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Xavier T. Fletcher is an odd duck. At ten-years old, he’d rather sit silently watching birds than play catch or go fishing with his brother, Nicholas, and his father, Arnold. When his father unexpectedly loses his job, forcing the family to move to Nana Susan’s farm, Xavier should be ecstatic, but he is unsure. After all, Nana Susan’s goat, Cal Ripken Jr., bit him five years ago, and Xavier hasn’t fully recovered from the traumatic experience. Furthermore, “the idea of going forth to explore real nature, all wild and dangerous and free, feels a bit unnerving to Xavier. But as you may know, sometimes theRead More →

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The Three-Berry Academy by Joseph Helgerson is a whimsical fantasy story for young readers. Born and raised along the Mississippi River, Helgeson is familiar with his setting and weaves river lore expertly into his storytelling. Each chapter features a new character profile, as readers gradually meet the river trolls who will attend Three-Berry Academy where Ms. Quiet Quickthorn guarantees that everyone graduates. The trick is that she has to snare her students first. Each year Ms. Quickthorn—who is known by some to “suck the fun out of a juicy clam without even opening her mouth” (167)—sets traps to entice the river trolls back to theRead More →

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Tracey Baptiste’s recent novel, Boy 2.0 will likely appeal to readers who love science, who express themselves through art, or who themselves struggle with identity issues. By using allusions to artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Eduardo Kobra, and Banksy and through discussions about art and the political statements it makes, Baptiste captures the reader’s interest and develops her main character Win Keegan, aka Coal. Thirteen and an artist, Coal keeps his eyes open for canvases, selecting vacant lots or other spaces to raise awareness. Coal is also a foster child who wonders what happened to his most recent guardian, Tom. A psychotic break marks Tom asRead More →

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In her novel The Empty Place, Olivia Cole explores the themes of identity, truth, family dynamics, and self-discovery. To do this, Cole creates her protagonist Henrietta Lightfoot. Henry is an indoor girl, an earthworm whose father, Joseph, is a butterfly—always fluttering off to some new adventure. To Joseph, adventure is outdoors, where one can wander and discover new places. He shares these places with his YouTube followers who tag along with him on his adventures when his own daughter will not. Instead, Henry prefers the safety of home, “her cluttered desk, dotted with dried hot glue” (44), and the familiarity of her friend Ibtihay UmarRead More →

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With every detention and expulsion and with every scorch mark and emotionally scarred staff member, the legend of twelve-year-old Lavina Lucas continues to grow. Mostly abandoned by her parents who often travel for their work, Vin has not received guidance on how to use and control her magic, and she yearns to figure it out. After all, the Treaty of 1695 does say that “magic must be controlled” (4), and the purpose of magecraft education is to teach discipline, restraint, and control. Because of her infractions, Vin’s latest emotional outburst at Strictland School of Magic has landed her into the last resort for delinquents. SuchRead More →

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Players of Dungeons and Dragons (D and D) will likely enjoy Garth Nix’s recent novel for middle grade readers: We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord. Set in an alternative version of Canberra, Australia, in 1975, Nix’s novel features the Basalt siblings: Eila and Kim, who are friends with the Chance siblings: Bennie and Madir. On one of their excursions wading in a nearby lake, they encounter a peculiar object just beneath the surface. Resembling a “cut-off head with long hair” (10) or maybe an abandoned cannonball, the muddy object captivates Eila.  When Kim tries to wrestle the now glowing orb away from his ten-year-oldRead More →

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Fans of the Nevermoor series will likely fall in love with Steven Banbury’s debut novel for middle grade readers, The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night. Banbury’s magical novel opens as an orphan is attempting yet another escape from the orphanage. Pursued by the orphanage’s two hounds, Watcher and Curfew, our protagonist, logical and unafraid, plots and schemes as she flees. Desperate not to just run away, but to run to something keeps her dedicated to her escape plan as she seeks to find “the happiness she has always read about in books and wants so badly for herself” (13).  Fearlessly looking for a home,Read More →

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With her recent book for middle grade readers, Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell tells a tale of possibility. While the book soars on the fringes of imagination, with its talk of griffins, berserkers, unicorns, and sphinxes, it recounts the power of courage, determination, and a fierce passion for protection. It tells the story of two young people, Malum Arvorian and Christopher Forrester who have an allegiance to wild and living things. Rundell is herself a magician when it comes to creating characters and putting them into situations where their best selves emerge. For example, although Mal’s Aunt Leonor is a sullen and gruff character, she putsRead More →

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Fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit will likely enjoy Blackberry Fox by Kathrin Tordasi. This fantasy adventure will take readers on a journey into the Otherworld, a place where Welsh myths and legends come to life for twelve-year-old Portia Beale and Ben Rees. Driven by curiosity, Portia steals Aunt Bramble’s key, follows a trickster fox, and opens the door to the Borderlands. The fox turns out to be a shape-shifter named Robin Goodfellow, and Portia has no idea what she had done until her previous reality begins to unravel. Despite knowing that humans always end up losing when they make deals withRead More →