Middle grade fiction

Friday Barnes, Girl Detective by R. A. Spratt, illustrated by Phil Gosier

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Roaring Brook Press 

Summary:  Friday’s parents are busy scientists, so she’s been on her own for most of her childhood.  A curious and intelligent child, she’s taught herself more in eleven years than most people learn in a lifetime.  After she cracks a bank robbery case, she decides to use the reward money to pay for a year at the exclusive Highcrest Academy.  Her plans to blend in fail miserably, and she soon finds herself in demand as a private investigator, solving everything from missing homework to the identity of the big hairy monster in the swamp behind the school.  The book ends with her unexpected arrest; readers will have to wait until the sequel comes out in August to learn what that’s all about.  272 pages; grades 4-6.

Pros:  This Australian import features offbeat humor, a quirky but spunky protagonist, and a colorful cast of supporting characters, illuminated with plenty of cartoon-type illustrations.  I’m not always a big fan of “quirky”, but this was done in a way that kept me chuckling until the end.

Cons:  This might not work for a mystery book report, as it is a series of small mysteries rather than one big one.

Pax by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen

~ Janet Dawson ~ 4 Comments

 Published by Balzer + Bray 

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8ErVnRt40I

Summary: When Peter’s father goes to war, Peter is sent to live with his grandfather. His father says that Peter’s pet fox, Pax, must be returned to the wild.  We see this happening from Pax’s point of view, and the story of what happens after that is told in chapters that alternate between Peter’s and Pax’s stories.  Peter realizes he has done a terrible thing, and runs away to try to rescue Pax.  A few days out, he breaks a bone in his foot, and is taken in by Vona, a woman whose own war experiences left her so scarred, both physically and emotionally, that she has withdrawn from the human race.  Meanwhile, Pax meets up with some foxes in the woods, and slowly, still desperately hoping for Peter’s return, starts to make a life for himself in the wild.  While Peter and Pax are on their journeys, the war is slowly encroaching into both of their lives, leading up to a climactic finale.  288 pages; ages 8-12.

Pros:  This beautifully written and illustrated story will undoubtedly be a 2016 awards contender.  Filled with love, hope, friendship, and healing, Pax is a book to savor and discuss.

Cons:  This sometimes felt a bit too much like a Book With A Message (see somewhat self-congratulatory book trailer).  A little infusion of humor wouldn’t have made the story any less powerful.

The Cat Who Came In Off the Roof by Annie M. G. Schmidt, translated by David Colmer

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers 

Summary:  Tibbles is feeling down after being scolded by his newspaper editor for his inability to write about anything but cats.  He’s distracted by his worries when he comes across a young woman who’s been chased up a tree by a dog.  After rescuing her, Tibbles invites her back to his house, where she proceeds to purr, rub her head on his shoulder, and finally settle down to sleep in a cardboard box lined with newspaper.  It comes as little surprise to learn that Miss Minou began life as a cat, and an unfortunate accident has turned her into a human.  She can still talk with cats, thought, and their little town has plenty of those, each one a source of news from the humans they live with.  When Miss Minou starts sharing her stories with Mr. Tibbles, his newspaper career takes off; that is, until he writes an article accusing the wealthiest man in town of some pretty dastardly deeds, witnessed only by cats.  No one believes his story, and his career is once again in jeopardy.  Meanwhile, Miss Minou has a one-time-only chance to return to her feline form.  Will the cats of the town be able to give this unlikely couple a happily-ever-after ending?  160 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  This charming story is a classic in the Netherlands, where the original, entitled Minoes, has been loved by children since 1970.  With a quirky but lovable cast of both feline and human characters, this would make a great read-aloud for kids from the primary grades on up.

Cons:  The wealthy villain bore an unfortunate resemblance to a certain billionaire presidential candidate.

Soar by Joan Bauer

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Published by Viking Books for Young Readers

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2meh6h7BaE

 

Summary:  Jeremiah has been through more than his share of difficulties, starting when he was abandoned by his mother at the age of nine months and continuing through a series of heart problems that ultimately resulted in a transplant.  Lucky for him, his mother left him in an office building where he was discovered by nerdy but loving Walter, who adopted him and has been by his side ever since.  Jeremiah’s greatest love is baseball, but his heart hasn’t gotten healthy enough for him to play.  When Walter and Jeremiah move to Hillcrest, Ohio, they look forward to cheering on the town’s championship baseball team.  Within days of their arrival, though, scandal has swept through the town, shutting down the team.  When Jeremiah discovers a few kids at his middle school who still love to play, he gets the idea to become their coach.  Step by inching step, the kids work together to build a middle school team and to repair the damage done to Hillcrest.  With Jeremiah leading them on, the Hillcrest Eagles prove there’s more than one way to have a winning team, and that talent isn’t nearly as important as heart.  304 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  “You’re weird…but I like you,” says one of Jeremiah’s teammates, perfectly capturing Jeremiah’s voice as he narrates this story.  Quirky, humorous, and refusing to be kept down, Jeremiah gives the people of Hillcrest and the readers of Soar plenty to cheer about.

Cons:  Occasionally Jeremiah seems a bit unbelievably wise and mature for a sixth-grader.

 

American Ace by Marilyn Nelson

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Published by Dial Books 

Summary: When Connor’s grandmother Lucia dies, she leaves a letter for his father, revealing that Connor’s grandfather wasn’t the Italian man his father grew up with; instead, he was an American pilot who was in Italy during World War II. Connor’s father was raised in a tight-knit Italian family, and the news is devastating to him at first.  Along with the letter, Lucia left a school ring that belonged to the pilot.  Connor uses the ring to research his grandfather.  Eventually, he learns that this man was African American, one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.  Just as the mystery is about to be solved, Dad has a stroke and is hospitalized.  Connor helps him heal, both physically and emotionally, by learning and sharing more and more of the courageous history of the Airmen.  117 pages; grades 7-10.

Pros:  In an author’s note, Marilyn Nelson writes how she wanted to tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, and eventually had the idea to write a book in which the main character gradually learns their history.  She achieves this brilliantly in just 45 poems told in Connor’s voice.  The history is fascinating, and so is the story of this family who must rethink their entire identity in the light of revelations about their cultural heritage.

Cons:  The structure of Part 7, in which Connor tells his father the story of the Tuskegee Airmen while his dad is convalescing in the hospital, is a little bit confusing.

The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick

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Published by The Blue Sky Press 

Summary: Charlie Cobb is enjoying an unusual display of the northern lights with the other townspeople of Harmony, New Hampshire, when a massive solar flare knocks out the power. Not even batteries work, so all vehicles and cell phones are gone.  The town has to come together to try to survive the cold and dark.  In the midst of the chaos, Charlie realizes his mom is almost out of her diabetes medication, and if he can’t find more, she may not survive.  Determined to save her, he sets off on a cross-country skiing trip to find a city that may have the prescription they need.  As the people of New Hampshire move into survival mode, their true colors start to be revealed, and a show-down between good and evil seems inevitable.  The final page describes solar flares in history and their potential for damage in the future. 192 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Charlie is a likable and resourceful character.  The suspense builds from the first few pages, with almost every chapter ending in a cliff-hanger.  Even reluctant readers will find this hard to put down.

Cons:  The villain, living on a well-armed compound complete with camouflage-clad sons and their subservient wives, seemed a bit out there.  Even for New Hampshire.

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

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Published by Farrar Straus Giroux 

Summary: Ten-year-old Manami lives happily with her parents and grandfather on Bainbridge Island, Washington in 1942. Her whole life changes when her family is ordered to leave the island for a Japanese American prison camp in the desert.  Hardest of all is leaving Yujiin, the family dog.  On an impulse, Manami hides Yujiin under her coat, only to have him confiscated when the family gets to the mainland.  Overcome with grief and guilt, Manami stops talking.  Her family is loving and supportive as they try to adjust to life in the barracks and the harsh desert climate.  Manami is a gifted artist, and she draws many pictures for Yujiin, sending them out on the wind with the hope that they will help him find the family again.  When tragedy strikes her family, Manami must find the courage to move beyond her guilt and try to help those around her.  An author’s note tells a brief history of Japanese immigrants to America and why some of them were imprisoned during World War II.  181 pages; ages 9-12.

Pros:  A beautifully written story of a loving family supporting each other through unimaginably difficult circumstances.  Manami’s present tense voice gives an air of immediacy to the story, and helps the reader watch events unfold through her eyes.

Cons: Although her family members were kind and loving, no one really explained to Manami why they were forced to move.

Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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Published by Simon and Schuster 

Summary: Nick and Eryn are surprised and dismayed to learn one morning that their mother is getting married to Michael, her boyfriend of two years. To add to the upheaval, their mother tells them they’re moving into a new house.  Then she drops the real bombshell—unbeknownst to the twins, Michael has two children, Jackson and Ava.  Nick and Eryn have never met these two, or even heard of their existence.  They’re further mystified when they learn that each set of twins will spend alternate weeks at the house, so that they will never see each other.  Mom and Michael plan to elope, so there will be no meeting at the wedding.  Nick and Eryn are determined to learn the truth about their mysterious stepsiblings, little realizing that the truth will change everything they thought they knew about themselves, their families, and the world.  311 pages; ages 10-14.

Pros:  Fans of Haddix’s other science fiction books won’t be disappointed as she sets up a mysterious situation that unravels into more and more bizarre and unsettling revelations.  As in past stories, two ordinary kids are inadvertently thrust into a situation in which they basically have to save the world.  A cliffhanger ending all but guarantees at least one sequel.

Cons:  The adults in the story all seem somewhat stiff, with forced conversational skills.  You’ll have to read about half the book to figure out why.

The Tale of Rescue by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Stan Fellows

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Published by Candlewick Press 

Summary:  When a family of three from Florida gets caught in an Ohio blizzard, things go downhill pretty quickly.  Unable to find their way. and exhausted from plowing through the deep snow, they finally dig a hole to take shelter and huddle together to wait out the storm.  From time to time, the father stands up to whistle, hoping someone will hear this call for help.  On a nearby farm, the whistle catches the sharp ears of a cattle dog, and she sets out to locate the source.  Finding the family, she stays with them long enough to warm them a bit, then heads back to her farm.  She drives the cattle across the snow, flattening it enough that the family is able to walk across it and at last find shelter with the old farmer who owns the dog.  Many years later, the boy in the family, now 18 years old, returns to the farm to try to reconstruct the miraculous rescue.  What he finds there changes the course of his life going forward.  103 pages; ages 9-13.

Pros:  Dog fanciers will fall in love with the courageous, intelligent cattle dog, who, along with the other characters, is nameless until the very end of the story.  The color illustrations perfectly capture the feel of the blinding snow and the warm farmhouse.

Cons: While the short text and plentiful illustrations make this feel like an early chapter book, the vocabulary and inferencing skills needed make it more appropriate for an older audience.

A Year Without Mom by Dasha Tolstikova

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Published by Groundwood Books 

Summary:  12-year-old Dasha is crushed when she learns that her mother is spending a year at the University of Illinois, leaving Dasha with her grandparents in the Soviet Union.  Her father is living in Los Angeles, so Dasha feels lonely, despite her loving grandparents and two best friends.  During the year, she goes through some friendship difficulties, develops an unrequited crush on an older boy, and works hard to get into a better school.  Meanwhile, political unrest results in a few anxious days until Boris Yeltsin replaces Mikhail Gorbachev as the Soviet leader.  Things are beginning to fall into place by the spring, when her mother returns, announcing that Dasha will be joining her for the second year of her master’s program.  The book ends on an uncertain note, as Dasha arrives in Urbana, Illinois, and meets a girl who just might be a new friend.  168 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  Even though she is from a different place and time, Dasha’s feelings will be familiar to 21st century American tweens.  A cross between a graphic novel and an illustrated chapter book, A Year Without Mom will appeal to both reluctant and avid middle school readers.

Cons: Some of the Soviet references may be a bit confusing for post-Cold War readers.