Realistic middle grade fiction 2020

Sometimes it feels like realistic fiction is just a little too real for me, especially, given the world in the last few months.  Luckily, there are some wildly talented writers how are giving us a lovely opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes just for a little while and see that might feel like.

The first one is called On a Good Horse by Darby Karchut.  It's about Alex, who is going to New Mexico to live with his dad.  His dad has been largely absent from his life when his parents divorced when Alex was about three.  His mom had died suddenly and unexpectedly and Alex had been living with his aunt and uncle but they were going to NY to pursue a business prospect and were not allowed to take him with them.  So he goes to spend the summer with his dad, grudgingly, and unwillingly.   His dad is a farrier and is hoping that Alex will come with him and learn about his job.  Dad is also hoping that Alex will love horses as much as he does.  So he buys a horse for Alex for the summer.  And this is actually what I really love about this book-the horse, Rio, is one of the storytellers too.  I love the voice of this horse-who names the horse he shares the corral with Hogs the Shade.   I enjoyed the fairly predictable storyline but the characters were interesting and I connected to them hard!  I was really sorry when this one was over.  I think the kids will like this one too.

The second one is a memoir, which I guess is a kind of realistic fiction?  It's called Gone to the Woods and it's written by Gary Paulsen.  You might have read some of Paulsen's other work, like Hatchet, Woods Runner, Dog Song, among others.  This one is a selection of stories from significant parts of Paulsen's childhood.  He starts as a small boy in 1944.  His father is in the military serving overseas and his mother is having a real good time in Chicago.  The small boy is taken to bars where he and his mother entertain men in bars.  When his grandmother gets wind of this, she insists that the boy be sent to live with his aunt, who lives in northern Minnesota.  So as a five year old, this small boy is placed on a train in Chicago with a note pinned to his collar and a five dollar note in a his pocket and is expected to end up in Northern Minnesota.  Miraculously, this happens without too much peril and the time he spends with his aunt and uncle are some of his happiest memories.  His mother eventually turns up and expects the boy to come with her, which he does unwillingly.  The other chapters talk about different people and events that make a big difference in his life, including the public librarian, who introduces him to books as well as to the idea of communicating his own ideas.  I found the story really compelling and fascinating.  I think the kids will be blown away by the idea that a child would have so much independence foisted upon him at such an early age, but it's easy to see how each of the experiences that he describes, as difficult as some of them were, made him the writer he is today.  This is a terrific story, don't miss it!

Here's a video describing his life as a writer.

Here's the cover.