Books for Back to School!

National Geographic. Weird But True Daily Planner
Published June 13th 2017 by National Geographic Society

As someone who cannot function without a paper planner, I looked at this one with great interest. One the upside, it's tremendously amusing, with lots of goofy pictures and fun facts. There is a decent amount of space for kids to write down things they need to do, not tiny lines like some adult planners have. The writing prompts would definitely have been something that my own daughters would have appreciated.

I'm a bit conflicted about the four days per two page spread format. Each day has all of the days of the week listed under the date, which is fantastic if you have purchased the planner and then forgotten it in the cupboard for a year! This could be used during any calendar year because of the format, but I need to see a week at a time. There is also a definite lack of monthly calendars, so it is hard to use for long term assignments and for seeing the big picture.

This is also very heavy, because of the excellent quality of the paper. I see this being used avidly by elementary students who aren't necessarily having to carry it around in a back pack all day. Remembering my calendar criteria at this age, I would say that this could be greatly improved with the addition of LOTS of stickers!

From the Publisher: "Prepare to be amazed each day with weird-but-true facts that will impress your friends and stump your parents. Turn the page and record your school work, keep track of activities, and plan your social life, all while learning wild and wacky things about the world around you!

Fun prompts invite you to celebrate weirdness. Plus there are homework help sections and tons of space to write or doodle your daily schedule any way you wish. With beautiful full-color artwork and engaging information and activities, this is the must-have planner. It's a great way to stand out from the crowd!"



National Geographic. United States Atlas for Kids (Fifth Edition)
Published July 11th 2017 by National Geographic Society
Copy provided by Media Masters Publicity

This large format atlas has two page spreads on every state. There are the standard statistics listed along the side, a brief discussion of the highlights of the state, and terrific full color maps with economy symbols, which was probably my favorite part! There is an extensive index of places (although the town I use to gauge completeness is not included in this atlas!), a glossary, and other supplementary information. Atlases make great reading during rainy recesses and after homework is done, especially for fourth graders who are studying the United States. This would make a great gift for a fact-driven elementary school student or classroom teacher!

From the publisher:
"Kids will have fun learning about every U.S. state in this amazing atlas, packed with maps, stats, facts, and pictures. National Geographic's world-renowned cartographers have paired up with education experts to create maps of the 50 states, U.S. territories, and Washington, D.C., that pinpoint the physical features, capitals, and towns and cities of each state. Discover the latest data and trends along with colorful photography of each state and the people who live there.

Key points reflect the latest information about land and water, people, and places. Lively essays cover each region of the country. Eight specially themed maps on nature, population, energy, climate, and more, delve deeper into key issues. State birds and state flags add to the high visual interest. This is a great reference for home and school with all the basics kids need to know to succeed in middle school, high school, and beyond."

Westerville Educators Day!

And we're off! My district starts the year with a professional development day, and I am presenting the following about new books. This presentation also has the Warriors Read-a-likes slides.

Hope you enjoy this!

Fall 2017 1 from Karen Yingling

Sasquatch, Love, and Other Imaginary Things

Aldredge, Betsy and DuBois-Shaw, Carrie. Sasquatch, Love, and Other Imaginary Things
August 8th 2017 by Simon Pulse
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Samantha  Berger isn't thrilled that her father has managed to get the family accepted for competition on the Myth Gnomers reality show, but when she finds out that the prize money will help her go to college, as well as reduce other family debts, she is willing to leave Ohio and travel to the Pacific Northwest. Her sister Lyssa treats this opportunity like one of the pageants she entered, and shows off her short shorts and highlighted hair to the best advantage. Sophie just tries to do what she can to help her family while trying to ignore her interest in a boy who is on the other team. Samantha also finds herself drawn to Devan, who is a member of the elite prep school team that gets to stay in a posh cabin while the Bergers hunker down in a tent. The Bergers do fairly well in the competition, even though everything seems stacked against them. When Sophie gets a bad case of the flu and has to stay in better house with the competition, Samantha worries that things will get out of hand, but also is glad that having to visit her sister gets her closer to Devan. Is there a Bigfoot in the woods in the Pacific Northwest, and can the Bergers manage to prove so and improve their lot in life?
Strengths: This reminds me a bit of Bears, Boys, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Books (2010) or the 2007 Black Sheep. It was fun, fast paced, and had some great romance in it. I liked Samantha-- she was irritated with her parents, but loved them and understood why they were showcasing their family and interest in cryptozoology. The father being a middle school science teacher and explaining things to the film crews the same way he would to his classes was a hoot!
Weaknesses: I was just thinking about getting rid of Black Sheep. I love the paint-by-number inspired cover, but it's not a great look for a romance book.
What I really think: I haven't found a lot of good, middle school appropriate romances lately, so I may buy this one and hand sell it.

Cyclone

Cronin, Doreen. Cyclone.
May 16th 2017 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Digital copy borrowed from The Ohio E Book Project

Nora really wants to ride on the Cyclone at the amusement park she and her family have traveled to visit, and blackmails her cousin Riley into going on it with her. Riley is scared of it, but Nora has found out that the "Georgina" on Riley's phone contacts is really an older man, and threatens to tell her aunt. When the girls get off the ride, Riley collapses and has to be rushed to the hospital. It turns out that Riley has had a stroke, most likely precipitated by an undiagnosed heart problem. Nora's parents and Riley's mom stay at the hospital, but eventually Nora and her parents go back to the hotel to be with Riley's dog. Another aunt comes in from California, but seems to make matters worse by adding sister drama to the situation. Nora makes friends with a boy whose brother is in the hospital battling cancer, and gets very tired of being in the hospital instead of being able to go out running. She slowly figures out who "Georgina" really is, and is able to work through her guilt at making Riley go on the roller coaster. Riley's progress is very slow, since her speech and movement are effected, but eventually the families are able to return home to adjust to "the new normal".
Strengths: This was definitely original-- I can't think of another book where a child has a stroke and ends up in intensive care. (Although Falling Over Sideways involves a stroke, and Alexander's Booked involves a lengthy hospital stay.) There are lots of details about families staying around hospitals and what recuperating from a stroke looks like. The writing is intriguing, and the tension between the cousins is very realistic. Kept me turning the pages.
Weaknesses: The drama between the aunts didn't really add much to the story for me.
What I really think: I am not quite sure what to think. On the one hand, I read through this quickly, but on the other, it might be a hard sell to students, especially with the nondescript cover. Debating.

Bones of the Sun God

Vegas, Peter. Bones of the Sun God (Pyramid Hunters#2)
August 1st 2017 by Aladdin
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

When Sam is pulled out of his private boarding school because he has won a scholarship to study opera in Switzerland, he knows that something is up. After his adventures in Pyramid Hunters, his uncle is in trouble, but Mary gets in touch with him and arranges for him to travel to Belize, where there was a ship found that has a strong connection to the Ark of the Covenant. Sam's parents (whom have been presumed dead, although Sam is sure they are alive) had gone down to investigate, and Sam hopes that he can pick up their trail. He does find some clues, but more importantly, he finds a boy who worked for them, Elio, who is able to give him some insight into the fight between the Keepers of the Light and the Committee. Unfortunately, he runs afoul of criminals who want the gold that was one the ship and who assume that Sam is there to take it from them. Because of this, Sam spends a lot of time running from bad guys who are trying to get him or from the crocodiles they try to get to kill him. Mary comes to help (have left a complicated electronic trail to keep her father out of the loop), and between her, Sam and Elio, someone is always needing rescued. In the end, the children manage to dispatch the criminals, get help from an unlikely source, and learn a secret that will make finding Sam's parents even more difficult.
Strengths: This had LOTS of action, bunches of ferocious crocodiles, good descriptions of Belize, interesting connections to the Maya and Olmec civilizations, and was quite the page turner. This was important, since it was over 400 pages long. It did not feel that long at all.
Weaknesses: The book started with Sam being bullied, which didn't add a lot to the story.
What I really think: I think I'm not warming to these because I'm having trouble believing that the children are traveling around the world on their own. If one of them were a magical unicorn, I would have no problem believing that, but this is realistic. Mary especially has endless money and the ability to go anywhere. Despite this, they are suspenseful and have entertaining characters, so I'm definitely purchasing them.

Horses! The Whole Sky and Shadow of a Doubt

Henson, Heather. The Whole Sky
August 22nd 2017 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Sky and her father travel to different horse farms around the country to work, depending on the time of year. With foaling season approaching, they return to the MacIntyre's farm, one that Sky loves because her favorite horse, Poppy is there. She helps her father out a good deal, especially since her homeschooling has suffered after the death of her mother from cancer. She and the owner's grandson, nature-obsessed Archie, are intrigued by the seasonal plague of tent caterpillar's, although Sky is concerned that accidentally ingesting them while grazing might hurt the horses. Sky can understand what the horses are feeling, and they indicate that eating the caterpillars makes their mouths sore. This isn't a big concern until foals begin to arrive, and many of them die. Archie and Sky investigate and are able to help the vets determine the cause of the foals' deaths, and are able to save Poppy's foal. The story was inspired by a real event that occurred on horse farms in 2001, although the author indicates it took much longer to determine the cause in real life.
Strengths: There are lots of good details about taking care of horses, and the medical mystery is interesting. I like to purchase a few horse books every year; although they don't necessarily check out frequenly, there are always a few students interested in horses who want to read a lot of stories about them.
Weaknesses: Not only does Sky's father struggle with the death of the mother, he drinks so heavily dealing with the stress that he has to be hospitalized. Luckily, Sky has a lot of support at the MacIntyre's. I was slightly uncomfortable with assigning psychic, horse-whispering powers to Sky and her father that were related to their cultural background as Irish Pavees. I don't know enough about that culture to tell whether or not this might offend them.
What I really think: This is a solid purchase to add to my fiction collection for fans of Platt's Wind Dancer, Lyne's Catch Rider and Hapka's Horse Diaries series.

James, Skylar. Shadow of a Doubt
April 21st 2015 by Adaptive Books
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Fyfe lives on a struggling farm near Churchill Downs with her father, the famous jockey Roscoe Flynn, She sells peanuts at the racetrack and her father usually rides for their neighbor, Colonel Epsom. When the Flynn's have a mare die the same night that Epsom's Gilda loses her foal, their animal (named Shadow) stays with Gilda until Epsom flings the horse back at them. Living with the prize winning Gilda, however, has imbued Shadow with the strong desire to race. This comes in handy after Roscoe has a terrible accident during a race. When he is told that he will never ride again, the Colonel not only fires him, but refuses to take him on as an assistant to his trainer AND blackballs him in the racing community so he cannot find a job. Fyfe and her father struggle to make ends meet by farming, but the crops can only come in so fast. When they realize that Shadow is a great racer, they work on training him. Epsom, of course, makes a feeble attempt to take the animal from them, which only strengthens their resolve to make Shadow the best. Things rarely go smoothly, however, and even though Shadow wins a race, Fyfe's attempts at riding end badly twice. How can the Flynns, as well as Shadow, hold on to their dreams of winning the Derby?

There will always be middle grade readers, especially girls, who love a good horse story. Marguerite Henry has always been my go-to writer for these tales, but after 70 years, her books don't hold up as well as they used to. There are some good horse stories that have come out more recently-- Macadoo of the Maury River by Amateau, The Georges and the Jewels series by Smiley, and The outside of a horse by Rorby.

The small line drawings that accompany some of the chapters are rather charming, although I was a bit surprised when the horses started conversing among themselves. This is still a realistic fiction book, since the horses didn't talk to people, and they only discussed topics that horses would discuss.

Epsom reminded me of Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life in his single minded devotion to squashing the Flynn's for no apparently good reason. I definitely envisioned him as Lionel Barrymore in a stuffy suit, complete with bowler hat!

There are lots of details about racing and life at the track, and this seems to be set during a time around the Great Depression. It's not explicitly stated, but Fyfe wears wool pants and has to masquerade as a boy so she isn't disqualified, but there are automobiles. The struggles the small family face are realistic and met with a can-do attitude as well as some ingenuity.

This would definitely be an optional purchase. It uses every trope found in horse books-- dying mares and foals, jockeys unable to ride, bad betting schemes, and then throws in several unlikely reasons for Fyfe to be in bed for protracted periods of time. Not my favorite horse book. Buy a copy of Henson's The Whole Sky instead. I liked the caterpillars in that, and the whole mystery element.

Best. Night. Ever.: A Story Told From Seven Points of View

Best. Night. Ever.: A Story Told From Seven Points of View
Malone, Jen. (Editor) with Rachele Alpine, Ronni Arno, Alison Cherry, Stephanie Faris, Gail Nall, and Dee Romito
August 15th 2017 by Aladdin
Copy graciously provided by publisher

It's the night of the middle school dance, and the members of Heart Grenade are excited. They won the local battle of the bands, so get to perform at the dance. Unfortunately, Carmen has to go to a stupid family wedding, so the very nervous Genevieve will sing in her place. Other middle school students from whom we hear are Ellie, who is thrilled that Kevin has asked her; Ellie's stepsister Ashlyn, who's irritated that she has to pick up Ellie's babysitting gig; Ryan, who gets caught up with his best friend Mariah's romantic triangle with Leif and Tess, and Jade, who is upset her band didn't win and is planning some sabotage. Things don't go very smoothly for anyone. Carmen ends up in an ugly dress, stuck at the children's table. Ellie learns a hard lesson about what idiots boys this age can be. Ryan learns to move beyond his infatuation with Mariah. Ashlyn makes some incredibly bad babysitting choices! There's all the drama of a dance night, rolled up with some interesting band information and a lot of humor.
Strengths: This was a lot of fun, and will hopefully entice readers to pick up books by all of these authors. Many of my readers ask for books about drama, and this has a lot of it! There is an impressive amount of diversity, and all of the middle school voices ring true.
Weaknesses: I did not personally like most of the characters, and I have never seen a middle school dance where girls wore formal dresses or had student bands.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing. This will be popular!


Burns, Catherine Lloyd. Half-True Lies of Cricket Cohen.
August 22nd 2017 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Cricket has odd interests and has alienated all of her classmates by embellishing the truth, but she's looking forward to summer, even though her mother has signed her up for a surfing camp. When Cricket turns in a personal narrative essay that is all lies, she gets called on the carpet and has to redo it. Her parents are fund raisers who try to get money from New York's wealthy elite, even though they are not wealthy themselves. Cricket's grandmother, Dodo, has moved from California to be near Cricket's family (her parents are very busy!), and has a live in helper named Abby from who she is always trying to escape. When the parents have to go to Long Island, they decide it's okay for Cricket to stay with Dodo, even though she is becoming increasingly forgetful and has caused Abby to quit because she is so difficult. Things go quickly south, with Cricket and Dodo running away and eventually being detained by the police for shoplifting.
Strengths: I'd like to see more stories of children are their grandparents that explore that bond and also talk about a variety of challenges that come with aging. This had a strong sense of place, and wasn't overly sad. There was a lot of support for Cricket, even if it didn't really come from her parents.
Weaknesses: This struck me as an Eloise at the Plaza sort of book-- poor little rich girl. Okay, maybe not rich, but definitely privileged. Cricket is unlikable, and her parents' lack of interest in keeping their daughter and her grandmother safe because they were too busy was horrible.
What I really think: Maybe this will be more popular with people who actually live in New York City. It must be very different there, and I just don't understand.

The Countdown Conspiracy

Slivensky, Katie. The Countdown Conspiracy
August 1st 2017 by HarperCollins
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Miranda has been chosen as one of six tweens to be trained for a world wide Mars mission. She deserves it-- she's super smart, has made her own robot, and has always wanted to participate in the space program-- but feels that perhaps she shouldn't have been chosen over her friend Sasha, who is Russian. Because there has been a global conflict, Miranda's position on the team comes under scrutiny, and before long she suffers through several attacks that imperil the mission. It doesn't help that Anna, from Austria, is rather nasty to her. The other members of the globally diverse team are Najma, Esteban, Rahim and Matsuo. Training to be an astronaut involves lots of physics, mechanics, and team building activities, and the group tries to work together despite the growing political unrest. When they are running a training mission, the group is sabotaged and lift off for Mars. The systems are all locked down, and a team of adults trying to save them has already perished. Can Miranda figure out a way to get everyone back to Earth, and figure out who is behind all of the unpleasantness?
Strengths: Lots of great details about space travel, and the political intrigue was interesting as well. Miranda and the girls are great at science, and we certainly need to encourage more young women to go into those fields. The plot moves along nicely-- very impressive science fiction book!
Weaknesses: I wish that Miranda hadn't doubted herself so much, or been so attached to her robot!
What I really think: This has a lot of heavy-duty science and space details, so it will be a popular book. I enjoyed the author's note about how she tried to write about space convincingly even though she's never been an astronaut!

Nonfiction Monday- Sports!

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and #IMWAYR day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.

My father's running joke is that he hasn't missed a football game in fifty years-- he hasn't watched a football game, but he hasn't missed them! This pretty much sums up my own relationship with sports. The fact that I am moderating a panel discussion on sports at Kidlitcon is nothing short of miraculous.

Gramling, Gary. The Football Book
August 8th 2017 by Sports Illustrated
Copy provided by Blue Slip Media

The tag line on this is "Everything you need to become a gridion know-it-all: Lingo, trivia, stats, skills". The stats part of this covers a whole lot. I appreciated most that there were overviews of all of the teams, including the year they were founded, notable players and coaches, and highlights of different seasons. There are also lots of pages about different players that include their statistics as well. This makes me wonder why no one talks about Morten Anderson, who had most career points and seems very impressive, but I've never heard of him. The other important thing I learned was that the Cleveland Browns have never been to a Super Bowl. Now, I want this to happen! (I grew up equidistant between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, although my brother was a Steelers fan.)

In addition to the various statistics, there is a lot of information on how to perform different plays. My favorite was how to "dress appropriately when you're going to a game"-- as someone who once went to a football game in November wearing tennis shoes with no socks, it would have been useful. There's even a page on how to make a queso dip!

This is a great book for dipping into during study halls, on car trips, or even during lunch. I'd rather see kids reading from something like this at lunch than playing games on their phones! This will be a popular book with my readers who are fond of both sports at Guinness Book of World Records type compilations of facts.

My only objection to the book is some of the formatting-- the paper-over-board cover didn't even hold up well to being mailed in a padded envelope, so a lot of tape will be involved in processing it for library use. The full color illustrations give the book the same sort of odd smell that graphic novels have. Also, the pages are designed so that some of them look like the corner is folded over or someone has spilled something on the page, which made me a little twitchy! Readers will not even notice these things, except for the excessive amount of tape on my library copy!

Sports Illustrated Kids. Hockey Then to Wow!
September 26th 2017 by Sports Illustrated
Copy provided by Blue Slip Media

Like it's predecessors about baseball and football, Hockey Then to Wow! provides a great overview about the sport. Considering that I knew absolutely nothing about hockey, it really did cover all of the bases. I always love the random facts (for years, helmets were not required, and when they finally were, players who started playing without them didn't have to wear them. That's just weird!), but I know my readers are more interested in the statistics and team overviews. I'm not usually fond of oversized books, but in this case, the extra wide layouts are essential for showing the evolution of uniforms (pictured on the cover), teams, masks, and a variety of other interesting specifics.

The photo illustrations are fantastic, and the page layouts are a lot of fun. The range of information presented is impressive, and there is even a brief section about women in hockey.

Not only is this book fun to read, but it would be a great resource for a student researching hockey at a specific period of time. It would be a good starting point for a History Day project, and I know we've used the other volumes when the 7th grade researches the 1960s in preparation for reading The Outsiders. There are some books Sports Illustrated could work on--- football in the 1960s, 1970s, etc. Or Sports in the 1960s. These books work; they just require a bit more sifting!

MMGM- The Real Us

Greenwald, Tommy. The Real Us.
August 8th 2017 by Roaring Brook Press
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

I'm not entirely sure that the person who wrote the publisher's description actually read the book. The book is much more nuanced.

Calista Getz is that girl. Not only is she pretty, but she's super nice and loves to play soccer. She has found herself saddled with two friends she doesn't particularly like, Ella and Ellie, and while she enjoys being popular a little bit, she would much rather hang out with her friend Laura. Laura, meanwhile, has made a new friend in Rachel, who is very bubbly and who supports Laura when she is feeling less than positive about herself, which is a fairly rare occurrence, but does happen. When middle school starts up again, Calista finds herself being pushed toward Patrick, who is the boy equivalent of her-- attractive, smart, and polite. He's okay, but she doesn't want to like him just because he's good looking, no matter what Ella and Ellie say. She's actually more intrigued by the quiet Damien, a tall kid with a penchant for wearing a red jacket all of the time.

Calista has a bad day. She gets a zit on her nose, panics, pops it, and covers it with concealer. The concealer makes her break out in hives all over her face. To top it off, she goes to talk to Patrick, and he accidentally elbows her in the face, making her nose bleed and her eyes turn black! She is not surprised at all when Patrick doesn't want to go to the dance with her. Ella and Ellie turn on her and talk behind her back, but Laura is supportive. I loved how the adults around her made Calista continue with her regular activities-- the sympathetic school nurse tells her she has to go back to class because the last time she checked, she was "still a student", and her mother makes her go dress shopping! There's a bit of a misunderstanding with Damien and Laura-- they arrange to meet at the dance, but Calista asks him to the dance afterwards and he freezes. Luckily, all of the children involved are level headed and figure things out without the situation devolving into too much drama.

That's what I loved the most about this book. Middle school DOES have a lot of drama, but middle grade literature seems to report it in stereotypical, boring ways. The pretty girl is always mean. The sports loving best friend never gets the boy. People have misunderstandings and don't work them out until pages later. For example, after Damien says yes to Calista, Laura asks him why. He replies that he likes her. When she asks why Damien also said yes to her, he replies that he likes her, too. Her reply to that? "Correct answer." As I read the book, I was constantly pleasantly surprised by the characters' reactions, because they were fresh and yet I could completely see some of my students acting the same way.

This book is told from the points of view of several characters, and while I'm not the biggest fan of this format, it worked in this case. We understand the artistic Damian's struggles with hyperhydrosis (he sweats a LOT and takes medication to try to control it), we witness Patrick's confusion, and we are privy to Laura's sadness that Calista is friends with nitwits and wants to stop playing soccer. We also get wonderful moments with Calista when she practices writing HER OWN NAME over and over in a notebook, and when her language arts teacher tells her that it's a good thing she wants to drop soccer, because girls shouldn't play sports. It's sarcasm, of course, but it does the job and gets Calista back on the field.

I've been a huge fan of Greenwald's work since the very first Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide, but this book takes his work to another level. The voices are authentic but unusually fresh, the school situations realistic and moving, and the characters' interactions with each other perfect examples of the type of behavior and attitude that we try to teach children. Showing by example and making kids laugh-- it's what I want from every middle grade novel I read. Greenwald delivers all of this perfectly.

8 August Maria’sMelange -Guest Post

9 August Log Cabin Library-  Review

10 August- Diary of a Happy Librarian - Review

11 August Always in the Middle - Guest Post

14 August- Randomly Reading- Review

15 August One Great Book- Review

16  August-Unleashing Readers - Giveaway

17  August Mr. D. Reads- Interview

18  August Tommy Greenwald- Grand Finale and Giveaway

Royal Crush (From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess #3)

Cabot, Meg. Royal Crush ((From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess #3)
August 1st 2017 by Feiwel & Friends
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Olivia is very exciting that her sister Mia, the queen of Genovia, is having twins! She is especially excited that staying at home to wait for them gets her out of having to travel to a school competition in the country of Prince Gunther, a classmate who has a bit of a crush on her. When the trip is canceled because not enough people have turned in permission slips and because of widespread flu, that's okay with her. However, when the twins are born and the royal physician wants Olivia and Frank away from them, Grandmere ends up chaperoning the trip. Olivia doesn't understand why her crush, Prince Khalil (whom her friend from the states always wants pictures of) is suddenly cool to her, but blames it on the fact that his uncle has taken over his country and Khalil and his parents are seeking asylum in Genovia. There's another reason having to do with mix-ups in the royal mail, but things are worked out, the twins are named, and life in the palace continues.
Strengths: Libraries everywhere invested in the ten book Princess Diaries series, so I hoped that this new series would introduce younger readers to those books and get them moving off the shelf. It's interesting to see more diversity, and older readers will be interested in following Mia's career.
Weaknesses: There is a ridiculous amount of privilege in this, and it just rubbed me the wrong way, especially the way with which Khalil's difficulties were dealt. I think it's just time to move on from this series. The Princess Diaries was published in 2000; it's dated.
What I really think: The first two books have not been picked up in my library, so I'm not going to purchase this third volume.  I love Cabot's writing and wish she would move on to new characters.
 

Teen Romance

Doller, Trish. In a Perfect World
May 23rd 2017 by Simon Pulse
Public Library Copy

Caroline is ready to spend her summer working at Cedar Point. and then start her senior year in Sandusky, Ohio. However, when her father takes her on their yearly after school trip to Kelley's Island, he breaks the news that her mother has gotten a position at OneVision, a charitable eye clinic she will run in Cairo, Egypt! Since her dad works two weeks on, two weeks off on a boat, she has to go with her mother. It's not an awful thing, but surprising news. Caroline breaks up with her boyfriend and sets off to Egypt. Once there, she realizes that it will be difficult for her to wander around on her own, but her mother employs Mr. Elhadad to drive her around whenever needed. This gives Caroline a chaperone and keeps Mr. Elhadad's taxi business busy. When he becomes ill, his son, Adam, is tasked with taking Caroline around the city. At first, the two are shy with each other, but they eventually discuss the differences in their cultures, and the similarities in their personal preferences. Adam teachers Caroline about the food and culture of his country, she meets his sister and joins a soccer team with her, and the two eventually share a sweet romance. When the OneVision clinic runs into problems, Caroline and her mother decide to return to the U.S., and Caroline and Adam must say their star-crossed goodbyes, wishing "I want you to have the best life even if I'm not part of it".
Strengths: This was a fantastic trip to Cairo, with so many details (both wonderful and not so great) about what the city is like. Food, customs, views. The romance is sweet, and the problems that Caroline and Adam face are explained in a very balanced and realistic way. It was interesting that some of Adam's friends liked her, and some did not. The mom is a great, strong character.
Weaknesses: I didn't care much for the epilogue. I would have preferred that the romance be sweet but over. That's really the best romance. Younger readers whose souls haven't shrunk in the wash will think it is romantic. I am a bit concerned about how realistic some of the details about Egypt and Egyptian sentiments are because I am simply not in a position to know if they are accurate.
What I really think:Definitely put this book on my list to purchase. It did make me angry, though, that men in Egyptian culture (purportedly) feel free to make rude comments to women. I imagine this is an accurate portrayal, because I had an experience somewhat similar to Caroline's when I lived in Athens, Greece 30 years ago. Because I was blonde, there were many Greek men who tried to chat me up on the street in not entirely appropriate ways. That this behavior has not been beaten out of men in every culture by angry women with umbrellas baffles and incenses me.


Brody, Jessica. In Some Other Life
August 8th 2017 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Kennedy Rhodes is loving her life at her public school, even though she lied and told everyone she DID NOT get into the elite private school with which she is a little obsessed, since they get so many students accepted to Columbia, her dream college. When she breaks up with her boyfriend, (who is seeing her best friend on the sly!), she wishes that she could have made another decision. Of course, she wakes up to find her world a very different place. Her father is no longer a stay-at-home dad on the verge of a successful free lance photography career; her mother is more stressed; she is tremendously overbooked at the private school and is not dating anyone at all. Most importantly, the school has no newspaper at all, and at the public school, that was her claim to fame. When she stumbles upon a test selling scheme that got one of her friends in her new life kicked out of school, she starts to investigate what is going on, and figures out how little things can affect one's entire life.
Strengths: I love, love, love the "what if" novel-- let's just say that if I hadn't decided to take Latin in the 8th grade, I would not be blogging today because I would have a much more successful life! The fact that Brody can write a YA novel that is not filled with bad language and substance abuse warms my heart more than I can say. This just was very intriguing. Not great on the details because I read most of it while waiting for 8th graders to walk around Washington, D.C.
Weaknesses: Hmmm. Can't think of any. Again, see note on lack of details!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing! Love the cover.

MAJOR RANT and Girls Who Code

Here's the thing. Math class takes up a lot of time and requires a lot of expensive, full time teachers. Instead of scheduling all students for math, let's have a space in the library where students can drop by, work with manipulatives, read some math textbooks, maybe do some worksheets or Khan Academy online, and collaborate with other students on math that interests them. So that there's even more time for students to do math, there will be a Math Club that meets during lunch. Maybe a Day of Math once a year. We'll give the librarian a couple hundred dollars a year to buy supplies.

This would insure that all students would be exposed to math every day, that they would have a teacher at their disposal who is proficient in math (because all librarians are) and isn't doing anything else during the day like teaching research classes or helping language arts classes get books.

Test scores will go up, because this is the 21st century learning model, right?

See how silly that sounds? Now apply it to the way that technology is treated in most districts. Want middle school students to learn coding? Buy some Spheros and OzBots for the MakerSpace. Have a Coding Club that the librarian can instruct while wolfing down a granola bar. Have some community volunteers work with a Robotics Club. Now everyone in the whole school knows coding, right?

No. If we taught math or science, or even language arts or history the way most districts teach technology, there would be immediate public outrage. For one thing, only about 20% of the students would even get a chance to get into the library regularly. There would be no grades or accountability for subjects, and we all know how important accountability is.

So why are there DAILY technology classes for students? I don't mean word processing, although it would be nice if students could learn to keyboard before sixth grade. I mean all manner of computer functions, up to and including coding. If technology is going to be so important to children's work places in the future, why are we hoping that all students learn everything they need to know by dropping by a makeshift center in a library staffed by an overworked librarian who may or may not know how to code?

It's ridiculous. Librarians being willing to take the place of a proper technology course of study is not doing students any sort of good at all.

That being said, I did like these books.


Deutsch, Stacie. The Friendship Code
August 22nd 2017 by Penguin Workshop
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Lucy is excited to join the coding club in 6th grade because her uncle has cancer, and she wants to make an app that will help him remember his medicine. She's not happy with the slow start the club has-- Mrs. Clark has them writing directions for how to make a peanut butter sandwich and doesn't even let them near the computer! When Lucy gets a coded note late on, she strongly suspects her brother Alex is behind it, but follows the directions. She meets up with her former best friend, Sophia, who likes to play sports. The two mend their differences when Lucy tells Sophie that she just lost interest in sports, not in Sophia. More notes lead Lucy to seek help from Maya, who is very interested in fashion,  as well as Erin, who has just moved into town. When the girls can't quite figure out the code, they taking it to the next coding club meeting to try to get some answers, but by that time, the girls have become fast friends and have learned a bit about coding.
Strengths: This was a fairly standard girl group book, much like Kimmel's Forever Four, Maple's Roxbury Park Dog Club, McLean's Jewell Society, Santopolo's Sparkle Spa, Simon's The Cupcake Diaries, etc. The big difference, of course, is that the girls are interested in coding, which is a great thing. The group is culturally diverse, has supportive parents and some annoying siblings, and have a variety of other interests as well.
Weaknesses: I wish the coding club teacher was called MS. Clark, not Mrs. It is 2017. I ran out of patience with Mrs. in 1985. Also, see rant above.
What I really think: Very serviceable middle grade title that is engaging and positive. This should circulate well, so I'm glad to invest in the series.

Deutsch, Stacie. Team BFF: Race to the Finish
October 31, 2017 by Penguin Workshop
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Sophia is the main character in this book. She's looking forward to the big hackathon on Saturday, and the challenge is to create a robot who can get through a maze. She and friends Lucy, Maya and Erin have great ideas to make the robot creative as well, and decide to include Leila on their team, since her team members couldn't make the competition. However, at the last minute, Sophia's parents expect her to watch her younger sisters, since they have to work and her abuela is going to visit her sister. Afraid to tell her team she must disappoint them, Sophia registers the group anyway. Now, if she doesn't show up, the entire group will be disqualified! Luckily, her friends pull together to make sure that Sophia gets all of her chores done and they even hire a neighbor girl to babysit! (With the parents' permission, of course!) In the meantime, Sophia (who works with the high school football team as a trainer) hopes that her friend Sammy will ask her to the dance, but when he doesn't, she asks him herself! All the girl power!
Strengths: This showed great team work, had lots of positive role models, and went beyond the stereotypical "girl"interests (fashion and baked goods) with Sophia's work with the football team. I liked the age appropriate romance as well as the look into Sophia's family life.
Weaknesses: As of July 1, there was not a print copy of this available. I hope this changes. This is now available in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-399-54252-7) Sophia's parents had no better back up plan than to have her watch the younger siblings? No friends, neighbors, etc.? Seemed odd, but of course was a crucial plot device. Not only is it essential to have about ten different back up plans for babysitting on tap when you have small children, you also need to have a list of friends with large vehicles who can transport things at a moment's notice. And at least three neighbors who have your house key who are home right after school.
What I really think: I will buy this. After all, there is a token blonde girl with glasses in the group, so I feel represented.


Saujani, Reshma. Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World
August 22nd 2017 by Viking Books for Young Readers
ARC obtained at ALA Midwinter

This was fine, and I would probably have bought it for my daughters when they were young, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. I've been looking for a good book to give to students who want to learn coding, and everything I've seen is waaaay too wordy and presupposes too much prior knowledge. This is a good start, but I'm still looking for the perfect book.

From the Publisher:
"Part how-to, part girl-empowerment, and all fun, from the leader of the movement championed by Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey, and other giants of tech. Since 2012, the organization Girls Who Code has taught computing skills to and inspired over 10,000 girls across America. Now its founder, Reshma Saujani, wants to inspire you to be a girl who codes! Bursting with dynamic artwork, down-to-earth explanations of coding principles, and real-life stories of girls and women working at places like Pixar and NASA, this graphically animated book shows what a huge role computer science plays in our lives and how much fun it can be. No matter your interest--sports, the arts, baking, student government, social justice--coding can help you do what you love and make your dreams come true. Whether you're a girl who's never coded before, a girl who codes, or a parent raising one, this entertaining book, printed in bold two-color and featuring art on every page, will have you itching to create your own apps, games, and robots to make the world a better place."

Confessions from the Principal's Kid

Mellom, Robin. Confessions from the Principal's Kid
August 1st 2017 by HMH Books for Young Readers

ARC from publisher at ALA

Allie has mixed feelings about her mother being principal at her elementary school. On the one hand, she gets to know the teachers and staff really well, and enjoys hanging out after school with the other teacher's children, especially the geeky Graham, organized Lexa, and second grader Maddie. On the other, everyone expects her to tell on them, and they give her a wide berth. This isn't too bad, but after she got her best friend Chloe in trouble for having banned trading cards on her, Chloe hasn't spoken to her. This makes life during the school day rather lonely, so Allie is glad when she and Chloe are assigned to work on a language arts project together. After her mother forgets to take her to Chloe's house, the girls manage to work out a schedule, and Allie is thrilled to be picked up in the carpool line after school, even though it means abandoning her after school friends. When Graham starts being bullied even more by Joel, whom Allie's mom seems to like, Allie knows that she has to figure out how to make sure Graham is happy and safe without casting herself as a snitch. After all, having access to the pop machine is not without its drawbacks!
Strengths: This was a fun, realistic fiction book that was a little different. I don't know that there are many middle grade books out there where the characters have a parent who works in their school, but it definitely DOES happen! I liked that we saw a little of Allie's home life, and her parents were supportive but distracted by their own lives. I also liked the friend drama between her and Chloe, since there are many friendships in middle school that fall prey to misunderstandings. Graham's issues were also dealt with realistically. I think that young readers will enjoy reading about what goes on in a school after most of the people go home!
Weaknesses: My father was an elementary school principal, but not at my school. While this was not my experience as a child or as someone who is in the school building fairly early, everything that happens is within the realm of possibility! Who knows, maybe if I put in my extra hours after school, I would see a whole new world!
What I really think: This is exactly the sort of story we need more of-- ordinary children with slightly extraordinary facets to their lives going about their daily business. Definitely will purchase. The cover is very nice and will age well.

No Good Deed Tour

Connolly, Kara. No Good Deed
July 18th 2017 by Delacorte Press
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Eleanor Hudson is in England for an archery competition, but she isn't happy with her performance. It's even worse when she thinks she sees a monk on the shooting range and gets in trouble for alerting the authorities, who don't see anyone. After a nice lunch with her mother (who is a medieval history professor), Ellie decides to see some local sights, but is surprised when real guards come after her... and she realizes she has traveled back in time! She is mistaken for a spy (her short hair and jeans mark her as male), and she manages to escape only by jumping into the sewage filled moat. Luckily, she is rescued by the very attractive James, a Knight Templar who is home from the Holy Land and taking some time at a religious order to regroup. He takes Ellie to the Priory of St. Mary, where she is healed but where she still manages to get into a lot of trouble. Eventually, her cover as a boy is blown, even though she keeps wearing the same clothes, and she does get to use her tremendous archery skills on a real yew bow. Because of the place and time she has visited, she comes across all sorts of historical characters, from the Sheriff of Nottingham to her namesake, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Playing at being Robin Hood is both fun and dangerous, but most importantly, Ellie needs to figure out how to get home.
Strengths: I loved the details of Ellie's archery competition, and the details about modern day Nottingham, and appreciated that she didn't immediately talk and act like a typical person in the 12th century. (Not everyone is quite as prepared to time travel as I am!) The way that the people involved in the Robin Hood history/stories are introduced was particularly well done; true to the accounts I've read, but with a bit of a twist.
Weaknesses: The time travel was never really explained, and I had a little trouble believing that men in the 12th century would have accepted a woman so easily, but this was great fun once I suspended my disbelief.
What I really think: Fans of Pierce's Alana series or books like Cadet of Tildor or Longbow Girl will appreciate this Young Adult (but completely middle school appropriate) adventure. The incipient romance with James doesn't hurt the appeal of this one, either.

Hop around the blog tour! It's much safer than traveling through time!

17-Jul	Joyousreads	http://www.joyousreads.net
17-Jul	Cafinated Reads	http://cafinatedreads.com
18-Jul	Istyria book blog	http://istyriabookblog.com
18-Jul	My Guilty Obsession	http://myguiltyobsession.blogspot.com/
19-Jul	Stories & Sweeties	http://storiesandsweeties.com
19-Jul	The Book Monsters	http://thebookmonsters.com/
19-Jul	Urban Fantasy Investigations	http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/
20-Jul	Seeing Double In Neverland	SeeingDoubleinNeverland
20-Jul	Love is not a triangle	http://www.loveisnotatriangle.com
20-Jul	A Backwards Story	http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com
21-Jul	Take Me Away...	http://takemeaway02.blogspot.com/
21-Jul	Feed Your Fiction Addiction	http://feedyourfictionaddiction.com
24-Jul	Beauty and the Bookshelf	http://beautyandthebookshelf.com
24-Jul	Mom With a Reading Problem	http://www.momwithareadingproblem.com
25-Jul	Teen Lit Rocks	www.teenlitrocks.com
25-Jul	Peace Love Books	http://readingwithstyle.blogspot.com
26-Jul	Bumbles and Fairy-Tales	http://bumblesandfairytales.blogspot.com
26-Jul	The Hollow Cupboards	thehollowcupboards.blogspot.com
27-Jul	Adventures of a Book Junkie	http://toofondofbooks.com
27-Jul	A Midsummer Night's Read	http://www.amidsummernightsread.com
28-Jul	Gone Pecan	https://gonepecanla.wordpress.com
28-Jul	Mommy Ramblings	http://www.mommyramblings.org
31-Jul	By Valia Lind	http://valialind.wordpress.com
31-Jul	Pandora's Books	www.pandorasbooks.org
1-Aug	Cracking the Cover	http://www.crackingthecover.com
1-Aug	Jessabella Reads	www.jessabellareads.org
2-Aug	A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM	HTTP://ADREAMWITHINDREAM.BLOGSPOT.COM
2-Aug	Bookish Lifestyle	www.evie-bookish.blogspot.com
3-Aug	Twinning for Books	https://twinningfortwins.wordpress.com
3-Aug	Ms. Yingling Reads	http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com
4-Aug	Lisa Loves Literature	http://misclisa.blogspot.com/
4-Aug	She Dreams in Fiction	http://www.shedreamsinfiction.com/
4-Aug	Zach's YA Reviews	www.zachsyareviews.com

Girls in New York City

It's been three years since #WeNeedDiverseBooks was started, and I do think that there are now a lot more diverse books for middle grade readers, although there could be many, many more.

The one thing that I have definitely enjoyed is the emergence of a lot of #ownvoices writers.

No, this doesn't mean that Anthony Horowitz can only write about 62 year old British men with Jewish ancestry, but it does mean that I am absolutely not equipped to opine on the essential qualities of the following two books. They are both about black girls in New York City, and address many issues that revolve around that identification. I've lived most of my life in Ohio, and I'm white and middle aged. I find that books set in New York City don't do terribly well in my library, which is the main reason I probably won't purchase these.

Is the voice in these correct? I would very much like to see reviews by authors who share more of a cultural connection with the characters in both of these to see if the portrayal is accurate.

Sayre, Justin. Pretty.
May 2nd 2017 by Grosset & Dunlap
ARC provided by the publisher

Davis' (Ducks) friend Sophie from Husky has issues every bit as serious as the ones that Davis faced. Her friends at school think she is a pretty girl interested in fashion and in Ryan, but her home life is very difficult. Her mother is a fashion writer, and her father is French and has returned to his country after the divorce. Janet, the mother, drinks heavily. She doesn't remember much of what she's done, but her actions include abusing Sophie, passing out, and almost burning the house down by leaving the stove on. Caring for Janet is a full time job, so when Sophie's Auntie Amara shows up to watch her while her mother goes "to Paris for work", Sophie is relieved. It's nice that her aunt has breakfast and dinner ready for her, takes her to get her hair done, takes her to church and checks her homework, but it also feels a bit odd. Her friend Allegra never knew the extent of Janet's problems, and is concerned mainly with her own issues. Since she has some freedom at home, Sophie starts dating Ryan, who even comes to the house to meet Amara. This takes away from her time with Ducks, but he is understanding. Sophie has a school project on family history, and through Amara finds out why her mother has difficult moments. She is thinking about moving to Harlem to live with her aunt, who is a professor at CUNY, but when her mother returns she feels that staying with her mother might be the thing that she needs to do, even if it means facing her problems.
Strengths: There are a lot of middle grade readers who are enthralled by tales of child abuse, and I prefer when these tales then include a supportive adult who makes things better for the characters. We definitely get that in this book. Sophie's life is fully fleshed out, and we see a lot of different aspects of it, and understand how the facets intertwine.
Weaknesses: There is some awkward writing that is meant to mimic the way 8th grade girls talk, and a lack of focus. There was a lot going on in Sophie's life, and I would have preferred that a main story line emerged and all of the other subplots supported it a bit more.
What I really think: Husky has not circulated very well, so if I purchase this one, it will be at the very end of the year if I have money left.



Hyman, Fracaswell. Mango Delight
June 6th 2017 by Sterling Children's Books
Copy provided by publisher at ALA

Mango and her best friend Brooklyn do everything together until Brooklyn is jealous of Mango's running, gets a phone and starts hanging out with mean girl Hayley Joanne. When Mango accidentally drops Brooklyn's phone in the sink, the two stop speaking, Mango's father has to buy a new phone, and he eventually loses his job when he sticks up for Mango. Mango is banned from the track team, and Brooklyn signs her up to try out for the school play in order to make fun of her. To everyone's surprise, Mango does well and is cast as Juliette. She also starts to befriend Hayley Joanne after a video of Mango's performance goes viral. Will Mango's success continue, and how will her friendships shake out?
Strengths: I liked that Mango's family struggled a bit but was supportive and upbeat, and her Jamaican heritage was interesting. Friend drama is always a good topic to explore in middle grade literature. I love the cover of this one.
Weaknesses: Mango's voice didn't ring true to me, and there are a lot of cultural references and slang that will date this one very quickly. That said, I gave the ARC to one of my students and she thought it was fantastic.
What I really think: I will probably pass on this one, but may purchase if there is money left over at the end of the year.

(Aha. The author usually writes for plays and television. That explains some of the writing style.)

Beyond the Doors

Neilsen, David. Beyond the Doors
August 1st 2017 by Crown Books for Young Readers
ARC provided by the author

When a house fire puts their father into the hospital, weepy social worker Miss Guacaladilla's only recourse is to surprise Zack, Sydney, Janice and Alexa's Aunt Gladys with the fact that she will be taking care of the children, since her sister, Charlotte, has long been missing. Gladys is quirky, to say the least. Her house has a drawbridge, piles of doors that the children are NOT allowed to touch, and only Honey Nut Oat Blast Ring-a-Dings in the kitchen. There is also nothing to do in the house, so while the distracted Gladys is off in different parts of it doing mysterious work, the children investigate. Alexa's mother has appeared to her in a dream and asked that she find her grandmother's door. It's impossible not to touch the doors, especially when it has been forbidden, and before too long the children have been sucked back into the American Revolution and have met a dinosaur  hunter who is their grandfather! They find out that they are not actually traveling in time-- they are traveling into the memories that are trapped into the wooden doors. The biggest danger is that, after time, the memories start to sour. The MemorySphere is a complicated place, and Zack and Sydney are trapped in it for a bit, until they are able to contact Alexa and get her to open a memory as well. The children all meet their mother and find out that she has been missing because her own mother was sucked into the MemorySphere and she's been trying to get her out. When Gladys loses her memory, Charlotte is able to help get it back (which is good, since Miss Guacaladilla comes to check on the children when Gladys has amnesia!). However, when Charlotte loses her memory, it is up to the children to travel further and further into the memories of the past and figure out what has happened. When one trip lands them in an evil carnival, and they are then whisked away and threatened by a lake monster, they find out that some of the people they have trusted may be behind the threats. Will they be able to find their grandmother's door, fight the monsters, and reunite their family?

Like this author's Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom, Beyond the Doors has a quirky world with a surprising twist behind every door. Of course the children want to open those doors! One of the things that I liked best about the book was that it is a stand alone title, and we actually have a sense of closure at the end.

The MemorySphere is a complicated place, but the it is explained rather well. Fantasy fans love having to think through the logistics of another world, and the way that memory can be manipulated and used by the unscrupulous will fire the imagination of readers who like the idea of time travel and moving between different dimensions.

The children work well together, although they do have their sibling moments. Sydney is prone to fits of RAGE, Alexa is only seven, and Janice can be a bit on the bossy side. The adults are all half a bubble off, which is certainly how most middle grade readers view the adults in their lives! Again, there are a lot of fanciful names, which are no doubt the result of the author's acting and story telling background.

Thankfully, Zack, Sydeny, Janice and Alexa manage to get both of their parents back by the end of the book, but readers who like tales of orphans saving the day will find Beyond the Doors a worthy follow up read to titles such as Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Lawson's Nooks and Crannies, Teele's The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin, most of Barbara Brooks Wallace's books, and Wood's The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series.

MMGM-- The Losers Club

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Shannon Messenger's Blog and #IMWAYR day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.

Clements, Andrew. The Loser's Club
August 29th 2017 by Random House
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Alec is one of those kids who loves to read more than he loves school. It is his solace and refuge, and on the very first day of school, he is sent to the principal's office for reading instead of doing his work in art class. The principal informs him that if he doesn't mend his ways and do better in his classes, she will recommend him for a summer program for study skills. Not wanting to spend six weeks of his summer back in school, Alec does try to pay attention, but there's the problem of after school as well. Both of his parents have gone back to work, and Alec and his brother Luke have to spend three hours in an after school program. At first, this seems like a great idea. Alec will just read quietly in a corner. That's not good enough for the program director, who informs him he will have to do his homework in the designated center, join in Active Games, or join a club. After some problems with his former friends David and Kent, Alec decides to create his own club and try to limit it to people who want to sit and read quietly. He finds another member, Nina, and is secretly pleased that he can talk to a girl and have her seem interested, but there is someone else who would like Nina's attention-- Kent. Kent is a great athlete who enjoys making fun of Alec, and he undermines the Loser's Club as much as he can. Eventually, though, the three actually discuss the problems that they are having with each other and come to a tenuous understanding. The Loser's Club continues to grow, and even Alec realizes that while reading is a great thing to do, it's not the only way he wants to spend his time.

Clements is the undisputed master of the school story, but this book also made me realize that there is a delightful new trend in middle grade literature. More and more, we are seeing children who are having trouble relating to friends, talking to the other gender, struggling in school, or trying to work their way through typical middle school problems... and they have support and actually do the right thing! Is this circling back to the 1950s, when all of the children were models of good behavior? Not at all. Alec isn't perfect. He promises his parents he will bring his grades up, but after a while, they drop. He is mean to a boy who wants to join the club, but when Nina calls him on it, he apologizes!

The fantastic thing about this is that children really do look to books for clues on how they should act. It's hard to know how to handle certain situations, but if they can see positive examples in literature, it's bound to help. Kent and Alec's relationship is extremely well portrayed. Kent is a stereotypical bully in some ways, but in many ways, he's not. He usually only gives Alec a hard time when his friends are around, but when he sees Alec doing fairly well in dodge ball, he actually encourages him to explore sports some more. Alec wins a bet and makes Kent read a book, but he makes the effort to go to the school librarian for recommendations of books that Kent might like. This is how teachers and parents hope that children will act. It's delightful to see.

Clements excels at writing is a short, succinctly written book, with a certain suspenseful feel to it. What will happen with Alec and Nina? Will the group be able to make a Parents' Night presentation? Will Alec be able to keep his grades up? This will keep readers turning the pages, and along the way they will encounter a list of books that the characters like that they might be interested in picking up after they have finished The Loser's Club. Unless they need to immediately reread it for comfort!

More Dead Parents

DeStefano, Lauren. The Girl with the Ghost Machine
June 6th 2017 by Bloomsbury USA
E ARC from Netgalley

After Emmaline's mother dies, her father locks himself away in the basement, trying to create a machine that will draw her spirit back to the house so that they can visit. He doesn't work, he doesn't take care of Emmaline, and it's as if she has lost her father as well. In anger, she throws a cup of tea into the machine hoping to break it, and her mother appears and has a cup of tea with her. Talking about this later with her friends, next door neighbors and twins Gully and Oliver, the three decide that in order for the machine to work, an object related to a memory has to be thrown in, the ghost appears, but then goes away and the memory is lost. The twins ask to see their dog Tidbit, and three neighbor ladies ask to see their long gone brother, but the only one who uses the machine a lot is Emmaline's father. He seems a little happier, and goes back to work, but Emmaline still doesn't feel that he has returned to her. After a tragedy, her father sees the error of his ways. Emmaline grows old with the machine in the basement, but manages not to use it, with one notable exception.
Strengths: I like the name Emmaline, and the blue and brown on the cover are attractive.
Weaknesses: The entire book is about sadness and loss in a very sad, soggy way. While Emmaline is to be applauded for not wanting to use the machine, I can't think of any of my students who ask for "poignant" books that are this slow and sad.
What I really think: If a ghost machine really existed, I would throw in every memory I had of people who were gone. Then I wouldn't remember them at all, and I wouldn't be sad about them anymore. Is this the lesson the book wants to teach us? Because that's what I got out of it.

Edge, Christopher. The Many Worlds of Albie Bright
May 30th 2017 by Delacorte Press
E ARC from Netgalley

Albie's mother and father are both scientists who deal with Quantum physics. His father is a television personality who also writes books explaining physics to lay people, and his mother has worked with the Hadron Collider. When his mother is diagnosed with cancer, the family moves back to England to be near the mother's father. After her death, Albie's father sends him back to school and immerses himself in his work, but has planted the thought that perhaps in a parallel universe, Albie's mother is alive. Albie thinks this is worth investigating, so he makes a Schrodinger's Cat type box with his mother's quantum computer, a Geiger counter, and a banana, and manages to travel to several different alternate universes. In one, he meets himself, but he is evil and his mother passed away when he was a baby. In another, he is a girl named Alba, and his mother died in a car accident. When he finally meets his mother, there are other complications, and Albie finally realizes that even if he met his mother in another universe, his father really needs him at home.
Strengths: This actually was fairly upbeat, except for the father neglecting the son. (That's what all grieving parents do, right?) Albie is able to make peace with his reality. It moved quickly and was actually fairly engaging. Appreciated that the mother was a high powered scientist, and lots of science was involved. Bonus points for making his device; sort of like the bathtub with the computer in Welford's Time Traveling with a Hamster.
Weaknesses: This is a very British book. I think it will appeal more to elementary readers. Middle school students are less involved with their parents.
What I really think: Will probably pass on purchasing unless I have a lot of students ask for books about grieving or alternate universes.

11 Before 12

Greenwald, Lisa. 11 Before 12
August 1st 2017 by Katherine Tegen Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Kaylan and Ari are making plans for their 6th grade year to be the best ever. They make a list of 11 things they need to do before they both turn 12 in November, including making friends with a boy, doing a complete makeover, and kayaking to a small island near their home. Sixth grade has its challenges, and there are moments when she and Ari have falling outs. Home life is also a challenge; her parents are divorced, her mom works long hours, and her brother (to whom she was previously close) is a teenage butthead. Despite all of these challenges, Kaylan manages to make things work, and she and Ari repair their relationship in time to celebrate their birthday together. This is the first book in a duology.
Strengths: Greenwald's work reminds me of the vintage 1950s teen literature that I collect in the best possible way. Realistic situations, spot-on tween voice, and fun premises. So many good touches, and an excellent understanding of how middle school friendships work.
Weaknesses: This one had a lot more going on than other Greenwald titles, and was a tiny bit confusing at first, but not horribly so. Also, salon highlights on an 11 year old? Eh. I don't understand coloring one's hair. Had it done years ago when I won a makeover, and it was ridiculously time consuming. Never again!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and can't wait to hand to students.

Also look for Welcome to Dog Beach, the My Life in Pink and Green series,  Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes, and Reel Life Starring Us.

Must go find Kale, My Ex, and Other Things to Toss in a Blender (May 30, 2017).

And am I the only one who immediately noticed that Ari on the cover is the same picture used for Varsha Bajaj's Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood?