My new favorite middle grade fiction books

I do love middle grade fiction.  Middle grade fiction has such an amazing array of topics that it's willing to discuss and hash out.  Here are my two new favorites.

The first one is just about to be published.  It's called "Roll With It" by Jamie Sumner.  It's about Ellie who is 12.  She lives with her mom and because Ellie has cerebral palsy, she is mostly in a wheelchair.  Ellie's mom is worried about Ellie, but also about her dad (Ellie's grandfather), who is suffering from dementia.  So Ellie's mom decides to quit her job and move in with her parents.  Ellie thinks is on one hand, great.  She loves her grandparents and loves spending time with them.  On the other hand, terrible.  Her grandparents live in a small, single wide trailer.  Their trailer isn't handicapped accessible, which makes things difficult.  Ellie doesn't really have any friends at home, so she's not sorry to leave any of them behind.  She finds some new friends-next door is Coralee, who wants to be a triple threat-an actress, a singer, and a dancer and is currently competing in beauty pageants, and Bert, who is a one of 12 children.  He's also really super smart but not so good at social situations.  This amazing cast of characters comes together to accomplish so much.  This story touches on some of the realities of living with cerebral palsy, as well as parental abandonment, bullying, dealing with someone with Alzheimers, family loyalty and baking.  The dialogue in this one is amazing.  The way the characters come together is just wonderful.  I can't wait to give this one to my students!

The second one is called "Shouting at the Rain" by Linda Mullaly Hunt.  You might remember some of her other amazing books like "Fish in a Tree" or "One for the Murphys".  This one is about Delsie, who lives with her grandmother because her mother abandoned her when she was small.  Delsie know that her Grammy loves her to bits and pieces, but sometimes she really wishes she knew more about her mom.  Delsie and her grandmother live in a small community in Cape Cod.  Her grandmother cleans houses for a living.  Delsie's best friend, Brandy, comes from the mainland to spend summers there, but Brandy is a lot different this summer-she doesn't seem to want to do the things they used to do and she does want to wear makeup and get mani-pedis.  Delsie, not so much.  Delsie doesn't like to wear shoes, she loves watch the weather and she finds a new friend, Ronan, who seems a little strange to Delsie at first.  This book is full of really interesting characters-from Grammy, to the next door neighbors, to the new girl who is so mean, each one is so clearly drawn and  each one has such a clear voice.  This book touches in a million different social issues including child abandonment and drug addiction, second chances, bullying, friendship, and what it means to be part of a family and part of a community.  I loved this one.