New middle grade realistic fiction-Summer 2022

 Ahhh, summer!  Time to take a break from the usual and try a few new things...  We've been traveling this year to someplace completely different-Alberta, Canada.  The weather was forecasting rain every single day for the entire two weeks we were here and today, they were really right.  It's 49 degrees and windy and raining so we're staying tucked in our hotel!  We've seen some beautiful places  like this-

The Athabasca Glacier

Me and my sweetie at Emerald Lake

    At the Valley of the Five Lakes-all of them are beautiful!

But it's good to think about reading...  I've read so many wonderful ones while we're on vacation!  Here are two of my new favorites.    The first one is called "The Summer of June" by Jamie Sumner.  I heard her read some of her first book "Roll With it" in this YouTube video.

And I love her voice SO MUCH.  I could really hear her reading her new one as well.  June is a girl who lives with her mom.  Her dad is not in the picture and that's pretty much ok with June but June struggles with anxiety.  She struggles with anxiety so much that she's been pulling her hair out.  She's been seeing a therapist and that helps somewhat too but June decides that over the summer, she's going to get rid of her anxiety once and for all.  Her first bold move is to keep herself from pulling her hair, she's going to cut it all off.  But that's a bit problematic too, isn't it?  June's mom decides to shave her head as well (she's on team June) and the feedback for both is mixed.  June meets a boy named Homer at the library where her mom works.  He quotes poetry and June can't quite decide if she should trust him or not.  The story follows some ups and downs throughout the summer and as the book closes (and WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE FINISHED?), June feels like she's learned things but not in a school learning kind of way-she's learned things about herself and about the people around her that are going to make her stronger and more powerful.  I think June is awesome and I'd love to be friends with her.  I think the kids are going to like her voice too, and maybe even recognize someone they know. 

Here's Jamie reading some of June.

And here's the adorable cover.

The second one is in a genre I call 'not exactly realistic fiction'.  A lot of the things that happen in this story  do happen to kids-bullying, foster care, family dysfunction, community dysfunction but I sincerely hope that they don't happen like this, even it is a super fun story to read. It's called "The Midnight Children" and it's written by Dan Gemeinhart, who, like Jamie Sumner, writes amazing stories about people you want to be friends with.  This one is no different.  It's about Ravani, who is lonely.  Ravani is an only child and his mom always wanted to have a lot of kids but didn't.  His dad works at the slaughterhouse in town and Ravani is often tasked with taking his dad lunch.  His mom is an excellent cook and the manager of the slaughterhouse loves her food too.  However, taking him lunch is filled with peril because the town bully's dad also works there and he seems to find great pleasure in bullying Ravani.  Ravani worries that his dad doesn't think he's a good son because they are very different kinds of people.  One night, Ravani is awake in the middle of the night, feeling lonely, when a truck pulls up to the house next door and seven kids get out.  One of the girls seems to catch his eye and Ravani finds her intriguing.  It turns out her name is Virginia and she lives with her siblings in this big house.  Each of the kids has a special talent that turns out to help the family, often in ways they never considered.   Virginia helps Ravani confront the bully in town and his own fears and Ravani helps Virginia in ways she only dreamed would be possible.  There is also a super scary character named the Hunter that adds a delicious sense of scariness to the story.  This is a wonderful story about family and friends, telling the truth and knowing when to lie, about being patient and listening carefully, not just to others but to yourself.  It's not coming out until August so you're going to have to wait a bit, but trust me, it's worth it.  I can't wait to put this one in my library.