Middle grade fiction standouts from authors you love!

 I've been trying desperately to get caught up on some of my reading.  It sounds ridiculous to feel pressured to read but there it is.  I've been having trouble sleeping so it's a good time to dig around in Netgalley and see what is on the to-do list!  Here are two amazing ones!

The first one is called Those Kids of Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly.  Erin has written some AWESOME books-I'm not the only one who thinks so, her book "Hello Universe" won a Newbery award and before that "Blackbird Fly" won a CYBILS award.  I think this new one is going to be a big hit too.  

It's about a small community in Louisiana where people don't come and go very often.  The kids there have known each other their entire lives and will likely be friends forever.  That constancy can be a comfort but it can also be difficult if you are a kid who doesn't feel like he or she belongs.  Greyson is one of the main characters.  He is relentlessly bullied by his older brother about not being interested in the same things that their dad is interested in, like hunting and fishing and football.  Greyson really wants to create clothing and has some amazing ideas but is scared to ask his mom for help, she's a seamstress but thinks Greyson should be doing things with his dad and brother.  Dorothy is his best friend and she hides behind a curtain of hair, hoping no one will notice her but secretly hoping they will.  There are three girls who are very religious and another posse of girls who are ruled by a bully named Renni, who has moved to a close by but bigger town  and boys who are athletic and funny and smart.  One the first day of school, a new girl comes into their class.  The girl is pretty and kind and seems exotic-her name is Orchid Mason and she is wearing a flower in her hair.  She tells the kids stories about the places she's lived- New York, Paris, Thailand.  Orchid becomes friends with all the kids, but is especially drawn to Greyson and Dorothy.  As they become friends, Orchid seems to have a gift for drawing out the things that make each of the kids the most wonderful version of themselves.  Renni and her bestie, Janie, find out that Orchid isn't exactly being straight with them about the same time Dorothy and Greyson find out.  Renni comes up with a plan to teach Orchid a lesson at a dance at a community hall in her new hometown and things really come to a head there.  I don't want to give it all away!  But this is a terrific story about friendship and acceptance and who's voice you should be listening to and standing up when things get tough.  Lots of teachers are going to love this one and this librarian is going to love putting it in kids' hands!  

Here's the book trailer.

Here's the cover.

The second one is from another one of my favorite middle grade authors-Margaret Peterson Haddix.  She has written some of my favorite science fiction (the Taken series) and dystopian future (The Shadow Children series).  So I was excited to see a new book from her and this one did not disappoint.  It's a combination of dystopian future AND science fiction (SQUEEEE!).  It's called The School for Whatnots and it's set in a time where there is a great disparity between rich and poor (like NOW? you might be asking yourself, I know I did!).  The rich people are so rich that they can afford to send their kids to a private school where their little dumpling is the only real child.  The rest are very realistic robots, designed to interact with the rich kid, without ever being mean or disrespectful.  The rich kids are never told that their classmates are robots, but when they finish elementary school, they never see their friends again because the robots are recycled.  Except it doesn't quite work like that with Max.  Max's family is very rich and so they set him up in a school just like this.  Max makes friends with the kids in his class but he has one particularly favorite, Josie, who is loud and noisy and opinionated and bossy and more fun than anything else Max has come into contact with until now.  So when school is over, he is bereft that he has lost touch with Josie but she's left him a little note which says "No matter what anyone tells you, I'm real".  This note sends Max spiraling with a million questions, which his parents really don't want to answer.  At the same time, it turns out Josie IS real and she goes back to her home with her dad and has to figure out what happens next.  There are a million surprises along the way, none of which I want to ruin for you!  One of the most amazing things is the letter from Margaret Peterson Haddix at the beginning of the book which explains how she got the idea for the story.  This is such a gift to students who often think that ideas are as rare as unicorn horns and that only geniuses get great ideas.  This is a story with big themes of social equity, friendship, humanity, artificial intelligence and child rearing.  Kids are going to love the idea that robots could be so intuitive that you wouldn't be able to tell a computer from a human and it's really going to get them thinking about the choices their own parents make in the name of protecting them.  I loved this one and I can't wait to give it to kids.  

Here's the cover.