The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart

 Ravani Foster lives in Slaughterville, so named because of the slaughterhouse.  He is a quiet kid, and somewhat a sensitive kid who doesn't fit in and gets bullied.   His dad works at the slaughterhouse and on occasion Ravani has to take his lunch to him.  He HATES going to the slaughterhouse.  (and I do too after reading this book).  One night Ravani sees a large truck pull up to the empty house across the street and seven kids climb out and go into the house, but the next day nothing looks different.  The house still looks empty.  As Ravani is coming home from delivering papers, he sees some of the kids and ends up making friends with them, especially Virginia.  Ravani finds out the children have a BIG secret and a dangerous secret and they include him on the secret, but it accidentally gets out and danger is coming. 

Awesome story about friendship and differences in people.  The slaughterhouse descriptions are not exactly graphic, but they are pretty disgusting so I would recommend grades 6 and up.

The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

 

Stone-in-the-Glen used to be a wonderful town, full of generosity and kindness, but the library burned down, houses burned down, and people started moving away. An ogress moved near the town and built herself a house and was able to grow lovely crops that she decided to share with the town anonymously.  When people started struggling to provide for themselves and were told to take care of themselves, they started becoming a tad selfish and tunnel visioned to only themselves.  The orphans who lived there struggled to provide for everyone, but no one was paying attention, until one of them decided to run away to have one less mouth to feed.  The ogress found her in the woods and took care of her, but returned her to the town.  In doing so, it started a chain reaction of what was really going on and how to get the town back to the wonderful place it used to be.

Lovely story with great themes to teach about.  Great for grades 4 and up.

A Taste of Magic by J. Elle

Kyana lives with her single mom and grandma in the inner-city.  Her mom works several jobs and her grandma kind of runs the house.  When Kyana turns 12 and discovers she is a witch,  she finds out her family has had witches in it for a long time.  She also discovers there has been magic all around her neighborhood, that she now can see.  She starts to attend magic school in the back of a hair salon and she is excited to start to learn all the different skills and specialties she can until the funding for her school disappears. She comes up with an idea to enter a baking contest to win money to fund the school, but when she adds a little magic in things go horribly wrong.

Loved this telling about family, hard work and not judging people from first impressions.  This is the first book in the series of Park Row Magic Academy.  Grades 5 and up.

 

The Swag is in the Socks by Kelly J. Baptist

 

Xavier lives with his Aunt Kat and his sister.  As he turns 12,  his Uncle Frankie Bell gives him a pair of crazy looking socks with some challenge to get out there and do things.  Xavier wants to be part of a service organization at school that his dad was in and Frankie Bell were in.  However, when he applies, because he is pretty quiet and keeps to himself, he doesn't get in.  He decides to work to getting in in the spring and with a little help from Frankie Bell's socks and advice challenges, Xavier starts to break out of his shell.

Love, love, love this book so much!  Xavier's parents are incarcerated, his aunt is raising he and his sister on a low income, but there is so much heart in this book and Xavier works hard and it pays off. Great for grades 4 and up. 

Ravenous Things by Derrick Chow

Reggie Wong has lost his father.  His mother doesn't seem to be dealing well with it and has basically closed herself off from everything.  When Reggie meets the Conductor, who promises him his hearts desire to get his dad back, he goes on a subway with all the other kids who have been promised the same thing.  After he is reunited with his dad, he realizes something is not right and that his dad is not the same.  They start to relive the same day over and over and Reggie finds out it is all a hoax, however when he tries to return home he and his friends realize the Conductor has taken over their lives and their town.  They wonder if things will ever go back to how it should be.

This is loosely based on the Pied Piper.  Great creepy, crawly book.  I listened to the audio book for part of it and read the rest because I just had to finish to find out what happened.  Great for grades 4 and up.

Ripped Away by Shirley Reva Vernick

Abe is a loner.  He's smart and creative, but just quiet.  He likes a girl Mitzy and passes by her everyday after school, but never talks to her.  On one afternoon he sees a sign he has never noticed before.  Fortunes read.  He goes to have his read and ends up travelling back to 1888 London as a jewelry apprentice.  The next day Mitzy is transported as well.  They have both been given tasks of preventing a murder and travelling on a boat.  Jack-the-Ripper is on his killing spree and Jews are being blamed for it.  Abe and Mitzy work together to figure out their tasks and try to get home.  

Reminded me of The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen with the time travel back into the past. It is a quick read and keeps you going.  

 

 

Cautionary Tales by Ridley Pearson

California wildfires are happening so school has been cancelled.  Billie and Tim have gone to work with their parents at Disney Studios.  Tim loves helping in the archives with inventory and stuff, but he's been told to "NOT TOUCH ANYTHING".  Billie loves reading scary stories that involve Disney Villians.  Tim discovers a covered Mirror and it shows him with different masks on.  When he takes one off another shows up and he can never get to his real face.  He tries to show Billie, but she doesn't see it.  After she leaves he ends up getting sucked into the mirror and he is in Beauty and the Beast's story and the Enchantress has said he can't leave unless he gets her the handheld mirror.  In the real world Tim is missing and Billie decides to check out the mirror they were looking at earlier.  She sees the handheld mirror behind her in the mirror, but doesn't see it when she turns around.  When she feels it behind her she is also transported into the mirror. The question is will they ever get out?

Definitely for Disney fans.  Present day story is interspersed with Disney Villian stories until they pretty much become one story.  

 

Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King

Mac is entering 6th grade and his teacher Ms. Laura Samuel Sett is the self-appointed town watch-dog.  He and his friends are surprised, by how she runs her class until they are given copies of a book they chose to read for book club and find some words and sentences blacked out.  Well, of course that gets their curiosity up, so they head to the local bookstore to find an uncensored copy.  They are very confused why those words are not okay, so they begin fighting the injustice of being "protected".  Who gets to decide what is okay for everyone?  On the other side Mac is also dealing with his dad, who says he is an anthropologist alien studying humans.  Mac struggles with keeping his dad's secret or letting his mom know what is going on.  

I think this book is very timely with all of the book challenging going on in the world.  I would put this right up there with Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.  

 

This Might Get Awkward by Kara McDowell

Gemma's best friend is gone to camp for the summer and Gemma is hanging out at the beach when a ton of kids from school show up blocking her in.  She tries to leave, but gets roped back in by her long time crush Beau Booker, who tells her just to pretend they are together.  As she and Beau head back to the beach he ends up knocking himself out in the water and she is the only one to see it.  She saves him, but he is put into a medically induced coma for his brain swelling to go down.  Everyone now assumes she is his girlfriend and due to her social anxiety she just can't correct anyone.  

Fun book.  Reminded me of the movie While You Were Sleeping, but for teenagers. Clean romance with some plot twists.  Gemma is raised by her dad, Beau's brother has some "issues" and Gemma learns to deal with her anxiety and make some friends. 

 

 

Jennifer Chan is not Alone by Tae Keller

 

Jennifer Chan moves to a small town in Florida from Chicago with her mother.  Her dad had died when she was younger.  She happens to move across the street from Mallory Moss.  Mal is best friends with Reagan and Tess.  Mal really cares what people think of her and being accepted.  When Mal meets Jennifer for the first time, Jennifer shares that she trusts Mal enough to tell her she believes in aliens, yeah, those kind of outer space aliens. Mal knows that is not something she can share with her friends because it will be bad for Jennifer.  As school begins Mal notices Jennifer is not really fitting in anywhere, and she feels bad, but not enough to do anything.  Soon Jennifer is missing(did she run away or did aliens abduct her?) and Mal decides it is up to her to find her.  

Told in part present and part past (great for teaching flashback) it is a struggle of fitting in, making the right choice, and not always knowing what others are going through.  Mal also struggles with figuring out who she is, who she truly is.  Is she a mean girl or just making mistakes?  Very relatable for middle schoolers.  I also think that this book is not all perfect people, perfect ending, etc.  

To me this book was okay,  however it is setting with me and I'm thinking on it.  I would recommend it to my students.  

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman

 Told in three voices:  Rifka (1942), and Valentina and Oksana (1986). Valentina and Oksana are school peers and have woken up to an explosion at Chernobyl.  Both of their fathers work there and they live in the same building, however Oksana doesn't care for Valentina.  Oksana's dad calls Valentina's family dirty Jews.  As Oksana discovers her father has died, she and her mother prepare to evacuate the city, but her mother has been contaminated by radiation.  Valentina's father is in the hospital, and she and her mother are also evacuating.  They offer for Oksana to come with them, and she does.  Valentina's mother has to send them on alone to her mother.  Valentina has never met her grandmother.  As Oksana and Valentina begin to get to know one another, they become close friends.  

Interspersed within their story is the story of Rifka, a Jew, who is running away from the Germans and tells of her story of surviving WWII.  

I really enjoyed this story not only for the WWII aspect, but the history of Chernobyl.  It is rare to have a middle grade novel written about that bit of history.  I think this will be a popular book for many.

Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas

 Told in two voices, Brian and Ezra.  Brian keeps to himself, and Ezra is popular.  Brian's dad leaves the family and his mother tries to commit suicide.  Brian and his younger brother are placed in foster care, which they run away from.  Ezra realizes he has a crush on Brian and is worried about him.  Ezra contacts Brian and helps him and  his brother get to safety with a teacher of theirs.  As Ezra deals with his feelings and coming out, Brian is dealing with his family and trying to figure out what will happen to him and his brother.  

The characters are deep and real.  This is not a glossed over book and I enjoyed seeing the thoughts and interactions.  

Dead Wednesday by Jerry Spinelli

Robbie, AKA Worm, is in 8th grade.  Every year the 8th graders participate in Dead Wednesday where the students are assigned a teenager who died in the previous year by things that could be avoided, such as drugs, alcohol, texting while driving, etc. The students always look forward to it because they become "invisible" and can pretty much get away with anything, burping in people's faces, climbing on desks, you name it and they get out 1/2 a day early.  Robbie and his best friend Eddie along with the entire 8th grade is planning on going to watch a huge fight at 12:30, but Worm's mom keeps texting him that she needs him to come home and help with the writer's retreat they own.  As Worm starts his day he gets his assigned dead kid, Rebecca Finch.  Things are kinda weird as the teachers don't talk to them, make eye contact with them, or anything.  Worm really thinks it's weird that he keeps seeing a girl in raspberry colored pjs. Once he gets close enough to see her face he realizes it is Rebecca, his dead kid!  Is he going crazy or is something else at work here?  He and Rebecca try to figure it out.  

Wow.  What a great book.  Worm is insecure, shy, and defers to Eddie.  He thinks the whole Dead Wednesday is stupid, but in participating learns a lot about himself and life in general.  Such a great what if book for small choices we make everyday.

 

 

Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein

 Will is starting 7th grade.  He was supposed to get community service hours over the summer in preparation for his bar mitzvah, but he didn't so now he has to start visiting a 16 year old in the hospital.  He does NOT want to do that, he HATES hospitals.  His dad died when he younger in the hospital.  Will also has a health issue and his chin and mouth area will need surgery.  Because of his chin deformity he wears his hoodie around his face, but a couple of boys at school started the nickname Turtle Boy.  He also really likes turtles and has captured 4 in the nature preserve behind the school and has them at his house.  As he and the boy in the hospital, R J, begin to become friends, RJ shares with Will his bucket list for Will to work on.  One thing at a time, and eventually will realizes that RJ is terminally ill.  

LOVE THIS BOOK!  So many great things to say... compassion, empathy, doing hard things, dealing with death, not fitting in, overcoming fear, standing up for others even when you're scared, etc. This would be a great book for a book study group or even a read aloud.  

Dark Waters (Small Spaces #3) by Katherine Arden

 Brian, Ollie and Coco are back and anxiously waiting to see what will happen next with the Smiling Man after they defeated him in Dead Voices.  They are scared to look in mirrors and keep doors locked.  When they get a black round paper from him with a message they try to figure it out to keep clear of him.  AS the three friends take a boat trip with Ollie's dad and Coco's mom, they end up in dangerous peril after passing through a fog and end up on an uncharted island, with no boat, a scary monster, and a ghost.  

I was very disappointed in this one.  I loved the first two books in the series and hope that the 4th book will come back strong to finish the series.  

Rule of Three's by Marcy Campbell

 Maggie's life is going along pretty well, she has two best friends, Olive and Rachel,  one of which seems to be pulling away.  Her parent's "almost divorced" several years ago, but seem fine now and suddenly a boy shows up, Tony.  Tony is her dad's son! Her half-brother!  His mom is in rehab for drugs and she sent him to live with them while she gets her life together.  On top of that her grandmother is dealing with Alzheimer's and will have to move into a memory facility.  Maggie is trying to hold it all together.  She loves designing and when a school contest comes up to decorate parts of the school she and her two friends sign up.  They are called BFF, but Rachel doesn't seem to be up to participating, which just leaves her and Olive to finish the project.  Maggie's life comes to a head and she blows, but in the end pulls everything back together and realizes what is truly important.

It was okay.  It wasn't a book that I just loved and I had to make myself go back to keep reading.  Not my fav...

Violets are Blue by Barbara Dee

 12 year-old Wren's parents have divorced, her dad moving far away with his new wife and baby, and her best friend seems to hate her.  Wren's mom decides they need a fresh start so they move to a different school and job.  Wren's mom is a nurse and works a lot, which Wren is used to.  As she starts at a new school Wren's mom wants her to get involved and make friends.  Wren ends up doing the make-up for the cast of the school play to get her mom off her back.  She is really into costume make-up and her new step-mother sends her stuff all the time, but Wren hides it from her mother to not cause her mom to feel bad or angry.  Things seem to be falling into place for Wren when she starts to notice her mom is napping all the time, locking her bedroom door and sometimes tells her she is working when she isn't.  As Wren discovers her mom's secret addiction, things turn upside down again and Wren wonders if things will ever be "normal" again.

GREAT book.  Highly recommend.  Barbara Dee does it again, delving into teenagers dealing with their parents choices while also dealing with their social acceptance.

The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt

 This book takes place many years after When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. 

Rylee, Toby's daughter, is struggling to "belong" in her small town of Antler.  Twig has had an international trip and comes back seeming more mature or fashionable or something and Rylee feels like she has grown apart.  Her best friend Twig seems to be pushing her away and Rylee really doesn't have many friends, so when Joe moves in from New York, Rylee ends up befriending him as she works at her family's snow cone shop during the summer.  As people in the town are gifted photos from a deceased neighbor, Rylee hears some about her dad and uncle's experience with Zachary Beaver and Rylee and Joe determine to find him.  

Set against the backdrop of 9/11, readers will experience all the angst of middle school and the changing times of friendship, acceptance, and secrets.  

A Thousand Minutes to Sunlight by Jen White

 

It seems there is a plethora of anxiety/ depression books for middle schoolers and I’m glad. I think mental illness needs to be addressed for this age and the fact that it looks different for everyone. As Cora’s best friend moves all the way across the country, she is worried about school, she has no other friends, she had a panic attack and feels like she is a weirdo no one likes and everyone makes fun of. After running away from school she is put with a “friend” Patrick, who Cora thinks is a weirdo. She feels he is a forced friend. Her brain, Brain, tells her a lot of negative things and as Cora and her therapist work through things, she begins to realize that she can do things and can be in charge of Brain. I liked the story and will recommend this to students not only for anxiety, but for making friends.

The Gilded Girl by Alyssa Colman

 

Set in 1906 New York, Emma is a wealthy girl sent to school to learn how to kindle her magic so she can keep it forever.  Izzy on the other hand is a maid, who has magic, but will not be able to keep it since she is poor.  Emma's father is killed in an accident and she is then penniless.  She is put to work at the school to pay off her debts.  She and Izzy decide they will learn how to kindle their magic and keep it and in the process start an almost revolution for those who are less fortunate to have the rights to keep their magic.  

I liked the story.  It was okay, but not the best.  I really can't point to any one thing.  It had plenty of intrigue, girl power/ confidence, a talking cat, and an evil head mistress.  I would recommend it to my magical loving students.