Middle grade fiction

The Creativity Project: An Awesometastic Story Collection edited by Colby Sharp

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

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Summary:  Colby Sharp, co-founder of The Nerdy Book Club, embarked on a creativity project with 44 children’s book authors and illustrators, who were each invited to create two prompts.  Mr. Sharp then sent them two prompts from other artists and asked them to create something based on one of them.  This book is the result: a collection of poems, stories, artwork, and comics. Each one shows the prompt that was given (and who made it up), followed by the creative work it inspired.  The names will be familiar to any fan of children’s literature: Lemony Snicket, Jennifer Holm, Dan Santat, Victoria Jamieson, and many, many more. The final section, entitled “Prompts for You” includes intriguing text and pictures to inspire readers.  Includes brief biographies of all the contributors and an index. 288 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  This unusual book is fun to read (especially for us nerdy children’s book fans) and an inspiring look at the creative process.  There were some fun surprises (a deliciously creepy tale by Dav Pilkey comes to mind) and enough different genres to keep things interesting.  The prompts at the end will make you want to cast everything else in your life aside and start writing.

Cons:  It takes some persistence to plow through the whole book, and a few of the entries seemed like the writers kind of phoned it in.

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Out of Left Field by Ellen Klage

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Published by Viking

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Summary:  Katy Gordon is the star pitcher of her 1957 neighborhood baseball team.  One afternoon, wearing a jersey and cap and being called “Gordon” by the boys, she’s invited by a Little League scout to a tryout.  She makes the team, but when one of the other boys tells the coach that she’s a girl, she’s promptly kicked off.  Supported by her chemistry professor mother, she writes to Little League headquarters, but receives a disappointing response that includes the sentence, “Since the beginning of baseball as an organized sport, it has always been the sole province of male athletes.”  When Katy is assigned a research project at school, she decides to research women in baseball and is shocked to learn how many women have played since the beginning of the game.  Her project gets her some local attention, a story in the paper, and the chance to strike out Willie Mays, but even that isn’t enough to get her back into Little League.  In the end, she’s back to the neighborhood team; the final scene shows her reaching out to a younger girl who wants to play as well.  Includes information about the women Katy researches; an author’s note; a glossary; and additional resources.  320 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Katy is a spunky narrator who will have boys and girls rooting for her in her campaign against the unfair Little League rules.  There are plenty of other interesting historical details, from Katy’s mother’s fight against McCarthyism at her university job to Katy receiving one of the new Frisbees for her birthday.

Cons:  On page 245, Katy’s friend Jules dismisses the Nancy Drew mysteries in this way: “They’re all about the same. Nancy has adventures, her chums get into trouble, Ned rescues them all (emphasis mine), and the mystery gets solved along the way.”  Having read more than 40 Nancy Drew books in my childhood, I feel safe in saying Nancy rescued Ned at least as often as the other way around.

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Power Forward (Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream) by Hena Khan, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

~ Janet Dawson ~ 3 Comments

Published by Salaam Reads/Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

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Summary:  Fourth grader Zayd dreams of making the gold team in basketball, but he feels like he’s got a long way to go.  For one thing, he’s the shortest kid in his class and weighs less than 60 pounds.  For another, his mother is thrilled he’s been asked to join advanced orchestra and is certain his future lies with playing the violin.  When Zayd discovers his friends are coming to school early for extra basketball practice, he makes up a story to skip early-morning orchestra and plays with them instead.  His mom catches him eventually, and Zayd is grounded for two weeks…with basketball tryouts just nine days away.  Zayd is sure he’s doomed to play another season on the D team until his uncle gives him some useful advice about how to follow his dream.  144 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  An exciting, true-to-life sports story with interesting glimpses into Zayd’s Pakistani-American family and their culture.  Matt Christopher fans not quite ready for Mike Lupica will enjoy getting to know Zayd and can look forward to at least two more books in this series.

Cons:  Readers may wish for a little more actual sports action.  It looks like this may be coming in book 2.

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Ebb and Flow by Heather Smith

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Kids Can Press

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Summary:  Jett makes it clear from the beginning of this novel in verse that he’s had a “rotten bad year”.  After his father was imprisoned for killing a family while driving drunk, Jett’s life began to spiral downward.  He became friends with the class bully, and eventually learned that his friend has his own sad reasons for his bad behavior.  Jett’s spending the summer with his grandmother, who loves him unconditionally and uses her tough love to help him come to terms with some of the bad choices he’s made.  He and Grandma tell each other stories from their lives that help Jett to see he’s not the only one who’s made mistakes. Set on the northeast coast of Canada, Jett allows the beautiful beaches and sea help him to heal and move forward into what he hopes will be a better year for him.  232 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  A beautiful collection of poems about learning to forgive and let go of the past.  Despite Jett’s troubled past, he is a likeable narrator, and his story moves back and forth in time, allowing the reader to get to know him while slowly learning of his difficult year.

Cons:  Although the ending is ultimately hopeful, there’s a lot of sadness in the story.

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Class Action by Steven B. Frank

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Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Summary:  When sixth-grader Sam Warren gets assigned a practice standardized test to take over Columbus Day weekend, he’s had enough.  Standing on his desk a la Dead Poets’ Society, he declares he is done with homework.  After losing the coveted piano solo in the school concert and being suspended from school, he seeks legal counsel from his elderly retired lawyer neighbor.  Before long, Sam’s friends and sister are involved, too; when they lose in the lower courts, they find themselves appealing to the Supreme Court, cheered on by millions of schoolchildren across America.  Will the highest court in the land rule in favor of saving their childhood?  Includes a glossary of legal terms and a list of the twenty cases referenced in the book.  272 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Kids will root for Sam as he takes a stand against homework, not even realizing they’re getting a civics lesson on how the American judicial system works.  The fictional Supreme Court justices are thinly-disguised copies of the real ones, which adds to the humor for those in the know.

Cons:  The contrast between Sam’s case and others mentioned in the book like Brown v. Board of Education makes his problems seem pretty first-world.

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Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, illustrated by Nicholas Gannon

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Published by Feiwel and Friends

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Summary:  Livy is visiting her Australian grandmother for the first time since she was five.  Bob has been waiting in the closet since Livy told him to five years ago.  Livy has forgotten all about Bob, but as they spend time together, gradually her memories return.  As a five-year-old, she thought Bob was a zombie, but now she doesn’t know what he is.  Adults can’t see Bob, and Livy starts to forget him as soon as she’s away from him.  As the two of them reconstruct what happened the last time Livy visited, they slowly begin to uncover the truth of Bob’s origins, and his importance to Livy and to the drought-stricken community where her grandmother lives.  208 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  When I heard of a collaboration between Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, I could scarcely contain my glee.  Although this book is shorter and different from their previous work, it is still a masterpiece of storytelling that will appeal to a wide age range, starting as a read-aloud for primary grades.

Cons:  It would have been nice to have more illustrations.

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All Summer Long by Hope Larson

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Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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Summary:  Bina’s excited that seventh grade is over, but disappointed to learn that her best friend Austin is going to soccer camp for a month.  Summer seems totally boring without him, but then surprising things begin to happen.  She gets to know Austin’s older sister, Charlie, who has always seemed mean, but turns out to be pretty cool.  Bina loves music and has started learning guitar, but over the summer her passion deepens.  She gets the opportunity to meet the guitarist from one of her favorite groups, and dreams of starting her own band in high school.  When Austin gets home and starts acting weird, Bina’s confident enough to stand up to him and get their friendship back on track.  The end of the book suggests there might be a sequel that includes a new high school band for Bina.  170 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  Fans of realistic girl-centered graphic novels (Raina Telgemeier, Victoria Jamieson, Jennifer Holm, et. al.) will embrace this emotionally engaging summer tale with a strong and quirky heroine.

Cons:  Although there is nothing that makes this explicitly inappropriate for elementary grades, it definitely has more of a middle school/teen vibe than some of the authors mentioned above.

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Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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Summary:  Jerome is dead when the story begins, shot by a policeman.  The story then goes back to the morning and unfolds in alternating sections entitled “Dead” and “Alive”.  Jerome’s day, like many before it, includes an encounter with three bullies at his school.  He makes a new friend that day, though, and Carlos defends himself and Jerome with a realistic toy gun.  Later, Carlos lends Jerome the gun; when Jerome is outside playing with it he is shot twice in the back by a policeman.  In death, Jerome encounters another Ghost Boy who turns out to be Emmett Till.  He also finds his way into the police officer’s house, where the man’s daughter, Sarah, turns out to be the only person who can see him.  Together, they slowly learn about Emmett Till and other murdered black boys who appear to them as ghosts.  When Sarah’s father’s case is dismissed, both she and Jerome must deal with their emotions and figure out how to ensure that history doesn’t keep repeating.  A Day of the Dead celebration with both Jerome’s and Carlos’s families marks the beginning of healing for both families and hope that they can find a way to make Jerome’s death lead to a more peaceful world.  Includes an author’s note, discussion questions, and additional resources.  224 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  A powerful story that should lead to a lot of discussion.  Switching between the past and present draws the reader in quickly.  The story itself, as well as the history behind it, are horrible and disturbing, but are presented in ways that are appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students to read (with guidance).

Cons:  The police officer’s family, including Sarah, could have been fleshed out to make a more interesting story.  And it seemed like Sarah and Jerome would have just Googled Emmett Till instead of wondering what his story was and waiting for a librarian to show it to them online.

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Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire by Susan Tan, illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte

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Published by Roaring Brook Press

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Summary:  When Cilla Lee-Jenkins was five years old, a woman in the grocery store asked, “What are you, exactly?”  Cilla, unaware that the woman was referring to her Chinese-American heritage responded, “I am a future author extraordinaire.”  Now in second grade, she is well on her way, recording the story of her life as she waits for the arrival of her new baby sister.  Flashbacks to her younger years are interspersed with present-day tales, as Cilla explores friends, school, and the Chinese and Caucasian sides of her family who do not always get along.  Cilla’s not at all sure that she wants to be a big sister; she doesn’t have much choice about it, though, and when baby Gwendolyn arrives, Cilla can’t help but feel excited.  Not only is the baby somewhat cute and cuddly, but she helps unite the four grandparents in a way that gives Cilla hope for a closer extended family.  Book #2, Cilla Lee-Jenkins: This Book Is a Classic, was published simultaneously.  Includes a glossary, mostly of literary terms that Cilla uses while writing her book.  272 pages; grades 3-5.

Pros:  A promising start to a new series about a girl who loves both sides of her family and is struggling to understand her own identity.  Cilla is smart and funny, and readers ready to move on from Junie B. Jones and Clementine will enjoy getting to know her.

Cons:  Cilla is in second grade, which would seem to make this a book for second and third grade readers, but at 272 pages, it may be daunting for many of them.

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Positively Izzy by Terry Libenson

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Published by Balzer + Bray

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Summary:  Like she did in her first book, Invisible Emmie, Terry Libenson tells two intersecting stories. Brianna’s is in comic format, while Izzy’s is a mix of text and illustrations, some with cartoon bubbles. Izzy often struggles with focusing on her school work, but loves to dream up stories and act them out.  Brianna is a serious student whose drama teacher mother wishes she would try acting. When Izzy flunks a math test, her mother’s punishment is to forbid her to perform her act in the talent show. Brianna, on the other hand, gets recruited to perform in the show when one of the actors can’t make it.  Both overcome internal and external obstacles on their way to success, and the two stories come together in a surprising way at the end. 224 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  This is sure to be a hit with graphic novel and diary fans.  I did not see the surprise coming at the end, and loved the way the two stories fit together.

Cons:  “Izzy” is a silly nickname given to her by her sister; we never find out her real name.

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