Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 14

Title: Crown of Three
Author: J.D. Rinehart
Genre: Fantasy
Read If You Like...: medieval magic, royal conflicts, Game of Thrones
Three-Sentence Summary: In a land ruled by a brutal king and wracked with Civil War, a prophecy brings hope of peace when illegitimate triplets of the king overthrow his reign and assume the throne. Separated at birth, the three must leave their separate lives behind and come together to save the kingdom of Toronia. The author of this must be a Game of Thrones fan because it was exceedingly complex and excessively violent for a middle grade novel.


Title: Serafina and the Black Cloak
Author: Robert Beatty
Genre: Fantasy
Read If You Like...: Historical settings, spine-tingling mysteries, Stranger Things-esque monsters
Three-Sentence Summary: Serafina and her father live secretly in the basement of the extravagant Biltmore Mansion, he as the estate's maintenance man and she as a stowaway no one knows even exists. When children begin to disappear from the estate, Serafina decides she must break her father's rule of never leaving the Biltmore's grounds and venture into the fearsome forest to investigate a mysterious man in a black cloak she believes is linked to the disappearances. The twists in this story are unexpected, and Beatty has created an unpredictable world of mystery and magic that its readers will investigate with anticipation.


Title: Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans
Author: Don Brown
Genre: Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction (yes, and ewww, 2005 is historical to middle schoolers)
Read If You Like...: Survival stories, "based on a true story" stories
Three-Sentence Summary: This graphic novel telling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath is simple in scope, void of individual stories and experiences. Instead, it relies on simple text and straightforward facts and numbers to convey the chaos, heroism, and racism surrounding this natural disaster. Perhaps it's intended to be a concise but thorough introduction, one that touches on all the major issues and themes, to an audience that wasn't even born in 2005, but to me it felt too simple a telling (and conclusion) of such a complex event that still has repercussions.


Title: Nightmares!
Author: Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
Genre: Horror
Read If You Like...: light-hearted horror (aka: the not-too-scary kind), Goosebumps, Jason Segel (obviously)
Three-Sentence Summary: Charlie's life would be okay if it was just the creepy new house and creepy new stepmom (who he's convinced is actually a witch), but when his nightmares become real, he's got a whole new problem on his hands. The line between the real world and dream world should never be crossed, and it seems up to Charlie and friends to make sure the door between the two is closed for good. The story features creepy elements but, overall, is pretty mild, serving its purpose as a light adventure read.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 13

Title: Skink No Surrender
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Genre: Mystery
Read If You Like...: Courageous rule-breakers, absurdist plots, the rest of the Skink series (apparently it's not just YA!)
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Fourteen-year-old Richard knows there's more to the story when his cousin Malley runs away (yet again), so he decides to take matters into his own hands and find her (or save her?) and bring her home. As the mystery carries him across rural Florida, he finds a partner in a weird eccentric old guy named Skink whose background is questionable, to say the least. Apparently Skink is a well-known Hiaasen character with his own entire mystery series, but for young readers, this will serve as its own self-contained humorous kooky mystery adventure just fine.

Title: The War That Saved My Life
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Read If You Like...: World War II era, underdog stories, Number the Stars
Three-Sentence Thoughts: In all of her nine years, Ada has never left her one-room apartment because she's got a club foot of which her mother is cruelly ashamed. When London's children begin to flee to the country because of the encroaching war, Ada recognizes an opportunity to escape with her brother Jamie and find a better life. I almost feel you need an adult-level understanding of emotion to get the full impact of Ada's story, but middle schoolers should also recognize the pathos and lend empathy and support to Ada and Jamie's struggle for survival.

Title: Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary
Author: Gail Jarrow
Genre: Nonfiction
Read If You Like...: Science mysteries, New York City history, epidemic thrillers
Three-Sentence Thoughts: In the early years of the 20th century, a fatal fever swept communities in New York City and state, but its origin was a total mystery until a team of groundbreaking scientists and health officials pinpointed the source—a lone woman, an innocent cook named Mary Mallon. Chronicling the outbreak and spread of an epidemic in a society that suffered from the the lack of modern scientific knowledge, Fatal Fever paints a fascinatingly vivid picture of a world that young readers will find entirely foreign and extremely eye-opening. Jarrow has penned a work of nonfiction with plenty of companion images and primary sources to satisfy reader curiosity, and the narrative is marvelously organized to provide a thorough history told in wonderfully complete context. (Note: The Bowery Boys did a podcast episode on Typhoid Mary, and I thought Jarrow's narrative structure in this book was SOOOOOOOOO much better!)

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 12

Title: Fuzzy Mud
Author: Louis Sachar
Genre: Adventure, Sci-fi
Read If You Like...: Varied text features, realistic stories with unrealistic components, The Secret World of Alex Mack
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Marshall and Tamaya follow the same route every day to and from school, but when a bully forces them off path on a long route of avoidance, they make a startling scientific discovery. There's a weird kind of "fuzzy" mud in the woods that causes a super scary rash that spreads quickly, has no known cure, and quickly gets authorities and scientists drawn into this eco-horror story. I found the narrative pretty disjointed and the characters lacking any amount of depth to draw in a reader, but maybe a reader who doesn't want a long reading commitment will enjoy it.


Title: Nimona
Author: Noelle Stevenson
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy, Graphic Novel
Read If You Like...: Epic adventures with heroes and villains, graphic novels (MSers aren't too discerning on genre with these)
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Nimona is a high-energy young shape-shifter who worms her way into a position as villainous Lord Blackheart's sidekick. Blackheart's nemesis in the kingdom is an old friend, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, and Blackheart is determined to prove the hero isn't so heroic after all. My graphic novel fans really like this one, but, though I love the art, I just never really connected with its scattered story and irreverent sense of humor.


Title: The Jumbies
Author: Tracey Baptiste
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Read If You Like...: Folk tales, fairy tales, stories with a unique setting
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Jumbies are the dark creatures of the forest feared by all, but Corinne, unafraid of anything, doesn't believe they actually exist. When a beautiful stranger suddenly shows up in town and bewitches Corinne's father, she must face the magic she's always doubted and figure out how to save her island home. Based on Caribbean folklore, this fills a great gap in children's literature by sharing the fairy tales from underrepresented cultures. [In her author's note at the end, Baptiste adds, “I grew up reading European fairy tales that were nothing like the Caribbean jumbie stories I listened to on my island of Trinidad. There were no jumbie fairy-tale books, though I wished there were. This story is my attempt at filling that gap in fairy-tale lore."]

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 11

Title: Masterminds
Author: Gordon Korman
Genre: Adventure
Read If You Like...: Fast-paced plots, ensemble casts, and a Stepford Wives-level mystery
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Serenity, New Mexico, is the most perfect place to live in the country—at least, that's what Eli and his friends have been told their entire life. But the perfect houses, perfect lawns, perfect everything in this tiny idyllic town are starting to seem suspicious to Eli, and when a freak occurrence during a lightning storm gives a glimpse of life outside Serenity, Eli begins a quest for the truth. This conspiracy adventure is totally engrossing and just plain fun for all readers—and luckily its sequel just came out, which I can't wait to get my hands on!


Title: Goodbye Stranger
Author: Rebecca Stead
Genre: Realistic
Read If You Like...: Alternating point of view, quirky characters, and friendship sagas
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Three points of view tell the story of Bridge, her best friends Tabitha and Emily, wallflower Sherm, and an unnamed high school girl struggling with the betrayal of a best friend. Seventh grade is proving tougher than expected as friendships change, new relationships emerge, and the cast of characters struggles with individual identity. The style of storytelling may be unappealing for some readers [I've gotten mixed reviews from my students], but Stead gives us a real story about finding yourself and finding your place.


Title: The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible...on Schindler's List
Author: Leon Leyson
Genre: Memoir
Read If You Like...: Child survivors, WWII/Holocaust stories, historical settings
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Leon Leyson credits his life to one man, Oskar Schindler, and in this middle-grade memoir he chronicles the collapse of his 12-year-old world when the Nazis invaded his homeland of Poland and his fight for survival through four years of horror. As an adult well-versed in Holocaust stories, I feel it's a story that is the same no matter how many times it has been told, simply because, at this point in my life, I've read so many of them that I know how things were, how they ended. For young readers, though, who are encountering historical moments like this for the first time, this is a welcome new perspective that introduces the gray-area definitions of people—that individuals are often more than a label.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 10

Title: Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries Who Shaped Our History...and Our Future!
Author: Kate Schatz
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography
Read If You Like...: Reading about famous people, short spurts of learning, feminism
Three-Sentence Thoughts: A work like Rad American Women—one that celebrates the achievements of a diverse array of women—is totally needed in the realm of literature for young people. Each page spread includes a pop-art-esque illustration of a celebrated woman and a one-page, quick-summary bio that gives just a teaser of said important figure. To me, the content amounts to little more than what an entry-level researcher could quickly compile from a browse through Google, and though I was left with the feeling that way more could be said, perhaps this is the only way a middle schooler will willingly connect with this information to hopefully inspire further independent reading.


Title: The City of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Genre: Dystopian
Read If You Like...: Boy-girl adventure duos, stories with mysterious circumstances, realistic yet improbable worlds
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Ember is a city created hundreds of years ago by a group of people called the Builders, meant to keep its people safe and living for the rest of time, but now the electricity is getting unreliable and food is running out. Lina and Doon stumble upon pieces of a very old document from the days of the Builders, and, as they start to unravel the mystery of Ember, they begin to wonder if they've found the answer that will save them all. This is a great dystopian story that is still packed with adventure and lacks much of the heaviness and despair usually found in YA dystopian novels. (The first in a series of four.)


Title: Sunny Side Up
Author: Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm
Genre: Realistic, Graphic Novel
Read If You Like...: Fun, cartoonish illustrations; realistic stories on everyday issues; books by Raina Telgemeier
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Ten-year-old Sunny is sent to Florida for the summer to live with her grandfather in his retirement community—a vacation she envisioned very differently (more beach and Disney, fewer golf carts and fake teeth). Things look up when she meets another kid her age, Buzz, and many adventures ensue, but Sunny's still wondering why she was sent down to Florida in the first place. With bubbly and bright artwork, the Holm team has created an appealing story about everyday adventures that manages to broach more serious family issues in a manner that is accessible, and still enjoyable, to a younger middle school audience.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 9

Ok, I spared you guys the barrage of middle school books for an entire semester, but now this backlog of posts is really starting to build up!

My absolute favorite day of the school year comes in May with our district-wide Battle of the Books competition—and I've deemed it my favorite day despite having only experienced it once! It's this great day where 20+ middle schools come together, each with a 4-5 student team as representation, to battle it out trivia-style on a pre-selected list of 20 books. Though this one day is SO MUCH FUN, it's actually an event that builds for several months of the year as students prep, teams are created, and schools must decide who gets to attend the main competition.

If I didn't say it last year, this is how these Speed Dating posts began, as I make sure to read the whole list along with my students. Having read them and written out these summaries actually ends up really helping with recommendations AND helping our BoB teams study. [Also, I adapted this review format to the library and have been having kids write their own brief reviews. SO helpful for our library website!]

Alright, enough chit chat...

Title: Trash Can Nights
Author: Teddy Steinkellner
Genre: Realistic
Read If You Like...: Stories with multiple characters/plots/perspectives; real-life drama; this book's precursor, Trash Can Days
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Jake, Danny, Hannah, and Dorothy return in this sequel that brings a more mature follow-up to their last story. Jake has returned to San Paulo Junior High as the guy who got stabbed, is dating Dorothy, and still avoiding Danny, while Hannah is beginning her Freshman year at a new school where she's determined to earn the title of Queen Bee. While, for me, this one didn't have the same uncensored, humorous appeal as its predecessor, it was still a realistic, relatable story that deals with some pretty heavy issues.

Title: Guys Read: Terrifying Tales
Author: Jon Scieszka, ed.
Genre: Short Stories, Horror
Read If You Like...: Short story collections, a variety of writing styles, and odd/unusual/frightening things
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Terrifying Tales is the sixth installment in the Guys Read series of short stories, and this theme of this one is the weird and creepy. Stories from well-known middle grade authors like Kelly Barnhill, Dav Pilkey, and R.L. Stine cover every kind of scary: imaginary friends who stick around too long, vengeful ghosts, little brothers who disappear, old lady neighbors without the best intentions. The chill factor varies, but this is a good choice for fans of scary stories and readers with short attention spans. (Also, definitely NOT just for guys. I have mixed feelings on this marketing angle.)

Title: Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor
Author: Nathan Hale
Genre: Nonfiction, Graphic Novel
Read If You Like...: History adventures, true stories, and surprise reveals
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Araminta Ross is one of history's most important figures; you just know her by a different name. Born as a slave in Delaware, she escaped by running north and, once free, led many many more slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. This was my first foray into the Nathan Hale series, and in this one (like all the rest, apparently), he shares Harriet Tubman's story with accuracy, intrigue, and a great deal of passion for history and storytelling that will be felt by the reader. (Sidenote: I met the author at a conference and dude is HILARIOUS.)

Reading Roundup: More Middle Grade Graphica

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, my middle schoolers love graphic novels, and truth be told, they got me wanting to read many of them! Once last school year ended, I had a list of titles I wanted to read on my own over break, and that's just what I did at the start of summer. Raina Telgemeier's books were on that list, as well as these three:

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson came out towards the end of last year, and I rarely saw it returned long enough to actually be shelved. In it, twelve-year-old Astrid Vasquez has hit that awkward point where you suddenly seem to no longer click with your life-long best friend. Astrid has done everything with Nicole since early elementary school, including suffering through Ms. Vasquez's Evenings of Cultural Enlightenment (ECEs for short, and a small detail of this story I absolutely love), the most recent of which was a roller derby match. Astrid becomes enchanted with this sport, and assumes Nicole will be right beside her at the roller derby camp Ms. Vasquez suggests attending, but now Nicole is more into ballet and is actually friendly with their one-time sworn enemy, Rachel.

Astrid masks her hurt with a little bit of anger and extra determination, attending the camp on her own. It's hard, and she fails miserably at first, but Astrid is the kind of girl that is fueled by those failures; she's no quitter. She's realistically bratty but is also tough and resilient, which are good character traits I don't find as often in realistic middle grade fiction. This is a great story that touches on a very common part of adolescence and adolescent friendships—that people and relationships often change, and that a great deal can be learned by leaving our comfort zones.

The Jellaby series by Kean Soo has absolutely the most adorable artwork of all the graphic novels on my shelves. In the self-titled series opener, Portia has just moved into a new neighborhood and school where she doesn't really fit in. She's quiet and keeps to herself; no one makes an effort to befriend her. And at home, her father is suddenly absent, and she's adjusting to life without him. One late night, she takes a walk in the nearby woods and is followed home by a shy, gentle purple monster she names Jellaby. Life becomes much more exciting, knowing she is the sole keeper of this great secret. She also unintentionally befriends another equally shy boy named Jason, and together they begin a quest to find out where Jellaby belongs.

The story continues with Jellaby: Monster in the City, when the quest to find Jellaby's home takes the three on the train into the city. As they follow the clues, it starts to appear as though there's a rather sinister background to Jellaby's story...and somehow, Portia's dad may be involved!

These stories fall a bit into the magical realism realm. There are no identifying places or references to really ground them in a particular time or place; they exist in an entirely generic world. And truthfully, as an adult, I think they may depend on a greater degree of childhood imagination/suspension-of-belief than I possess. Each book contains such a SNIPPET of story that it's going to take several more volumes before it actually feels complete and satisfying (my same complaint with the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series). Though I loved the artwork, the story itself left me a bit clueless as to the point or where it is going.

Reading Roundup: The Raina Telgemeier Collection

The kids at my school love graphic novels. I mean love. Our graphic novel collection was pretty sparse when I entered the school last year, and I spent a good chuck of money buying any graphic novel that seemed appropriate for middle school aged kids—anything and everything just to fill those shelves. What I found was that when the kids find one they like, they want 17 more just like it. It was the series the were incredibly popular, and those award-winning standalone books notable in the adult/librarian community, like Anya's Ghost and American Born Chinese, did not get nearly the same attention as action/fantasy series like Maximum Ride, Bone, Amulet, Artemis Fowl, Zita the Spacegirl, The Elsewhere Chronicles...I could go on.

The exception I found was with Raina Telgemeier's three titles: Smile, Sisters, and Drama. These three stories, though each a standalone in terms of story, are so similar in style that kids view them as a set--and chances are if they like one, they will like the others.

• Telgemeier's first published graphic novel, Smile, is a memoir of her own awkward middle school years when an injury to her two front teeth leaves her dealing with an excessive amount of painful, annoying dentistry for most of her adolescent years—as if being 13 wasn't hard enough!  
• Drama tells the story of theater tech nerd Callie, who has always preferred being on stage crew to being center stage. It's the story of a girl who blossoms in a typically-outsider group, a reminder that everyone can find their own place and community. 
• In the recently-published Sisters, the author returns to her own life to chronicle the seemingly-never-ending conflict between herself and her sister, Amara. They're totally opposite and never get along, but knowing they are sisters, after all, they know they're going to have to make it work.

In a genre/style that seems to have few stories based in true middle school reality, Telgemeier fills this much needed gap in the graphic novel genre. These are stories to which girls can relate with everyday problems and dramas, same as they would enjoy other realistic series like Dork Diaries or Dear Dumb Diary. The plots are simple; the interactions are common; the humor is level-appropriate; and the art is colorful and appealing. One of my proudest moment last year was watching an 8th grade girl, the only student in her class to not read a single book during our month-long reading incentive program, sit and read Sisters in one sitting then tell me all about it.

I think these are great books to grab a reluctant female reader, especially the older ones, to prove that reading doesn't always have to be a long-winded chapter book; it can be light and enjoyable, and Telgemeier's books are a great entryway into a new format of story they may find they love.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 8

As I write this, I am enjoying my very last weekend of summer vacation. I can't really complain that school is about to start again; I have enjoyed over 9 solid weeks of vacation already, and that's nothing to scoff at!

Last school year was spent working my way through our 20-title Battle of the Books list, along with any other random popular middle grade reads that caught my eye. And though I do really love the middle grade collection, I was starting to feel trapped in a pre-teen world. Summer, then, has been a great opportunity to finally make some headway on my Read Harder Challenge list, enjoying some adult books once again! I've already posted a few of those, and I have a few more in the works, but for now, enjoy this concluding (for now) chapter of middle grade titles!

Title: How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous
Author: Georgia Bragg
Genre: History, Biography
Read If You Like...: Brief history lessons, stories told with snark, and hearing about other people's flaws
Three-Sentence Thoughts: The lives and mishaps of famous figures in history such as Marco Polo, Isaac Newton, and Amelia Earhart are shared in this collection of short biographies. Written with a light-hearted, sometimes scathing sense of humor, this book ultimately aims to remind readers that these mythic figures were, ultimately, entirely human. As an adult, I am certain these fairly unflattering brief bios leave out many details, but they may appeal to history fans or readers with short attention spans.

Title: Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere
Author: Julie T. Lamana
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Read If You Like...: Stories of disaster, stories of survival, stories of family
Three-Sentence Thoughts: All Armani can think about is her 10th birthday party, but, unfortunately, a hurricane named Katrina is going to shake up her 10th year, changing Armani's life in ways she never would have expected. This is probably the darkest, most serious middle grade book I've encountered, heavy with themes of loss, survival, family, and hope. Despite its 10-year-old protagonist, I would probably recommend it to an older middle schooler or teen reader.

Title: The Witch's Boy
Author: Kelly Barnhill
Genre: Fantasy
Read If You Like...: Fairy tales, the conflicted duo dynamic, and stories about young heroes
Three-Sentence Thoughts: After Ned's identical brother drowns in a rafting accident that could've killed both of them, Ned grows up retreating into silence as the community languishes the fact that perhaps the wrong twin lived. Ned learns, though, that he has been fated to protect a powerful magic, and his only hope may lie with the daughter of the very bandit trying to steal it. This book wasn't totally my cup of tea, but fairy tale or fantasy fans may find it adventurously endearing.

Title: The Penderwicks in Spring
Author: Jeanne Birdsall
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Read If You Like...: Stories about siblings, daily dramas, and innocent childhood fun
Three-Sentence Thoughts: This fourth installment in the Penderwick series jumps a few years later, putting the once-baby Batty and Ben in center stage. With half the Penderwick sisters off at college, this story is told through the eyes of Batty as she works to earn money for singing lessons, her voice being a newfound talent. Definitely darker in theme, handling more serious topics as the youngest Penderwick comes into her own, this is another delightful book in the series, though it lacks the complete Penderwick sister dynamic present in the previous three.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 7

Title: The Night Gardener
Author: Jonathan Auxier
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Read If You Like...: A creepy Victorian-era setting, Edgar Allen Poe, and old episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Molly and Kip are two Irish orphans that have taken up employment and residence at the creepy Windsor house in unfamiliar England. It becomes very clear that something isn't right when the strange family that lives there appears more sickly by the day, strange noises are heard from upstairs, and an unwelcome guest seems to be lurking throughout the house at night. Peppered with magic and mystery, this creepy gothic tale is both a nail-biting mystery and a harrowing lesson on the power of greed.

Title: A Snicker of Magic
Author: Natalie Lloyd
Genre: Magical Realism
Read If You Like...: Quirky small-town settings, stories sprinkled with a bit of the unbelievable (ie: Mary Poppins), and eccentric words
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Felicity Juniper Pickle (yes, that is her name) has moved nearly every year of her life, thanks to a mother with a "wandering heart," but landing in Midnight Gulch finally feels like home for the first time in quite a while. Felicity soon discovers that the once-magical Midnight Gulch has a colorful history, and, with the town's cast of eccentric characters, she sets about unlocking the mystery and bringing the magic back. This book just ooooozes saccharine sweetness that will be cloying to some and endearing to others.

Title: Saving Lucas Biggs
Author: Marisa de los Santos
Genre: Adventure
Read If You Like...: Time travel adventures, stories told through multiple perspectives, and quests for justice
Three-Sentence Thoughts: In 2014, Margaret's father is unjustly sentenced to death by one crotchety old Mr. Biggs. Blessed (or cursed?) with an inherited ability to time travel, Margaret elicits the help of her friend Charlie to embark on an adventure back to the pivotal days of Judge Biggs' youth in 1938 to prevent the chain of events that led to his eventual corruption. A strong example of storytelling, adventure, and moral dilemma, this story reminds readers that every one has a story and actions have the power to change history.

Title: Boys of Blur
Author: N.D. Wilson
Genre: Fantasy (??)
Read If You Like...: Family drama, small-town football culture, and zombie attacks (??)
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Charlie moves with his mom, step-dad, and sister to Taper, Florida, the kind of small town where the football team gets practice by chasing rabbits through the swamp as the sugarcane fields burn. It seems like a weird place, but then Charlie and his cousin Mack start to discover some dangerous secrets about the muck and the town that are nearly as old as time itself. I'm really trying to do this book some justice, but to be honest, it was really confusing and apparently based on Beowulf, which would explain my feelings because I also hated that when I read it in high school, but you can always just try it for yourself because it has a lot of serious fans on Goodreads.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 6

Despite their wildly different format, these three books from our city-wide Battle of the Books list each tell the story of boys who are growing up, gaining a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. Potentially enjoyed by all, but especially geared towards a male audience!


Title: The Dumbest Idea Ever
Author: Jimmy Gownley
Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir
Read If You Like...: A flawed protagonist, underdog stories, and realistic boy humor
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Thirteen-year-old Jimmy is rockin' middle school until a bout of the chicken pox and pneumonia forces him to miss his championship basketball game. Everything—his academic and social life—goes in a downward spiral after that, but a burgeoning love of comic books may be just the thing that saves him from teenage disaster. This humorous story of how Jimmy went from basketball star to comic book artist will especially appeal to boys.


Title: The Madman of Piney Woods
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Genre: Historical Fiction
Read If You Like...: Adventure tales, unlikely duos, and heartfelt friendships
Three-Sentence Thoughts: A chance encounter between Benji and Red, two exceedingly different boys, leads to an adventure neither of them could have expected. The two are on a mission to discover the true story behind the "Madman of Piney Woods," but the real story is in their growing friendship despite very different lives. This story is a good reminder of the various issues that have affected different groups of people throughout history and how people are often more similar than different.


Title: The Crossover
Author: Kwame Alexander
Genre: Sports (Realistic), Poetry
Read If You Like...: Stories about siblings, competitive sports, and the magic of words
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Josh and Jordan are twins that have always been a duo on the court and off, but Josh is starting to notice that things are changing...and he may not be ready for it. Jordan is chasing girls and crushing it on the court, and Josh is just trying to deal with feeling like second fiddle. Beautifully told through a creative verse format, The Crossover broaches significant subject matter with considerable style—highly appealing to the most reluctant of boy readers.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 5

Title: Revolution
Author: Deborah Wiles
Genre: Historical fiction
Read If You Like...: Stories told from various perspectives, narratives on the Civil Rights movement, books with a unique format
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Revolution tells the story of Freedom Summer as hundreds of people flood the town of Greenwood, Mississippi, in 1964 to help register voters, and to twelve-year-old Sunny, these "invaders" just add chaos to her already crazy life with a new step-mom and siblings. When a chance encounter pitches Sunny to the forefront of small-town race relations, she shows the reader what it's like to finally understand what's happening around you and how it's not always easy to stand up for what's right. This story shares an important moment in history using a creative format of text and image that can be highly impactful to the right reader.


Title: Dangerous
Author: Shannon Hale
Genre: Sci-fi
Read If You Like...: Quick-paced action stories, superhero squads, and sci-fi space odysseys
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Science-nerd Maisie's dream comes true when she wins a trip to Astronaut Camp from a cereal box contest. Unfortunately, camp gets more complicated when Maisie's team unintentionally absorbs alien superpowers and find themselves in grave danger--both from these alien parasites and the bad guys trying to take these powers for themselves. I found this book just TOO ABSURDLY RIDICULOUS to follow with any level of enjoyment, but several boys at my school were fans...so I guess it does have an audience.


Title: Loot
Author: Jude Watson
Genre: Action/Adventure
Read If You Like...: Ocean's 11-esque adventures, international capers, stories about kids leading lives that seem much more adult than adolescent
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Loot opens like an old Hitchcock movie (think To Catch a Thief...) as a notorious jewel thief falls from a rooftop and imparts some cryptic dying words to the person below. That person just happened to be his son, March, who then embarks on his own adventurous heist, following his father's clues, where the outcome is either riches and freedom or certain death. An often-funny, entertaining read with enjoyable characters that will surely keep kids wrapped up in the adventure.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 4

Title: Brown Girl Dreaming
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Genre: Poetry, Memoir
Read If You Like...: Books with a historical setting, novels told in verse, poignant memoirs
Three-Sentence Thoughts:  This autobiography shares Woodson's experiences growing up in New York City and small-town South Carolina in the 1960s and 70s, particularly how different her experiences were in two different parts of the country still suffering remnants of segregation, each in their own way. Her descriptions conjure up feelings that everyone experiences—often the ones that are brief and pass without much consideration, but are poignant nonetheless. As a non-fan of poetry, I actually really enjoyed and appreciated the creative way Woodson shares her experiences of a pivotal moment in history with younger readers.

Title: Zombie Baseball Beatdown
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Genre: Humor, (slight) Fantasy
Read If You Like...: Absurd scenarios, comic book plots, humorously relatable characters
Three-Sentence Thoughts: It's an ordinary day of baseball practice for Rabi, Joe, and Miguel...until they nearly get eaten by Coach Cocoran, who is a jerk, yes, but flesh-eating member of the undead? The trio uncover a cover-up plot by the local evil meatpacking plant to hide the fact that their cows are turning into zombies and so is anyone who eats their meat! Bacigalupi packs a lot of important issues—food politics, immigration, racism—into this humorous story that will entertain readers with its likable characters and utter ridiculousness.

Title: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Romance
Read If You Like...: Everyday stories about teen issues, novels told from alternating perspectives, emo boys who deserve more attention
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Lucy and Owen meet unexpectedly when a city-wide blackout leaves them trapped between the 10th and 11th floors of their New York City apartment. Their relationship continues to grow despite the distance that keeps pulling them apart as circumstance moves their families across land and sea. There is a romance aspect here (sometimes told in an annoyingly "affecting" kitschy way—see below), but it's more about these two characters who mature as they learn to build a life despite the obstacles thrown their way.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 3

Here's my last round of middle grade speed dating for a bit; I've played catch-up, and it's about time to get back into the adult world of literature! If last round's three titles seemed similar, this round's are everything but!

It's been interesting to see how my own opinions on certain books have changed as I consider a new perspective—that of an 11- or 12-year-old. The hardest thing to realize is that your personal adolescence is by no means representative of Adolescence. Every kid is in a different place with different emotions, different interests, and different experiences. That makes the job both motivating and disappointing as you introduce your students to new things. I can understand how long-time librarians have a tough time weeding their collection that they so meticulously curated; if you love something, you want your readers to love it too, and sometimes that just doesn't happen! [The number of check-outs on our new, hand-picked-by-me DVD copy of Harriet the Spy is just disappointingly low.]

Title: I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers edition)
Author: Malala Yousafzai
Genre: Memoir
Read If You Like...: True stories, inspiring figures, and world politics
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Malala Yousafzai is a figure that should be a household name—she is the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Prize for her work in human rights advocacy and women's education, after all. Here, she tells her story as she saw her home country of Pakistan change with Taliban rule in the early 2000s, as she defied their ban on education for women, and as she survived a gunshot to the head from an attempt on her life by a Taliban soldier. Malala's story is an exceptionally moving and inspiring one that young readers should encounter, but it's also a frightening one as you realize exactly how easily the freedoms we take for granted can disappear and (for adult readers) how this moment in history happened in our lifetime right under our noses.

Title: Gone Away Lake
Author: Elizabeth Enright
Genre: Classic, Adventure
Read If You Like...: Summer stories, nostalgia, and quaint adventures
Three-Sentence Thoughts: It's summer vacation and cousins Portia and Julian find an adventure when they discover a ghost town in the woods where remnants include decadent old houses, long-forgotten antiques...and two of the town's former residents still living in their deserted home! The jacket flap blurb led me to believe this was going to be much more of an adventure-mystery than it actually was, as the actual plot was pretty dated and not very exciting. Nostalgic adults may delight in this old-fashioned adventure, but now, with my middle school librarian perspective, all I could think was how my kids would be bored out of their minds with this.

Title: Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice
Author: Mike Maihack
Genre: Graphic novel, Fantasy
Read If You Like...: Historical figures, time travel, and Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century [anyone? anyone??]
Three-Sentence Thoughts: In this time-traveling adventure, a young Cleopatra finds a mysterious tablet that zaps her from ancient Egypt to the far, far future where she learns of a prophecy that she will save the galaxy from an evil ruler. She enrolls in school with a typical course-load of math, biology, and combat training and is put to the test to find out if she does, in fact, have the potential to be a hero. I breezed through this one, and it's fun but will definitely be more satisfying as the rest of the series is written and released.

Speed Dating with Middle Grade: Part 2

In part 2 of my speed dating series, I've got a lot of school-centered, realistic fiction for middle graders! My students seem to be split between fantasy-lovers and reality-lovers; either they want the total invented world or the one that mirrors their own—there's hardly any in-between! This set of books will appeal to the grounded crowd looking for a relatable story, and these three vary in their tone and level of seriousness.

Title: Trash Can Days: A Middle School Saga
Author: Teddy Steinkellner
Genre: Realistic
Read If You Like...: An ensemble cast, day-to-day drama, and stories about school
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Jake Schwartz is starting junior high alongside his lifelong best friend Danny, but in this new environment the two are wondering if they're all that alike anymore. Meanwhile, Jake's older sister Hannah is suffering the stress that comes with being Queen Bee, and eccentric Dorothy struggles to find junior high as exciting as the fantasy world she lives in. This book is really fun but also has a deeper heavy side with character dialogues and internal monologues that felt dead-on accurate with my junior high memories. [Sidenote: There's a sequel called Trash Can Nights, and I can't wait to read it!]

Title: The Great Greene Heist
Author: Varian Johnson
Genre: Realistic
Read If You Like...: An imperfect but lovable hero, stories set in school, and Ocean's 11
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Jackson Greene is notorious for his schemes and hijinks, but he swears he's a changed man and done with the cons for good—that is, until the smarmy Keith Sinclair declares he's running for SGA president against Jackson's will-they-won't-they "friend," Gaby. Jackson knows Keith is up to no good...and knows he's the only one who can save the school and expose Keith for the cheat and fraud that he is. This well-written caper is funny, entertaining and the ultimate fantasy for all kids who want to make their mark and save the day.

Title: Kinda Like Brothers
Author: Coe Booth
Genre: Realistic
Read If You Like...: Characters you see grow and learn, an urban setting, and stories about home and family
Three-Sentence Thoughts: Jarrett is used to sharing his mom with other kids, since she's been fostering babies for as long as he can remember, but it's completely different when a kid his age named Kevon arrives. Now he has to share his room, his friends, and his whole life with Kevon, and Jarrett doesn't like it—especially when he finds out Kevon is keeping secrets from him and his mom. My students have enjoyed this story because it's realistically relatable without being too heavy, and readers will benefit from reading Jarrett's thoughts and actions as he deals with a tough situation and gains an understanding that his perspective is not the only one.