The Book Search

  There have been SO MANY middle grade fiction books coming out this month.   I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up!   But so far so good!   Here are two of my newest favorites. Nell of Gumbling is a fun new fairy tale/graphic novel/mystery/friendship story.  I’m pretty sure there’s not a specific genre for this one, but it was a very fun read. It's written and illustrated by Emma Steinkellner, who also wrote and illustrated the adorable "The Okay Witch" , which I blogged about here .  This new one is about Nell, or Lenore, who lives in a place called Gumbling.  There was a king there once, but when a witch threatened to eat him, he relinquished his throne and the city has been run by a council ever since.  She lives with her two dads, who are star farmers and her two younger siblings, Rib and Schmitty.  She has two best friends, Gil, who is a Thumbkin and Myra, who is a fairy.  Nell has started a journal because s...

I got some terrific new books this week from Netgalley-compelling, adventurous books! The first one is called "The Okay Witch" by Emma Steinkellner.  It's a graphic novel (not my favorite) about a girl named Moth, who is 13 and struggling with all the usual middle school issues-friends, clothes, her mom, teachers.  But on Halloween, Moth discovers that she's actually a witch and her mom is a witch too.  Her mom chose to give up being a witch because her coven had been chased into hiding hundreds of years ago.  Her mom wanted to live life in the real world and not in the utopia that her own mother had created.  Moth is stunned at this revelation and has to decide if she wants to live a magical life or if she wants to live in the magic free zone her mom has created.  Complicating matters are a cute new boy in town and the evil doers that chased Moth's family into hiding in the first place.  It's a really fun, adventurous story and I liked it a lot, eve...