The Book Search

 If you don't read a lot of middle grade fiction, you might not know that cultural magical mysteries are kind of a thing right now.  Rick Riordan started it with Greek myths and the Lightning Thief before moving into Roman myths, Norse Myths, Egyptian myths and thanks to his new publishing imprint, Rick Riordan Presents, we've been treated to Indian Myths from Roshani Choskhi with Aru Shah, Mayan folklore with J C Cervantes and the Storm Runner series,  Korean folklore from Yoon Ha Lee and the Dragon Pearl series, African American folklore from Kwame Mbalia and his hero-Tristan Strong, Cuban culture with Carlos Hernandez and his hilarious adventures with Sal and Gabi,  as well as Native American folklore from Rebecca Roanhorse and her series, Race to the Sun.  It's enough to leave you breathless!  AND it turns out that other authors are also able to bring out their cultural influences to tell completely amazing stories.  So here are two that I really l...

 I am not a super big fan of ghost stories.  I like historical fiction.  I like magical realism.  I don't like scary things.  I don't like monsters.  So ghosts do not typically figure prominently into the books I read.  Until the CYBILS award period, where I read virtually all of the fantasy or speculative fiction that has been published in the current year.  It turns out that other people DO like to read about ghosts and scary things so I read along.  It's super fun but it can be a bit daunting to see a TBR pile that stretches all over the house.  Or when someone asks you when you leave the library "Are there any books left?".  Then you channel your inner Dory ("just keep swimming, swimming, swimming").    So here are two I really liked. The first one I finished this morning and I'd had my eye on it for awhile, because it's written by a favorite author-RJ Palacio.  You might remember her first book that had some crit...

 We FINALLY finished school this past week.  We were three weeks later than usual, due to a late start because of the disease that shall not be named.  I'm so happy to have a little time off of school to do a little reading!   This one started off the summer with a bang, metaphorically speaking.  It's called The Orpheus Plot by Christopher Swiedler.  This is his second book, his first one called In the Red was also an exciting science fiction story set in outer space.  I liked In the Red, but I think this one might be even better.  It's about Lucas, who has grown up on a mining ship in the asteroid belt.  This is kind of a dodgy job-the miners aren't actually supposed to be mining in random places around the galaxy, but it provides a kind of living, even though people in the Navy look down upon them.  Lucas has dreamed of joining the Navy, but that's pretty much impossible for a Belter.  Except that his adopted sister got in.  ...

 A holiday weekend, some good books to read, what could be better?  Nothing!  In my opinion!  Here are two super fun new speculative fiction books to look for. The first one is called Strangeworld Travel Agency by L. D. Lapinski.  It's about Flick (short for Felicity) who has just moved to a new town.  Her parents are very excited about the upgrade in living quarters (two toilets!) but Flick is less enthusiastic.  She takes a lot of responsibility at her house because her parents work different shifts and her baby brother needs taking care of.  As she's wandering through her new town, she comes across a place called the Strangeworld Travel Agency.  It doesn't seem like any kind of travel agency she's ever been to before and it turns out it really isn't.  It's a magical travel agency and people travel by the suitcases that are piled up all around the shop.  Each suitcase takes you to a different world.  The travel agency is run ...

I often worry that kids aren't reading.  I know at my school, their teachers are pushed to teach reading using passages and answering questions so that they'll be ready to take our state mandated test.  I know that I've been reading to them and that they seem to like the stories that I choose.  I'm always relieved when I find a new book that I think "Oh, I know EXACTLY who's going to love this one".  I read two like that this week.   The first one is called The House That Wasn't There by Elana Arnold.  You might remember Elana Arnold wrote a series of books about a boy called Bat about a wonderful character who was on the autism spectrum and his kind supportive family who foster a baby skunk.  It's a terrific story and her new one is just as good, maybe even better.  This one is about Alder, who lives with his mom in Los Angeles.  They live in a small comfortable house, where they've lived for Alder's whole life.  There is a beautiful wa...

There are some amazing new books coming out in the next few weeks.  If you are looking for something awesome to read, these might be up your alley! The first one came out in October and it is called Of a Feather by Dayna Lorentz.  It's a story told in two voices-one is Rufus, a juvenile great horned owl, who is struggling with confidence.  His mother is encouraging him to hunt on his own, but Rufus is afraid.  His sister is mean to him, which doesn't help.  His mother is hit by a car one day and Rufus ends up in a trap meant for a different kind of bird, which brings us to Reenie, the second story teller.  Reenie has been removed from her grandmother's care (Grandma has an abusive boyfriend) and her mom is in a mental health facility so Reenie ends up with a great aunt that she's never met.  Beatrice is a master falconer and keeps a red tailed hawk, Red, that Reenie is finds entrancing.  Beatrice tells Reenie that she would like to trap and work w...

 You know those books.  The ones that sit charmingly between genres.  Are they realistic because the characters SEEM like real people, if slightly (or extremely) exaggerated.  Are they speculative (or fantasy) because I really, really hope that things like this never really happen to kids or that there are people like this out in the world.  Here are two books that are just like that! The first one is called That Time I Got Kidnapped by Tom Mitchell.  It's about Jacob, who is 14 and a HUGE Marvel Comics fan, who has won a chance to be an extra in a new movie shooting in Hollywood, with all expenses paid.  So he's going from England to Hollywood, all by himself.  He has a list of things he should not do (like lose his passport or miss his connecting flight), so what could possibly go wrong?  For starters, there's a huge snowstorm in Chicago, which is his point of entry in the US.  And he misses the connecting flight.  So he decides t...

 There are some great new books coming out in the next few weeks, some you really don't want to miss!  These two magical tales should be right at the top of your list. The first one is called Root Magic by Eden Royce.  It's set in the low country of South Carolina in 1963.  Jezebel and her twin brother Jay are growing up on the edge of a marsh with their mother and their uncle.  Their dad disappeared quite some time ago and their grandmother has just died at the opening of the book.  It turns out, in addition to dealing with some of the racist attitudes of the time, Jezebel and Jay are starting to come into their powers related to root magic-a kind of magic that is connected to the Gullah culture and traces it's roots back to Africa.  Many people of the community are afraid of the magic, although some seek their family to receive the cures and treatments.  School is hard because the other kids are mean to Jez.  Jay is friendlier and has good ...

 OOOOOO, it feels SO good to have some time to read!  I found some really great science fiction this week in my Netgalley pile!  And guess what?  These two are on the SSYRA 3-5 list for 2022-2023! This one is called "The Lion of Mars" by Jennifer Holm.  I'm a big fan of Jennifer Holm-I love Turtle in Paradise and Babymouse and the Fourteenth Goldfish and Sunny.  The list is long and I'm so happy to see there's a new addition to the list!  The Lion of Mars is set on Mars.  The American government has sent a group of people to set up a colony there.  There are adults and children who grow their own food (with occasional resupplies from Earth) and make do with what they have.  There are strict rules about living in the colony and one is that there is no contact with the other colonies.  (Wait, what?  I hear you asking!) Yep, there is a French colony, a Finnish colony, a Chinese colony, and a Russian colony.  The Americans don...

 Wow, so I guess it's been a busy fall.  There was this little projec t  that kept me busy for awhile. Oh and school ... in the middle of a pandemic... and being available for a relentless amount of tech support to teachers trying to teach a hybrid model of both in person and online classes to 3, 4, and 5 year olds.  BUT this week, I actually had time to read some books!  YAY!!!  Here were two terrific ghost stories with great cultural connections.   The first one is called The Ghost in Apartment 2R by Denis Markell.  Danny is the storyteller.  He lives with his parents and his older brother in an apartment in Brooklyn.  It's a small apartment and his bedroom has always been in a closet.  That was all supposed to change when Danny's older brother, Jake, went to college.  Except that now, his parents decided, in an effort to make some extra money to help pay for Jake's college expenses, they are going to rent out the bedroom on ...

  This is always such a fun time of year.  The CYBILS awards are in their first round and there are SOOOO many books to be read.  This year I'm a second round judge so I'll have a shorter list to read, but I'm keeping my eye on things, just so I can keep up.  Two great books caught my eye this fall and they are great! The first one is a sequel to the CYBILS middle grade speculative fiction award winner last year-Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia.  I devoured that one last year during Thanksgiving weekend when people were giving me long looks when I would bust out laughing and then try to explain the entire story line without giving too much away.  I started reading it aloud to my fifth graders this year and they are only annoyed because I only get to see them once a week.  It's great being able to slow down a bit and talk about some of the amazing symbolism and cultural connections.  SO NOW, I just finished reading the secon...

It's so much fun to have time to read over the summer.  Here are some brand new ones you might want to look for! The first one is called The Book of Fatal Errors.  It's targeted at middle graders and it's a really fun, exciting read.  It's about Rufus, who is just starting summer vacation after a tough year in 6th grade. He's a little worried about summer vacation because his mom is going to be gone, but he's hoping that means he'll get to spend all summer with his grandfather at his house, which is Rufus's happy place.  Except that his grandfather has an accident on the first day of vacation and his dad thinks Feylawn (which is what Grandpa's place is called) is not safe for anyone.  He wants Rufus to spend his summer learning new things, like his cousin Abigail, who has attended a number of different camps each summer, knows several languages and seems to spend all her time making sure the adults like her.  But it turns out Grandpa's accident w...

Boy, does it feel good to read some fantasy fiction.  I like realistic fiction, but things have been very real around here for awhile, so it was good to dig into some books where problem solving is based on magic rather than the hard work that requires here in the real world! The first one is a graphic novel.  I'm going to confess right now that graphic novels are not my favorite.  I think I create pretty good mental images and the images of a graphic novel sometimes slow me down.  But this one was SO GOOD. It's called Doodleville by Chad Sells.  You might have read Chad's earlier book called Cardboard Kingdom, which was really fun.  In my opinion, Doodleville is even better.  It's about a group of kids who are in an art club.  They typically draw super heroes and each of them has their own character that is their most well developed.  Drew, the main character, has a friendly group of characters that can escape their pages and end up in some ...

We're on winter break now and winding down the CYBILS awards.  In fact, I was really surprised to come home from school on our last day and find two new books to read!  They were SO worth waiting for! The first one is "Homerooms and Hall Passes" by Tom O'Donnell.  It's about a group of adventurers who live in a magical, medieval kind of realm called Briandalor, where they spend their days searching for treasure and battling vile monsters.  To relax, they spend Thursday evenings playing a role playing game called Homerooms and Hall passes, which has each of the players assume the role of a student in a 21st century middle school.  The students have to try to navigate middle school without getting thrown out.  The leader of the group, a good wizard in training named Albiorix, is a big fan of the game (he has 26 reference books about the game that he carries with him).  The group also includes a second leader, Vela the Valiant, a paladin (or knight), as...

My students are super excited about dragons.  They love Tui Sutherland's series Dragonwings but these two new ones are going to thrill them! The first one is by one of my favorite authors, Sarah Beth Durst.  If you missed it, she wrote an amazing magical story called "The Girl Who Could Not Dream" that had one of the best characters (Monster) that I've read in a long time.  Her newest one, Spark, is about a girl named Mina who is quiet and lives with her very noisy family in a country called Aloria.  Aloria is special because they always have perfect weather, thanks to storm beasts and their guardians.  There are different kinds of storm beasts, wind, rain, sun, snow, and lightning that each provide things that their country needs. The guardians spend two years bonding with their storm beast while it's still inside the egg, but they don't know what kind it will be until it hatches.  Everyone is very surprised then, when Mina's egg hatches and it is a lig...

I'm having SUCH a good time reading middle grade speculative (or fantasy) fiction for the CYBILS awards.  I LOVE being a first round panelist.  It can seem overwhelming at times (90 chapter books before Christmas?!  GAH!!) and then you open one up and it's awesome and amazing and wonderful and then you remember, why it seems like such a good idea to do this!   This first one is exactly like that.  It's called "The Spinner of Dreams" by K. A. Reynolds.  It's about Annalise, who is 12 and was born cursed.  Her left hand is twice the size of her right and it has a black broken heart on it.  The people of the village know about the curse and are not happy to have someone cursed living in their midst, so her wonderfully kind and loving parents have built fences around the house to protect her but as she had grown bigger, her big hand had grown more powerful and the people of town more afraid of her.  Her parents decide to get her a pet (since sh...

I've been plowing through the fantasy fiction list for  CYBILS.  The librarians at my local library are stunned that I want to check out 12 books at a time.  I'm not sure if they're more surprised that I want to read that many or that I can CARRY that many at a time.  Either way, there have been some amazing titles! The first one is called a companion, but I think you could totally call it a sequel.  I'm not sure how well it stands alone, because I loved the first one SO MUCH.  This one is called The Bootlace Magician and it's by Cassie Beasley.  It's the companion or sequel to Circus Mirandus, which came out a couple of years ago.  The Bootlace Magician opens with Micah living in the Circus Mirandus.  He's a knot tier and doesn't really see how tying knots is going to be anything magical but he keeps going.  His guardian, the Lightbender, gives him a lot of support, as do the other magicians in the Circus Mirandus.  Micah's hopin...