The Book Search

 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...

I'm sorry that we're not going to get to do the CYBILS award this year.  The CYBILS award was created by people who blog and write about children's literature and has consistently been one of my favorite things to do each year.  Imagine getting a list of 100+ middle grade fiction books, having to source them, read them and rate them and discuss them with a group of other people who love books as much as you do.  It wasn't always easy but I always found a couple of titles that I would have otherwise missed that I totally fell in love with.  But [sigh], this year, the organizers wanted to take a break.  Or needed to take a break.  I hope it's a short one and we can go back next year!  Here are two of my new speculative fiction favorites this year. The first one is called Outside by Jennifer Holm.  I adore Jennifer Holm's work and it was such an honor to get to meet her at the Nerdy Book Camp when that was still a thing.  This new one is terrifi...

 So if you like middle grade fiction, there are so many new books coming out this fall.  Two of my favorite authors have new books, YAY!!  And they are both wonderful (the authors AND their new books).   The first one is by Holly Goldberg Sloan, who wrote Counting by 7s, which is still on my top ten favorite books of all time.  She's written several others as well, including this new one, which is called "Finding Lost".  It's about Cordy, a middle schooler, who lives with her mom and her perpetually cheerful younger brother, Geno in coastal Oregon.  They are living in a small caretaker's house on the edge of a bigger property, for which her mother acts as a caretaker.  The owners are rarely there, which makes living in the caretaker's house seem all the more miserable.  The caretaker's house is a former boatshed and has a leaky roof, poor insulation and poor internet access.  They live there because since Cordy's dad died in a boating ac...

 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...

 Boy have there been some great new middle grade books out in September 2025.    Here are two of my favorites. The first one is called Three Blue Hearts and it's by Lynne Kelly.  This is Lynne's fourth book and although I loved her others,  I think this one might be my favorite.  It's about Max, who lives in the shadow of his dad, who is a local politician.  Max wants his dad to be proud of him, but Max likes different things than his dad-his dad likes sports and being the center of attention and Max likes animals and small groups.  So Max decides to go spend the summer with his mom on a small island where she is doing some scientific research and after a particularly embarrassing viral video event, decides to change his name to Milo so no one will recognize him.  There is a big storm the first night Max and his mom are there and in the morning, he decides to go for a walk on the beach and finds an octopus stranded on the shore.  He want...

 So I guess I'm a little behind on updating the blog... since it's been since APRIL that I posted last.  Sheesh, it's not even like I have work to blame it on anymore.  But ok, here are two amazing new middle grade realistic fiction books.  The first one is by a favorite author, Jeanne Birdsall.  If you don't know, she wrote a series of books about a family called the Penderwicks, that was just wonderful.  Her newest book is called "The Library of Unruly Treasures" and it's also just a treasure.  Birdsall has a real gift for writing characters that are interesting and kind and smart, people that I'd like to be friends with and this book is exactly that, except this one also has magical creatures.  It's about Gwen, who's lived a life of upheaval, her parents are divorced and neither of them really seems to want a girl like Gwen around, so one summer, she ends up going to stay with her great uncle Matthew who she doesn't really remember and d...

 My husband and I were traveling last week and lucky me!  I had lots of books on my Netgalley app and lots of time to read!  Here are two of my new favorites. The first one is called Octopus Moon.  It's written by Bobbie Pryon. I hadn't read anything by her before, so this one was a great surprise.  It's written in free verse and it's about Pearl, a girl who lives in a small town on the Florida Gulf Coast.  Pearl is part of a loving family that includes her big sister, her mom and dad, and her grandparents, who live close by.  Pearl feels especially connected to her grandfather.  Pearl also has some really great friends, including her bestie-Rosie.  But lately, Pearl has been struggling.  She feels sad a lot for no particular reason.  She's tired a lot.  She doesn't want to get out of bed or go to school or hang with her friends.  She doesn't even want to run with her dog Tuck, even though she loves running.  It turns...

 I adore historical fiction and the middle grade versions are typically wonderful!  Here are two terrific ones to look for! The first one is called "The Enemy's Daughter" by Anne Blankman .  I hadn't read any of her books before, but I'm definitely going to be looking for more!  "The Enemy's Daughter" has such an interesting point of view.  It's told by Marta, a German girl who has been living in America with her extended family but is returning back to Germany, on the eve of World War 1.  She and her dad are traveling on the Lusitania and have been trying to make sure that no one knows they are German.  Marta is an excellent actress and loves trying out different accents and attitudes to match.  When the boat sinks, Marta and her father are separated, but both are rescued and taken to England, where her dad is an accused of being a spy for Germany.  Marta decides that rather than going home, she will go to find and then rescue her dad. ...

 Now that I'm done with the CYBILS for the year, I can dig back into the realistic fiction pile.  Here are two of my latest favorites! Weirdly Walter by Julia Walton is a terrific new book.  It came out in October and I read it over the winter holidays and I wondered why it had taken so long (oh, yeah, I remember-I was reading for the CYBILS award-107 middle grade fantasy books, that's right).  Walter was such a charming and heartwarming read-I think you're going to love it.  Walter is a fifth grader who has always lived with his dad, a musician.  They've traveled around quite a bit and Walter is used to being the new kid at school.  But this is different.  His dad has left him for the first time, with Walter's grandfather, and there's no end in sight for when Walter will go back on the road with his dad.  Walter adores his dad and records some of his dad's wisdom in his journal.  But he's also kind of mad at his dad, that there was no c...