Something new in middle grade fiction

Are you looking for something new in middle grade fiction?  Well, have I got a couple of titles for you!  These are new releases and are DEFINITELY worth looking for!

The first one is called "The Adventurers Guild" by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos.  It's about a group of kids who live in a town called Freestone.  Freestone has an annual event called Guildculling where children who are of a certain age are called to join their professions.  For many of lower class children, there isn't too much of a choice, but members of higher societal families have greater opportunities for choices.  But there are always some surprises, and there are some very big surprises at this particular Guildculling.  I don't want to give too much away because each layer of this well written book has excellent suspense and interesting plot twists.  There is some wonderful political drama, some great opportunities for talking about class expectations and racism, as well as magic and thrilling combat.  I really liked this story a lot and I hope there are more to come!

  Here's a little preview of the book!

The second one is a fairy tale/quest kind of book.  It's called "The Silver Gate" by Kristin Bailey.  It's about a brother and sister, Elric and Wynnfrid who are on a kind a of quest.  Wynn has struggles to speak and remember things so she's been living with her mother in a hut out in the woods, while Elric lives with his dad and tends sheep for the lord of the manor.  It's not a really great life, but they do not appear to have a lot of choices.  When Elric and Wynn's mother dies, Elric decides he has to run away with Wynn to save her life.  So Elric is just looking for someplace safe, but Wynn is searching for a fairy kingdom because she's been called a changeling her whole life-a baby who was exchanged for another by fairies.  I liked this one because of the themes of bravery, loyalty, and family connection.  I liked the magical elements and I really loved the pet that Wynn brings along on the quest.    I think this one would make a good addition to our library.

 The last one is a sequel to one of my favorite books last year.  It's called "The War I Finally Won" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.  Like the first book, it's about a girl named Ada who was born with a clubfoot in a dysfunctional family in east London at the 1930s.  Ada escapes London with her little brother Jamie when the government starts evacuating children to the countryside because of the bombings in London.  Ada and Jamie end up with a woman named Susan Smith who is deeply grieving the loss of her best friend, Becky, who died of pneumonia some months earlier.  At the beginning of this book, Susan has come to London to get Jamie and Ada back-they had returned to London with their mother and Susan is determined to get them to come back to their small village with her.  While she's in London with the children, the village is bombed and her small house is destroyed.  So this new book begins with a bit of an uncertain future-Susan would like the kids to return but they don't have a house to go to, Ada's mom seems to feel the need to get them back, and Ada is getting ready to have corrective surgery fix her clubfoot.  I hate to tell you more about this story because each part unfolds in such a lovely way that it ALL feels like a spoiler.  Suffice it to say, this one is a bit more introspective and the new characters add some very interesting pieces to the story.  I loved this one just as much as the first one and it's definitely coming to live in our library.  

Here's a little video with the author about the book.