New middle grade realistic fiction!

We’ve been on summer vacation and I had time to do some great reading, but due to lamentable internet access during our travels, I’m just now uploading them!  

The first one is called “For Black Girls Like Me” by Mariama Lockington.  It’s about Makeda, who at the start of the book, is crossing the country, from Baltimore to Albuquerque in a car with her mom and her big sister.  Makeda’s dad has taken a new job as a cellist that required the move and the move also required that Makeda’s mom has to give up her job as a violinist.  Makeda was adopted by her parents when they found they couldn’t have a second child and Makeda is African American and her parents and sister are white.  Makeda is worried about the move-particularly moving away from her best friend, Lena, who is also African American and was adopted by a white family.  What’s great about this one is learning about what it’s like to navigate a world where most of the people you know (and even the ones you love) don’t look like you.  How people make assumptions about you based on your appearance.  How important hair is.  How to fit in when you stand out, even if that feels like standing out is a bad thing.  How poetry, music, and dance can help you show your feelings in a way that is meaningful on a completely different level.  I loved Makeda’s voice and her journey through this story was amazing.  On top of her struggle to find her own voice, Makeda’s adoptive mother is really struggling with mental health issues.   This is a terrific story and I can’t wait to put it in my school library.  

Here's a video where Mariama Lockington discusses the book. 

The second one is called  All the Impossible Things by Lindsay Lackey.  It’s about Red, who has been moving from one foster home to another for the past three years because her mom is in jail because of substance abuse and her grandmother died.  Red is determined to go back to live with her mom and has warm memories of how awesome her mom was.  She misses her grandmother terribly.  All she has left is a notebook with a list of things that people thought were impossible but only until they did them, like a bumblebee flying.  Red moves to a new foster home with a veterinarian, Jackson, and his wife, Celine.  Red feels immediately connected to Celine and bonds with a giant tortoise named Tuck.  She also makes friends with the boy next door, named Martin, who loves creating videos for his internet channel.  Red also has a super power, like her mom, and control the wind, including being able to create storms when she’s angry.   Red gets really upset when she finds out that her mom is actually out of jail and hasn’t come to get her and when Celine is diagnosed with cancer, Red decides she really needs to go back to live with her mom.  This story has a lot of heart.  The characters are interesting and well developed and the problems that they have are realistic and the ways the characters try to solve the problems ring true.  I didn’t really understand the addition of the magical wind controlling piece-it didn’t seem to add anything to the story and with all the other drama going on in the story, I didn’t think it needed it.  I liked this story a lot and I think the kids at my school tend to like stories that are sad and emotional, but have a hopeful ending like this one did.   This one comes out in September, so be sure to look for it!