Category: Children’s Fiction

My Year in the Middle by Lila Quintero Weaver

Writing: 5 Plot: 4.5 Characters: 5

Thank you to Candlewick Press and NetGalley for an early review copy of My Year in the Middle by Lila Quintero Weaver, which will publish July 10, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.

Excellent middle grade level story about racial tensions in Red Hook, Alabama, on the eve of the gubernatorial election of 1970 (hint: George Wallace wins). Lu Olivera is a fabulous character — she is the quiet and unassuming daughter of Argentinian immigrants who finds her own voice and moral compass as racial tensions manifest in her town and her school.
Lu is one of the few kids who “sits in the middle” in the classroom, with the black kids on one side and the white kids on the other. She finds a talent and passion for running and a new best friend — who happens to be black — to go along with it. As events transpire, and things occur which she knows are wrong, she wants to speak up, but running through her head is always her parent’s refrain: “We’re foreigners. We’re not supposed to get involved.” It’s both a history lesson and a lesson on the perils of conformity, being delivered to just the right age audience.
The characters are real and absorbing, and the plot keeps you on your toes and is appropriate for the middle school audience. The characters are portrayed skillfully as kids who would rather focus on family and friends (and in Lu’s case – boys) than politics but who are reluctantly drawn into these issues nonetheless.
Great book!

 

The Reckless Club by Beth Vrabel

Thank you to Running Press Kids and NetGalley for an early review copy of The Reckless Club by Beth Vrabel, which will publish October 2, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.
Writing: 3/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5

#middle school readers

A sweet retelling of John Hughes’ iconic “The Breakfast Club” with a cast of middle schoolers and an old-age home twist. The “Rebel”, the “Flirt”, the “Drama Queen”, the “Nobody”, and the “Athlete,” are serving detention by spending the last day of summer vacation helping out in an old folk’s home. Needless to say, they aren’t thrilled. Through a pretty convoluted and fast paced plot, they come to terms with who they are, who they want to be, how to prevent bullying, and how better to understand and have compassion for the aging process. It’s heartwarming, interesting, and even tearful at times. While the bulk of the teachers, counselors, and therapists are good people with good messages, there are also some candid depictions of some not-so-great teachers and quite a few absent and / or deficient parents.

The Reckless Club is reasonably well written with attention given to shifting gender stereotypes (for example, the “Athlete” and the “Rebel” are both girls and the female residents of the old-age home are anything but dull). A number of background situations for each student emerge including divorces, absent or nasty parents, bullying, and unpleasant teachers and school situations. Overall a lot of positive messages about aging as well as getting along with other people in general — the students learn compassion, understanding, and the meaning of friendship as applied both to each other and the old folks they have reluctantly come to help.

Little Big Love by Katy Regan

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an early review copy of Little Big Love by Katy Regan, which will publish June 12, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.

Writing: 4 Plot: 4 Characters: 4.5

A big story — simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming — about a family that fell apart after a tragedy that occurred ten years in the past and the young boy who now desperately wants to know his missing father. Part coming-of-age for 10-year old Zac and part coming-to-terms-with-the-past for Juliet (his mother) and Mick (his grandfather), the story alternates between their three voices.

Zac is a wonderful kid – sweet, funny, and with a great capacity for love. He is also overweight and subject to a lot of bullying. He traipses around the Harlequin Estates in Grimsby (Southeast of York) working on his Find Dad Mission with his best friend Teagan. I absolutely fell in love with Zac and with several of the other characters as well. Oddly enough, I had the least sympathy for Juliet, though this possibly says more about my “take charge” personality than it does about her :-))

Well-written (though it could be shortened by perhaps 50 pages in the middle which drags a bit), the novel deals with issues of alcoholism, body shaming, childhood obesity and single parenting. I like the fact that each character recognizes and seeks to address their issues not because of external pressure, but because they recognize that both they and the people they love will be much happier if they do.

I had not heard of Katy Regan before but she appears to be a well-known novelist and journalist in the UK. This is her American debut, and it is quite captivating. I’ll keep her on my “look for more” list.

 

The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group and NetGalley for an early review copy of The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser, which will publish September 25, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.
Writing: 4 Plot: 5 Characters: 5

I loved this young readers book. It is the second in the Vanderbeeker series and every bit as good as the first. It reminds me of some of my favorite series from childhood — the characters became my friends, and I couldn’t wait to go along on the next adventure.

The five Vanderbeeker children live with their parents on the bottom two floors of a brownstone on 141st in Harlem. When Mr. Jeet, the above floor neighbor, has a debilitating stroke, they decide to create a hidden garden in the abandoned lot adjoining the church as surprise for his homecoming. This simple plot line gives rise to opportunities for a whole array of neighborhood kids to contribute while learning about caring, friendship, and the ability to create beauty from nothing.

I love this book for many reasons. These people are regular people. They are neither rich nor poor. Taking place in Harlem, the cast is decidedly multicultural, and there are little hints as to different backgrounds — but that is not the point. Some kids obviously come from loving nuclear families, while others have absent parents, substitute parents, or bits of tragedy in their histories — but that isn’t the point either. These people come together as friends and neighbors; they care about each other and try to help each other out. The book unashamedly models good values and behavior, demonstrating friendship, caring, self sufficiency, and having the agency to make bad situations better. Five stars.

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for an early review copy of Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, which will publish May 1, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.
#Children’s Fiction #Middle Grade
Writing: 4 Plot: 3.5 Characters: 4

A enchanting children’s book by best selling authors Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. Ten-year-old Livy goes back to visit her grandmother in Australia after a five year absence. She has the nagging feeling that something important happened there but absolutely no memory of what it might have been. She was right: once back in her room she discovers a short, green, not-a-zombie waiting for her in her closet. He has been waiting for five years with nothing but a lego set and dictionary for company! Together they work out where he came from and how to get him home while also learning about friendship, loyalty, and family.

Charming, well written, good pacing, grade appropriate.