New FrankinSchool Titles and The Serpent Rider

Rivadeneira, Caryn and Jones, Dani (illus.).
The Cupsnake Escape (FrankinSchool #2)
February 6, 2024 by Red Chair Press Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by the publisher

After his escapades in Monster Match, Fred is back. This time he is very concerned about an upcoming community baking competition for kids, the annual Ook and Spook School Bake-Off. Since his grandmother owns and operates Sigrid's Swedish Bakery and is one of the judges, he doesn't feel there can be a good outcome to his participation. If he wins, people will think it is favoritism, and if he loses, he will be embarassed. It doesn't matter that his own father lost spectacularly years ago; Fred is a much better baker. With his friends Drake and Louisa along on the bus trip to the venue, Fred writes a poem about the competition, hoping that Frank's ghost will save the day. The trio try making snake shaped cupcakes rolled in fondant, but are disappointed that they are dull and mud colored. Fred sees colorful sugar sprinkles that look like they will help, but once he puts them on, the "cupsnakes" wriggle off! The friends morph into their monster forms, and get to work. Now they are faced with not only lacking an entry, but with having magical baked goods slithering around the mansion. Frank is behind it, and outlines some of his reasons, including wanting to get rid of some mice. Will Fred and his friends be able to save the day again? 

Strengths: This is a quick, goofy read, and Fred and his friends are good at trying to manage situations by themselves. The ghost of Frank is helpful, but not always in the way the friends need, which makes sense for a ghost. His backstory is fleshed out a bit more, and there is a surprising family connection. This is a nice sized book, with larger font, and the illustrations add even more appeal. I would have loved these books in elementary school.
Weaknesses: Fondant. Blech! While some of the baked good the kids were making sounded good, the cupsnakes did NOT sound at all appealing!
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Dadey and Jones Bailey School Kids (which freaked my younger daughter out!) or other magical early chapter book series like The Magic Treehouse or Malcolm's Jewel Kingdom.

Rivadeneira, Caryn and Jones, Dani (illus.). 

Gone to the Dogs (FrankinSchool #3)
September 10, 2024 by Red Chair Press Books for Young Readers 

Copy provided by the publisher

Luisa, Drake, and Fred have a research project on "World-Changing Ideas", and their teacher wants them to use the card catalog and books in the library, which is very frustrating to Fred, who would rather use the internet. He even tries to write a "what if" poem so that he changes into FrankinSchool and can get out of doing the work, but nothing changes! The library is in an addition to Tamer Mansion, which was renovated in the 1960s, so has a conversation pit and orange shag carpeting. Luisa is working on a project about the jewelry of Princesa Luisa, and writes a poem that does work. Drake turns into "Snake-ula", and Fred is once again FrankinSchool. They run into Frank, the ghost custodian, who is trying to appease the ghost of Jeremiah Tamer, who once owned the mansion. He had a difficult childhood, and found it hard to read. His nanny helped, but his father just called him "dumb". He and his nanny would look at dogs playing in the park from the windows of the attic, but he was never allowed to have a pet. When the family business fell on hard times, the nanny was let go, leaving Jeremiah to struggle. When he died and left the mansion to the city, it was supposed to house an animal shelter, so he's been haunting the mansion and making it unusable. He wants the addition torn down, and insists on haunting until his wishes are met. Drake has been working on a report on service dogs, and tells Jeremiah about the new practice of dogs reading with children. He also helps Jeremiah calm down with "box breathing" techniques that Fred also needs to use. In the end, a compromise is reached; the library addition will remain, but the house will be used for an animal shelter, and the dogs will read with children in the library to help the chances of the dogs being adopted. 

Strengths: It was great fun to see Fred and his friends struggling with doing research the old school way; I keep a set of encyclopedias (that my lovely public library donates!) on hand for this very purpose, although the card catalog was gone years ago. The back story on the Tamer Mansion and the addition is interesting, and of course Fred and his friends save the day. Information about dogs reading with children, and the eventual use of the mansion for an animal shelter, will make children very happy. 
Weaknesses: I'm pretty sure that a public library with orange shag carpeting would have been renovated years ago, especially since the library was in the basement. Young readers won't know how gross that carpet would be, but... ew! 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoy beginning chapter books with monsters in them, like Lubar's Monsterific Tales, Fearing's Welcome to Feral, or Stine's Goosebumps House of Shivers.

Diño, Yxavel Magno. The Serpent Rider
September 10, 2024 by Bloomsbury Children's Books
ARC provided by the publisher

Tani works with Swordmaster Pai on drills, since she is supposed to be the "destined hero" of her village, but all of her hard work is for nothing as long as her bakunawa egg that was assigned to her at birth doesn't hatch. Everyone in her village has a special bond with the dragon like creatures, and her friends are already training their bakunawa; Bato has Iska, and Kiri's Lutian hatches soon after the story begins. Tani's father, who was the leader of the village (the Datu) was killed, and her mother has taken over. Her sister, Ligaya, has spent a long time learning all of the village lore, and must be protected. When Tani meets Mutya, she shares her desperation from a bakunawa, since there have been monsters attacking, and the biggest fear is that the Great Bakunawa will return and swallow the final sun. Mutya offers to create a creature for her in exchange for some small tokens, like a blue cone shell, as well as unspecified future payments. Mutya creates Uling, and for a while, Tani feels like this will help her attempts at keeping her sister and village safe. When Mutya takes her payment in kidnapping Ligaya and taking her to Mount Mahiwaga, Tani must go on a quest to return her sister and keep the Great Bakunawa at bay. 

This had some interesting elements of Filipino folklore, and read fairly quickly. There are relatively few fantasy books with Filipino characters, other than Villanueva's  2024 Lulu Sinagtala and the City of Noble Warriors and 2021 Sugar and Spite, Badua's 2022 Freddie vs. the Family Curse, and Torres' and Elbert's 2012 graphic novel Lola: A Ghost Story.  No matter where tweens are in the world, it is up to them to save the world from paranormal destruction! Definitely appreciate that this is a stand alone fantasy novel.

MMGM- Popcorn and All Consuming

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Harrell, Rob. Popcorn.

September 3, 2024 by Dial Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Tall, skinny Andrew Yaeger is dealing with a lot. His father lives on the west coast. His grandmother, G, a former middle school social studies teacher, has Alzheimers and is living in his room while he sleeps on the couch. His mother is starting a new job that she hopes will help the family financially, especially if G has to go into a care facility. On top of all of that, it's picture day in seventh grade, and his mother, Susan, wants a picture that does NOT look like Andrew was "attacked by wolves". Susan even buys him a new shirt and makes him take a spare just in case. This upsets Andrew's routine for the day, since his back pack is meticulously organized, and shoving the shirt in will turn his sandwich into "peanut butter and jelly origami". Luckily, he has his best friend, Jonesy, whose mother, Mika, was Susan's college roommate. Jonesy is Andrew's opposite; she loves sports, her family is well off, and she is outgoing and careful, in contrast to Andrew's anxious and awkward personality. Andrew has even gone to three therapy sessions with Dr. Cain. They were very helpful, but his mother couldn't afford more, so he deals with his emotions by drawing in a journal the therapist gave him, and these drawing help illustrate the story. Adding to Andrew's problems, bully behemoth Gene calls him names like "Garage Sale", and roughs him up after Andrew won't help him cheat. After an incident in gym where a basketball slams into Andrew's face, he seeks help from the nurse for his black eye, bloody nose, and broken glasses. She's very supportive, and offers to try to fix the shirt. At lunch, Andrew is dealing with growing anxiety that he likens to a popcorn kernel heating up. He's hit in the head by ketchup from a makeshift ketchup rocket. After a brief stop at the nurse, he heads to science class, where his teacher uses the rocket as a teachable moment, and has the class do a small scale chemical reaction in a beaker. Gene sabotages Andrew's, and soon our hapless hero's face and hands are covered in purple. He and Jonesy are called to the office with the news that G is missing. Mika stepped away for a moment, and now can't contact Susan. Do the two know where G might have gone? In the art room with Mr. Kellerman, using mineral spirits to remove the purple dye, Andrew spirals down into a full-blown panic attack. Mr. Kellerman has Jonesy contact the nurse, puts a girl in charge of the class, and takes Andrew outside. He helps him to breath and calm down, and lets him know that he, too, has anxiety and panic attacks. When G shows up at school, telling the principal to get back to class (he was one of her students years ago!), the police are able to finally contact Susan, talk to her boss, and get G to a safe place. Andrew decides to take his school picture anyway, so that the day can be memorialized, since he survived. He also reaches out to Gene, shares a moment from the past when they were happy together, and asks that the two find a way to be more civil to each other. The end of the book has resources for various issues, as well as a note from the author describing his personal connection to Andrew's story.
Strengths: Harrell understands how schools work, and creates realistic, intriguing characters. Andrew's day could actually happen, as horrible as it was! My heart broke, seeing G's vintage school picture in a fabulous 70s vest and roaming the school halls in her bathrobe. The details of Andrew's therapy, and his recounting of his mental state are very instructive, especially in the depiction of his panic attacks and the events that lead to it. Even though Andrew struggles with multiple issues, he has some coping strategies and tries very hard to fight through difficult issues. His support network is strong, and Jonesy is a good friend. Mr. Kellerman, and his overalls and sandals was great fun. The school nurse (whose name I didn't write down) was also a great character, with her hidden stash of pop and Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The fact that she and Mr. Kellerman were dating made me smile. There are a number of other students who make an appearance, and most are understanding and nice to Andrew. Of course, Harrell's drawings are always a plus; he could draw a successful update to Borgman's classic How Are You Feeling Today? A Vocabulary of Emotions poster (probably published in the late 1980s).
Weaknesses: This was a funny book, but Andrew's day was traumatic. I'm glad that Harrell was able to relate this with humor, but I had a hard time laughing at it, since I've been in Mr. Kellerman's position on multiple occasions, doing box breathing with children in distress. I've also fixed a lot of wardrobe malfunctions! I enjoyed the book, but felt that perhaps I shouldn't.
What I really think: This is very similar to Amore and Cosgrove's Monday: The Worst Week Ever, with the a variety of cascading troubles leading up to school pictures, but is much more serious. The best comparison is that the book is a combination of Patterson's Middle School books with the psychological content of Cooke's Puzzled or Sattin and Hickman Buzzing. I think that students will gain a lot from seeing Andrew's travails and his coping skills, and will hopefully also gain empathy for classmates who may be having bad days. This author's Wink and Bat Pig are very popular with my readers, so this book will circulate well. I think this just hit a bit close to home for me, and made me sad, but that means the writing was very effective.

Silver, Erin and Ogawa, Suharu(illustrator). 

All Consuming: Shop Smarter for the Planet
September 17, 2024 by Orca Book Publishers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I have to admit that my mother was of the generation of women who consider shopping to be a hobby, and her favorite place to be was the mall. She didn't buy a lot, but she shopped a lot, always looking for the best bargain. I do the same thing, except that I only shop at the thrift store. There's something primal about hunting and gathering that can lead to a lot of waste now that things are easier to obtain. This is a book that I would like all of my students to read!

Thomas' Fashionopolis is a fascinating look at the garment industry, but is on the longer side for some of my students. All Consuming starts with a chapter on clothing that hits many of the high points of that longer title. I'm not sure how many middle school students really think about clothes these days; they seem to wear primarily pajama pants, hoodies, and Crocs. Still, knowing that there are workers who are ill treated in the fashion industry, and that a lot of clothing is never sold and destroyed, might make young readers think twice about ordering things online from Shein. 

The second chapter covers food, and I have to say that shopping for food that doesn't come in plastic is something I find stressful. Seeing information about how much waste comes from packaging will help younger readers be more mindful in their shopping, and maybe cause them to eat more canned food, like I do! (I also buy a lot of vegetables, cook them, and freeze them rather than getting plastic bags of them.)

Technology waste is definitely something that kids need to learn about. My personal expectation for any tech device lasting is seven years, but when that's half your life, it probably seems unreasonable. Knowing the resources that go into  phones and computers can help people make better choices. 

The chapter on gifts is a catch all, but may speak most to tweens, who love to give each other stuffed animals in gift bags that they throw away. I've rescued a LOT of gift bags from the trash at school. At my house, we have cloth drawstring gift bags, and go so far as to check out books from the library to "give" each other at Christmas. If more people gave gifts like food or regifted items instead of new tchotchkes, that would definitely cut down on waste. 

This is a topic near and dear to me, so I'm looking forward to having this book in my library. The interesting cover and interior design will draw students, and there's a great glossary, list of resources, and an index at the end of the book. At 96 pages, this is the perfect length, and extremely educational! 

Early Chapter Books

Jit, Sita. Divya Far From Home

August 1, 2024 by Stone Arch Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Divya's family must move away from their home in Delhi, India and her Nani to help out her uncle and cousins Geeta and Sameer with a family restaurant, most likely in the US. Divya doesn't want to move, and is not happy that she has to repeat fourth grade and share a room with Geeta, especially when Geeta steals the spicy masala chips that she brought from home! School goes fairly well, and Ms. Yang's class is kind. She even makes a friend, Asima, who moved from Syria last year and know how hard it can be to change. When Divya has to do an "All About Me" project for class, she is able to share her traditions with the class. The book includes a glossary and a "thinking about the story" section. 

I'm a huge fan of early chapter books with characters from different cultures, and would love to read more about Divya and her experiences. This is too young for middle school, but I'd love to see this author write a middle grade book like Mendez' Wish Upon a Stray or Weeks' and Varadarajan's Save Me a Seat, about an 8th grader who has to start over in a new country. 
 

Wells, Stacy and Gama, Maria Gabriells (illustrator)

Tana Cooks with Care 

August 1, 2024 by Picture Window Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Second grader Tana loves to cook with her father, who shares many recipes from the family's Choctaw culture with her. Tana's mother is her school librarian, and her little sister is in kindergarten. When her class prepares to put on a play, Tana is excited about having a role, and her friend Lola wants the lead. Ana, however, is doubtful about whether she wants to get up in front of others, especially when she is more comfortable painting scenery. Tana tries to cheer her friend up by making food like Little Corn Stew, strawberry smoothies, and cream cheese roll ups, but nothing seems to help. Eventually, Ana tries out for set painter and is much happier. Tana will return with similar books centered around Valentines Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving. 

I would have absolutely adored this when I was in elementary school; I loved reading about girls my age who did things that were interesting. I could even believe the play; my second grade class put on a version of The Wizard of Oz; I got to play the feet of the Wicked Witch of the West! This reminded me a bit of Lunch Will Never Be the Same! (Phoebe G. Green #1) by Hiranandani and Dreidemy. I would definitely purchase this for an elementary school, and would love to see a book about an 8th grade Choctaw girl! (And yes, more middle grade books need to have characters in 8th grade, since everyone in grade 2-8 will read those, but 7th and 8th graders want characters who are their age or OLDER, rather than reading about younger characters. So many middle grade books seem to have 5th grade characters!)

Saturday Morning Cartoons- Biographies

Bolden, Tanya and Wilkerson, David (illus.)
Great Minds of Science (Black Lives #1): A Nonfiction Graphic Novel
September 10, 2024 by Abrams Fanfare
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Bolden is not new to biographies or Black history; her Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of Fighting Shirley Chisholm was fantastic, and she worked with Henry Louis Gates on Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow. This book is a bit different, since it is short biographies of a variety of scientists. Each entry starts with a quotation, includes a little about the person's life, and concentrates on careers. There is a helpful timeline for each. There is some information about the various fields, as well as other contributors. They are arranged in roughly chronological order, starting with the physician Matilda Evans, who was born in 1872, and finishing up with marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (1980). Also included are Archie Alexander (civil engineer), Gladys West (mathematician), Fred Jones (inventor and engineer), Patrice Clark Washington ( aviator), David Wilcots (paleotologist and geologist), Carlotta Berry (robotics engineer), and Scott Edwards (biologist).

This will be perfect for some of the brief biography projects that my students do, but will also be great fun for students who like the graphic novel format. The page design is great, and there's just enough information, interspersed with pictures, to make this a quick read. My only quibble is that there could have been more attention paid to getting the clothing and other historical details (buildings, vehicles) to better reflect the time periods. They are necessarily wrong, but there are some things, like the 1920s bathing suits, that weren't quite right, or were just very plain. I love the graphic format for history because it can show younger readers how different the world was. Perhaps in future volumes, we'll see better examples. After all, could students fully understand Shirley Chisolm's place in history without seeing her striking 1960s and 70s dresses? 

Bycel, Josh,  Korson, Rich, and Scott, Damion (illustrator)

Sports Heroes: Stephen Curry

August 13, 2024 by Penguin Workshop

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Eleven year olds Maya, who is very athletic, and Jesse, who prefers to manage teams and run stats, both win tickets to a big basketball game in New York City because they were cleaning up at their school. When they are at the game with their dads, they sneak off to explore, and get a mysterious text message. They end up in a storage closet that turns out to be an elevator to the Sports Superheroes Sports room. The Superheroes want the kids' help in picking out the next generation of sports superheroes. Maya and Jesse both pick Steph Curry and are asked to defend their choice. They give his origin story, explaining how he was born in Akron to an NBA player and college volleyball star, and was known in his high school career as the "baby-faced assassin". His super power was his shot, and he struggled to get onto a pro team, ending up at small Davidson College when Virginia Tech only offered him a walk on position. They cover career highlights as well as personal ones, such as his wife Ayesha and his three children. Because sports superheroes have to be more than just the game, they talk about the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation that the Currys run. The Superheroes think he is a good choice, and he is magically brought to the throne room while the rest of the world is frozen. Maya and Jesse are glad to be able to talk to their idol, and return to their fathers and the game. Later, they are once again summoned to recommend someone new; this no doubt means there will be other graphic novel biographies in this series. 

Strengths: There are very, very few sports graphic novels, and many of my readers who enjoy this format also enjoy sports. This had a Space Jam (1996) feel to it that will resonate with some readers. 
Weaknesses: I'm not sure if the pictures will be in full color in the finished version, but the black and white illustrations were done in a somewhat unusual way that made the characters seem odd. 
What I really think: The idea of a group of Sports Superheroes was interesting, but made the book seem a little young. For middle school, I prefer Marannis and Hodge's Beyond the Game series. 

Games!

Janowitz, Jessie. All the Ways to Go

September 3, 2024 by Sourcebooks Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Milo has been a very successful young chess player, but during a big tournament at the Javits Center in New York City, he finds himself struggling to focus on the game... and care. He makes a move that essentially throws the game, but one that won't let his single mother know that he threw it. Losing ruins his chance at going to a summer camp for chess, but he hopes that he can go with his best friend to a different one, since he can't spend the summer with his grandmother. Gruth (Grandma Ruth, as he calls her) is his favorite person, but she's moved to Florida to be with her sister. His mother, who is a coder, informs him that he won't be going to camp, but the two of them will be spending the summer in Princeton with Nava, a friend from her mothers' group, and her daughter Roxie. It's a bit odd that Milo isn't told until Roxie, who is a "free range" child, shows up at his door in New York City, but it should be an indication of the kind of summer he will have! Milo isn't thrilled about the fact that Roxie and her mother are vegetarians and have a number of rescue cats, but the neighborhood is an intriguing one, and Roxie finds adventures like "spelunking" in one of the university libraries in the middle of the night! (With permission; they don't steal any books!) He's also not pleased with going to a "Little Explorers" summer camp run by Pat and Lou, who is there for community service. He and Roxie are much older than the other campers, so the two get roped into being Counselors in Training. They do demand lunch breaks, and during one of these, they meet two college students, Athena and Dell, who are playing a game called Go. Milo has been lying to his mother about playing chess on the computer; she's put a lot of time and money into his training, and while he no longer loves chess, he doesn't want to disappoint her. Milo becomes enthralled with Go, and he and Roxie do some deep research dives into the game. They ask Pat to try easier versions with the campers, and its a hit. Milo even makes peace with the cats, who can be rather comforting, and comes to realize that sometimes stepping away from the usual and embracing new experiences can be enjoyable.
Strengths: As adults, we forget that tweens are at the mercy of their parents' decisions. Milo controls little about his world; he misses Gruth, although the two text daily, he continues playing chess because his mother is so invested, and he has no say in the decision to decamp to Princeton for the summer to live with strangers... and their cats! How many adults would take this well? I did love the relationship with Gruth. The two play Battleship Online and communicate frequently, and I imagine there are a lot of children who have this kind of long-distance relationship with grandparents. I can also attest to the fact that cats, while they are generally quite evil, can be good companions, having spent a week with my daughter's cat last year. Nava and Milo's mother both chose to have children with the help of donors, so fathers never come into the picture at all, and I've only seen this represented a few times in middle grade literature (Robert's Nikki on the Line, Erskine's The Incredible Magic of Being, and Melleby's The Science of Being Angry). The summer camp is believable, and hanging out in Princeton was fun. I loved that Janowitz gave a specific, real address for the street where Roxie lived! Of course, the main draw of this book is the game of Go, and there's a lot of information on not only the history of this ancient game, but also the philosophy of how to play.
Weaknesses: I came to the conclusion while writing this that the thing that I personally hate the most in the entire world is GAMES. This made reading the description of the history of Go, along with the details of playing, a bit slow for me. There is certainly enough going on in the story that I was able to enjoy the humor and relationships in the book, but readers who DO like to play games will like this even more than I did.
What I really think: While there are plenty of middle grade books about chess (Giles' Not an Easy Win or Gerber's Focused for a start) and a growing number of escape room or puzzle room books (Reese's or Puzzleheart Currie's Mystery of Locked Rooms), there aren't a lot of books about any other games. There's Martin's new Wander Lost, which was an intriguing fantasy involving vintage board games, but the book this reminded me the most of was Anderson's One Last Shot (miniature golf). I did love this author's The Doughnut Fix and The Doughnut King, so it was great to see a new title by her!

Zhao, Kyla. May the Best Player Win
September 17, 2024 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

When May Li's best friend and chess team teammate makes a snide comment about her being good "for a girl", she decides not to have much to do with him. She still has her friend Becca, who is on the team just because the school doesn't have a cooking club. May Li feels a little awkward, since she DID win the Judit Polgar award at the tournament, and not only is going to be interviewed for Chessbase Magazine, but is one of the school's choices to be on a bulletin board celebrating the school's 100th anniversary. At the photo shoot for this, she connects with Mario, who is an excellent soccer player, and ends up going to one of his games. There's a lot of demands on May Li's time; she takes lesson with Mr. Wang at a chess academy, and wants to make her parents proud of her. She's still angry with Ralph, and determined that not only will she be on the team going to the national tournament, but also to be the team captain. When a match with Becca is the only thing standing between her and victory of Ralph, she thinks about asking Becca to throw the game, but doesn't. When Becca tries to do this anyway, May Li makes a move that ends in a draw. She and Ralph have to play an Armageddon match to figure out who will win. 

This has a lot of details about chess, and I really enjoyed that May Li and Mario were able to be friendly to one another even though their interests were very different. This had strong traditional feminist themes that were quite refreshing; haven't seen a book with a lot of Girl Power in a while, and chess certainly hasn't always been kind to female players. Hand this to readers who enjoyed Gerber's Focused or Giles' Not An Easy Win. 

The Secret Dead Club and The Inscrutable Doctor Baer

Strong, Karen. The Secret Dead Club

August 20, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Wednesday has always seen ghosts, and has spent her childhood helping them move on, but when an evil ghost attacks her in Arizona, where she and her artist mother Olivia are living in a travel trailer, her mother decides it would be safer to come home to the Callahan House is Alton, Georgia. Wednesday's father is doing a medical residency in London, and her parents are divorced. The house was where Olivia grew up. She was raised by her grandmother, after her mother perished in a fire, and the grandmother worked as a spiritualist. The house has been haunted since the 1940s by Caleb Callahan, whose father was possessed by a ghost and killed Caleb and his sister, but Caleb is a banisher, who can dispatch ghosts. This is all news to Wednesday, who is understandably a bit shaken by the evil ghost experience. Normally, she would be fine seeing ghosts at school and in the neighborhood, but now she is wary of teacher Laura Tarkington, who was killed in a car accident, and Violet, who lived across the street and died of meningitis. The girls at school are friendly, and Miki Okada and Danni-Lynn Porter invite her to eat lunch with them. When the two figure out that Wednesday can see ghosts, they invite her to their secret group, which only discusses group business off school grounds. It's the "secret dead club" and they need Wednesday because they had a falling out with the previous medium, Alexa, who has warned Wednesday away from the group. Not only that, but Violet was the medium before that. Something is up with Violet's ghost, and the girls realize that she is trapped in her house, when the Leehans now live. Luckily, they are on vacation and Olivia's friend Jasmine is watching the house and has the keys. Will Wednesday and her friends be able to get rid of the evil ghost who has Violet in its clutches, and generally smooth over the problems with the local spirits?
Strengths: It goes without saying that if a middle grade character moves, chances are very good that it will be into a house that is haunted. I liked that this had a bit of a twist, with Callahan House being a home that had been in the family since 1966, with protections in place for paranormal activity because of the inherited predisposition towards being attuned to it. I was glad that Miki and Danni-Lynn were welcoming, even though they were still grieving their friend. The official book, on which the club members have to swear their allegiance, is Mary Downing Hahn's Wait Till Helen Comes! The mother and family friends were around enough when Wednesday needed them, but distracted enough that she could have a little freedom. This got a bit scary at the end, with murderous ghosts running rampant, but that's what my middle school students like. 
Weaknesses: It was a little odd that Wednesday called her mother Olivia, but I suppose that is the tradition in some families. Also, there was an intriguing bit dropped about Olivia's grandmother being one of the first Black owners of property in the neighborhood is 1966; I would have enjoyed learning more about this period in history and the experience of a neighborhood being integrated. 
What I really think: I don't think that I would buy this book for an elementary school; Caleb's death was fairly brutal, and I can see this being a bit much for younger readers. It's a great choice for morbid middle school readers who enjoyed Senf's The Clackity, Poblocki's Ghost Hunter's Daughter, or Young's What Stays Buried.

Drozd, Jerzy. The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue
September 3, 2024 by Iron Circus Comics
ARC provided by the publisher

Doctor Baer, a sentient teddy bear, runs a preserve for cursed magical creatures in the quintessential creepy Victorian mansion that broods under a constantly gloomy and overcast sky. He tries to be a good steward of these artifacts, and also cares deeply for the creatures attached to the relics, serving them foods that they like, giving them a place to roam with others of their kind, and keeping them safe from the forces of evil. He is frequently approached by opportunists like the traveling adventurers, a bear and bird, who want to sell him a werewolf's skull. The house is well guarded against those like Gallus and Wilhelmina, who wish to attack and do harm, but when the bumbling pig pickles, who styles himself a hero, wants to seek Doctor Baer's counsel about a cursed penny, getting his sidekick Taft, a giant tortoise, into the house takes so long that the wards are broken. Spirits escape, and Doctor Baer feels terrible. Pickles, on the other hand, doesn't quite realize the problems he has caused. Some of the elemental magic remains to help, caught in an interesting wand, but the doctor knows that he must retrieve the guardian stone and try to recapture the spirits in order to keep both them and the world safe. He must venture out of his destroyed house to hunt down Gallus. Pickles offers to help, and lacking other support, Baer accepts their offer. This sends the group into a treacherous journey into the Lost City of Terror, to the bottomed of Daemon's Deep, and up the Crags of Everlasting Ice to find fragments of the stone that has safeguarded Baer's menagerie. There are plenty of fights, close calls, and monsters to dispatch on this quest, but also secrets that will be unveiled that change the entire nature of the operation. At the end, what will Doctor Baer's purpose be?

Strengths: This is an ebullient and beautifully illustrated book that is not as grim as the initial pages might forebode. Yes, Doctor Baer is dealing with cursed artifacts, but he is meticulous in his care and trying his best to improve the quality of life of the spirits. Younger readers will love Pickles, since they will see themselves in his brash and impulsive style, and be amused by the parent-like reluctance of Taft to embark on random journeys. There's a well defined quest with many nods to traditional hero's journeys, but I appreciated the twist at the end. I was also glad that Doctor Baer made it home and, like Bilbo Baggins, was able to get a decent cup of tea. 
Weaknesses: I loved that the dedication includes a picture of the author at eleven and is for kids who need "what's said in these pages". Because of this, I tried to find some deep message and rather failed, no doubt because I am not actually eleven, and because graphic novels are not my format of choice. It is a purpose that I wish more authors would embrace, although in order to fill the needs of all of my students, I need more people who were nonreaders as tweens become authors! 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want an epic fantasy in graphic novel format, like Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo: The Road to Epoli, or Camper and Gonzalez' Lowriders in Space trilogy. The author is from the Columbus area and there's a blurb from fellow Ohioan and legendary Bone author, Jeff Smith! 

The Queen of Ocean Parkway

Tash, Sarvenaz. The Queen of Ocean Parkway
September 3, 2024 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Roya lives in a one hundred year old apartment building, where her mother, Aty, is the superintendent, so she knows all of the residents. Since she wants to be an investigative journalist when she grows up, she is working on a podcast about the people who live in the building, and might be listening a little more closely to conversations than she should. Her parents are divorced, and her Baba, a high school science teacher, is undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer and is very ill. When she meets neighbors Katya and Stephanie in the laundry room, they ask her if she would like to go with them to a new restaurant, Taste of Bangla, that has opened up, but she overhears them arguing as she leaves. Stephanie questions whether Katya will still be there the following week, or will she disappear, like the other women in the Petrov family. When Katya does goes missing and the police are brought in, Roya is worried. She meets Amin, a new neighbor, who parents happen to run Taste of Bangla. He is able to remember everything he hears, so he recounts the conversation with the police for Roya. The two talk to Stephanie and get more information about the supposed Petrov family curse, which has to do with a fortune telling machine, Grandmas (sic) Predictions on Coney Island. Katya has a fortune from the machine that her great-great-grandmother Polina got, that instructs a daughter to be sent every 25 years to get a fortune. Stephanie thinks that is where Katya disappeared, and has something to do with the promise of money. The three also arrange to travel there, and when they do, Amin and Roya manage to travel back to the day when Katya disappeared, and catch a brief glimpse of her. After doing some research at the library, and talking to her Baba about time travel. The three return several times, and finally realize they can only time travel on Mondays, and when they go back the next time, it's 1999. They try to bring Katya back, and can't, and go back to 1974 and are still unsuccessful. After Amin inadvertantly changes the presence by accidentally intercepting a note from his mother to his father, Roya realizes that she might be able to save her father, and finds a graffiti artist to put up some signs. These are misspelled, but lead to her mother, an artist, creating a graphic novel series and becoming a successful author! They figure that what they really need to do is to go back to the first time that time travel occurred, in 1949, and dissuade Polina from ever going in the first place. Will they be able to undo the Petrov curse, and in doing so, change other things in their lives?

Strengths: I love that the author wanted to write a mystery novel that reminded her of Harriet the Spy or The Westing Game, set in her own neighborhood. Roya's family is Iranian, and there are some cultural references, like divining fortunes from Turkish coffee or the Divan of Hafez, as well as descriptions of some of the mother's artwork. The Petrov family history is also interesting, although having that many women go missing would certainly be very traumatic! The time travel is VERY well done, with the Grandmother being mentioned in historical sources as the protector of the Wonder Wheel. This, in turn, is described in scientific terms as a cylinder that might help time travel occur... and that's when I started not understanding the time travel without thinking pretty hard about it, which is an indication that it's done really well! There were other things that I liked, such as Amin's aversion to a lot of foods, for which he was going to food therapy. The only other books I can think of that include that sort of food issues are Gerber's Taking Up Space and Davis' Food Fight. This has very good historic details about the different time periods to which Roya and her companions travel, and I love the description of the noises in the different times, and the observation that without cell phones, people interact completely differently. To add the final bit of spicy brown mustard to this Nathan's Famous Hot Dog of a treat, there are delightful illustrations throughout the book. Definitely purchasing this one, and enjoyed it very much.
Weaknesses: While I liked the idea that there were some things that were immutable and didn't disappear even though they probably should have, it was a little confusing. It was also a little sad that the time travel couldn't have been used to earn a little bit of money, but I guess it was a good message about what is really important in life. Both of these things made the book happier, and I am all for that! 
What I really think: Tash should definitely think about writing more middle grade books. I had forgotten that I'd read her Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love and Three Day Summer, which I enjoyed, but which were definitely written for a Young Adult audience. I would enjoy seeing Roya and Amin again, perhaps engaged in a different supernatural mystery at Coney Island! 

If any device in the world could be used for time travel, it would have been my old phone with the slide out key board. The calendar had a function where you would put in "GO TO" and a date, but you could only go back to January 1, 1980. I even mentioned this to the Verizon salesman, complaining that it wasn't working on my phone, and he replied (very snappily!) "Did you PAY for the unlimited time travel package?" Sadly, I did not, and the phone no longer works, so I will never be able to travel back in time and major in something other than Latin.

SCRIMSHAW: Number Two Tuesday!

Aldridge, Ethan M. Scrimshaw (Deephaven #2)

September 3, 2024 by Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)

E ARC provided by the author

It's winter break at Deephaven, and Nev Tallow is staying at the school, since they have nowhere else to go. Prefect Patience Sleepwell is also there, and the two have settled into an uneasy rhythm. Nev has promised to wait for Danny to get back to school before they delve deeper into Deephaven't secrets, but... it's boring with no one around!. In the underbasement, Ned finds very old documents, including the will of Malachi Haven... and his skull! Haven had been a monk in the chapel that was one of the first buildings at Deephaven, but was a highly disturbing figure in the 1820s, wondering around telling people how they would meet their ends. The skull has small icons and scenes etched on the teeth... scrimshaw. They know they shouldn't have the skull, especially since Patience is determined to get them in trouble. When one of the students has an allergic reaction to food, and later the shelves fall over in the library, Nev knows that it is Haven't work, but Principal Blanchely is sure it is Nev's fault! Danny, who is afraid of small spaces, doesn't want to go back with Nev to return the skull, and also has his fencing to worry about. The two do find that Haven was found dead in 1824 in a manner befitting how vampires were dispatched, giving them even more cause for concern. Later, at a fencing match, Nev has a bad feeling. Haven shows up (not that anyone else can see him), and when Nev yells at Danny to be careful, he slips and is injured. Nev is sure that they are a danger to their best friend and to the school, especially when a horrible blizzard hits Deephaven, stranding everyone at the school. Further research sheds more light on why Haven has a hold over the school, but when the robed, headless figure attacks Nev yet again, Nev stabs it with a screwdriver. A fire starts in the school, and everyone has to be evacuated into the cold. Students, led by Nev, eventually put it out with snow. Blanchley is sure that New started the fire, because one of their tools was found in the gas line. Danny and Nev, who finally talk and discuss why they have been avoiding each other, decide that in order to put Haven to rest, they need to reunite his skull with his body, which is buried in a sarcophagus on the school grounds. Of course, this isn't easy, and the coffin is a puzzle box. Even if they manage to open it, can the two friends manage to put Haven to rest without imperiling themselves? 

Strengths: Nev suspected that there was a more harrowing story behind all of Deephaven's mysteries, and there certainly was. The historical look at Malachi Haven and his odd life is made even creepier by an engraved skull that sets Nev dead center of the swirling malevolence unleashed when Haven't remains are disturbed. There's a good balance between Nev's delving into the history and fighting with the hooded figure and having to navigate his friendship with Danny and deal with other members of the school, like Patience and Principal Blanchley. The skull, with it's odd etching and generally frightening mien, was a great choice for the cover. Aldridge's full page illustrations at the end of this cover are fantastic, and definitely add to the appeal of this series. Whille the story wraps up the developments with Haven nicely, and could be the end of the series, there is also room for another book. A great title to add to any middle grade list of academy tales. 
Weaknesses: I was vaguely curious about Nev's father, and thought he might resurface, but nothing happened there. To be very nit picky, there is an account of a woman in the 1820s being harangued by Haven's ramblings of Doom at the "grocery store", which seemed anachronistic. Perhaps this will be changed in the final version. 
What I really think: Boarding school tales are always popular, and this has a creepy, Steampunk feel to it that will appeal to fans of Alexander's Gallowgate, MacHale's The Curse of the Boggin, or Terry's graphic novel Graveyard Shakes. Who knows? Maybe young readers will even be motivated by one of the teachers, whose name is Bellairs, to pick up the classic The House with a Clock in It's Walls. 

Wills, S.J. Caught Dead (Bite Risk #2)
August 27, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
 

If you haven't read Bite Risk, there are some necessary spoilers for that book. 

Life in Tremorglade is very different now that Sel and his friends have uncovered the truth; the corpus pilori virus that turned their parents into werewolves once a month was caused by Sequest, and their friend Harold Poulter was one of the masterminds behind it. Now that there are no sound frequencies driving people to the brink of madness every month, those who have turned run into few problems as they frolic in their lupine form. Some of the kids have recently turned as well. There is some concern from the Immutable Allicance, headed by Sherman Goss, about the turning, but in general Officer Hale has things in hand. When Mr. Costa, the new teacher brought in to get the Tremorglade pupils caught up on world events, is attacked, Sel and his friends start to suspect that all is not right in their world. There is another person who has been attacked, Ms. Dawes, and Mika, a younger girl, has alerted the police that she is not acting quite right. When Sel visits, he finds an arm in her refrigerator, and he and his friends worry that there are zombie werewolves running about, attacking regular werewolves. This is corroborated by Arty, a woman Sel meets, who tells him that this creature is called a Revenant, and was indeed produced by Sequest. She had worked for them for one day before the Rippocalypse, so hadn't had any input into the evil doings that Harold and his ilk had perpetrated. Or had she? When Sel finds that Sherman Goss is harboring someone very close to all of this, he knows that he has to clear matters up before things get out of hand again. There could be another sequel, as the ending is a bit unfinished!

Strengths: Werewolf stories are always good, and the first book Bite Risk, has been very popular in my library. I bought two copies! While Elena has moved away, we have a new, younger character, Mika, who contrasts nicely against the older, more experienced characters. Plus, I really liked her horse, Jelly Bean! It was interesting to see how Tremorglade reacted to the new situation and the freedom that they had. I didn't remember Sherman from the previous book, but he was used to good effect. The covers are definitely a selling point! 
Weaknesses: This bogged down a tiny bit in the middle, with a lot of philosophy and explanations, but rallied toward the end of the book. 
What I really think: I didn't love this quite as much as the first book; second books frequently are a bit slower paced. It's good that some of the characters are more developed, and there is still a bit of a mystery to solve with Sequest and Harold Poulter. Hand this to fans of Parker's The Devouring Wolf ,  Moore's Red Moon Rising (2010), or LaFever's Werewolf Rising (2006). Clearly, we need some fresh, new werewolf books!
 

Whitesides, Tyler. Trials of the Trash (Janitors School of Garbage #2)

September 3, 2024 by Shadow Moutain

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Landon and his friends have finished the school year, and are at the wedding of Landon's mom and Jade's dad. His mother faints, and then the rest of the assembled crowd starts to go down. Landon smells the telltale aroma of Stink Spores, and has to fight a massive Thingamajunk. Here he thought he would get a summer off from school and studies, but finds himself pitted against General Clean, who is trying to turn the Servites (he has Squeak, while Jade has Muse) into Toxites with his Restorer. When there's an epic battle of Thingamajunks in the park, Landon comes across an unexpected nemesis in the restroom. In order to make things right again, Landon and Jade, need to find Spencer Zumbo, so there's definitely a book three on the way!

Lee, Lori. Pahua and the Dragon's Secret

September 10, 2024 by Rick Riordan Presents

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Pahua and the Soul Stealer reminded me that if your sibling gets kidnapped by supernatural forces, you should seek adult help! Including dragons in this new volume ups the adventure and middle grade appeal. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a trilogy, like this author's Young Adult Shamanborn series. 

From the Publisher:

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Lori M. Lee's second Southeast Asian fantasy adventure about a girl who is the reincarnation of the greatest warrior of all time.

A snarky cat spirit, a rivalry between two shamans-in-training, a dangerous dragon encounter, and a stand-off with a thunder god are just a few of the delights and thrills in this sequel to Pahua and the Soul Stealer, winner of the 2022 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature.

Eleven-year-old Hmong girl Pahua Moua recently discovered that she's the reincarnation of Shee Yee, a renowned warrior. With the help of her friends Miv, a talking cat; and Zhong, a shaman-in-training, Pahua defeated Xov, the god of wrath, destruction, and thunder. Now she has to retrieve some metallic dragon scales to reinforce his weakened prison cell.

Pahua, Zhong, and Miv travel to the Land of Dragons, where they come upon the truth stone, an object that reveals the world as it is. The stone will help them locate the second seal that will bind Xov. However, magic is circular, and if Pahua wants to create something as powerful as a cage for a god, she will have to make an equally powerful sacrifice. . . .

And a number three...

Dao, Julie. Team Chu and the Wild Ghost Chase (#3)

September 10, 2024 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The Battle of Blackwood Arena had laser tag, The Epic Hero Quest had a fantasy video game, and this newest installment has an amusement park! Dao knows her way around a fun setting, and I liked that she herself has said that these can be read in any order, since they are all separate adventures. This had more of the fantasy elements of the second book, but plenty of action and adventure like the first. Fun characters, an enticing cover, and the added appeal of both ghosts AND cats! 

From the Publisher:

In this Team Chu adventure, Vietnamese-American siblings Clip and Sadie Chu—and friends—must unearth the mystery behind a haunted Halloween carnival! 

When Iggy Morales's stylish cat, Tuba, becomes famous on social media, he scores an invite to a star-studded pet fashion show at Spooky World. The family-friendly, Halloween-themed indoor carnival is the place to be on the last weekend in October, so of course Iggy brings all of his friends, including Clip and Sadie. The kids expect to ride thrilling rollercoasters, play games in the midway, and eat fried dough and candy apples, but they encounter a different kind of excitement instead: a ghost called the Weeping Lady, who has haunted Spooky World for decades, appears and asks for their help! 

The Weeping Lady sends Iggy and his friends on a mysterious, action-packed scavenger hunt all over the sprawling theme park, giving them cryptic clues and communicating with Iggy’s seemingly clairvoyant cat, Tuba. If the kids can piece the story together and complete this wild ghost chase, they might just uncover the truth behind what really happened to Spooky World’s most infamous spirit!

MMGM- The Frindle Files and Escape from Alcatraz

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Clements, Andrew. The Frindle Files

August 27, 2024 by Random House Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Netgalley.com

Josh Willet loves technology, prefers doing his schoolwork on the computer, and is a huge fan of The Zen of Python, a coding style manual similar to Strunk and White's Elements of Style. His teacher, Mr. N., does NOT like technology, and uses it rarely in his classroom. Instead, he has a chalkboard, requires students to bring a paper copy of Strunk and White with them every day, and makes them hand in handwritten assignments. When Nick's pen runs out of ink, he has to borrow one from his mother, and notices that it has "Frindle" written on it. She tells him that it was a big fad when she was in middle school, and when Josh does a search for the term, he comes across stories about Nicholas Allen, a boy whose dictionary loving teacher inspired him to make up a new word for pens. Not only that, but Nicholas Allen looks a lot like Mr. N. a.k.a. Allen Nicholas! Could his Hawaiian shirt wearing Luddite of a teacher be the news sensation from the 1990s? To test out his hypothesis, Josh leaves a pen with "Frindle" written on it on the teacher's desk and waits for a reaction. When the next writing assignment deals with whether or not someone should reveal another person's secret, Josh knows he has the right person. To further test, he has all of his classmates use the adjective "frindy", meaning "weird, tacky, strange, or odd" in their writing assignments. Mr. N. plays along, and before he knows it, Josh is pushing the envelope. He has several of his friends bring their laptops to class with copies of a free, online version of the Strunk and White manual. Mr. N. takes away their laptops for the day, which earns him a meeting with the principal. In the end, students are allowed to use the online version, but Mr. N. points out that there are a lot of errors in it. Josh is interested to find out that E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web, is the "White" in "Strunk and White". Soon, the class is researching this problem, trying to find out who posted the illegal copy, and using the battle cry "For Wilbur!" Mr. N. assigns the class a letter to send to the poster, asking for the copy to be taken down. It's sent from Mr. N.'s e mail account, which causes the school server almost to crash after a famous writer heralds their cause and classmate Miguel's interview about it goes viral. When the local news covers the class's project, Mr. N.'s secret is revealed. Josh learns more about his teacher's past, and about the value of using technology responsibly as well as grammar and print books, than he ever hoped to find out. 

Strengths: I have to admit that I was leery of this title going in; the note reassuring me that Clements had been working on this book before his death was helpful. Since Frindle was published in 1996, this really worked perfectly. Technology has changed so much since then, so of course Josh prefers doing homework on a laptop. Nicholas Allen would be old enough to be a teacher. I adored the story of how he came to be a teacher, and admittedly cried when he shared information about Mrs. Grander and her impact on his life. This took several twists and turns, but was a masterful look at research, coding, and even good writing. I am not a good enough writer to do this final book of Clements' justice. It really is a fitting and excellent Trumpet of the Swan song of his career. 
Weaknesses: I wasn't able to go back and read Frindle, but I seem to recall that Nick wasn't as nice as Josh. Somehow, I wanted Josh, or perhaps Mr. N., to be a little snarkier or nastier, if only to see them become nicer during the course of the story. That said, it's much more on trend to have characters be nicer today, and that's much more pleasant to read. 
What I really think: This begs to be studied in classes, and I thought long and hard about which book would be best to read first. I think if I were using this as a class novel with 6th graders or upper elementary school students, I would start with The Frindle Files, and then go back and meet Nick in Frindle. This would also be a perfect book for any student-parent book clubs. This will be a hugely popular book, and it has several great messages. 

And yes, I could have been teaching Nick in 1996! Also, my middle school has banned cell phones during the day, and I think students will be much more engaged and actually talk to each other at lunch!

Marino, Andy. Escape from Alcatraz (Escape #4)

September 3, 2024 by Scholastic Inc.
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Chip Carter lives with his father, a senior prison guard, on Alcatraz Island. He finds it hard to make friends, and longs for the day when he can live in a bigger city, away from the somewhat stifling atmosphere of the close knit community on the island. He also fancies himself something of a private investigator, modeling himself on Jake Hall, of the Hall of Justice television show. Having already solved the mystery of a missing cat (a gateway mystery for many crime obsessed youths), he is approached by Maddie, who wants Chip to figure out where her and her brother's new raincoats have gone. She suspects local bully Albert, who shakes people down for their daily dime of lunch money, so he's a likely candidate. Chip's mother has passed away, and his father is struggling a bit, although his weekly poker game seems to cheer him somewhat. After Chip sees Maddie's father, Mr. Thompson, on the shore with the raincoats, he knows that something nefarious is up. He tells Maddie that he knows about her dad's involvement in the coats' disappearance, and she admits that she is worried that he's involved in something illegal. They skip school, and Chip (wearing a hat and glasses as a disguise) eavesdrops on the men at a diner. He finds out that Jimmy the Hat, aka Mr. Lanza, is involved, as is his own father, but he has also gleaned the information that Zipper, an "associate" of Mr. Lanza's is trying to run how own shakedown. Mr. Thompson and Mr. Carter both owe money to Mr. Lanza,  and are driven to helping him arrange a prison break when they also have to pay off Zipper. Mr. Lanza says he'll make things right as long as Chip helps with the prison break he has planned; he wants a fire set in the courtyard as a distraction. No one will be hurt, but the men on the inside will be able to escape. We see, in alternating chapters, how several men are working to dig out of the prison, construct a raft, and are planning on escaping that way. When Zipper shows up dead in a local park, Chip and Maddie know they have to keep their end of the bargain. Several men escape, and the guards are not blamed, and Mr. Lanza lets the kids know that their obligation, as well as their father's, is paid off. Chip and his father talk about how they can improve their lives, and connect more than they have in recent years. 

Strengths: I wasn't quite sure how Marino would pull this off, but he does a perfect job of realistically getting a tween embroiled in a real life situation. Tom Sullivan's Unsolved Case Files: Jailbreak at Alcatraz: Frank Morris the Anglin Brothers' Great Escape  is a great companion for this book, since it outlines all the details on how the escape was probably planned. I enjoyed the note from Marino, talking about how there were rumors that guards were involved, and he elaborated in an exciting way that made sense. I love Chip, who would have been a contemporary of Donald Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown, and envisions himself a hard boiled gumshoe, chewing on a toothpick. Like this author's Escape From Stalingrad, Escape from Chernobyl, and Escape From East Berlin, this book has plenty of adventures and successfully adds new characters  into a historical setting. The details of daily life in this are great, as are the details about life on Alcatraz and in San Francisco. More tweens would read historical fiction if the books had the elements that Marino's work has. 
Weaknesses: Chip's mother didn't have to be dead; it would have been more fun if she had been alive and found out about the father's involvement with Jimmy the Hat! Also, Maddie uses the phrase "bee's knees" to describe Nestle's Quik, which sounded more like the 1920s. Small quibble.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing this one, since there are an inordinate number of my students who listen to true crime podcasts and like to read about various criminal hijinks of the past. Chip's adventures were just particularly well done and oddly charming. 

Blather Update: I've been off my foot for a month, but the cast is removed on Thursday! Whew. I am hoping to return for my 27th year of teaching on 9/16. 

I've had a lot of time to read but having trouble focusing. Will try to do better for my final two weeks. Not moving doesn't work in my favor; usually, I probably spend two hours a day walking outside. Leo has been very patient with my replacement. I also miss taking breaks for cleaning, cooking, and laundry. Variety is a good thing. 

On the bright side, I've had plenty of time to Tweet like it's my job, and I found out that educators can get a premium Canva account for free! 

Julie and the Blue Guitar, Taylor Swift

Gilly, Casey and Valentine, Luna (illus.) 

Julie and the Blue Guitar: American Girl Mysteries Across Time

June 25, 2024 by IDW Publishing

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel, Emma Dhillon moves to San Francisco for her father's job in the city's environmental department. Their new apartment is above a vintage store, and when Emma is investigating, she stumbles upon an old diary, that the owner lets her keep. It's from 1977, and the writer, Julie Albright, is interested in many of the things that interest Emma. Julie and her best friend, T.J., are involved in a fund raiser to save animals from an oil spill, and there is currently one occurring that Emma wants to join. Most of the story involves Julie's exploits; she and T.J. take a job watering plants and catsitting for Mr. and Mrs. Vernon, who own the building where her apartment (and also Emma's) is located. The Vernons have objects to auction off for the fundraiser, and T.J. knocks one of them, a blue guitar, off the wall and breaks it. They take it to a music shop to be repaired, and the owner, T-Bone, tells them that it doesn't belong to musician Lacey Blicks, but is a copy. Also missing is a quilt, a pocket watch, and a baseball signed by Willie Mays. Julie does a great job researching at the library and manages to hunt down three of the items, and also has a good idea of who stole them. Will she be able to tell the Vernons what has happened... and finish the quilt that she wants to make for the auction? Will Emma, in the modern day, be able to locate Julie and return her diary to her?

Strengths: Readers who enjoy American Girl dolls and reading about history will love the thought of finding someone's journal and solving a mystery about an event from the past. It was fascinating to see the changes in Emma's neighborhood, but also endearing to see that the Vernon's grandson is still managing the apartment building. This isn't a scary mystery; it's the type where kids get to find out more about the people in their orbit, and run about talking to pawn shop owners and community college teachers. Emma does make a friend while she is researching, so that was nice to see. I haven't done a deep dive to see if Emma has a canon of her own, but I'd be interested in reading more about her. 
Weaknesses: The hundred year old "friendship quilt" is depicted as just squares of fabric and is tied together. A true friendship quilt would have pieced blocks with the names of the makers embroidered on them, often right in the center. There is also one of Julie's outfits, a floral jump suit, that is questionable if this is set in 1977. Fashions changed dramatically during the 1970s, so a Granny Square vest (which Julie also wears) from 1973 would have been considered ridiculous by the time I was in school in 1977. Authors and illustrators should use old catalogs as their Bible in these matters. By 1977, clothes were fairly boring. 
What I really think: If you loved Haddix's The Mysteries of Trash and Treasure, but want a shorter read with more pictures, this is the book for you. I no longer have any of the American Girl books, but may start to look into them, as I enjoyed Bennett's Meet Claudie. I will definitely purchase any graphic novels in this series. 

Burk, Rachelle and Dorado, Marta Dorado(Illus.) The Story of Taylor Swift
September 3, 2024 by Callisto Kids

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

While I think that Taylor Swift is an impressive young woman who writes an admirable song, I can't say I'm terribly interested in her work. She is, however, quite a force, and many of my students are VERY interested in anything related to this pop star. This book covers the basics; Taylor's early life starting in 1989, her learning guitar and writing songs from age 12, and her parents' support for her dreams that included moving to Nashville as a family and homeschooling her as she broke into the music industry. In 2009, she was named the Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association, and moved to New York City in 2014 to pursue more of a rock and pop music focus. She seems to produce albums at a decent pace; i.e. at the rate that everyone in the 1970s popped them out! 

This is a colorful and informative book that includes a quiz at the end, timelines, and a glossary of words that appear in bold throughout the book. There aren't any photographs, but this would be a good choice for readers who haven't looked into their idol's background very deeply. It was fun to read, and even had some Myth or Fact nuggets strewn throughout the book. 

I may break down and buy this for my middle school library; we'll get our money's worth out of it. But the people who should race out and buy a copy to keep are parents of fans. Sock the book away in a file cabinet or box; I would have loved finding a Dynamite magazine with the Bay City Rollers on the cover or a pristine version of (oh, no!) Tam Paton's biography in my father's papers!