Social issues and building empathy have been hot button topics in middle grade fiction. The current way of thinking about this is windows and mirrors. Some books show us people who are like us and some show us people we never really thought about before. Reading some of both kinds of books is important for kids, so I'm happy to share some new ones with you!
The first one is called A Fish Out of Water by Joanne Levy. It's about 12 year old Fishel who is living with his mom, his stepdad and his baby sister. Fish is getting ready to celebrate is bar mitzvah and he needs to do a kind of community service project. His friends have ideas and would like Fish to do the project with them, but Fish really wants to think up his own project. He gets a great idea from his grandmother. He wants to knit socks and give them to people who need them. His grandmother says that boys don't knit. His stepdad agrees and encourages him to take water polo lessons at the community center. His friends all make fun of him for wanting to learn to knit, but Fish is persistent. This is a lovely story about knowing yourself and making hard choices. It also takes a big whack at gender stereotypes in a way that isn't in anyway related to romance. I liked Fish a lot and think the kids are going to like him too.
Here is the author reading chapter one.
And here is cover!
The second one is called My Life in the Fish Tank by Barbara Dee (hmmm,, maybe this post SHOULD have been about fish...). Barbara Dee also wrote another book that I really loved called "Maybe He Just Likes You" that was a terrific portrayal of gender based bullying. So I was looking forward to this one and I was NOT disappointed. This one is about 12 year old Zinnia who is a middle daughter in a big family. Zinny's family has been struggling for awhile because of her older brother Gabriel. Gabriel can be loud and funny and impulsive but he can also sleep for days and barely speak to anyone. When he goes away to college, things kind of go off the rails for him and he ends up in the hospital. When he is allowed to leave the hospital, he goes directly to a different kind of hospital because Gabriel has a mental illness. Zinny's parents tell her this is private and they shouldn't really discuss it and Zinny takes that to heart. Zinny throws herself into science and that helps, but it's hard. Her friends would like her to talk about it, her older sister is willing to talk about it with everyone and her younger brother is just trying to fit in and be cool. Zinny is a character I would like to be friends with. Her loyalty and love for her family seems boundless. Her confusion over the mixed messages that she's getting from her family is so clearly drawn it's easy to understand her feelings. This is a wonderful story to open lines of communication about all sorts of topics-respect, loyalty, shame, friendship. I can't wait to put this one in someone's hands!
Usually this time of year, I'm knee deep in middle grade speculative fiction as part of the CYBILS award list, which is super fun. But this year, they are taking a break (sad face emoji) but I'm still finding some fun things to read, it's just not the overwhelming glut I'm accustomed to, with stacks of books on hold for me at my local library and the stacks of books on my coffee table giving me the stink eye every time I sit down. Luckily, here are two amazing ones that just came out. The first one is in a category I like to call "not exactly speculative fiction". There are no ghosts or magical creatures in these books, but the kids face obstacles that I hope are not realistic. This one is called "The Free State of Jax". It's written by Jennifer Nielsen, an author whose work I admire greatly. Jax is a kid who has lived with his grandmother since he was a little boy. But his grandmother developed Alzheimer's disease and he was sent to ...
I have SOOO many books to read. My TBR pile is tragically large. Thank goodness I'm retired so I can devote my time to reading! Here are two of my newest favorites. The first one is a science fiction tale by Rebecca Stead called "The Experiment". Nathan is a pretty regular sixth grader with a best friend named Victor, except for one teensy little thing-Nathan and his parents come from another planet. For the most part, Nathan's life is like everyone else's-but there are a few eccentricities like how his mom weighs all of his food (and subtracts the things he doesn't eat), she keeps a log book with data about their life, they have Zoom meetings with other alien families and their kids, and then there's the pink toothpaste that Nathan has to brush with 5 times a day. But some weird things have been happening. Some of the kids have disappeared from the Zoom meeting without an explanation and now Nathan is growing a tail. A furry, orange...
Sooooo many new middle grade fiction titles are coming out this fall. Check out these two new ones. The first one actually came out in May but Netgalley was kind enough to keep it on the shelf until a few weeks ago. It's called "The Curiosities" by W. H. Eatons, which is actually three people- Mark Wheaton and his two kids, Rowan and Wyatt. It's about two kids, Marlow and Zack, who just moved to a new small town with their mom, an exogeologist (a scientist who studies rocks from other planets) who works at the Rocket Propulsion Lab. It's also about the cats who live in the neighborhood, who are talkative, friendly, and capable of a great many things. The problem begins with a hum that a creature notices. The creature is unidentified until quite late in the book but is referred to occasionally. The hum seems to be disrupting insects and birds and eventually the people of the town. When the middle school science teacher, Ms. Layla, dis...
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