With summer right around the corner, the Middle Grade Mafia is proud to present our second annual Summer Reading List. These are just a few books we are excited to pull off the shelf, but not an exclusive list (limiting each person to three is restrictive). Debbie D'Aurelio Capture the Flag by Kate Messner Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel The Turn of the Tide by Rosanne Parry Kevin Springer Ollie's Odyssey by William Joyce Red: The [...]
Happy Book Birthday to Susan Hill Long for her latest release, The Magic Mirror: Concerning a Lonely Princess, a Foundling Girl, a Scheming King and Pickpocket Squirrel (Knopf). Maggie is a girl of no account.The good folk of Lesser Dorste all look away, for she’s a foundling cursed with a crutch. She doesn’t even want to look at herself—till the day she’s given a magic mirror. And what she sees in the mirror sends her straightaway [...]
Review by Laura Raines In a video interview about The War that Saved My Life, author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley says that she hopes readers won’t be able to put it down, that they’ll be taken up with Ada’s story. She also says that she hopes readers will feel the emotions. Her hopes are fulfilled! I devoured this book in a day, rooting for Ada all the way. She made me laugh, cry, fear, hope, and [...]
Sometimes it seems like Grandmothers get no respect in middle-grade books. They sip tea, play bridge or are witches! Watch out! Here come Grannies with style. Who knew bridge playing tea sippers could be such amazing thieves? Not only can they pull off heists, they can teach our middle-grade heroine a thing or two about being fearless. But being fearless isn’t always the same thing as having courage, as AJ soon discovers. When her parents [...]
They’re back! Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester have come up with another recipe for fun. Take one part 1930’s hard-boiled detective series (think Sam Spade and The Maltese Falcon), add a little murder (for spice), mystery (for texture), and humor (just because you can) and you get an adventure middle grade readers will just love. The second book of the Curiosity House series finds Pippa, Sam, Thomas and Max finally happy after the infamous villain [...]
We're happy to announce another book birthday for Tricia Springstubb. Today is the release of Cody and the Mysteries of the Universe. "Cody and Mysteries of the Universe" is the second book in this series, following last year's "Cody and the Fountain of Happiness". The adventures continue as irrepressible Cody and deep-thinking best friend Spencer tangle with the Meen Family next door. Cody puzzles over friendship, how to be patient, the baton of love, and other mysteries in this [...]
The Inn Between is middle-grade horror at its best. Cohen masterfully builds suspense without gimmicks, all while keeping an honest middle-grade voice. The story is engaging, clues to what is going on intriguing, and tension, as strong as you choose to make it. It all depends on your imagination. Readers need not leave the lights on. Parents need not worry for their children. The story does not have monsters or unnecessary violence in it. It [...]
As a kid, I loved monster movies and action flicks. In The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier, I got to relive those glory days. The story is told partly through the typical narrative format, but it is the graphic novel sections that make it a truly fun read. The illustrations by Douglas Holgate are action packed and are done in a style that makes you feel the pictures are about to jump off the page and [...]
Ali Benjamin’s debut Middle Grade book, The Thing About Jellyfish, is luminous. And that’s a terrible pun, I know, but truly this book glows with a subtle inner life, much like the jellyfish that float throughout it. The bones of the story are simple: our narrator Suzy and her best friend Franny drift apart as they enter middle school. Increasingly, Suzy feels isolated as the things that interest her—science facts and the world at large— [...]
There are many MG adventure book on the market, mine included, but I have never come across a book like Dead Boy by Laurel Gale. The main character, Crow Darlingson, is undead (or is it unalive?) and has been forbidden to leave the house by his over protective mother. The only time of year he can venture out is on Halloween, but that’s lost its allure now that he can’t eat the candy. What Crow wants most [...]
