Surprising characters in middle grade fiction
I'm polishing off the last of the turkey AND the last of my CYBILS list. Although every time I think I'm really done I get another a box, so maybe I'm not as done as I think I am!
The first one I read that really surprised me was called "Boy Bites Bug" by Rebecca Petruck. It's about Will, who lives in a small town in Minnesota. His community doesn't have many immigrants so he's been with the same group of friends since he was in kindergarten until a new boy named Eloy moves in. Eloy's family is from Mexico and his family runs a Mexican restaurant in town that has been wildly popular. Will is offended when his old friend Darryl uses a racial slur towards Eloy and on a dare, eats a stinkbug which gains him a surprising notoriety in his middle school. Will decides to use that notoriety to make Darryl feel bad about his use of the racial slur in a science project that he does with Eloy about eating bugs. Except that Will often offends Eloy with his own racial biases. So what was really surprising about this book is not the consumption of bugs (which will be intriguing to my students) but the whole idea of what constitutes racial bias and how even well intentioned people might be offensive. I loved how Eloy would tell Will when he'd crossed the line and how Will tried to make things right. I worry that there's a lot of description of feelings that some of my kids might find annoying, but overall it was a really good story and I can't wait to give it to my students.
The second one is a book told in two voices. It's called "Takedown" by Laura Shovan. The two voices are McKayla (Mickey) and Lev. Both are middle school students trying to figure out the usual minefield of middle school friendships and both have a love of wrestling. Lev had a bit of a meltdown during last season when he lost an important match to a boy who's been a bit of a bully about the incident ever since. Mickey is also struggling-she wanted badly to wrestle on the same travel team that her two older brothers wrestled on, but the coach refuses to let a girl join. So she joins another team, the same team that Lev is on. Because wrestlers compete based on their weight, Mickey and Lev end up training with each other. What's really great about this book is the two voices and the different things they're struggling with but also the cross over between their two storylines and how you can see characters differently because of that point of view. I learned a lot about wrestling, which I also thought was really interesting. There was also some cultural information about Lev's Jewish family culture that I liked too. All in all, it was a really terrific story that I didn't want to put down!
The first one I read that really surprised me was called "Boy Bites Bug" by Rebecca Petruck. It's about Will, who lives in a small town in Minnesota. His community doesn't have many immigrants so he's been with the same group of friends since he was in kindergarten until a new boy named Eloy moves in. Eloy's family is from Mexico and his family runs a Mexican restaurant in town that has been wildly popular. Will is offended when his old friend Darryl uses a racial slur towards Eloy and on a dare, eats a stinkbug which gains him a surprising notoriety in his middle school. Will decides to use that notoriety to make Darryl feel bad about his use of the racial slur in a science project that he does with Eloy about eating bugs. Except that Will often offends Eloy with his own racial biases. So what was really surprising about this book is not the consumption of bugs (which will be intriguing to my students) but the whole idea of what constitutes racial bias and how even well intentioned people might be offensive. I loved how Eloy would tell Will when he'd crossed the line and how Will tried to make things right. I worry that there's a lot of description of feelings that some of my kids might find annoying, but overall it was a really good story and I can't wait to give it to my students.
The second one is a book told in two voices. It's called "Takedown" by Laura Shovan. The two voices are McKayla (Mickey) and Lev. Both are middle school students trying to figure out the usual minefield of middle school friendships and both have a love of wrestling. Lev had a bit of a meltdown during last season when he lost an important match to a boy who's been a bit of a bully about the incident ever since. Mickey is also struggling-she wanted badly to wrestle on the same travel team that her two older brothers wrestled on, but the coach refuses to let a girl join. So she joins another team, the same team that Lev is on. Because wrestlers compete based on their weight, Mickey and Lev end up training with each other. What's really great about this book is the two voices and the different things they're struggling with but also the cross over between their two storylines and how you can see characters differently because of that point of view. I learned a lot about wrestling, which I also thought was really interesting. There was also some cultural information about Lev's Jewish family culture that I liked too. All in all, it was a really terrific story that I didn't want to put down!
Thanks for reading!
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