Middle grade fiction

Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by First Second

Amazon.com: Jukebox (9781250156372): Chanani, Nidhi, Chanani, Nidhi: Books

Jukebox | Nidhi Chanani | Macmillan

Summary:  When Shahi’s music-obsessed dad goes missing, she and her cousin Naz wind up at Earl’s music store where her father spent a lot of time.  They find an unusual old jukebox that plays LP records, then accidentally discover that it transports them back to the time the album was released.  While they get some interesting glimpses of history, they don’t find Shahi’s dad.  It takes a lot of trial-and-error and some detective work to finally figure out what’s going on and to have a reunion that not only brings Dad back to the present but mends some of the more difficult parts of Shahi’s relationship with him.  Includes a playlist of songs referenced in the story; an author’s note explaining her inspirations for the book; and several pages showing the evolution of some of her artwork.  224 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  The premise of this graphic novel is very cool, and serves as a great introduction to a lot of music and some of the historical events that both inspired that music and were influenced by it.  Although there’s a bit of an age gap between the two girls (Naz is Shahi’s babysitter), they are loyal friends who help and protect each other.

Cons:  The story felt a bit too ambitious with not only the musical and historical aspects, but a variety of relationship issues and subplots about Naz’s ear surgery and worries about coming out as bisexual.  The pictures at the beginning of the time travel sections included some jotted notes about the artist and/or album, which looked really interesting, but were hard to read.

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by HarperCollins

Finding Junie Kim: Oh, Ellen: 9780062987983: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Junie’s strategy for getting through middle school is to keep her head down and her mouth shut, even when a boy bullies her for being Korean.  When racist graffiti starts appearing in her school, her friends want to take a stand, but Junie’s not so sure.  But when she starts recording her grandfather’s stories about the Korean War for a school project, she sees the price that can be paid for not standing up for what is right.  After a family tragedy, her grandmother finally agrees to talk about her childhood, and Junie gets another lesson in courage.  Their inspiration leads Junie to confront her bully and to find her own way to lead the conversation about racism at school. Includes an author’s note about how her own family members’ stories inspired this book.  368 pages; grades 5-8.  

Pros:  The rich narrative shifts from Junie’s Trump-era story to her grandfather’s as a young boy and then her grandmother’s as a young girl.  Each one has its own fascinating cast of characters, and the Korean War sections will undoubtedly provide an education for readers, as they did for me.  This would be an amazing book to read and discuss with middle schoolers.

Cons:  The grandparents’ stories, especially her grandfather’s, revealed the motivation for the bullying behavior.  I wish there had been more of that for the bullies in Junie’s life, who just seemed like terrible MAGA hat-wearing boys.

Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Flight of the Puffin: Braden, Ann: 9781984816061: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Vincent lives in Seattle, where he’s bullied at school for being different.  T has run away to from a family that couldn’t accept their nonbinary identity, and is living on the streets near Vincent’s home.  Jack lives in a rural Vermont community, going to a small school in danger of being shut down.  And Libby lives near Jack, creating colorful, hopeful cards to help relieve the difficulties she has getting along with her family.  When Libby starts distributing her cards around town, she unexpectedly finds ways to offer hope to the other three kids.  Her message to each one that they are not alone helps them to find the courage to be themselves while at the same time finding connections to others in their families and communities.  Ann Braden’s acknowledgements mention her organization Local Love Brigade that inspired this story. 240 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  If you’re looking for a feel-good story, you’ve come to the right place.  All four kids face some realistically difficult situations, and the ways they cope with them would make a great starting point for some interesting discussions. An excellent choice for upper elementary or middle school book clubs. And I love that cover!

Cons:  I wish that T’s story, which is brief and told in verse, had been fleshed out more.  There aren’t many nonbinary characters in the world of middle grade literature.

Pawcasso by Remy Lai

~ Janet Dawson ~ 3 Comments

Published by Henry Holt and Co.

Pawcasso: Lai, Remy, Lai, Remy: 9781250774491: Amazon.com: Books
Pawcasso: Lai, Remy, Lai, Remy: 9781250774491: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Jo is facing a lonely summer with her father working away from home much of the time and not a lot of friends.  One dull morning, she sees a dog walk by with a basket in his mouth, she follows him and discovers he’s been trained to shop, going to different stores with a list and cash in his basket.  Some kids taking an art class at a bookstore see Jo and assume the dog belongs to her.  They all fall in love with him and want to paint him.  Jo, enjoying the company of other kids, plays along, and promises to bring “her” dog back the following Saturday.  The lie seems harmless enough, but when a curmudgeonly old man goes after the dog (now called Pawcasso) for breaking the leash law, the whole town becomes divided into two camps: the Picassos and the Duchamps.  Jo wants to tell the truth, but will her honesty cause her to lose Pawcasso and all of her new friends?  Includes a recipe for ice cream that can be enjoyed by both dogs and humans.  240 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  I try not to indiscriminately toss around the word “adorable”, but that is the only word for Pawcasso and his friends.  Elementary kids are going to love this graphic novel, which not only features an amazing and loveable dog, but also includes some well-delivered messages about families and forgiveness.

Cons:  Jo’s twin baby brothers had disturbingly huge eyes.

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

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Published by Balzer + Bray

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

Summary:  Cora and Quinn used to be best friends.  On November 11, almost a year ago, Quinn’s brother Parker went to school with a gun and killed four people, including Cora’s older sister Mabel and himself.  The two girls haven’t spoken since, but as the new school year begins, Quinn needs to talk to Cora.  She’s been researching time travel, and has some ideas for finding a wormhole that can take them back in time to save their siblings.  Cora has the scientific curiosity and perseverance Quinn needs to make her idea a reality, so she reaches out with an unusual gift for Cora’s twelfth birthday.  Cora is intrigued, but both girls are so weighted down with grief, anger, guilt, and regrets that it’s difficult for them to reconnect.  Slowly, as the days count down to the anniversary of the shooting, they start to put pieces together and to believe that, just maybe, they can change the past and create a different present.  Includes an author’s note about how her fear and frustration around gun violence led to this book.  288 pages; grades 5-8.  

Pros:  This beautifully written, heartbreaking book told in the alternating voices of Cora and Quinn, may get more Newbery recognition for Jasmine Warga. Cora’s dad’s explanation near the end of the book of how he applies Newton’s laws of motion to grief was one of the best lessons about loss I have ever read.   

Cons:  The subject matter definitely makes this a difficult story to read.

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by Greenwillow

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey (Maybe Marisol, 1): Kelly, Erin Entrada, Kelly, Erin Entrada: 9780062970428: Amazon.com: Books
Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey (Maybe Marisol, 1): Kelly, Erin Entrada, Kelly, Erin Entrada: 9780062970428: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Marisol’s active imagination helps her to enjoy silent movies, name inanimate objects (like Buster Keaton, the refrigerator), and make up stories about her collection of stuffed cats.  But it also means she can imagine falling out of Peppina, the huge magnolia tree in the backyard that she longs to climb like her best friend Jada does.  Marisol has other fears, like mean girl Evie Smythe and Daggers, the dog she has to pass on her bike ride.  But at one point Marisol was too afraid to even ride a bike, and her dad stayed with her until she learned.  By the end of the story, with plenty of parental and best friend support, Marisol has made it to the top of Peppina.  160 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  This is one of those rare gems, like Billy Miller or Stella Diaz: an illustrated chapter book, clearly written for elementary kids, that beautifully portrays the challenges ordinary kids face to get through the day.  Marisol is an introspective, imaginative girl, and many readers will relate to her fears, and how she slowly but steadily works to overcome them.  I’m always rooting for books like this, geared to younger readers, to get some Newbery love.

Cons:  Kids raised on a diet of Dog Man and Scholastic Branches books may need a little help getting into a less frenetic book like this one.

Unsettled by Reem Faruqi

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by HarperCollins

Amazon.com: Unsettled (9780063044708): Faruqi, Reem: Books

Summary:  When Nurah’s father announces he has taken a new job and is moving the family from Karachi, Pakistan to Peachtree City, Georgia, Nurah is heartbroken to leave her best friend and her grandparents.  At her new school in Georgia, all she wants to do is blend in, but eating lunch by herself under a stairwell is lonely.  Joining the swim team leads to a new friendship that changes Nurah’s feelings about school, and she’s motivated to work hard to become a champion swimmer like her older brother, Owais.  When Owais is the target of a bullying incident at the pool that turns violent, and her father is questioned by the FBI following a terrorist incident, Nurah learns some difficult truths about being Muslim in America.  But she also learns to help her brother overcome his trauma to get back in the pool and to be true to herself and her heritage. Includes an author’s note tying her personal experiences to the story; a glossary, and a recipe for aloo kabab. 352 pages grades 3-7.

Pros:  A beautiful novel in verse that delves into many different issues, not only with Nurah and her family, but with her new friend Stahr, who has an abusive father.  While not every reader has had Nurah’s experience of moving to an unfamiliar new country, many will relate to her wish to blend in while at the same time learning to appreciate her unique qualities.

Cons:  I appreciate the brevity and economy of words of a novel in verse, but it’s also a format that makes it difficult to explore in depth the many topics (immigration, bullying, racial profiling, miscarriage, domestic abuse, etc.) that were included in this story.

That Thing About Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar

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Published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

That Thing about Bollywood | Book by Supriya Kelkar | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

Summary:  When Sonali’s parents announce that they are separating, Sonali acts like everything is fine.  Years ago, she tried to find a way to help her parents stop fighting, and the message she got was to never share problems or feelings outside of the immediate family.  The morning after her parents’ announcement, Sonali wakes up to find that her life has taken on some aspects of a Bollywood movie.  Huge posters of her are hanging in her bedroom and a soundtrack plays wherever she goes.  When she unexpectedly–and uncontrollably–breaks into a song and dance at a field trip, Sonali knows she has to fix the problem–fast.  Clearly there is magic at work, but try as she might, Sonali can’t figure out how to break the spell.  Everything in her life seems to be falling apart, and slowly, Sonali realizes that the answer lies in showing her true feelings–if she can find the courage to do so.  352 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  The story takes the serious themes of dealing with divorce and the importance of expressing your emotions and adds a fun twist of Bollywood magic.  Having never seen a Bollywood film, I had to take a break partway through the book to head over to YouTube and see what the singing and dancing was all about. Other aspects of Indian culture will surely resonate with Indian-American readers, and there’s a bit of Indian and Pakistani history worked into the story as well.

Cons:  It seemed like it took Sonali a painfully long time to realize that she needed to express her feelings in order to get the magic to end.

The Anti-Book by Raphael Simon

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Published by Dial Books

The Anti-Book: Simon, Raphael: 9780525552413: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Mickey’s pretty miserable with his life since his parents divorced and each found a new partner, and his sister’s dating a bully who makes Mickey’s life miserable.  So when he sees an ad inside a pack of his favorite bubble gum for an “anti-book” he decides he has nothing to lose by ordering it.  The book comes with some pretty simple instructions: “To erase it, write it.”  Mickey starts writing the things he wants to erase: his parents, his sister, her boyfriend, just about everything about school…he wears down a pencil filling the Anti-Book.  When he wakes up the next morning, though, he discovers he has, in fact, erased his world.  Can he bring it all back?  Trying to erase what he wrote creates further havoc, and Mickey has to travel through his new alternate world with some unusual companions to figure out how he can save everyone…including himself.  320 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  This book reminded me a little of The Phantom Tollbooth, with a character traveling into a new world to learn some important lessons about himself.  The world building is fun and clever, and Mickey makes some discoveries that will resonate with a lot of kids his age.  A conversation with his sister in the final few pages about his uncertainty about his sexuality will undoubtedly resonate with some readers as well.

Cons:  I’m not a big fan of The Phantom Tollbooth, so while I can appreciate this book it’s not going to become a personal favorite .

Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

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Published by Balzer + Bray

Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations, 1): Alston, B. B.: 9780062975164: Amazon.com: Books

Summary:  Amari’s had a tough year after her beloved older brother has gone missing and she’s had to put up with constant bullying from being the only poor Black girl at her elite private school.  So when she receives a mysterious invitation to a summer camp at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she thinks she may have found a way to solve her school problems and, more importantly, find her brother.  Things take an unexpected turn when Amari learns she possesses a powerful magic that’s looked upon with suspicion by almost everyone at the Bureau.  Fortunately, she finds a few friends and allies who help her to channel her powers and help her uncover what’s happened to her brother.  Some unexpected twists toward the end leave things hanging enough for readers to be breathlessly anticipating book 2.  408 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Harry Potter and Rick Riordan fans will love this new series opener about another unlikely outsider who discovers her stronger-than-average magical powers at a school specializing in the supernatural.  

Cons:  Fantasy’s always kind of a slog for me, so I’m probably not be the best person to promote this book. Judging from the starred reviews in professional journals and on Amazon, though, I would say this series is a hit with fans of the genre.