Middle grade fiction

Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by The Blue Sky Press

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Summary:  When Sam’s summer camp in Maine is evacuated due to wildfires, Sam misses the bus when he runs back to get his phone.  Trapped in a forest that is rapidly being engulfed by the flames, he goes on the run to survive. The discovery of an old Jeep at an abandoned cabin saves his life, allowing him to outpace the fire, at least temporarily.  Later he meets Delphy, another lost camper a few years older than Sam. As the two of them combine their wits to find a way to safety, the reader gradually learns details about Sam’s late father and his mom’s hospitalization.  It’s a nail-biting race to the finish as Sam and Delphy face one obstacle after another. Includes additional information about wildfires, with tips and resources for surviving. 208 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Another title for those who enjoy the “I Survived” series.  The action is pretty much non-stop from Sam’s ill-fated evacuation in chapter one to the high-speed Jeep race to safety on the final few pages.  The fast pace combined with short chapters make this a great choice for reluctant readers.

Cons:  I found 12-year-old Sam’s ability to teach himself how to drive a Jeep in about two minutes while surrounded by fire a little hard to believe. 

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Rachel’s Roses by Ferida Wolff, illustrated by Margeaux Lucas

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Published by Holiday House

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Summary:  Rachel is excited about Rosh Hashanah, but not as thrilled to be wearing last year’s skirt.  When her aspiring dressmaker mother offers to add new buttons, Rachel goes to the store to see what she can find.  The cheapest solution is to get one card of buttons for her and her little sister Hannah, but Rachel wants something of her own.  When she finds three beautiful rose buttons, she arranges with the storekeeper to buy them when she’s earned the money–if she can get it before the holiday.  Rachel’s entrepreneurial spirit works well for her until she gets so busy with her errands that she loses Hannah. Finding her sister and discovering a surprise her mother has created help Rachel to understand what’s really important as she gets ready for a new year.  112 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  The close Jewish family and tenement living reminded me of the All-of-a-Kind Family series that I loved as a child.  There’s not a lot of historical fiction available for third graders, and this would make an excellent and accessible introduction to the genre.

Cons:  I was hoping for more information about Rosh Hashanah.  There’s a brief author’s note at the end, but not much detail about the history and traditions of the holiday or how it is celebrated.

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Stay by Bobbie Pyron

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Katherine Tegen Books

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Summary:  Piper’s family has fallen on tough times and winds up in the family shelter of a new city.  While exploring a nearby park one day, Piper meets Jewel, a homeless woman with an adorable dog named Baby.  When Jewel winds up in the hospital with pneumonia, Baby is left behind to fend for himself. Piper and her new friends from the Firefly Girls troop team up with other park residents to figure out who Jewel is, how she wound up in her current situation, and how they can help her and Baby find a new home.  Told in alternate voices, the story switches between Piper’s first-person narrative and Baby’s free verse perspective, with occasional chapters offering the point of view of Jewel and other characters. 304 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Readers will be drawn in by the adorable little dog on the cover, and will find an inspiring and engaging story that spotlights the tenacious love between humans and animals.  Piper and her friends work together to bring about a feel-good ending.

Cons:  As a former Girl Scout leader (I’m not sure why the author felt she had to disguise the Girl Scouts as Firefly Girls), I found the fifth-grade girls’ discipline, maturity, and initiative pretty unrealistic.

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Guts by Raina Telgemeier

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Graphix

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Summary:  After a bout with stomach flu, fourth-grader Raina struggles with anxiety about getting sick again.  Her stomach often feels upset, and she worries about germs when a friend or family member falls ill.  When fifth grade starts,  she starts missing school and being scared to eat.  Raina’s mom takes her to a therapist where she slowly starts to feel comfortable talking about the stresses in her life–not only food and getting sick, but difficulties with friends, a crowded home, and some concerns about going through puberty.  The therapist teaches her some breathing and grounding techniques, and by the end of the school year, Raina has overcome her shyness enough to share them with her class. She also finally admits to some of her friends that she’s seeing a therapist, and learns that this is more common than she thought. A final author’s note reveals adult Raina’s lifelong struggles with anxiety and digestive issues, encouraging kids to talk about their feelings.  224 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  Another winning memoir from Raina Telgemeier that will help kids deal with their own insecurities and to see that everyone is struggling with something.  As usual, the art is top-notch, with plenty of shades of green and swirling words to show Raina’s anxieties around getting sick.

Cons:  You could slap Raina Telgemeier’s name on a 1993 Chilton’s car repair manual, and kids would be clamoring to check it out of the library.  Who am I to start finding fault?

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Not If I Can Help It by Carolyn Mackler

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Published by Scholastic Press

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Summary:  Willa’s having a good year in fifth grade: she’s learned to manage her Sensory Processing Disorder well enough that she doesn’t feel like the weird kid at school anymore, and she and her best friend Ruby are enjoying the second year of their friendship.  But when her dad and Ruby’s mom announce that they’re dating, Willa feels like she’s thrown off balance; when it turns out they’ve decided to get married, she’s not sure she can handle so much change. Willa has never told Ruby about her twice-a-week occupational therapy appointments that help her handle the stress of her disorder, and she worries that their friendship will suffer when Ruby learns about some of the other “weird” things Willa does to manage.  As their families slowly start to blend together, Willa learns that she’s not the only one who worries what others think, and that honesty is the best way to go with true friends. 240 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  I’m always pretty confident that Scholastic will produce books with plenty of kid appeal, and this one proves that this is true.  Willa is a fun and interesting narrator whom readers will relate to, and the facts about her SPD are woven seamlessly into the plot. Lots of kids will connect with the whole blended family stuff as well.

Cons:  When Willa finally gets the dog of her dreams, she names her Gummy.  I know she loves gummy bears, but come on, that is a terrible name.

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For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington

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 Published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

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Summary:  Makeda (Keda for short) is struggling with many different issues after her family moves from Maryland to New Mexico.  She’s left behind Lena, her best friend and the only other black girl she knows who was adopted by white parents. Her parents’ relationship is strained; her father is often away performing with his symphony, and her mother’s behavior is increasingly erratic.  When her mom gets mad at the school over a racist incident involving Keda, she pulls her and her older sister out to homeschool, making both girls feel more isolated than ever. Things finally come to a head when a spontaneous trip to Boulder results in a crisis that forces the whole family to make some significant changes.  The ending is hopeful for all four of the family members, although without any guaranteed happily-ever-after. 336 pages; grades 5-7.

Pros:  Keda’s perspective on race is a unique one in the world of children’s literature, and she deals with all kinds of issues, from skin and hair care to subtle and more blatant racism from her friends and family members.  A good mirror and window for readers to learn more about families that include interracial adoptions.

Cons:  I wanted to love this book more than I did.  The mom was a stereotype of a clueless white liberal, and her mental illness overwhelmed the racial issues as the story went on.  Also, some language and the free verse and unique punctuation styles make this book difficult to recommend for elementary–yet Keda is only 11, so her story may not appeal to older middle school readers.

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Storm Blown by Nick Courage

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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Summary:  As Hurricane Valerie, the “storm of the century”,  approaches the Gulf Coast, two families struggle to survive.  Emily lives in New Orleans with her brother Elliott who is recovering from cancer surgery. Her father is out on the Gulf working on an oil rig, and her mom is completely stressed out trying to deal with everything going on at home.  When Emily feels pushed away, she retreats to an island in a nearby park and hides in a tree, unaware that evacuation orders have been issued ahead of the storm. Alejo lives in Puerto Rico with his uncle, and the two of them get separated during the evacuation there.  Eventually the kids’ lives intersect, and there’s a nail-biting, race-against-time rescue as the storm moves in, even bigger and more powerful than expected. 352 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Fans of the I Survived series will enjoy the slow build-up of the first half as the storm is still approaching, and the edge-of-your-seat suspense of the second half as the group stranded in New Orleans struggles to get away.

Cons:  The females in the story seemed too passive, depending on the males to rescue them.  Emily makes a series of bad decisions, leaving it to her sick brother to risk his life to save her.  Their mom seems just about paralyzed by anxiety, and it’s up to the dad to sweep in from his oil rig job at the last minute and begin the rescue effort.

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Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir, illustrated by Sarah Andersen

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Published by Ten Speed Press

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Summary:  Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan’s Wendy have all been in and out of institutions, diagnosed with dissociative psychosis for believing they can travel to other worlds.  They wind up together in a research lab, where Dr. Rutherford hopes to learn more about their powers. Alice, angry over her years feeling like a prisoner, steals Dorothy’s silver slippers and escapes to Oz.  The other two go after her, along with their nanny (who may or may not be Mary Poppins), and before long they are dropping in and out of Oz, Neverland, and Wonderland in an attempt to foil the Queen of Hearts, Wicked Witch of the West, and Captain Hook (the last two have a budding romance in Neverland).  Everyone is reunited back in the lab in the end, but a last page hints that there may be a sequel. 128 pages; grades 7-10.

Pros:  There’s plenty of girl power with these three, as they refuse to let anyone control their destinies or overshadow them in their adventures.  The artwork is gorgeous, and it’s great fun to see elements of the three familiar stories woven together.

Cons:  I was hoping this would find a home in my grade 4 and 5 library, but the frequent swears and sexual innuendos (there’s a great subplot where Peter Pan grows up, Alice shrinks him, and he has a thing with Tinkerbell) make it more appropriate for middle school and up.

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Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Bloomsbury

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Summary:  Cat is excited to be traveling with her mom and younger brother Chicken to visit her best friend in Atlanta.  When there’s a sudden change in plans, Cat and Chicken end up on Gingerbread Island in North Carolina with their mother’s parents whom they’ve never met.  Grandma Lily is warm and inviting, and seems to have an intuitive understanding of Chicken’s special needs. But Grandpa Macon is distant, and Cat feels like he doesn’t want them there.  As the summer goes on, Cat makes a new friend, learns how to fish, and gradually comes to understand the estrangement between her mother and grandfather. In the same way her mom felt pushed aside by her grandfather’s dedication to his work as a surgeon, Cat often feels the weight of the responsibilities that come from her mother’s hard work and her brother’s Asperger’s.  A fishing contest at the end of their stay provides Cat with an opportunity to confront her mother about some of the issues their family needs to deal with. 304 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  This beautifully written book by first-time author Gillian McDunn makes a perfect late summer read.  The descriptions of the island and its community sound idyllic, and the various relationships are layered and complex.  The ending is satisfying without being unrealistic.

Cons:  I found Cat’s mom annoying and didn’t always fully understand her motivation for treating Cat and Macon the way she did.

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The 47 People You’ll Meet in Middle School by Kristin Mahoney

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Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

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Summary:  Augusta, a.k.a. Gus, hasn’t had much time for her younger sister Lou since middle school started.  She feels bad about it, so creates this collection for her describing 47 people she’s met since starting sixth grade.  There’s the usual middle school cast of characters: the old friend who’s grown distant, the surprising new friend, the boy who may be more than a friend, and the pack of mean girls.  Gus’s parents have recently divorced, and negotiating between their two homes sometimes adds to her stress. As she goes through the first few months of the school year, she slowly finds a new group of friends who have her back and learns to feel more confident about speaking up for herself.  304 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  Gus’s voice is pitch-perfect, and took me back to my own early middle school days, which is quite a ways back.  Fans of Dork Diaries and other tween realistic fiction will enjoy meeting Gus and the other 47 characters.

Cons:  The mean girls picked on Gus for wearing glasses, which seemed unrealistic, since it seems to me about half the kids in middle school are bespectacled these days.

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