Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  It’s bad enough that Caitlyn’s mom has decided to move to Vermont right before Caitlyn starts seventh grade.  But when Caitlyn starts school at Mitchell, she finds she’s part of a group called The Originals, the first kids to go through the tiny community school that opened eight years ago.  Caitlyn’s arrival in seventh grade isn’t the only big news–class clown Paulie Fink has mysteriously disappeared. Caitlyn hates the school at first, and can’t believe there are no lockers, that she has to sit with a kindergartener at lunch, and that her class is in charge of looking after a bunch of goats.  When her classmates decide to create a reality show to find out who the next Paulie Fink will be, Caitlyn reluctantly takes on the role of leader, creating challenges to find out who can take Paulie’s place. When budget troubles threaten to close the school, she is surprised at how much she wants to keep it open.  Interspersed with interviews, emails, and texts, Caitlyn’s narrative shows how she grows and changes throughout the first months at her new school. 368 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  I wasn’t a huge fan of Ali Benjamin’s The Truth About Jellyfish, so my expectations were low for this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the fun and interesting characters.  The format and the reality show idea will appeal to readers. I may have found another fifth grade book club book.

Cons:  Caitlyn comes across as a bit of a brat at the beginning of the book, but readers who persevere will learn the reasons for her behavior and see some positive changes as the story goes on.

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Published by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Summary:  After Genesis’s family gets evicted from their Detroit apartment–again–her father mysteriously finds them a rental in swanky, mostly white Farmington Hills.  Genesis loves the fancy new house, but is apprehensive about going to school, where even the few kids of color are lighter skinned than she is. She is extremely self-conscious about her skin color, due to her father’s negative, often drunken, comments about her taking after him,, and this leads her to try everything from steel wool to bleach to lighten it.  Slowly, though, Genesis begins to make friends and to discover her talent and passion for music. When her family is threatened with eviction yet again, Genesis is afraid she’ll lose the opportunity to perform in her school’s talent show. But ultimately, it’s the talent show performance that finally wakes her father up to the damage he’s doing to his family and the reasons he is doing it.  While the ending isn’t neat or completely happy, it is hopeful for both Genesis and her parents. 384 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  A powerful debut novel.  As in New Kid, a sympathetic narrator shows readers what it’s like to be a person of color in a wealthy, predominantly white environment.  Any middle school reader will identify with Genesis’s struggles between wanting to fit in and being true to herself. I sailed through this in about two days, leaving a Kleenex-strewn couch in my wake.  A contender for some awards, for sure.

Cons:  The family’s sudden move from impoverished Detroit neighborhoods to upscale Farmington Hills seemed unrealistic.

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Published by Henry Holt and Co.

Summary:  Jingwen is struggling with his family’s move to Australia (a.k.a., Mars) from an unnamed Asian country where his parents both worked as bakers.  After his father’s death (yes, another 2019 middle grade novel about dealing with the loss of a family member), Jingwen’s mother decided to follow Dad’s dream to pursue a better life in Australia.  His younger brother Yanghao embraces the new language, while Jingwen resists learning it, weighted down by guilt over his perceived role in his father’s death. When he and Yanghao secretly make a cake one night while his mother works the late shift, he feels happier than he has in months, and decides he will make all the cakes his father dreamed of featuring in the bakery he wanted to open, Pie in the Sky.  Nights of secret baking and eating form the backdrop of the story as Jingwen slowly adjusts to his new home and comes to terms with his grief. 384 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Despite Jingwen’s loneliness and grief, this story actually has a lot of humor in it.  Comic-style illustrations appear on every page, and Yanghao provides almost constant comic relief. Jingwen is able to often realized the absurdities of many of the situations he’s in, and his narration is funny in a way that tweens and young teens will appreciate.  At the same time, native English speakers will gain a deeper understanding of what life is like for ELL students, and those who are struggling with the language will feel a kinship with Jingwen.

Cons:  Jingwen received no ELL instruction, and seemed to be in a sink-or-swim situation at school.  I find it hard to believe that 21st-century Australia doesn’t do better for kids.

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Published by Little, Brown and Company

Summary:  When Sunny gets a heart transplant after many months of being sick, she resolves to start a new life: finding a new best friend and finding a boy to kiss.  The new best friend soon appears in the form of Quinn, a new girl who has traveled all over the world with her wildlife photographer mother, but is settling down on the island where Sunny has grown up.  The two girls embark on their mission to find boys, but it soon becomes clear that they are more interested in kissing each other. Both have had bad experiences around their attraction to girls, so are shy about revealing their feelings.  To further complicate Sunny’s summer, her mother has come back after giving Sunny up when she was four years old. There’s a lot going on in Sunny’s new life, and sometimes she wishes she could go back to the old one, but she gradually learns to trust her new heart and open up to the people around her.  384 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  As she did in Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, Ashley Herring Blake creates a cast of memorable characters and an engaging story that will find a place not only in LGBQT collections, but also with tweens and teens struggling with self-acceptance of all types.

Cons:  The first few chapters were a bit slow.

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Published by Simon and Schuster

Summary:  Archie Drake is looking forward to another summer at Camp Shady Brook, conning rich kids out of their money with the help of his faithful sidekick Oliver.  But when a new girl named Vivian overhears the two boys scheming, she wants in on their partnership. Thinking she’s only there for a week, Archie lets her in on a few of his secrets, but when he finds out she’s staying the whole summer, he’s had enough.  They make a bet to see who can pull off the unlikeliest con, with the loser having to give up bilking kids out of money for the rest of the summer. The only problem is, no matter how much Archie and Vivian pretend not to care, they can’t help feeling bad about the hurt feelings and ruined friendships they leave in their wake.  When one of their tricks backfires and threatens to shut down the whole camp, they realize it’s time to pool their talents and turn Camp Shady Crook around once and for all. 288 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  Fun summer reading with a story told points of view alternating between Archie and Veronica, reminiscent of Gordon Korman.

Cons:  It took me awhile to warm up to the two main characters.   

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