not at all concerned about Astri's well-being. Finally, Astri has had enough and runs back home to get Greta. She steals a book that she thinks is magic from Svaalberd, and cuts off two of his fingers when he comes after her. Also running away is a mute girl whom Svaalberd has locked up in the house. The three girls manage to make their way onto a boat bound for America, even though they needed a lot of money to put together all of the provisions needed for the trip. Notes at the end of the book explain a bit about immigration from Norway in the 1800s.
Strengths: Can't think of many books set at this point of history, and I did learn that people had to take their own provisions on boats to America. Readers who like problem novels might find Astri's plight to be an interesting one.
Weaknesses: Very violent, in a Grimm fairy tale kind of way, and rather odd.

#WNDB Wednesday: Half a World Away

Kadohata, Cynthia. Half a World Away
Published September 2nd 2014 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers 

Jaden has been adopted by a US family, but he was in an orphanage in Romania for so long that he has an attachment disorder and is not really happy with Penni and Steve, his adoptive parents. He hoards food and is fascinated with electricity, and even went through a phase where he liked to set things on fire. His parents have him in therapy, but he still just isn't comfortable. When Penni and Steve decide to adopt a baby from Kazakhstan, Jaden feels even more threatened. The family travels there only to find that the baby they thought they were getting has already been adopted, and the child they are shown instead does not seem to be bonding with them in the very same way that Jaden isn't bonding. Jaden, however, finds a toddler with whom he feels a connection, and he would like the family to adopt Dimash instead of Ramazan. Even though Jaden has stressed out the parents emotionally and financially, they decide to take both special needs children, and Jaden then feels like he might be able to connect with them a little.
Strengths: Can't think of another book about adopting a baby from a foreign country from the point of view of a middle grade child, or another book about a middle grade child adopted from another country who is not settling in well. Kadohata is an effective writer, and I did get sucked into this. The descriptions of the process and of traveling to another country were especially interesting.
Weaknesses: Not entirely sure how well this will go over with students, and at the end I had a horrible feeling that things would not go well for any of the people in Jaden's family when they got back to the US! This did not make foreign adoptions seem like a good idea to me.

Question of the Day

So, I'm flying United to Kidlitcon in Sacramento, and I'm making sure I can get my stuff there and back. I packed this weekend, and all of my clothes fit into a large plastic freezer bag, and my toiletries take up a sandwich bag. I always travel with an extra pair of shoes. You never know.

IN CASE I need to bring home books, I am bringing my large back pack (the two-weeks-in-Europe-but-fits-in-overhead-compartment size) with another smaller empty back pack inside that.

I think that's enough, since I will be judicious in any books that I bring back. But here's the question that readers everywhere want to know:

How much "reading material" can be carried on and not count toward my one bag? 

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-On.aspx

Carry-on items that are acceptable to transport in the cabin but are fragile or bulky will be considered cabin-seat baggage. Customers can purchase a ticket for a cabin-seat baggage item so that it may be carried on board and transported in a seat.

The following items are allowed and do not count toward your one bag and one personal item limit:

• Jacket or umbrella
• Reading material
• Pet carrier (service charges apply)
• FAA-approved child restraint seat
• Diaper bag
• Food or merchandise purchased in the airport

The Eye of Zoltar/ The Iron Trial

Fforde, Jasper. The Eye of Zoltar.
7 October 2014, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Copy from Barbara Fisch of Blue Slip Media

The third book in The Last Dragonslayer series finds Jennifer Strange in charge of Kazam Mystical Arts Management, and still very concerned with the health of the last two dragons in existence. When Shandar requests an audience with her, she is a bit alarmed. It turns out that Shandar had a contract to kill all of the dragons, and he will lose a great deal of money if he doesn't kill them. He strikes a deal with Jennifer-- in exchange for letting the dragons live, she must provide Shandar with the Eye of Zoltar, a mystical ruby that may or may not exist. Seeing no other option, Jennifer heads off to the hazardous Cambrian Empire, where rumor has it the gem might be, with her trusty crew.  This group includes the spoiled princess Shazza, who has been transported into the body of a lowly serving girl by her mother, who wants Shazza (now Laura) to learn some humility. They hire a young guide who predicts that half the group will die, but the guide also has other people join the group so that they can be the ones who perish! There are all sorts of odd adventures to be had, including retrieving a rubberized dragon and carting him around, looking for air leviathans, and uncovering a plot that may be more interesting to Shandar than the Eye. While a few of the group do perish in odd ways, most survive, but there are yet more adventures in the offing.
Strengths: Jennifer is a fun character, and her relationship with Laura, as well as with the ill-fated magician Perkins, are interesting. The quest format works, and even the Cambrian Empire has its appeal. I liked this far more than the first book, and am half inclined to buy the series now.
Weaknesses: While this is a good series for those who like quirky, Monty Python-esque fantasies (think Douglas Adams or Gerald Morris), I just don't have those readers right now. Makes me a little sad, missing a group of readers I had about eight years ago!

Black, Holly and Clare, Cassandra. The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1)
September 9th 2014 by Scholastic Press
ARC from Baker and Taylor

Callum Hunt is a rathe obnoxious kid who limps because his leg was shattered as an infant. He lives with his father, who has turned against all magic because it lead to the death of Call's mother, probably (although Call doesn't know it) during a battle against the Enemy, a battle after which Call is found with a note from his mother that says "Kill the child". When the Magisterium (the local school for children with magical capabilities that need to be harnessed) screens children, Call hopes that he will not get accepted to the school, but despite his best efforts, he not only gets in, but gets accepted into a training group by the top teacher, Master Rufus. Along with Tamara and Alex, he is assigned a variety of tasks in the school set deep in the forest, (especially dealing with elementals), eats a lot of bizarre food, and deals with other students who don't think that Call deserves his chance. Even though his father has sent a note that Master Rufus should bind Call's magic, Call makes good progress, even taking in (against school rules), a chaos ridden wolf pup. After another student, Drew, tries to run away, secrets come out about the dangers for which the Magisterium is preparing students, Alex is determined to be very important in this battle, and Call finds out that all of the foreshadowing about his true background has serious ramifications.
Strengths: It must be said that my two go-to reviewers of fantasy, Amy at my school and Charlotte of Charlotte's Library really liked this. It looks to be a five book series, solidly middle grade, and I will definitely purchase, since it is more modern, realistic fantasy as opposed to historical, high fantasy, which has really gone out of favor at my school. Decent enough world building, an understandable amount of characters, a school that most middle grade students would want to attend, and a reasonably defined battle against evil. The cute wolf pup does help a lot.
Weaknesses: Personally felt "meh" about this, possibly because I am still loving The Last Apprentice Series. My main problem was that Call is a brat, and his father hasn't been a good or responsible parent. The characters, while interesting, don't seem quite as developed as I would like, although they might be in future books. I did not think the twist at the end was unexpected at all, and was a bit concerned about how it was dealt with in light of future books. I like characters with an interesting mix of good and bad in them, so maybe I will like watching how the next books play out.

Have to say that Holly Black's Tithe is the reason I try to read all of the fiction books before buying them-- years ago, a student I had known since she was tiny recommended the book to me, and I bought it, only to find out that the language was too salty for middle school. So my hackles are raised every time I approach a book by her! Cool that she and Clare live so close to each other and collaborated on the book! I imagine they had great fun writing it.

The Alias Men Blog Tour

Running a bit behind, but check out this fun opportunity:

Follow along with the Double Vision: The Alias Men blog tour:

Oct. 6-10: The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow features Double Vision: The Alias Men with a review, author interview, plus aGIVEAWAY..!

Oct. 13: Linc hangs out at the great Erik’s blog, This Kid Reviews Books. Linc talks about spy techniques he picked up on his Pandora missions. And there’s another GIVEAWAY…

Oct. 14: Double Vision: The Alias Men is released! Have a virtual party at the YA Sleuth blog…! And follow F.T. on Twitter @FTBradleyAuthor for more kid spy fun.

Oct. 16: F.T. Bradley gives you Five Ways to Bring MG into The Classroom at the Unleashing Readers blog, plus a GIVEAWAY.

Oct. 17: Linc is interviewed by Lizzy, Fairday and Marcus over at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow blog. A fun post!

Oct. 20: Buried in Books lets F.T. Bradley talk about the Double Vision trilogy…

Oct. 20: Also this day, the fabulous Ms. Yingling reviews Double Vision: The Alias Men on her blog for Marvelous MG Monday…

Oct. 21: Another favorite blog, YA Book Nerd, hosts F.T. Bradley and the Double Vision trilogy, plus a GIVEAWAY

Oct. 21: F.T. Bradley hangs out at Sleuths, Spies and Alibis…

Oct. 24: F.T. Bradley gives tips for parents of reluctant readers, Seven Ways to Get Your Kid to Read, at Pragmatic Mom’s blog, plus a GIVEAWAY!

Oct. 25: At the Nerdy Book Club, find F.T. Bradley’s top 10 books for reluctant readers...

MMGM- Friendship OVER (The Top-Secret Journal of Celie Valentine)

Sternberg, Julie. Friendship OVER (The Top-Secret Journal of Celie Valentine)
1 October 2014, Boyds Mill Press
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Celie is struggling with her friendship with Lula. As is the case with many 10-year-olds, the slightest misunderstanding can be blown into epic proportions. Lula was uncomfortable with something Celie saw at Lula's house, and so the two begin bickering to the extent that their classroom teacher recommends them for a friendship workshop with a guidance counselor. Celie also has to content with her older sister Jo, projects at school, and embarrassing cousin Carla, who comes to watch Celie and Jo when their mother has to go visit their granny. Granny is having lapses with her memory, resulting in her putting her garbage in the freezer, and Celie's mother just want to see what's going on. Luckily, most of Celie's other issues are figured out before the biggest change of all occurs-- her grandmother is going to move in with the family.
Strengths: This hits many issues that concern younger middle grade readers: friend issues, sibling issues, getting in trouble in school, and grandparents in an honest and funny way. It also touches on some growing up issues like wearing deodorant, which is for some reason completely fascinating to girls until they actually need to wear it! Since series books, especially notebook novel types, are always in demand, I can see this being a very good purchase for elementary school libraries.
Weaknesses: By 6th grade, my readers have moved beyond most of these issues, and the problems with friends are much less accidental and much meaner and purposeful, so I think this may be a bit young for my crowd.

For those of you who need books for that wonderful grade 3-5 group, hop on over to some of these sites for the full blog tour. Bonus: you might come across a great middle grade blog you've never seen before!

Mon, Sept 29	Mother Daughter Book Club	http://motherdaughterbookclub.com/
Tues, Sept 30	5 Minutes for Mom	http://www.5minutesformom.com/category/feature-columns/5-minutes-for-books/
Wed, Oct 1	Sharpread	http://mrcolbysharp.com/
Thurs, Oct 2	KidLit Frenzy	http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Fri, Oct 3	The Hiding Spot	http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com
Sat, Oct 4	Booking Mama	http://www.bookingmama.net/
Mon, Oct 6	Ms. Yingling Reads	http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/
Tues, Oct 7	GreenBeanTeenQueen	http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.com/
Wed, Oct 8	Great Kid Books	http://greatkidbooks.blogspot.com/
Thurs, Oct 9	Teach Mentor Texts	http://www.teachmentortexts.com/#axzz3DP0vkvgi
Fri, Oct 10	Unleashing Readers	http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Sat, Oct 11	Bermuda Onion	http://bermudaonion.net/

Julie Sternberg is the author of the best-selling Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and its sequels, Like Bug Juice on a Burger and Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake. Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie is a Gryphon Award winner and a Texas Bluebonnet Award finalist; Like Bug Juice on a Burger is a Gryphon Honor Book, a Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Awards Nominee, and an Illinois Monarch Award Finalist. Formerly a public interest lawyer, Julie is a graduate of the New School's MFA program in Creative Writing, with a concentration in writing for children. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. For more information about her life and work and to download free activity materials based on her books, visit her website: juliesternberg.com.


Schutten, Jan Paul. Hello From 2030 The Science of the Future and You
October 7th 2014 by Aladdin/Beyond Words
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Once I get my time travel machine working, what I really want to do is to travel back to 1983 and snag a copy of the Seventeen magazine that gave us a glimpse of what clothing would look like in 2000. Silver lame and  stretch fabrics figured largely.

This is definitely a great book to purchase on many counts. It has topics of interest to students, like houses, food, and technology, combined with an aesthetically pleasing layout, complete with requisite cartoon robots. Why don't I have the Jetson's Rosie doing my laundry? Actually, the chapter on robots was interesting in the way the past vision of robots was addresses-- the machines that do things like laundry and cooking have become so efficient that robots would be superfluous! Who knew that microwaves were not a fabulous technology. My grandmother, who was born in 1893, would have begged to differ. She never locked the doors to her house until we bought her a microwave in 1980! Lots of good notes and statistics, as well as beautiful pictures, make this a good jumping off point for discussions about lots of different issues.

I am looking forward to seeing the physical book, though-- even though E Books are the thing of the future, sometimes the pages (at least on e ARCS) take longer to load than I would like, and make it hard to flip back and forth between sections for cross referencing.

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and What Are You Reading? day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday at Anastasia Suen's blog.

Pink and Green is the New Black

Greenwald, Lisa. Pink and Green is the New Black
October 7th 2014 by Amulet Books 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Sequel to My Life in Pink and Green and My Summer of Pink and Green. Lucy and Sunny are determined to start an initiative for a green cafeteria at their middle school, and Lucy in particular is looking forward to enjoying the rest of her middle school career. However, things are not going well with boyfriend (and Sunny's brother) Yamir, who is busy with things in high school and not communicating as much as in the past. On top of that, Erica has decided that she is in charge of the 8th grade masquerade and is bossing everyone around. She wants all of the 8th graders to get their makeup done at Lucy's spa, and of course get a discount. Lucy manages to swing this, but when Erica puts pressure on Lucy to fix her up with a high school boyfriend so she can bring one to the dance, Lucy remembers just how mean Erica can be. Adding to the confusion is new boy Travis, who is very interested in Lucy. He's also cute and lots of fun, and has a twin brother, Gavin, whom Erica wants Lucy to fix up with another friend. Lucy likes Travis, but doesn't have a lot to talk to him about. Other issues include Claudia coming home from college unexpectedly, getting used to having her father around, implementing the green cafeteria initiative, and continuing to work with the spa.
Strengths: Very true to life when it comes to friends and boys-- not over the top, but certainly dramatic enough. The interest in green issues is fun, and some girls will like Lucy's obsession with makeup, although it isn't quite as prominent as in other books. A fun series.
Weaknesses: The masquerade irritated me a bit because it seemed unrealistic. 8th graders paying $20 to have makeup done for a dance? Bit of a stretch in my mind.

Pack of Dorks

Vrabel, Beth. Pack of Dorks
October 7th 2014 by Sky Pony Press 
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Lucy and Becky are the most popular girls in their 4th grade class, but they work really hard at it, always coming up with a new idea to keep kids interested in them. After they plan to kiss Tom and Henry at recess-- and get fake diamond rings from the boys-- their popularity seems to be cemented. However, Lucy has to be out of school for several days after her mother has a baby. Lucy loves Molly, but her parents are worried because Molly has Down Syndrome, and they know the challenges she will face. When Lucy returns to school,  Henry tells everyone that Tom is breaking up with Lucy because she stinks at kissing, and suddenly none of her friends will talk to her. She can either sit alone at lunch or make friends with social outcasts like April (who picks her nose) and Sam (who is just very quiet but has decent hygiene habits). She and Sam work together on a school project on wolves, and Lucy's family learns to deal with Molly and her needs.
Strengths: I can't think of any recent titles that cover a middle grade sibling dealing with the intellectual disability of a sibling, although I have had a number of students facing this reality. Lucy and her family are well developed characters, and her grandmother is great fun. Middle grade students frequently lose close friends to odd, socially motivated reasons, so this is realistic.
Weaknesses: Lucy's fall from grace seems abrupt, and the book is clearly message heavy. Also, for students older than 4th grade, the whole first chapter with kissing (focusing on the social acceptance and fear angles) will not be what they want-- those readers tend to prefer the Angela Darling type of romantic, if light, heart melting kiss. Preferably on a beach. At sunset.

Kidlitcon, Here I Come!

Finally found the bus schedule for the bus from the Sacramento airport to my hotel, so things are looking up for me actually making it to Kidlitcon a week from today!

I'm a nervous traveler. I like to travel, but I also like to have a folder full of maps, schedules, and every possible contingency plan. Yes, this is clearly indicative of my lack of smart phone. No Googling stuff for me!

REALLY looking forward to meeting a variety of kid lit people that I have known for years online, but am vaguely plagued by social anxiety that I will say something completely stupid. I don't get to talk to adults frequently, so I worry.

May have packing under control. Plan on taking giant back pack with shoe compartment at bottom, but putting all my stuff in shoe compartment and packing another back pack in preparation for bringing back books. (If there are any. Heard rumors, but don't want to make assumptions.)

So! Have my sub and sub plans, have told children about my impending adventure, and am ready to get on that airplane and head out next Thursday! California, here I come!

Guy Friday- The Madman of Piney Woods

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Madman of Piney Woods
September 30th 2014 by Scholastic Press 
ARC from Baker and Taylor

In this companion to Elijah of Buxton, we meet Benji and Red, two boys who live near the town of Buxton, Ontario, in 1901. Benji has twin siblings who are very good with wood and build a beautiful treehouse that makes him so jealous he destroys it, and he also wants to be a newspaper reporter. Red lives with his father and cantakerous Irish grandmother who hates just about everyone and competes in a speech event in the Upper Canada Forensics Competition. The two meet and become friends, and start to hang out in the woods together. There, they run into the mythical Madman of Piney Woods, and realize that there are some secrets about the injured man that tie both of them to him. The boys learn many lessons about compassion, friendship, and family ties.
Strengths: This covers an underserved point and place in history, and adds some more to the story in Elijah of Buxton, although the cover is a vast improvement on that book! I know that Curtis' books are frequently used in the classroom, and my niece was excited to get the ARC when I finished.
Weaknesses: There wasn't any real "hook" in the story, and it went on for much too long about the treehouse. Felt a bit slow, and I kept waiting for something to happen.

The Doll People Set Sail

Martin, Ann. M., Godwin, Laura and Helquist, Brett. The Doll People Set Sail
October 14th 2014 by Disney-Hyperion 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

When the Palmer girls are having their rooms redecorated and are spending time at a camp, the dolls and doll house are packed up to spend time in the attic. Unfortunately, in rush to get out of the house, the box is accidentally sent with donations to the Allied Transatlantic Charities. The dolls are all carefully packed, but Tiffany Funcraft is able to see out of a split in the seam of the box, and reports that they are being loaded onto a ship. When Tiffany opens the box further to get a better look, Nanny, Mr. Funcraft and Annabelle's brother fall out. The box is stacked on a pallet with other boxes, and the dolls hear dolls in other boxes speaking. When it is safe, they make their way out of the box to investigate and find a set of mermaid dolls who want to set up a colony in the ocean, a batch of foreign dolls from a neighborhood garage sale, and two larger dolls who are trapped in a tin chalet. Pooling all the hints they can find, they determine a strategy to locate and rescue the missing dolls. Nanny shows up caught up in some ropes, the father is in the possession of the captain's son, and the brother eventually shows up in the trough of ponies being transported back to England. With the help of all the dolls, despite the dangerous situation, they are able to find everyone-- but how will they get back to the Palmers?
Strengths: Picky Reader was such a huge fan of these (years ago, when she was in elementary school) that she consented to read this book in an electronic format, which she NEVER does. I have to admit to liking doll books as well, and this was just great fun. While some of the rescues seemed highly unlikely and coincidental, I could suspend disbelief. The setting in a ship was fun, and there were some charming moments of doll concern for humans that I enjoyed. The Helquist illustrations are close enough to the Selznick ones that I didn't mind.
Weakness: The ending was a bit deus ex machina, but does set the scene for perhaps a fifth and final book.

Nominations are open!

Head over to Cybils.com and nominate your favorite books published between October 16, 2013 and October 15, 2014!

Take deep breaths if necessary and read the instructions. I always worry that I'm doing something not quite right, but it's not hard, and I want to make sure there are lots of good contenders for Middle Grade Fiction! Go!

Rory's Promise- #WeNeedDiverseBooks

MacColl, Michaela. Rory's Promise. 
September 1st 2014 by Calkins Creek Books 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Rory has tried to make herself useful at the Catholic foundling home where she lives so that she can continue to be near her younger sister, Violet. The two ended up there after the death of both parents. When the nuns decide that Violet, at age five, is at the right age to be adopted, they plan on putting her on an orphan train to Arizona, but Rory (at 12) is too old to follow and is given options for remaining at the home and working. Not happy with this, Rory runs away and ends up in jail, where she meets Brigid. A street child and thief, Brigid is also going to be sent on an orphan train, but under much more stressful circumstances-- she can be adopted by anyone who wants a child, whereas Violet is going to a prescreened Catholic family. Brigid helps get Rory on to the train that Violet is on, and Rory hides for a bit until she reveals herself to the nuns. Sister Anna in particular is furious-- she cares for Rory, but has to part for so many of the children in her care that she must be callous and follow the rules. The trip to Arizona is stressful, and Rory makes herself useful, hoping that the family taking Violet will also take her. When the group arrives, however, they find that circumstances are not what were anticipated. The mining town has a high rate of infertility, so the women are desperate for children. The priest in charge speaks only French, and has placed all of the (primarily of Irish descent) children with Mexican families because they are Catholic. The Anglo American residents are furious and try to kidnap the children, but Rory likes Elena and Ramon, who are to adopt Violet, and tries to help the Catholic families keep the children. She is only partially successful because the whole situation is a complete mess and even the nuns and their agent are unable to do much against the residents, who control the entire town. While things end happily for Rory and her sister, it's unclear how things will go for the other children.
Strengths: I was leery of this book at first, but it got so many good reviews from people I trust that I had to take a look. I ended up liking it very much. There is enough action and adventure to keep readers happy, and Rory is an extremely appealing character. Based on an actual event, the historical details are fantastic, and even though Rory is Irish American, there is a lot of interesting information about the treatment of Mexican Americans in the US in the early 1900s. Good notes and resources at the end.
Weaknesses: The ending of this slowed down a bit for me when the Anglo American residents and the nuns were fighting about the children. I know that the author tried to follow the actual events, but the book would have ended with more of a bang if the fictional account would have been streamlined a bit.

The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker

Baker, E.D. The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker
October 7th 2014 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Cory is miserable as a tooth fairy. Her mother loves the work, but Cory finally reaches her breaking point and quits. She moves in with her uncle and starts looking for other jobs even though she knows the tooth fairies are angry with her. She has other problems as well-- her pet woodchuck likes to eat carpet and shoes, she is in a struggling band, and she's just broken up with her boyfriend (as have some of her friend) and is looking for the perfect guy. Her odd jobs find her babysitting for Humpty Dumpty and for the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, killing spiders for Miss Muffett, and helping Suzie inventory sea shells by the sea shore. When the Tooth Fairies start playing dirty and start sending plagues of bugs that disrupt her odd jobs, Cory goes delving into her family history for some answers to who she really is and what sort of job would be best for her.
Strengths: No one does a fairy tale book as well as E. D. Baker. I adored A Question of Magic and am quite pleased with The Wide-Awake Princess. This has the same modern, fun twist, this time on predominately Mother Goose characters.
Weaknesses: There seemed to be a disconnect between Cory's problems (jobs, boyfriends, fights with mother) and the age of the expected readers. I was also more bothered than I should have been that this included characters that were not in Mother Goose. It's all make believe, so it shouldn't matter!

I can tell what my primary source of Mother Goose was as a child, because illustrations from Mother Goose Rhymes, illustrated by Eulalie, published by Platt and Munk, circa 1953, kept popping into my mind!

Plus, I now have a really overwhelming desire to go to a Storybook Forest. I thought theme parks like that, as well as Northpole, New York, were the coolest thing ever when I was small.

MMGM-- El Deafo and First Team

It's almost here! Time for nominating your favorite books of the year for the Cybils awards. You can start on October first, but make sure you are familiar with the different age and genre divisions before nominating a book! If it has talking animals, witches, ghosts, or magic of any kind, it is NOT in Middle Grade Fiction, but belongs in Middle Grade SPECULATIVE fiction!

Always a fun time. I love seeing what books show up on the MGF list!





Bell, Cece. El Deafo. 

September 2nd 2014 by Harry N. Abrams
ARC from Baker and Taylor

This graphic novel memoir chronicles the author's experiences with hearing loss. After a childhood bout with meningitis at age 4, Ms. Bell had limited hearing and was taught to lip read. She had a variety of hearing aides, some which worked better than others, and a variety of friends, some of whom had issues with her hearing loss and some of whom just had issues. When things get difficult, Bell occasionally would fantasize that she was the super hero El Deafo, and there are dream sequences about what she wishes she could do. At one point, her mother wants her to take a sign language class, but having relied on lip reading, Bell is not thrilled with this idea. This follows the main character up through middle school, deals with a crush on a cute boy, and is generally a great, realistic picture of how one person went through early school years with a hearing loss.
Strengths: There are very few characters in middle grade books with hearing loss, so the details of what Bell experienced were interesting. I especially appreciated the after note where she said that this was a chronicle of just HER experience, and that there are so many different ways to deal with this. I have one student who is a huge reader has a sign language interpreter; I asked her if she would like the book and explained that while it was about a girl with a hearing loss, she doesn't use sign language. My reader was still thrilled to see the book, and is looking forward to the full color version. This will be popular with readers who like graphic novels, but is an interesting story even without the pictures. The friend and boy drama are squarely middle grade and are as important as Bell's dealings with her issues of being different.
Weaknesses:  While using rabbits certainly sets this apart from Smile (knew I couldn't get through the whole review without mentioning that!), it was a bit odd. Bell is clearly about my age, given the cultural references, so it might have been helpful to have a year mentioned, so that readers would have an idea that the technology of hearing aids might have changed a bit. (My cousin had a device similar to Bell's Sonic Ear, and it was a very large device; even my reader says that before she got an implant, she had a unit that was rather cumbersome.)




Green, Tim. First Team (Sequel to The New Kid)

September 30th 2014 by HarperCollins

Brock and his father have narrowly escaped after a harrowing airplane crash, and have decided to lay low in Calhoun, Ohio. They finally think no one will find them, but this puts them in a tough place for money. They rent a run down house in the Flatlands, and Brock’s father gets a job as a “sanitary engineer”. Brock (who has invented a story about his name so he can remain that), runs into football playing Mak and decides to try out for the team, even though baseball is more his thing. Because of his size, the coach decides to give him a try. His skills would indicate he would be a great quarterback (is this something that ALL football players want to be?), but there is already a quarterback on the team… Coach Van Kuffler’s’ nephew. Brock also runs afoul of other player Wentzel because he is from “the wrong side of the tracks”. Despite this, Brock learns football plays for Taylor Lehman, who is on the high school team and being sought by colleges. It doesn’t hurt that Taylor’s sister, Laurel, is not only cute and nice, but works in the town library, and that their divorced mother seems to get along really well with Brock’s father. Mak is tremendously supportive through all of the trouble on the football field, which involves key players becoming injured so that Brock gets a chance. However, all of this is put into jeopardy when Brock’s father’s past almost catches up with them, although salvation arrives from a very surprising source.

Strengths: As always, LOTS of football stuff. Apparently, coaches call plays and players get in trouble for not following them, even if the choice they make ends in points for the team? Remember, I haven’t watched a football game in over 30 years! Brock and his father have a great relationship, Mak is fantastic as a new friend, and Laurel… sigh. Perfect middle school romance. Perfect. She is impressed that Brock is reading Stead’s When You Reach Me, tries to get him to read The Fault in Our Stars (and he has a perfect reaction to that), and the two meet on really equal ground and just enjoy being around each other. The down-and-out Appalachian community is a great setting, and the spy stuff is just icing on the cake. (Or insert appropriate sports metaphor!)

Weaknesses: The spy stuff is over the top, but I loved it. Evil coaches must be a real thing, but they always make me pause. It’s a lot of work to coach if you’re just in it to be evil.

Personal Rant: Also, what the heck is with the sheer number of football coaches? There are only 11 players on the field from each team? I’m sure there are more that are on the team, but they are in a confined space. We had over 50 cross country runners, and the district only pays for one coach? Not understanding.

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and What Are You Reading? day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday at

Anastasia Suen's blog.

Wheels of Change

Jacobson, Darlene Beck. Wheels of Change
September 23rd 2014 by Creston Books

Emily loves hanging out in her father's shop, and enjoys talking to Henry, the blacksmith. Her father has just made a carriage for Sousa, and has been commissioned to build one for President Roosevelt himself. When Henry becomes very ill, her father has to hire another man, and with the advent of the "horseless carriage", Emily fears for the future of the shop. Emily's mother wishes she would not hang around the forge and enlists her help to put together a tea, for which Emily must improve her baking, not to mention her manners. Emily starts to see more change than just the automobile-- she sees Suffragettes out, goes to a Nickelodeon and sees a woman playing the piano, and sees even more prejudice against black people than she saw when her family chose to visit Henry at his home. In the end, the most pressing problem-- the continuation of her father's business-- is solved, Emily is invited to meet President Roosevelt, and the family decides that they must do what is right even in the face of others' opinions.
Strengths: There is not a lot of fiction set during this period of history (1901-09) when there was a lot of social change occurring. This is well researched and based on the author's own family history. Lots of different topics of the day are presented.
Weaknesses: If all of the girls back in history fought against the restrictive social mores of the time, women would have been fully emancipated in about 1600. I can only compare this against Anne of Green Gables (1908), wherein Anne might have struggled against the status quo but always felt bad about challenging it. In most fiction, girls are portrayed as feeling put upon by having to behave like ladies, and I'm not sure this was as widespread a problem as fiction leads us to believe. I also wonder if the racial prejudices would have played out in real life in the way they were portrayed in the book.

Saturday Morning Cartoons- Tom Gates

Pichon, L. The Brilliant World of Tom Gates
August 26th 2014 by Candlewick Press 
ARC from YABC and reviewed there.

Tom is in year five, and would rather draw or read comics in class than pay attention to his teacher, Mr. Fullerman, which would explain why he gets put in the very front of the classroom! Tom does occasionally pay attention, but he is a past master at forging notes from home and making up elaborate excuses for why he isn't turning things in. He is also very embarrassed by his father, who does freelance work from a shed in their yard and occasionally shows up at school in his gardening clothes, and also by the "fossils": his grandparents, who serve very odd food (like banana on pizza). His older sister, Delia, is easy to annoy, and Tom does so at every chance. The big thing going on in Tom's world is a concert by his favorite band, Dude3, which he manages to talk his father into attending with him. Tom's own band, the Dogzombies, also have an opportunity to perform at a school concert, but both concerts end up being hysterically problematic. This is the first volume of a seven book British series being released in the US for the first time.
Strengths: Notebook novels are always popular, and this one has pleasing graphics that are somewhat reminiscent of Schoolhouse Rock. Tom is well meaning about most of his escapades, except those involving his sister, and the inclusion of typically British phrases and obsessions (Caramel wafer, anyone? Actually, I could go for a Cadbury Finger right now!) add a new twist to this type of book. A glossary is included at the back.
Weaknesses: Not much of a plot, and the illustrations and type are a bit random and made it harder for me to follow what was going on.

Guy Friday- Dead in the Water (World War II #2)

Lynch, Chris. Dead in the Water (World War II #2)
30 September 2014, Scholastic
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Theo and Hank both want to join the Navy at the very beginning of WWII, but there father is afraid of losing both boys, so Theo heads of to the Army, but in the air division. Hank ends up on an aircraft character in the Pacific, where he is an "airedale", helping planes get off the ship. He is a huge fan of baseball and has even brought mitts and a ball with him, and is always looking for someone to toss the ball around, even when the ship is being attacked (in between attacks, of course!). He has a fellow ball lover in Bradford, who played in the Negro Leagues. On board the ship, the other sailors don't have problems with race, but whenever the crew docks, Bradford finds that he isn't welcomed in restaurants or on beaches, and starts to feel (with the support of his crew mates) that if he is fighting for his country, he should have the same rights as everyone else. The ship sees lots of action, visits the site of Pearl Harbor, and Hank begins to realize that war is a horrible thing.
Strengths: Lynch's WWII and Vietnam books are big circulators among my boys who are interested in war, and their are lots of good details. I hope this shows up in the book fair; it will sell out!
Weaknesses: I adored The Right Fight, but this book got off to a slow start and then had too much baseball when what I wanted was descriptions of what it was like to live on a ship, and more information about the Pacific theater. Will this matter to my readers? No. But it was odd to have expectations for a book and have them not be met. Maybe there are so many WWII books out there that I am looking for specific different topics!

Random Library Blathering:
An eighth grade girl came in yesterday, pulled me aside, and said in a whisper "Is it o.k. if I read THESE books?" and showed me the first two SaraNormal books. I personally was addicted to the books, and told her as much. I also told her that 8th grade is a great time to read a lot of middle school books, because she'll be busy in high school reading To Kill a Mockingbird and things like that. She was so happy that she went back to the shelves to get the third book, and was greatly disappointed that it wasn't there. Somehow, this was the best moment of my day.

After talking about library catalogs, our 65 MackinVia books and the Ohio E Book Project all week, I only had two students interested in our own digital titles and two interested in the public library ones. One girl was very excited about getting audio books, but in general, my students don't like e books. There are a few who read Watt Pad books on their iPhones, but they are definitely the exception.

The number of students who come into the library and have absolutely NO CLUE what to read is absolutely astonishing. I cannot remember my middle school librarian or the public librarians ever recommending a book to me-- I just picked things off the shelf. Conversely, my avid readers only want the newest books and keep me up to date on new series. Most of the books I read were from the 1950s and 60s, and I don't remember there being any new books in my middle school library. And I worked there. My friend Lori and I often manned the circulation desk. The library assistant, Mrs. Greer, was always out there with us, but I don't know that the librarian ever left the work room!

British Mysteries

Stroud, Jonathan. The Whispering Skull (Lockwood and Co. #2)

September 16th 2014 by Disney Hyperion

E ARC from Netalley.com

Lucy, George and Lockwood are back, still fighting off Visitors and squabbling with the annoying rival Fittes organization. After a rather disastrous attempt to contain a spirit in an authorized grave, they are under scrutiny from DEPRAC (Department of Psychical Research and Control)—even though DEPRAC doesn’t quite trust Lockwood and Co., they are offered the job of researching the situation and dealing with it. And quite a situation it is. George has seen something in the coffin that lead to it being shrouded in silver, but someone has broken in to it and stolen an artifact out of it. Both thieves are discovered, but both end up dead. The team finds out that the body in the lead coffin was that of Edmund Bickerstaff, who was apparently killed and then eaten by rats, and the artifact was a boneglass with tremendous magical powers. Not only that, but the Level Three visitor whose skull and ectoplasm are in a jar in the Lockwood office starts talking to Lucy and is intimately involved in the Bickerstaff problem. Lockwood decides to investigate Bickerstaff’s long abandoned house, and the group takes the skull with them. It seems to lead them in to trouble, but also help them out of really tight spots. Not to give too much away, but ghosts are never what they seem to be, situations are always more dangerous, and Lockwood and Co. always ready to do their best, especially if they can best Fittes on top of it.

Strengths: Lockwood and Co. need someone to organize their business, and I could totally be an office manager for them. I understand that it would be moving to London, but I could clean and organize, make appointments, keep the place stocked with tea and cake and generally make life easier so that the trio can spend more of their time hunting ghosts.

Oh, strengths of the STORY. Fine. Awesome gory ghost story with fighting, flying ectoplasm, great evil characters and convincing world building. Lucy, George and Lockwood are all endearing in their own way, and a tad mysterious as well. This is a great read for a rainy day, curled up with a cup of tea. Stroud has quite the way with describing characters, too. My favorite was “It looked like a baby yak had fallen on him from on high”

Weaknesses: This is quite lengthy; it almost could have been made into two books. Anything over 400 pages is a bit of a hard sell for middle school students. Hard core fantasy fans will be okay with this, but those wanting gruesome ghost stories tend to want shorter books.

Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
September 23rd 2014 by Roaring Brook Press 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

St. Ethelreda's is a very small school for young ladies held in Mrs. Plackett's house. There are only seven students. all of whom would much rather be with the querulous headmistress than with their own dysfunctional families. When Mrs. Plackett and her brother, Mr. Godding, drop dead after eating veal, the girls, especially Smooth Kitty (all of the girls have adjectives attached to their names, like Dour Elinor and Disgraceful Mary Jane), decide that the best plan of action is to bury both of the adults in the garden and continue on as if nothing has happened. This excellent plan would have gone off without a hitch had people not arrived that very night for a surprise birthday party for Mr. Godding. The story is created that a nephew of the pair is sick in India, and Mr. Godding has taken off forthwith to be with him, thus sending Mrs. Plackett to bed with a horrible case of vapors. Soon, Stout Alice is recruited to impersonate Mrs. Plackett, but villages tend to be such nosy places, and the girls have a lot of trouble keeping up their ruse. Eventually, after more murders are committed, they find the perpetrator to be an unlikely person working from an inconceivable set of motives.
Strengths: This is a very effective period mystery, well researched and clever. With the renewed interest in the history of any sort of Victorian-ish setting, this could find some readers, perhaps more in high school for this particular book.
Weaknesses:  While I enjoyed this, it could be a hard sell at the middle school. The murders, by poison, are not gruesome enough, and the idea of farce is one that younger students may have trouble understanding.  The cover might appeal to them, though. I found using the adjective with every girls' name to be a bit much; perhaps this is a Victorian convention that I somehow missed?

The Red Pencil- #WeNeedDiverseBooks Wednesday

Pinkney, Andrea Davis, and Evans, Shane (illus.). The Red Pencil
September 16th 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Amira, her disabled younger sister Leila, and her father and mother have a fairly prosperous life in Darfur in 2003. They have a patch of ground with a garden, and a goat that has a kid. Amira is envious of her best friend, Halima, who leaves their village to go to the Gad Primary School. It is expensive to go, but what is holding Amira back is her mother's opinion that girls do not need to know anything but how to take care of a household. When the Jangaweed arrive and attack the town, Amira's father is killed. She and her remaining family escape with Old Anwar, a neighbor. They eventually come to the large relocation camp at Kalma. The deprivation is horrendous, and the family doesn't know what to do. Amira, however, still has her dream of attending school, and is thrilled when she is given a red pencil and a pad of paper by an aid worker. She loves to draw, and knowing that her father wanted her to learn inspires Amira to find ways to educate herself despite her circumstances.
Strengths: The genocide in Darfur is certainly something about which we need a lot more information, and Pinkney does a great job of making this middle grade appropriate. Readers will connect with Amira and start to understand how difficult life can be in other parts of the world. The pictures and short length will entice many reluctant readers.
Weaknesses: I would have liked to see much more factual information about conditions and much less poetic musing. Because there is so little on this topic out there, I wish this had been in prose instead of in verse. For example, more information about the Janjaweed and why they were attacking villages would have been valuable, but since it is from Amira's point of view and she doesn't quite understand events, we don't get complete information.

LaMarche, Una. Like No Other.
July 24th 2014 by Razorbill

Devorah has always adhered closely to the behavioral expectations of her strict Hasidic family, but when her sister has a baby at 18, she starts to question whether this path will make her happy. To further complicate matters, when she is in the hospital with her sister during a storm, she gets stuck in the elevator with Jaxon, a geeky boy of West Indian descent to whom she finds she has an attraction and who lives in her neighborhood, albeit on "the other side". Since she is not allowed to talk to boys, much less date, Devorah finds ways to meet Jaxon, and the two fall in love and make plans to go away together for a weekend. When her family finds out, they send her away to be talked to by a rabbi, and her family starts arranging her marriage. Eventually, Devorah realizes that things will not work out with Jaxon but meeting him still has changed her and her plans for the future.
Strengths: This was a tremendously interesting book, and one that should get all the attention that The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay are currently getting! Much more positive message as well! The portrayal of Devorah as someone who loves her family deeply but for whom the strictures of her culture are no longer working is deftly handled, and the portrayal of one family of Hasidic culture is something that many readers will not know anything about. (And I read conflicting opinions as to whether or not the portrayal is accurate. Let's go with: it is a portrayal of one family and their interpretation of the culture.)
Weaknesses: NOT a middle grade book, due to a few scenes and some language, as well as a general tone of introspection that doesn't work well for most middle school students. Definitely would buy for a high school library, though! I thought that Jaxon could have been a bit more developed (and a bit less annoying) as a character (since alternating chapters are from his viewpoint), and a glossary would have been nice.