Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson

I read the description and thought, OH NO. This book is going to be sappy and predictable and boring...boy, was I wrong. It’s an emotional roller coaster and action-packed thriller all combined into one. It was NOT predictable in many ways. It had me laughing uproariously and then ripped out my heart over and over again and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. This is one of those books I read in one day, carving out time I didn’t really have to devour a few pages. The story is told from 3 kids’ perspectives, altering chapters as the POV changes. Each character tells the next sequence of events but each child’s voice and story are so unique and yet woven beautifully together to tell a story of heart and courage and explains their connection to their sixth grade teacher. As a teacher, it made me really reflect on what I do to make sure I am one of the “Good Ones” and reinvigorated me for this upcoming school year. I have no idea how kids will respond to this, as it was hard to reflect with my kid hat on (which is never far away but this one struck too close to my grown-upness). If you are a teacher of middle school particularly, read this. Please. 

Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

I struggled with this book...it seems contrived and worked too hard to create the scene or something. I wanted to like it. I wanted to like the main character, Ari, but there was something that made her seem...I can’t put my finger on it, but I didn’t connect. The dolls seemed to be put in the book as a theme to run through and give it a clever title, but didn’t really fit for me with the character herself. I guess there were just bits and pieces of this story that just didn’t flow for me. Regardless, it is the story of a girl who is left in the care of her brother after their mother dies...well he decides he’s not staying with their guardian any more and takes her with him. They couch surf and have no stability, causing her drama at school as she has a hard time getting work done well, etc. There are parts of this story I enjoyed, but not all of it. Not a raving review but I didn’t hate it. Realistic fiction

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

First off, I love Jason Reynolds. He has the voice of a kid, I think. This is about a kid who runs...fast, but he’s never been trained and never really had a purpose before. He inadvertently joins a track team, meeting a coach who challenges him in all the right ways and He begins to realize he has potential and perhaps, should start thinking about his future and maybe even work hard at things. What I love is his genuine struggle to succeed, the emotion you feel when his anger consumes him and his propensity for bad decisions. He does have a basic goodness about him but his anger is real and understandable and makes him human but also means you root for him. It’s a delicate balance and Jason Reynolds does it well. Fun book to read. Realistic fiction.

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

I love it when there are 2 genres that mix...this one is historical fiction and fantasy. The year is 1952 and the effects of World War II on London are apparent and affecting the life of everyone there. As an American arriving to escape the McCarthyism running rampant in Hollywood, Janie Scott and her parents experience it first hand in it’s stark contrast to life in LA at the same time. Janie meets a boy at school and through various coincidences, helps Benjamin find his kidnapped father. There is a surreal fantasy element in that they can use potions to create things that make you invisible, for instance. In the race to find his father, they become partners in this adventure. Janie’s parents are somewhat unbelievable and it made me reflect that often characters like this have no parents because it’s easier to have the character run off for days at a time, etc. Regardless this is a fun book and keeps a good pace throughout the book. 

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I know I have said this before but I LOVED this book. However, having said that, it is violent and has a raw edge to it that is not appropriate for middle school. It’s about a woman in the Second World War and how she becomes a spy. It’s a thrilling ride but much more of an adult book because of the content than a kid book. Because of that, I am not going to get into the plot or describe it very much. Suffice it to say it is fabulous, features women as heroes in a time when they weren't valued and is historically fascinating but has some super raw violence that puts it out of range.

Moo by Sharon Creech

Books by Sharon Creech always make me wonder. They always involve universal themes, but have characters on the edge or out of bounds of what I know of life. This is a book primarily about a girl Reena whose family moves from the urban life in a city to the boonies of Maine. She has a wide-eyed wonder about her, an innocence if you will. As she learns and adapts to the very different life in Maine, she jumps right in, not afraid of the various aspects of rural life. Her parents meet a crotchety old lady and have Reena and her brother Luke help her around the house. As you can imagine, struggles ensue, as the woman is particularly incompetent about giving directions. In these tasks Reena completes, she has to befriend a cow and ends up taking the cow to show at the state fair. The challenges Reena meets are entertaining and I found myself rooting for her and her brother. 

This is a cute story of innocence and the benefits of working hard. The prose itself is written almost in poetry format, as periodically there is a concrete poetry quality about it which doesn’t distract as much as I would have thought.  It actually enhances the voice. It was an easy read.

The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall

The protagonist of this realistic fiction story is Arthur and one day he made a mistake. A big mistake. He picked up a brick and hauled off and hit someone with it, a man who wandered the neighborhood collecting garbage. Of course after he did it, everyone wanted to know why but Arthur doesn’t even know. On his court date, the man he hit, Mr. Hampton, ends up making a deal with the judge for Arthur to do community service. As the story unfolds, the reasons for Arthur’s anger are revealed. This is an interesting tale of how a boy connects with a strange man and how that helps him move past his anger and grow. Grades 5-8

Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton

This was an interesting book that really got me thinking about all kinds of things; stereotypes, racism both blatant and subtle, and fighting the assumptions culture makes. It's a gentle tale of a girl, Mimi, who faces and deals with all these things with grace and kindness. I think it's a bit clean and unrealistic in some ways because I suspect the hatred and racism/sexism was deeper and more dangerous back then but I could be wrong. Vermont is a strange, strange land. Anyway, Mimi moves to Vermont and she is half Japanese and half black. In Oakland, the diversity made her heritage accepted, but in Vermont, she stood out. This Vermont town was also fairly entrenched in traditional roles for girls and boys. Mimi, while also figuring out different aspects of growing up, learns to push back against the barriers holding her in. The characters are well developed and interesting which made the book powerful. Again, I think that these barriers she is breaking down are much harder to actually make any headway, but hope can't be a bad thing, can it? Grades 4-8

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

This is a novel with 3 stories intertwined, sort of. There is the main one about a girl named Bridget, Bridge for short, who is trying her best to navigate 7th grade and all it's ups and downs. She has some really good friends, which helps, but they each have their weaknesses and working through all the mean, crazy and dumb things kids (including cyberbullying) do in middle school is a challenge. The other is an anonymous voice until the end and takes place all on one day but those chapters are interspersed into the others. The third are just letters from one character to his grandfather. Each character is interesting and a bit more nuanced than your typical "dumb girl book" as I call them. This is about teen angst and drama and being mean and picking yourself up, but tends to deal with it in a more honest way, although there is less overreacting than I think happens in real life. I enjoyed it as a fluffy piece that might help those middle school teenagers feel a bit better about themselves and what they are going through. Grades 5-8

House Arrest by K. A. Holt

This story is written in free verse written by the protagonist instead of standard prose. I thought the poetry style did a good job of giving it a rhythm, adding to the character development and it wasn't distracting, as sometimes free verse can be. It's basically the story of a boy who gets caught stealing and is sentenced to remain at home (hence House Arrest) when he isn't in school. What we come to learn is that he's basically a good kid in a bad situation, which is no one person's fault. What I liked about this story is the authenticity of the voice-he genuinely struggles with what is right and wrong and what all the grey in life is all about. There are times the actions and words ring a bit hollow but that's part of the charm as well. It's an interesting story and could help people realize that crimes are always more complicated than wrong and right. Grades 5-8

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar

This story is told through two perspectives, Tamaya and Marshall. Tamaya always walks to school with her neighbor Marshall, who is a year older. The school is an exclusive school and Tamaya works hard, as did Marshall until this year. This year the bullying has gotten so bad, he's giving up on school and on life. Tamaya doesn't know all that is going on and Marshall doesn't want to talk about it. One day, to avoid his tormentor, Chad, Marshall opts for a different route home that takes them through a wilderness area that is forbidden. Tamaya follows along because she has to. As they go through, the tormentor finds Marshall anyway and together Tamaya and Marshall fight him off, by throwing this fuzzy mud at him. This mud is particularly weird and leaves Tamaya's hand feeling odd...I won't give it all away, but it's an interesting tale of bullying and standing up for what's right and all from Louis Sachar's twisted side of reality. Grades 4-7

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia

This story features three black girls who live in New York with their father and his mother. Their own mother abandoned them when the youngest was a few months old. When the oldest, Delphine, is 11, her father decides to send all three girls to Oakland, California to visit their mother. Delphine has always taken care of her sisters and continues to do so when they visit their mother who is, quite honestly, an awful mother. She simply isn't interested in taking care of the three or showing any affection or connection and she is consumed by her poetry and activism. The mother sends them to a day camp put on by the Black Panthers where they make some connections and learn more about the struggles of their people and try to find an authentic voice. Throughout these 30 days, Delphine learns about her self and her mother. Although this is an interesting book, I couldn’t connect to the characters. Delphine, because she was too accepting of bad things and practical for an 11 year old, was hard to love. I wanted her to fight or to break free or at least feel the damage her mother bestowed.  The mother was so far on the spectrum of a crazy and completely uncaring mother, it felt forced. There are plenty of mothers who have abandoned their children but that doesn’t mean they don’t care at all. The story and characters, to me, didn’t ring true, except when dealing with the struggles of being black and finding the right voice (but what do I really know about that?). Grades 4-7

As Brave as You Are by Jason Reynolds

Genie and Ernie are two kids from Brooklyn whose parents take them to stay with their grandparents for a month. They haven’t visited their father’s parents in many years so aren’t familiar with them at all, plus the complete change from Brooklyn to the boonies of Virginia. Both of those are big enough adjustments and then Genie finds our after they arrive that their grandfather is blind. Learning more about his grandfather’s positive and negative characteristics helps make this novel seem real and from a kid’s perspective. Genie is a well developed character and he is very curious, making sure to write down his millions of questions as he goes through life so he can look them up when he has the chance. The adventures they have and the people they encounter are interesting and entertaining. I really enjoyed this little story of a tween’s eyes opening just a little wider about life as it’s gentle and doesn’t try too hard. Grades 4-7

Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan

Ok, confession. I loved this book. It is a story which is very violent at times (which I always struggle to introduce to my students) but is a great story, strong characters and still has such a strong message, revealing a nasty part of our world to people in an accessible way-no preaching. It is the story of Amadou and his little brother who end up at a cacao farm in the Ivory Coast in Africa. They are forced to work there under pretty brutal circumstances and have resigned themselves to work. Amadou is just worried about surviving day to day and keeping his little brother safe. And then the wildcat arrives. She is a girl who seems as though she had been wealthy (there are NO girls there at all) and is willing to fight anything and anyone even though she is constantly beaten and then restrained. She and Amadou eventually become uneasy friends and their lives and future are forever intertwined. Grades 6-8 (violence)

Beneath by Roland Smith

This is a story that mixes fantasy and realistic fiction, as most of it feels realistic fiction until the end where it is a bit too much to be real. Anyway, the protagonist Pat lives in a life where his parents are useless and his brother has disappeared. Eventually his brother reaches out and they communicate for a while until all of a sudden, he disappears again. Pat decides to go find his brother. He runs away to New York and retraces his brother's steps. His brother was living in underground New York and slowly Pat befriends the right people and his adventure really begins. It's an interesting tale, but one that makes it look all to easy to run away to NY and not have awful things happen to you...not very realistic there either. Grades 5-8

Restart by Gordon Korman

Have you ever actually met an awful bully? I've read about them and I have met kids that had potential, but never a really mean person who destroys other kids just for kicks...but we all read about them, right? And I know bullies exist and can be very destructive but it's just never as easy and clean as it is in books. This book is no exception. The twist to this one is that the bully, Chase Ambrose, falls and hits his head, losing all memories of his life. As he returns to school and life, we get to see inside his head as well as a few other characters heads. His realization that he was a jerk and how he is feared and then his subsequent wrestling with who he really is is interesting. As always, Gordon Korman creates strong characters, albeit too stereotypical at times. An easy, entertaining read.
Grades 5-8

Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Can you imagine a “perfect” town? Well Gordon Korman shares what he thinks is a perfect town where everyone lives a comfortable middle-class life. Eli lives in this town Serenity and, when he and his friend break a rule, things begin to unravel. His friend is sent away to care for his grandfather and Eli and his friends begin to discover some deep dark secrets. This book reminds me of Powerless in some ways and it was a fun ride. Grades 4-8

Paper Cowboy by Kristin Levine

This is a historical fiction novel that takes place during the 50’s. The protagonist is a boy named Tommy who has a few struggles. His mother, after having a baby, is struggling with postpartum depression. This is during a time when behavior such as hers was swept under the rug and wasn’t talked about. His father does nothing to help and Tommy ends up caring for his younger siblings and fearing his mother. All his rage comes out in anger towards his peers as he begins to really develop as a bully. This is a thoughtful book about how a bully can be developed and how they can think. It’s a sympathetic look and doesn’t really deal with the reactions of the victims, but it’s a powerful message as Tommy struggles to make things right. The underlying message is that he’s good down deep but needs help finding it. Interesting to see how students respond to it. Grades 5-8 and there is some violence from the mother. 

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brusker Bradley

This is a  historical fiction novel that takes place in Britain just before the bombing started in World War II. The heroine is a girl Ada who is forced to stay home because her mother is ashamed of her deformed foot. Her little brother is afforded all kinds of freedoms Ada isn’t allowed but Ada believes her mother when she tells her she is rubbish. Because of the impending war, all the children are sent to the countryside to be cared for so they don’t perish should London be bombed. This is the story of Ada and her brother escaping London to live in the country with a woman who wasn’t interested in caring for anyone else. It’s a sweet story in some respects but the mother is awful and the struggles of wanting your mother to love you when she won’t is a difficult concept for younger students who haven’t experienced the darker sides of life. Might make for interesting discussions though. Grades 4-8

Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

This is a fantasy/mystery/ghost novel. London is infiltrated with ghosts and demons and only special investigators have the skills to rid the world of these horrors. One such group is Lockwood and Co, which is a trio of teenagers who are skilled but untested. Lucy is new to the group, Anthony is the leader and George is the jack of all trades that runs the behind the scenes. Together they attack a couple different ghosts and learn about working together as a team. The storyline, at times, felt disconnected but the characters came alive for me, so that made it better. It is also pretty gruesome, so those faint of heart won’t enjoy this. Grades 5-8