What's new in middle grade fiction?

 We just finished our spring break and we had a great time!  One of the best things was having some time to catch up on some reading and wow, were there some great ones in my TBR pile!  Check these out! (no, really, go to the library and check them out!).

The first one is by the amazing Angie Thomas.  You might remember a little book she wrote called The Hate U Give that a few people read (and then made a terrific movie about it).  I love the immediacy of her writing and her new one is no different.  It's so different!  It's called Nic Blake and the Remarkables.  It's speculative or fantasy fiction book about Nic Blake, who lives with her dad in Jackson, Mississippi.  Nic and her dad have moved around a lot and Nic really likes living in Jackson.  She finally has a best friend and that feels great.  She's super stoked because her favorite author is coming to town, he writes magical mystery adventures and she'll do anything to meet him, including sneaking out of the house.  It turns out that Nic's dad is a Remarkable, a magician of sorts.  A person who can harness magic in ways most people can not.  The Unremarkables (like you and me) aren't really supposed to know about the Remarkables so Nic hasn't even told her best friend.  Nic gets a gigantic surprise on her birthday and I'm SO not going to spoil this for you.  This story unfolds at a breakneck pace with plot twists and adventure at every corner.  The dialogue is awesome, the African American folklore is terrific (with an adorable cameo by Kwame Mbalia) and these characters are people you are going to want to hang out with long after the story is over.  There BETTER be a sequel to this one because I would really love to hear more about these characters. I'll bet the kids will too.  

Isn't this cover gorgeous?

Check out this amazing book trailer.

The second is harder to read but no less compelling.  It's called Eb and Flow and it's written by Kelly J. Baptist.  Kelly has written some amazing books-Isaiah Dunn is My Hero and one that is currently on the Sunshine State Young Reader Jr. List-The Electric Slide and Kai, which my students loved.  Eb and Flow is written in free verse, switching between Eb (short for Ebony) and Flow (which is the nickname of De"Kari).  Ebony and De'Kari are both serving a 10 day suspension for fighting (each other) and through the course of the story, you come to understand not only what happened, but how it happened and also develop empathy for both of these characters.  This is hard to read, not because it has complicated vocabulary or esoteric descriptions, it's hard to read because the emotions of the characters are so strong and the writing is so compelling, you almost feel like you are living their pain.  Baptist has a real gift for the dialogue of these two characters (their voices were crystal clear for me) and the poetry format helps the story move lightning fast.  The conclusion of the story left me breathless (I'm SO not going to tell you) and I had to go back and read it three times to make sure I really understood what had happened.  My students are going to love this one and the discussions that are going to come out of reading a book like this are going to be amazing.  There are so many opportunities to talk about trauma (both big and small) and how that plays out in kids' lives.  This is a wonderful book and I can't wait to put it in kids' hands.

Here's the cover.