Middle grade fiction with social issues
One of the things that middle graders find compelling is an exploration of social issues. As a group, they are exploring the edges of childhood and adulthood and trying to find their own paths, they are connected strongly to their families but are finding their own identities and sometimes these clash with their parents' views. It's an interesting time. The books that I've been reading this week explore some of those clashes. The first one is called "No Fixed Address" by Susin Nielsen. It opens with an interview at a police station. Felix is 12 and lives with his mother. It turns out they've been homeless for several months and despite Felix and his mother's optimism that things are going to work out, they really aren't working out. But, that's really the end of the story. The beginning works it's way through how they ended up there. When Felix was small, they lived with his grandmother. She died when he was about 5 and they ...