New realistic middle grade fiction

It might be feeling a little like realistic fiction is the wrong way to go right now, real seems a little too real to me some days, but these are terrific stories and you don't want to miss them!

The first one is actually perfect for right this minute, when racism is front and center in people's minds.  It's called "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Farqui and Laura Shovan.  It's told from two viewpoints-Sara and Elizabeth who live in small town in Maryland.  The girls have just started middle school and are struggling to find their places.  Sara is an artist and her parents want her to be a scientist or a doctor.  They are Pakastani immigrants and Sara's mom is teaching a cooking class at her school.  Elizabeth is taking the cooking class along with her best friend Maddie and a new girl named Stephanie whom Elizabeth feels is coming between her and Maddie.  Elizabeth's mom is also an immigrant-she's from England and is struggling with depression since her own mother died (Elizabeth's grandmother).   The two girls become reluctant and then more enthusiastic friends.  What makes this one so topical is the amount of micro-aggressions towards all kinds of immigrants and races as well as some of the more overt racism that finally gets called out.  This would be an excellent book to talk about how hurtful some of the language that kids use with each often can be as well as how being a bystander isn't really enough any more.  I also really loved the food in this one.  The idea of food in culture is near and dear to my own heart and Sara's difficulty between loving her Pakastani culture and loving her American culture as food was just terrific.  I think lots of middle grade kids are going to love this one.

The second one is pretty much any kid's dream come true, sort of.  It's called Foreverland by Nicole Kear.  It's about Margaret who is 12 and a poet.  She likes to write acrostic poems.  She's also really unhappy about her home life.  Her dad left the family and so she's trying to recreate the last time she felt really happy, which was at the Foreverland amusement park.  She's come by herself and plans to stay there until she decides she's ready to come home and maybe never.  She's having a pretty good time at the park, riding the rides she likes (she doesn't like roller coasters) and eating all the junk food she can stuff in her mouth.  In fact, until this moment, she's never had a hot dog.  Which is when she finds out how dangerous hot dogs can be and she starts choking.  Luckily, someone notices and whacks her on the back and she's fine, a little shaken but fine.  When she looks around to say thank you, she recognizes the boy as one she'd seen earlier in the day.  It turns out that Jaime is living in the park too.  Jaime is also living in the park but he's been living there for quite some time.  He's also trying to recapture the happy part of his life.  This one is more mysterious than Place at the Table and also sadder.  The poetry throughout the book is a lovely addition.  I think kids will like these characters a lot and the idea of living in a theme park is super fun.  This would be a great addition to any library.