If you could clothe goodness in a character, what what it look like? If you could depict human flourishing in one snapshot of one place, where would that be? If you could encapsulate abandonment and solace, dismay and hope, fragmentation …
Tag: middle grade fiction
seeking refuge…reads for kids and adults
I have been focusing my reading the past few months on middle-grade literature addressing the crisis of refugees and asylum seekers. It has been tough, frankly. Emotionally tough. My goal in doing so was to offer you an array of …
fiction favorites…Breakout
Breakout, by Kate Messner published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books 448 pages I flew through Kate Messner’s most recent middle-grade novel last week, and loved it for so many reasons. It’s an excellent story starring a believable, flawed, likeable …
wishes, wartime, and music as real as jam
The Orphan Band of Springdale, written by Anne Nesbet published in 2018 by Candlewick Press 435 pages Gusta Neubronner, age 11, has just had the rug pulled out from under her slightly-blurry feet. It’s 1941. For some reason Gusta …
sequels to books I’ve loved
Today I’ve got three sequels to books I’ve previously loved and reviewed. And such a variety! An adventurous fantasy, a sweet chapter book series, and a graphic novel. All of them require reading the earlier book/s first, so I’ve linked …
murder and mayhem!
I just barreled through a delightful comic-mystery, brimming with clever intrigue, careening with impetuous young detectives, and sparkling with charming wit. Did I love this book? Reader, I did. The World’s Greatest Detective, by Caroline Carlson published in 2017 by …
fiction favorites: Hope in the Holler
Today, in the category of Books That Surprised Me, allow me to introduce: Hope in the Holler, by Lisa Lewis Tyre published in 2018 by Nancy Paulsen Books 209 pages This book had to sneak up on me in order …
Astrid and Crow…fiction favorites
I have two middle grade novels to share with you today. In some ways, they are utterly different stories. One is set in the 1920s on an island off the coast of Massachusetts. The other is a contemporary story taking …
a beautifully imagined fairy tale
Snow & Rose, written and illustrated by Emily Winfield Martin published in 2017 by Random House 205 pages This book is sooo beautiful. Just look at that cover. And the inside art by Emily Winfield Martin is just as creamily, …
a lush new fantasy…with just a dusting of Christmas
The Wonderling, written and illustrated by Mira Bartók published in 2017 by Candlewick Press Arthur is a groundling, a curious part-animal, part-human creature whose dear fox face and lovely chestnut eyes speak volumes of the sensitive, kind heart within. His …
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