Middle grade fiction to look for!
I fell down into a well of grown up fiction that was just terrific but I'm finding my way back to middle grade fiction, because, well, because I can. Here's some amazing books to look for! The first one is called Chirp by Kate Messner. I was lucky enough to get to meet her in November at the FAME conference in Orlando and my friend David was brave enough to try the Chirp Challenge she describes in the book. I'd been looking forward to reading it since November and I finally got to! It was totally worth the wait. One of the things that Kate does so well is give you characters that are interesting and likable immediately, but there's always something bigger that comes as you read. In this case, Mia and her family have moved back to Vermont to be closer to her grandmother. Her grandmother had a small stroke and is recuperating well, but runs her own business, which Mia's parents would like her to sell. Mia's grandmother sells crickets for food an...