Sparkly brand new speculative fiction for middle graders!

 I've been waiting and waiting to get to this part of my TBR pile-I have this HUGE stack of books that are being published in the next few weeks and I'm so excited to get to read them!  These were DEFINITELY worth the wait!

The first one is called Nimbus by Jan Eldredge.  The main character is Nimbus, Nim for short, an 11 month old black cat, who lives with a boy named Fletcher.  They live with Fletcher's aunt because Fletcher's dad is working so much.  Fletcher doesn't mind living with his aunt, but Aunt Connie is not a big fan of Nim but Fletcher rescued Nim when she was a really small kitten and had been hit by a car.  He took very good care of her and they are tightly bonded.  One night, Fletcher finds an old jar and tries to open it.  It turns out what's in the jar is REALLY bad-it's a nightmare demon and it's trying to suck out Fletcher's life essence.  Nim attacks the demon and thinks she's destroyed it, but she's also been badly injured in the process.  Aunt Connie sees the end of the attack and thinks that Nim is trying to hurt Fletcher, so she puts Nim in a box and takes the box to the dump.  Lucky for Nim, she's discovered by a super friendly rat who suggests that she goes to the human's house.  It turns out the human is a witch and there are several other cats there.  The witch is looking for her familiar and is hoping that it's Nim.  Nim hopes it's not because she really wants to get back to Fletcher.  There are some very creepy parts and I think that's one of the reasons kids will love this one.  There are also some great parts about past lives and dreams and the ethical treatment of animals that will spark the imagination of some kids.  The writing is compelling and characters are really interesting and well drawn.  I thought this one was terrific!  

The second one is just as terrific, or maybe more so.  I totally couldn't put it down!  It's called The Dark Lord's Daughter and it's written by Patricia C. Wrede.  This is the first one her books that I've read, but after this one, I can't wait to read more!  It has this really great premise-what if you were at the fair with your family (your incredibly annoying little brother and your loving adoptive mom) when a guy in a super creepy costume comes up to you and says you need to come with him right away because you are the Dark Lord's daughter and you need to come and claim your rightful place in the kingdom.  Like many of us, the main character, Kayla says "um, NO".  And then somehow, she and her mom and her brother end up transported to another realm, where she is the heir apparent to the Dark Lord's throne, about which she has no idea.  Their guide, Waylan, the second commander of the Dark Hordes of Zaradwin, is bound to take Kayla to the castle, where she will take the throne.  They've been waiting 10 years for her, because that's how long it's been since the Dark Lord (her dad) died.  The things Kayla and her family have carried with them to the fair have come through to the magical realm changed-her mom's ibuprofen has turned into a magical cure for practically everything, her mom's cell phone has turned into a message mouse and Kayla's brand new tablet has turned into a winged familiar that can answer virtually every question they have.  But things are scary-there's a skull that acts as a guard to the castle, the Dark Lord (or Lady) is basically expected to be completely ruthless-curse or kill enemies, steal what they need, attack neighboring communities, use their families as pawns to get what they want, which is more power.  Kayla's enjoying the power, but not really digging the ruthless part.  She makes friends with people that others see as rivals, she notices strengths that others view as weaknesses AND she comes up with some truly genius problem solving strategies that turn the whole Dark Lady role on its ear.  The characters are interesting and well developed and Kayla is such a likable character.  This was a really fun read.  It's going to be a great one for kids who like magic and things that are kind of scary.  I think they're going to love this one.