Kids facing difficult choices by authors you love
Middle grade fiction is such a terrific place to find interesting characters and challenges. These three brand new books have an amazing variety of those! The first one is a graphic novel. It's called Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brogsol. Here's her website if you're interested. She's written and illustrated a number of books, including one of my favorite picture books "Leave Me Alone", which I found hilarious. This one is longer and more detailed and I thought it was just wonderful. It's about Jane, who lives in a place that seems like fairy tale times, in a heavily paternalistic society. Her parents don't think too much of her because she's not beautiful and when they die, she's forced out of her home by her horrible cousin. In desperation, she proposes to Peter, a handsome boy from the village. Peter isn't exactly enthusiastic and as he's storming off, a mermaid appears and takes him under the sea. ...