The Book Search

 Need some great new fiction to inspire your middle grade readers?  Check out this pair! The first one came out in early May, 2026 and it's by one of my favorite authors-Gary D. Schmidt.  Schmidt has such a gift for characters-he writes about some of the most interesting people I've ever read about and this one is no exception.  It's about Simon, a 12 year boy, who when he is sent to Hades, chooses not to drink from the River Styx and forget his former life.  For the next 2,451 years, he tries to escape, unsuccessfully, until one day, he figures out a way past Cerebus and across the River Styx and ends up in a middle school, where thankfully, a kind boy named Zeke helps out.  He gets Simon some clothes and invites Simon to stay with him.  At the same time Persephone misses Simon, he was one of her favorites, and when she finds out that he's gone, she tells Hades, who is determined to get Simon back.  In the meantime, Simon is trying to find his be...

 I'm playing catch up on blog posts because while we were away I was reading madly but we often had kind of sketchy internet connections AND there was more wine involved than usual (it was France, what can I say?).  Anyway, here are two new realistic fiction books you should definitely look for. The first one is by a favorite author, Gary D. Schmidt. He's written some of my perennial favorites-The Wednesday Wars, Orbiting Jupiter, Okay for Now...  there are lots more and he has such a gift with voice! His characters always ring so true and that's exactly how this new one is.  It's called The Labors of Hercules Beal and it's so great.  It's about Hercules, who at 12 is dealing with a big loss-his parents were killed in a car accident and his brother has come home to run the family business, a nursery on Cape Cod. When school starts, Hercules is given an assignment by his 6th grade social studies/language arts teacher, Lt. Colonel Hupfer.  The assignment is a...