Stand out characters in middle grade fiction
I'm enjoying the winter break-we got to come and spend some time with my family in Western NC, we've eaten A LOT, laughed a lot, walked a lot... Today it's POURING so I had a little time to finish some books! YAY!!!
The first one is called "Skylark and Wallcreeper" by Anne O'Brien Carelli. It's told from two different perspectives-Collette and Lily. Collette is Lily's grandmother and lives in a nursing home in New Jersey. When they have to evacuate because of Hurricane Sandy, Collette gives Lily a pen and tells her not to lose it, that it's important, but in the chaotic aftermath of the storm, the pen disappears. It turns out that the pen is link to Collette's past that Lily doesn't know anything about. Collette grew up in France in the 1930s and 1940s and was involved in the French Underground. So the story has pieces from World War 2 (told from Collette's perspective) and the present day (told from Lily's perspective). The mystery portion of the story is very well done but the characters are what makes this story great. Lily and Collette are each interesting people and the characters that surround them are also interesting and well thought out. This is a fun story because of the connection to today's news as well as the historical fiction. Lots of kids are going to like reading this one.
The first one is called "Skylark and Wallcreeper" by Anne O'Brien Carelli. It's told from two different perspectives-Collette and Lily. Collette is Lily's grandmother and lives in a nursing home in New Jersey. When they have to evacuate because of Hurricane Sandy, Collette gives Lily a pen and tells her not to lose it, that it's important, but in the chaotic aftermath of the storm, the pen disappears. It turns out that the pen is link to Collette's past that Lily doesn't know anything about. Collette grew up in France in the 1930s and 1940s and was involved in the French Underground. So the story has pieces from World War 2 (told from Collette's perspective) and the present day (told from Lily's perspective). The mystery portion of the story is very well done but the characters are what makes this story great. Lily and Collette are each interesting people and the characters that surround them are also interesting and well thought out. This is a fun story because of the connection to today's news as well as the historical fiction. Lots of kids are going to like reading this one.
The second one is a really sad story. It's called "The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise" by Dan Gemeinhart. Coyote and her dad Rodeo have been on the road for 5 years. They travel the US on a school bus that they have retrofitted, moving from place to place. It turns out they are running from grief. In the course of their journey, they meet some very interesting people who have other terrible issues that they are running from and are able to help on their journey. The characters in it are kind, open, and loving, which is a bit of a surprise, considering how much pain they are dealing with. It touches on just about every kind of social issue there is, so it would be a great story to read with a group of kids to talk about coping with some of the big things that are happening in the world. I think the kids will really like Coyote as a character (and definitely, kids are going to want to get on that bus!) and many will be sorry when her adventure in this book ends, because her voice is something special!
And here's Colby Sharp's review of this book too!
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