The Book Search

 I adore historical fiction and the middle grade versions are typically wonderful!  Here are two terrific ones to look for! The first one is called "The Enemy's Daughter" by Anne Blankman .  I haven't read any of her books before, but I'm definitely going to be looking for more!  "The Enemy's Daughter" has such an interesting point of view.  It's told by Marta, a German girl who has been living in America with her extended family but is returning back to Germany, on the eve of World War 1.  She and her dad are traveling on the Lusitania and have been trying to make sure that no one knows they are German.  Marta is an excellent actress and loves trying out different accents and attitudes to match.  When the boat sinks, Marta and her father are separated, but both are rescued and taken to England, where her dad is an accused of being a spy for Germany.  Marta decides that rather than going home, she will go to find and then rescue her dad. ...

 Middle grade fiction is such a terrific place to find interesting characters and challenges.  These three brand new books have an amazing variety of those!   The first one is a graphic novel.  It's called Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brogsol.   Here's her website if you're interested.   She's written and illustrated a number of books, including one of my favorite picture books "Leave Me Alone", which I found hilarious.  This one is longer and more detailed and I thought it was just wonderful.  It's about Jane, who lives in a place that seems like fairy tale times, in a heavily paternalistic society.  Her parents don't think too much of her because she's not beautiful and when they die, she's forced out of her home by her horrible cousin.  In desperation,  she proposes to Peter, a handsome boy from the village.  Peter isn't exactly enthusiastic and as he's storming off, a mermaid appears and takes him under the sea. ...

And the hits just keep coming!  Boy, have I read some great books lately!  Here are two of my favorites. The first one is "Max in the House of Spies" by Adam Gidwitz.  I haven't read all of Gidwitz's works, but I loved "The Inquisitors" so I was excited to see this one come up in my Netgalley feed.  It did NOT disappoint.  It's about Max, an 11 year old living with his parents in Berlin in 1939.  The family is trying to figure out how to cope with the limitations on their lives that the Nazis are putting in place.  After Kristallnacht, Max's parents insist that he go on the Kindertransport to London.  He doesn't want to leave his parents, but they don't give him a choice, so he goes.  As he's traveling on the ship, he finds he's picked up two immortal beings, Stein and Berg (who sound a bit like tiny vaudevillians) that are now sitting on his shoulders, simultaneously trying to throw him under the bus and help him get through all this...

 I'm so excited that I was chosen to be a first round panelist for CYBILS again!  This year, I'm doing middle grade fiction (instead of speculative fiction like last year).  It's so awesome to get to read realistic fiction with all the cultural issues that are typically a part of middle grade fiction.  I've read a few so far, and these are two of my new favorites.   The first one is by Amy Sarig King, you might know her work- The Year We Fell from Space and Me and Marvin Gardens.  She has a terrific voice, but wait until you read this one-It's called Attack of the Black Rectangles.  It's about Mac who is navigating his final year of elementary school with his two best friends, Marci and Denis.  He lives with his mom and his grandfather.  His dad does not live at their house, but he comes over every week for dinner and to work on an old car in the garage.  His new teacher writes a column for the newspaper that supports conservative values...

 I don't often read YA but two showed up on my Netgalley list this week, how lucky!  They couldn't be more different, but they were both terrific! The first one is called Mere Mortals written by Erin Jade Lange.  It's about two vampires, Charlie (Charlotte) and Reg, sister and brother, who have been expelled from being vampires because of an unfortunate incident.  They are dropped off at a halfway house of sorts, where they can learn to be human again.  Charlie and Reg are very unhappy about this, particularly since the town where they've landed is a small town in Iowa that seems completely empty of culture or shopping or any of the things that Charlie and Reg think are fun.  They are staying with a man named Sal, who is meant to help them with the transition and they have been registered to attend the local high school.  They send out appeals to different groups of vampires to try to get their punishment cancelled but either get a negative response or...

 New books are blooming!  Check out this new bumper crop! Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros is a terrific new book told from two points of view-Marco and Isaac.  They've been best friends since kindergarten, but are really different kinds of people.  They each live with their mothers, Marco's dad has been out of the picture for awhile.  He has a new family and often posts pictures on social media of the new family but is highly critical of Marco.  Isaac's dad has only recently left the family home and is struggling with a drinking problem.  Issac is an excellent athlete and Marco is more studious.  Marco is also very short, which makes him a target for bullies.  As they start middle school, they are each wondering if they will remain friends.  On the first day, they each people they identify with strongly-Isaac finds the basketball team and Marco finds a group of coders but they also find allies in the other's group-Marco is rescued from...

 I love historical fiction.  Of all the genres, that's probably my favorite and these two new ones might show you why. The first one is called Ming's Christmas Wishes by Susan Gong.  It's about Ming, who has three Christmas wishes.  She wants to sing in the Christmas Choir, she wants to have a Christmas tree, and she wants to feel like she belongs.  But as the child of Chinese immigrants in 1930's California, discrimination was common and traditional Chinese families didn't really have Christmas trees.  Ming's dad takes her to into the mountains to visit an old friend and helps Ming accept who she is and who her family is.  The art work in this one is warm and luminous and really helps the connect the holiday feeling around the cold hard facts of discrimination and racism that many families feel.  This a good story to talk about our own family traditions and how we might be more accepting of others.   The second one is called Just Like That b...

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.  I love hearing about how things were in the olden days (particularly from the comfort of my couch in my air conditioned house with indoor plumbing and refrigerator and dishwasher).  But in the way of taking you some place you didn't even know you wanted to go, these stories totally do that. The first one is a fairy tale.  I suppose this seems like a bit of an oxymoron-a new fairy tale, how can that be?  Aren't fairy tales old folk tales?  Kings and queens and princesses?  Well, it turns out that new ones get written all the time and this one is absolutely terrific. It's called Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror.  It's written by Natasha Farrant and illustrated by Lydia Corry.  The story starts with an enchantress who is asked by a king and queen to be a godmother to their daughter, except that the enchantress, who really wants to do the right thing, doesn't know exactly what makes a good princ...

I read two books this week that both had to do with postwar trauma.  One is historical fiction and one is present day and they were both terrific! The first one is called "A Galaxy of Sea Stars" by Jeanne Zulik Ferruolo.  Jeanne wrote a terrific book last year called "Ruby in the Sky" that I really enjoyed, so I was delighted to see she had a new book out.  This one is just as good, and maybe even better!  In "A Galaxy of Sea Stars", Izzy, the main character is starting middle school.  She's nervous like most kids are but she's got a lot on her plate.  Her mom has gone to stay and work with her sisters in their family restaurant, and although it seemed like she would be gone just a short time, it's turning out to be longer than Izzy figured it would be.  Part of why her mom left, is that her dad is different now.  Her dad served in the army in Afghanistan and came back different.  He's had to take a different job, they've had to move ...

I'm a big fan of Linda Sue Park, so when I saw she had a new book, I couldn't wait to read it!  You might have read some of her other middle grade fiction, like "Long Walk to Water" or the Newbery award winning "The Single Shard".  Her latest one is called "Prairie Lotus" and it's a terrific combination of historical fiction and modern activism.  Hanna is 14 and she and her dad are traveling to an expansion town in South Dakota in hopes of settling there.  They are leaving California, where although the family had a successful business there, it cost them Hanna's mother.  Hanna's mom was injured during a riot and massacre of Chinese people and never fully recovered.  Hanna and her dad are trying to build a new life.  Hanna is hoping to go to school to get a diploma, something her mother wanted badly for her.  Hanna is also a talented dressmaker and she would like to pursue that as a career.  The new town has an ally-a friend of her dad...

Summer vacation is so awesome.   House projects.  Lunches with friends.  No alarm clock.   AND uninterrupted time to read!  I'm finally dusting off the TBR pile and wow, are there some great ones in here. I love historical fiction and this new one is terrific.  It's called The Taste of Rain by Monique Polak.  It's about a group of girls who are Girl Guides (like American Girl Scouts).  The story starts and you might start thinking this is just an ordinary group of girls in a boarding school somewhere with their relentlessly cheerful teacher.  Except they aren't just anywhere, they are in Weishen which was a prison camp in Japan during World War 2.  The kids are being held there because their boarding school was taken over by the Japanese as headquarters.  The kids' parents were missionaries or had other jobs and after 2 1/2 years, they don't know where their parents are or whether they'll ever see them again.  Their teacher, ...

I'm enjoying the winter break-we got to come and spend some time with my family in Western NC, we've eaten A LOT, laughed a lot, walked a lot...  Today it's POURING  so I had a little time to finish some books!  YAY!!! The first one is called "Skylark and Wallcreeper" by Anne O'Brien Carelli.  It's told from two different perspectives-Collette and Lily.  Collette is Lily's grandmother and lives in a nursing home in New Jersey.  When they have to evacuate because of Hurricane Sandy, Collette gives Lily a pen and tells her not to lose it, that it's important, but in the chaotic aftermath of the storm, the pen disappears.  It turns out that the pen is link to Collette's past that Lily doesn't know anything about.  Collette grew up in France in the 1930s and 1940s and was involved in the French Underground.  So the story has pieces from World War 2 (told from Collette's perspective) and the present day (told from Lily's perspective). ...

I've been enjoying my spring break and since we were traveling, I had some long uninterrupted time to read (because when I'm at home, there's a lot of "Oh look!  Something shiny!" going on).    There are some terrific new middle grade fiction books in the pipeline.  Here are two of my favorites. The first one is called "The Orphan Band of Springdale" by Anne Nesbet.  It's historical fiction but it's based on the author's family stories.  It's set in World War 2 and I really loved that it tells the story of what it was like growing up in America at that time, with some of the ugly prejudices that people held as well as some of the social issues that have since been resolved.  Gusta's dad leaves her on a train as they were heading to Maine because Gusta's dad is a socialist and believes that workers should have rights and he is being pursued by the police.  Gusta ends up at her grandmother's house, which is a kind of an orphan...

So I think I must stink at this.  Making a short list, that is.  I have the longest short list of all the people in my group.  Sigh.  But I LOVE these books.  I just looked at the list again.  The other people in my group have a nice manageable number like 5.  I have FOURTEEN.  I really just looked at it critically again (right after I added another book).  But it was SOOO good. This one is called "We are all made of molecules" by Susin Nielsen and she has got author's voice NAILED.  This story is told from two different points of view and even though the chapters are headed with the person who is telling the story, you totally don't need it because each character's voice shines through in the best (and often most hilarious) possible way.  The story is told by Stewart and Ashley.  Stewart is a very intelligent but socially awkward 12 year old.  His mom died about a year and half ago and his dad has been dating a woman he...

I'm amazed at the range of topics that are addressed in children's literature.  I think reading about situations is a great way for building empathy and helping kids understand the situations for others.  It kills me to think that for some kids, these experiences are real. The first one I read is called "Paper Things" by Jennifer Richard Jacobson.  It's about 11 year old Ari (short for Arianna), who's parents died.  At the very beginning of the book, she's living with a guardian, Janna, and her older brother, Gage.  Things with Gage and Janna have deteriorated to a point where Gage wants to move out, so he does and takes Ari with him.  It turns out that Gage wants to have an apartment and a nice place to live but he doesn't have the money to do it.  So they've been couch surfing for the past two months.  This gives a really vivid picture of what's like to be homeless and understand what it must be like to feel like you have so few options. ...

I'm deep into the CYBILS list.  I don't think I've ever gone this long without reading a grown up book but THERE ARE SO MANY!!! I'm also a little afraid that I'm hitting a wall with these books.  I might have to go and read 50 shades of Gray just to shake things up a bit.  Ok, I'm not that low yet.   I read this one this morning.  COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.  I read this first chapter last night and when I woke up, I thought I should read a bit more.  Until I finished it.  It's called "The Safest Lie" by Angela Cerrito.  I should also mention that I've hit a saturation point with books about World War 2 and so I don't choose to read them any more, but this one had such a compelling voice, that I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.  Noticing a theme?  It's about Anna, who is 9, and lives with her parents in Warsaw in the Jewish ghetto.  Things are bad.  All of their conversations are in code because people live in very tight quart...

I've been doing some reading on things that I've been seeing on some lists but haven't had a chance to read and wow, now that I've read them, I'm a little sorry I waited so long, but oh well, better late than never. The first one I actually read this summer and somehow forgot to blog about it.  It's called Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.  It's kind of a genre defying book because it starts off as a fairy tale and then has three parts of what appear to be unrelated historical fiction and then finishes as both a fairy tale and modern fiction.  It sounds a bit confusing but I assure, the story is anything but.  It starts with a boy named Otto who is wandering around in a forest and gets lost.  He is approached by three sisters who have quite a fantastic story.  They leave him back at home, a bit confused, but with a harmonica to remind him of his quest.  Then we go to Freidrich in Germany in the late 1930s.  Then to Ivy in California in 1941 and finally to...

Oh boy, do I love historical fiction.  I seem to have picked up several this week and all of them about the 1960s.  I read Countdown by Deborah Wiles two years ago and absolutely loved it.  If you haven't read it, it's a chapter book about a girl who is living near a military base in 1961.  Her dad is a military commander and the level of tension because of the political situation is extremely high.  Add to that a crazy uncle (post traumatic stress syndrome, most likely) who is digging bomb shelters, a big sister who is trying to find her way, and boys... it's a complicated story.  What I really like about it is the pictures, and there are a lot of them.  The pictures use graphic images and words from that time period to help you really feel what's going on.  I loved it!  Well, Deborah Wiles has a new book out called "Revolution" and it's also about the 1960s but this one is about the Civil Rights movement and specifically about a community i...