By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

A story of resilience, Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero by Kelly J. Baptist addresses the issue of homelessness from a child’s perspective. The Dunn family’s homelessness is brought on by the death of Isaiah’s and Charlie’s father, Gary Dunn, on November 24 due to a heart attack. Gary’s wife, Lisa subsequently falls into a debilitating depression accompanied by a bout with alcoholism. While his mother is incapacitated by grief, Isaiah is expected to watch and entertain his four-year-old sister and to keep up in school at Woodson Elementary.  This ten-year-old young man is forced to accept other responsibilities, as well.  Hoping to get the fundsRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

Readers of Wendy Maas, Wendelin Van Draanen, and Sarah Dessen will also likely enjoy Keep It Together, Keiko Carter by Debbi Michiko Florence.  The title character, Keiko Carter, is looking forward to seventh grade with her two besties: Jenna Sakai and Audrey Lassiter.  However, their long-standing friendship is rocked by changing interests and complications with dates to the Fall Ball. Boy-obsessed fashionista, Audrey is a fan of online quizzes, yoga, and the spotlight, while Jenna is more interested in journalism, study habits, the honors track, and quiet moments. Caught in the middle, chocolate-loving Keiko is a fixer.  Because she prefers a conflict-free life, she triesRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

Whether readers celebrate National Space Day in May, World Space Week in October, or simply dream of someday being an astronaut, We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly is an inspiring book. It will also appeal to those who enjoy arcade games or who have ever wondered about family, friendship, tragedy, science, and exploration. Kelly’s book follows three plot threads as it accompanies the experiences of Henry Nelson Thomas (aka Fitch), Bernadette Nelson Thomas (aka Bird), and Cash Nelson Thomas.  The perspectives of these three siblings add unique insights to being twelve and thirteen while living in Delaware in the 1980s. Fitch received hisRead More →

By:
On:
In: Elementary Book Reviews, Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

Hi, my name is Sabrina. I live in Arizona. I am 10 years old and in the 5th grade. I have recently read the book Can You See Me? by Libby Scott & Rebecca Westcott. This is my review on it. Personally, I think this is a very good book. It is great for readers in the 5th and 6th grades, so mostly ages 10-13. The story follows an 11 year old autistic girl named Tally who is going into the 6th grade. Can You See Me? helped me better understand what autism is and what it feels like to be autistic. This book includedRead More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

Author of the Stonewall Book Award for Hurricane Child, Kacen Callender has written a new book, King and the Dragonflies targeted for readers in grades three through seven. Set in Richardson, Louisiana, King and the Dragonflies relates the challenge that twelve-year-old Kingston Reginald James has in coping with the sudden and unexpected death of his sixteen-year-old brother Khalid.  While enduring the waves of grief, King must also navigate a series of identity issues on his own since his parents are immersed in their own grief, and his older brother is no longer around to confide in. Shy and prone to reticence, King loves anime, enjoysRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

Targeting ‘tweens, How to Disappear Completely by Ali Standish is an interesting novel about difference, not only about how we treat others who are different but the ways our own differences can empower us and even transform us into more than we thought we could be. It is also a book about navigating junior high school and about coping with death. Set in Lanternwood, a town with the feel of stepping back in time, the plot revolves around twelve-year-old Emma Talbot who has just lost her grandmother, who is also her best friend. With Gram, Emma had lived in a world “made of old booksRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

In his newest book The Other Better Me, Antony John writes about fifth grader Lola Harmon and the emptiness she feels by not having her dad in her life.  As this inquisitive and energetic people-person navigates life with her classmates at Shoreline Elementary school in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, she learns some important lessons about identity and about bullying behavior and bullies. Lola’s best friends are Nick Merlo and Kiana Richards.  Both live more affluent lives than Lola, who resides in a mobile home with her single mother who battles a thyroid condition.  Lola describes Nick as igneous rock since he resembles cooled lava. Read More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

Like a tower built from Jenga blocks, eleven-year-old Piper Trudeau’s former life in Cypress Point, Texas, all comes crashing down after a series of unfortunate events: her parents’ job hours cut, lost jobs, unexpected medical bills, car trouble, bills piling up, and eventually an eviction.  Now, she and her family are homeless and living in a shelter in Idaho—experiencing new places and new people and learning that a rough patch can seem like a “football field full of briars” (39). But this is only one plot thread in Stay by Bobbie Pyron, a novel targeted for middle grade readers that alternates between the story ofRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Realistic Fiction
With: 0 Comments

All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker tells the colorful story of Olympia, a twelve-year-old artist who is named after a painting by French painter Manet.  Olympia’s (aka Ollie) dad Graham is an art restorer and her mom Doll is a sculptor.  The family lives in the Soho neighborhood in Manhattan, New York. Ollie’s best friends are Alex, an agile young man who Spiderman’s his way up a wall and who practices jumps like a stuntman in training; and Richard, a monster aficionado fascinated by science who is developing a scrapbook that he calls the Taxonomy.  Using her sketching talent, Ollie will occasionallyRead More →