The Book Search

Since October, I've pretty much read nothing but middle grade realistic fiction.  I liked it a LOT but a steady diet of anything, even the good stuff, can leave you craving something different, something spicy, something sweet, something surprising.  So these books totally fill that bill! The first one is called "Inkling" by Kenneth Oppel.  It's a really interesting combination of realistic and fantasy fiction.  The main character is Ethan.  He lives with his dad and his younger sister Sarah. Sarah has Down's Syndrome and their mother died about two years ago.  Ethan's dad is struggling with depression and unresolved issues around his wife's death.  He is a successful graphic novelist, but he hasn't sold anything since his wife died.  The savior comes from an unlikely source-ink.  One day, the ink magically gathers itself into a ball and starts to gather more ink, and more and more until it's animated.  It soaks up some words and t...

I'm plowing through the CYBILS middle grade speculative fiction.  There were a few dogs in the pile but I've hit a bit of a hot streak and it's SO much fun to read such imaginative, creative, exciting stories!  Check out these beauties! The first one is called "The Shadow Cipher" and it's the first one a series called York by Laura Ruby.  I'm relieved that this only the first one because the characters and plot of this one were so interesting, I was really sorry for the book to end!  It's about fraternal twins, Tess and Theo, who live with their parents in an old apartment building in New York.  The apartment has been in their family for several generations and there is a story about a mysterious treasure that's hidden with lots of clues and ciphers.  They connect with a boy who lives in their building, Jaime, who is a computer whiz.  He lives with his grandmother, the building's caretaker.  Suddenly, they have a very sharp deadline for solvi...