My boys are in middle grade so I've moved from reading adult to middle grade novels. And you know what? I'm not sure I'll ever go back.
These books are imaginative, bring up social issues, provide hope, and take us on adventures. We finish a novel and crave the next. I applaud these authors and I hope to bring the same feelings to other kiddos (ahem...and some adults) with my future books.
This isn't a complete list. We have even more books we love, but I'll save that for another blog. These are the ones we've read most recently and chose ourselves. Here they are, in no particular order, along with their descriptions.
Description: When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte -- but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.
What we loved: To follow along George's journey and watch as she bravely becomes the person she is here to be.
Description: In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his crazy-about-sports family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and she loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister, Gen, is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just stop being so different so he can concentrate on basketball. They aren’t friends, at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find missing Virgil. Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in his place, and friendship blooms.
What we loved: Following along multiple points of view made this story exciting as each character's individual lives began to intertwine.
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Description: Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father's actions.
What we loved: The truth behind so much that's been hidden by media and our privilege. This book sparked so many conversations in our family that were long overdue. Two children, in different cities and circumstances, were shot and killed by police within weeks of reading the book. Everyone needs to read this book and open their eyes to the injustices around them.
Description: Matthew Corbin suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. He hasn't been to school in weeks. His hands are cracked and bleeding from cleaning. He refuses to leave his bedroom. To pass the time, he observes his neighbors from his bedroom window, making mundane notes about their habits as they bustle about the cul-de-sac. When a toddler staying next door goes missing, it becomes apparent that Matthew was the last person to see him alive. Suddenly, Matthew finds himself at the center of a high-stakes mystery, and every one of his neighbors is a suspect. Matthew is the key to figuring out what happened and potentially saving a child's life... but is he able to do so if it means exposing his own secrets, and stepping out from the safety of his home?
What we loved: We deal with anxious feelings in our house so it was great to have a character dealing with anxiety while doing what he could to help.
Description: It's been five years since Josie squared off against the evil Beryl and her killer haunted dolls. She hasn't talked about it since, and likes to pretend it didn't happen. Too bad she didn't tell her younger sister, Anna. Because Anna is now the one being drawn in to the evil -- and the evil has some new tricks this time.
What we loved: The story inspired my boys to write their own horror and when we sent a message to the author to share our love for the book, he mailed the boys inspiring messages to keep writing!
Description: After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man"--a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm. Then, later, when her school bus breaks down on the ride home, the strange bus driver tells Ollie and her classmates: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed these warnings. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small."
And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.
What we loved: The emotional journey of the characters and the horror they were dealing with. Kept us on the edge of our seat and we read it together in only two days!
*note: this post contains affiliate links which means I'll make a very small commission for my recommendation if you make a purchase through the link
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