The Book Search

It might be feeling a little like realistic fiction is the wrong way to go right now, real seems a little too real to me some days, but these are terrific stories and you don't want to miss them! The first one is actually perfect for right this minute, when racism is front and center in people's minds.  It's called "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Farqui and Laura Shovan.  It's told from two viewpoints-Sara and Elizabeth who live in small town in Maryland.  The girls have just started middle school and are struggling to find their places.  Sara is an artist and her parents want her to be a scientist or a doctor.  They are Pakastani immigrants and Sara's mom is teaching a cooking class at her school.  Elizabeth is taking the cooking class along with her best friend Maddie and a new girl named Stephanie whom Elizabeth feels is coming between her and Maddie.  Elizabeth's mom is also an immigrant-she's from England and is struggling with depression s...

I'm always surprised when the SSYRA list comes out that there are so many great books that I missed reading this year!  People who know me always say I read a lot, but CLEARLY, I'm missing a big chunk of great stuff because there are always surprises on the list!  These two titles were terrific surprises. The first one is realistic fiction.  It's called Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn.  It's about a girl named Cat who lives with her mom and her little brother.  Her dad died awhile back and her mom struggles to make a living as an author and illustrator.  They are planning to spend some time with some friends who have moved far away over the summer but their friends have an unexpected emergency and so Cat and her little brother end up at the their grandparents' house in NC.  Except that they've never actually met their grandparents because they had a falling out with Cat's mom before the kids were born.  To complicate matters further, Cat's...

The new SSYRA lists (and FTR) have been announced and what a great job the committees did choosing books!  I know the kids are going to be super excited to see what fun books there are to read this year!  I'd read (and reviewed) a few of them already, including Inkling , but there were a lot more that I hadn't read.  Here are two that I was able to read this weekend. The first one is called Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #1 by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth.  It's about a cat named Klawde, who lives on a planet called Lyttyrboks and it turns out that he's a pretty terrible cat.  He's been dethroned by General Ffangg and has only one loyal minion left-Floofee-Fyr.  He has been banished to Earth, a planet known to be desolate and inhabited by ogres.  Lucky for Klawde, he ends up in an ogre's house that actually wants him to be there-Raj's family has just moved to Oregon (where Klawde lands) and Raj has always really wanted a cat.  Raj convinc...

Social issues for middle graders take a lot of forms.  Kids in 3rd through 8th grade are starting to consider that they are no longer the epicenter of the universe.  They look more to their friends for recognition (much to their parents' and teachers' annoyance!) and start to develop an understand of some of the bigger issues around them.  These two books are wonderful opportunities to help kids understand difference points of view through a variety of social issues. The first one is called "The Space Between Lost and Found" by Sandy Stark-Mcginnis.  It's about Cassie, who is in middle school and lives with her mom and dad.  Her mom has had to stop working and they employ a housekeeper who comes every day to help with her mom.  Her mom has dementia and is forgetting a lot of things.  Including, sometimes Cassie's name.  Sometimes she seems perfectly normal and Cassie really wants to believe she's going to get better.  But her mom's behavior...

I have been hoping for some fantasy fiction, because frankly, real life is real enough for me!  However, the advanced reader copies I've been getting are realistic fiction, so realistic it is!  Luckily, both these books were awesome and so different from my life, that they were both a great get away. The first one is called Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein.  It's about 12 year old Will who's having a hard time.  First, his dad died when he was four.  Will's dad went into the hospital to a hernia repaired and died.  Part of Will's coping mechanism has been withdrawing, which brings the reader to problem 2, Will doesn't really have any friends.  Well, he has one good friend, Shirah and one friend who annoys him, but is still his friend, Max.  Shirah and Max and Will have been friends since they were small and the rest of the kids at their school do a lot of teasing, which Will perceives as bullying.  Will is also coming up on his Bar Mitzvah...

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...

It seems an appropriate time to talk about facing big challenges, since this whole virus-stay at home-school online thing is pretty challenging!  Thinking about different kinds of  challenges is kind of a nice diversion.  These books were certainly that. The first one is called "Like Nothing Ever Amazing Happened" by Emily Blejwas.  It's about Justin, a middle schooler who is struggling to adapt to a new normal.  His dad died awhile back and part of the problem with his dad's death is that there were a lot of unanswered questions.  Justin's dad was a Vietnam War vet that struggled with PTSD.  He didn't talk much about it and was careful with the words he did speak.  His dad was killed by a trolley and one of the things that Justin wonders is if his death was a suicide or just an accident.  His mom and older brother are doing the best they can to try to hold things together.  His brother is a talented athlete but has taken to working at...