More middle grade magic!

 Still reading for the CYBILS award, but coming down the end of the pile.  Today I found this really great one lurking!

It's called "If you meet the Devil, Don't Shake Hands" by Sylvia Whitman.  I'd never read anything by Whitman before, so this one was a very pleasant surprise.  The narrator is Gavin, a worrier who is in middle school.  His best friend, Javi, is an excellent support system because Gavin's dad has been deployed in the military and Gavin's worrying has really ramped up.  He has a big (annoying) sister and his mom, but Javi is his closest ally.  Javi lives upstairs from Gavin and they are in and out of each other's homes all the time.  But when Javi's mom sends Javi a text that the Devil has returned, Javi's grandfather, who left when Javi's mom was a little girl.  A magician and card sharp and general rogue.  Gavin goes with Javi to his apartment as support for him.  But the man sitting at the table doesn't seem that evil.  He seems old and bloated and kind of helpless.  Until he shakes hands with Gavin and switches bodies with him.  At first Gavin is shocked and then outraged.  He tries convincing people that the old man they see is really Gavin.   Gavin also seems to have access to all of the old man's memories and language skills (so he can speak and understand Spanish) and feelings.  This is a really fun twist on the switching bodies kind of a story.  Gavin is a likable story teller and is empathetic to the old man that he has become.  Once Javi figures out what happened, he tries to help Gavin too and their problem solving strategies are pretty great.  This is a story full of great themes-regret, anxiety, dealing with absent parents, loyalty and most of all, love, in all it's many forms.  I thought this story was great and I hope you will too. 

I also was able to dive back into reading ARCs on Netgalley and found this super fun graphic novel called "Punycorn" by Andi Watson.  It's about Punycorn, a small unicorn in training, who because of his size (and complete lack of grace and strength) is relegated to cleaning and valet duties.  He is anxious to prove that he can really be a part of The Chosen Ones, an elite troop of heroic unicorns.  But the Chosen Ones had been so successful at driving away evil that they were getting a little complacent.  The Chosen Ones decide to go on a trip to practice their world renowned heroic activities (and maybe get a tan) and leave Punycorn in charge.  Except that right at that very moment, in the Bastion of Evil, Sir Ogre has been gifted with Gauntlets of Ultimate Victory (which look remarkably like mittens).  So Sir Ogre is ready to take on the Chosen Ones, or at least Punycorn.  This is a really funny story, with lots of gentle word play, evil villains, some not so evil villains and lots of sparkly unicorns.  The story has a bit of a plot twist to keep things fun.  A lot of kids are going to love this because it's a graphic novel with brightly colored, energetic art work.  But the story line is really fun too.  I think this one is going to be a big hit with the kids.  

Check out this awesome cover! 

Here's a video sneak peek!