New realistic fiction for middle grades
Did you think I forgot how to write a blog post? I did not. Well, maybe I did, but COVID seemed to have scrambled my brain a little... or maybe a lot and between trying to go to work, to go to our state librarians convention, to spend 10 days with my parents here and suddenly it was today! I'd like to tell you that I've done something heroic, but it would be a lie or at least a really big stretch. Anyway, I HAVE been reading and here are two new ones that you should definitely look for. The first one is called Sardines. It's written by Sashi Kaufman and it is wonderful. It's about Lucas who is in middle school and struggling. His older brother, Charlie died after he'd left to go away to college and he left a big hole in the community as well as in Lucas' family. In fact, Lucas' mother has left the family without any big discussion with Lucas, so he doesn't really know why she left or where she went or why. Lucas feels like he doesn't real