Middle Grade Book of the Week: Area 51 Files written by Julie Buxbaum and illustrated by Lavanya Naiou

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publication Date: September 13, 2022.

Summary:

When Skye’s grandmother moves to a retirement community, Skye is not allowed to go with her. Instead, she is sent to live with her Uncle Anish in Area 51. Yes, that Area 51. Rumors of alien landings in Area 51 are true, but there’s a lot more to the story. It’s not some UFO crash site, it’s a place where beings from the entire universe can live in peace. The catch is you can’t leave or communicate with the outside world; it would be too dangerous if the truth ever got out.

The same day Skye arrives a group of zdstrammers go missing. It seems like too much a of coincidence for everyone to believe that they happened to disappear at the exact time Skye appeared. Skye’s uncle soon becomes the first suspect, but she knows he’s innocent. Skye teams up with her new alien buddy, Elvis, a mean kid from school, Zane, to solve the crime. Her pet hedgehog, Spike and Elvis’s dog, Pickles come along for the ride.

My Thoughts:

This was the perfect book for engaging middle grade readers. It’s filled with action, aliens, fart jokes and funny illustrations. I love the characters names. What kid won’t laugh at Agent Belcher and Agent Fartz? The story itself is very entertaining, but the drawings really enhanced the book. In most of the illustrations, Spike, the hedgehog, holds up signs with his own commentary (usually asking for pizza).

September 5, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World by Henry Clark

Summary:

When River, Freak, and Fiona discover a mysterious sofa sitting at their bus stop, their search for loose change produces a rare zucchini-colored crayon. Little do they know this peculiar treasure is about to launch them into the middle of a plot to conquer the world!

The kids’ only hope is to trap the plot’s mastermind when he comes to steal the crayon. But how can three kids from the middle of nowhere stop an evil billionaire? With the help of an eccentric neighbor, an artificially intelligent domino, a DNA-analyzing tray, two hot air balloons, and a cat named Mucus, they just might be able to save the planet.

My Thoughts:

This book was filled with fast-paced zaniness and humor. I love the idea that the plot revolved around a rare crayon. While there is a message of friendship and good vs. evil, it’s mostly just a fun book that kids will love. I think it would be a great book for a reluctant reader who thinks most of the books adults hand them are boring.

August 29, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: The Unteachables by Gordon Korman

Summary

Kiana is spending two months with her father and “stepmonster” while her mother films a movie. On the way to register for her new school her baby brother gets sick and her stepmother rushes off to the doctors before she can register Kiana for classes. Due to a mix-up at that office she ends up in a class for the “unteachables”, kids who the school has given up on.

Normally, a teacher would notice quickly if a student doesn’t belong in his class. But, Zachary Kermit is the most burnt-out teacher in the school. He wasn’t always that way, but a thirty-year-old cheating scandal still haunts him. The superintendent is itching to get rid of him. Mr. Kermit is assigned to the unteachables in hopes that he will resign before cashing in his early retirement. But, something strange happens. The students the entire school dreads, turns out to be the class the best class he’s ever had and revives his love of teaching. But is it enough to save his job? The kids will have to band together to save the teacher they’ve grown to love.

My Thoughts

Korman has a gift for writing books that appeal to the reluctant reader. This is very similar to Ungifted , except now the misplaced student is in a class with troubled students. Like most of Korman’s books it’s told from multiple perspectives, so we get to know all of the kids and adults. This stretches a lot of rules about how schools work, but the outrageous plot and humor draw you in to the story. I hope that, like Ungifted, he writes a sequel.

August 21, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Summary

After his father loses his job, Georges’ family moves to a Brooklyn apartment building. The first day there he notices an invitation to join a spy club. He thinks it’s a joke, but then he meets Safer and his sister, Candy. Safer pulls Georges into a mission to spy on their mysterious neighbor, Mr. X. As the mission continues the lines are blurred between lies and reality, and Safer and Georges both face problems they’ve been avoiding. Meanwhile, his science class is the middle of learning about taste, and the entire class is anxious to see the results of a taste test. According to school legend, your future is determined by whether not you can taste a certain chemical.

My Thoughts

I listened to this book while on a road trip. I think that affected my experience of the book. I liked the plot and the characters but found my mind wandering, as tends to happen to me when I listen to books. I really liked the story with Safer. He’s an interesting, quirky, character from a Bohemian family. He gets Georges into some very comical situations, but also teaches him a lot about friendship. While the story at school was very important and had a great scene where bullies get what they deserve, it didn’t capture my attention as much. I think it was partly the idea that kids would put so much stock in a science experiment (or that a seventh-grade teacher would have the luxury of spending an entire week, just teaching about taste). I do think it would be a great book for class discussions. There are so many cross-curricular activities that could be tied into this book. I loved that she tied in some lessons about the history of spelling, which I find fascinating.

August 14, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Summary

When a ship carrying robots crashes on a deserted island, most of the machines are destroyed. Otters from the island find one still intact, and inadvertently activate it. Knowing no other life, the robot, Roz, learns through observing the animals. At first, they think she’s a monster, but as they get to know her Roz becomes a member of the island. Soon Roz is no longer a regular robot, but a wild robot. She even adopts a gosling. The island residents have no idea that as they are forming a family, there’s a search party looking to recover Roz.

My Thoughts

This book is delightful. I listened to the audio version. The sound effects and voices for the different animals, really added to the experience. I thought this was such a unique concept. The combination of animals and robots has broad appeal to kids. I liked that it didn’t shy away from the harsh aspects of nature but handled them in an honest, matter-of-fact manner that did not make the story too sad. This would be a great book for kids to read independently or to read as a class.

August 7, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine.

This is really my book from last week, but I did not finish in time. Hoping to squeeze in another one in the next few days so I’m back on schedule.

Summary

It’s 1958 and Little Rock, Arkansas is divided over the issue of desegregation. As the book opens Marlee Nisbett is more concerned with her own fears about starting middle school than politics. The math whiz is terrified of talking to others. Then she meets a new girl, Liz, who helps Marlee overcome her fears. Then, it’s discovered that Liz is black girl “passing” as white. She is expelled from school and forbidden from making contact. However, the bonds of friendship cannot be broken that easily. The girls continue to meet in secret. Liz helps Marlee find her voice and Marlee helps Liz think before she speaks. As the tension surrounding school integration increases, the girls begin to take an active role in creating change. This brings the danger closer to home.

My Thoughts

The Lions of Little Rock highlights an important historical event. Set around the desegregation of Little Rock’s schools I thought it did a good job of showing characters beliefs evolve throughout the book, without being unrealistic. Characters don’t go from extreme racists to activists. It’s a much more subtle change as people who were content to accept the status quo realize they can’t stay silent any longer. It does a great job of showing how to organize and make change.

While the historical element is obviously the driving force of the story, the story is relatable to anyone trying to find their voice. At the beginning of the story Liz asks to be Marlee’s partner for a project because she realizes that due to her silence Marlee doesn’t get credit for her work. Instead of letting Marlee do all the work then taking credit, Liz works with Marlee to help overcome her fear of public speaking. Throughout the story, Marlee begins speaking to more people and she realizes it gets easier. It’s beautiful to see the difference one friend can make.

While I really enjoyed this book, I see it more as a great book to read in a class than one that a typical kid would read for pleasure.

August 4, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the week: Heroes Like Us: Two Stories by Onjali Q. Raúf

This week I was fortunate to receive an eARC copy of Heroes Like Us: Two Stories by Onjali Q. Raúfroes from NetGalley. This review is based on my own personal opinions.

Summary

Heroes Like Us is a collection of two stories in which children make a difference and become heroes.

The first story, The Day We Met the Queen, takes place after the events of Raúf’s previous novel, The Boy at the Back of the Class. After a group of friends help their refugee friend, Ahmet stand up for other refugees, the Queen of England wants to meet them. Not everyone is happy about this, including politicians and Brendan-the-bully, who aren’t above sabotaging the kids’ big day.

The second story, The Great Food Heist is about a boy whose family is struggling to make ends meet after his father leaves. His mom works hard and does everything she can to make the best of a difficult situation but putting food on the table is a constant struggle. They’ve been getting by with programs at school and using the local food bank. But, when someone starts stealing from the local food bank, Nelson and his friends are determined to catch the thieves.

My Thoughts

These stories send a great message to kids about how anybody can become a hero, if they are willing to stand up for what is right. Sometimes books with these themes can become a bit preachy and are more appealing to adults than kids. However, these stories have a lot of humor and action that engage kids. What kid wouldn’t love reading about stink bombs being set off in the middle of an assembly?

I had not read The Boy at the Back of the Class but was still able to follow the story with no problem. I intend to read it now because I want to know more about these characters. I think it would’ve made it a little more meaningful, so I would recommend reading it first.

July 24, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: Al Capone Throws me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko

For this week’s middle grade book, I returned to one of my favorite middle grade series: Tales from Alcatraz.

Summary

Al Capone Throws Me A Curve is book four in the Tales from Alcatraz Series. The Flanagans, like the other families of Alcatraz guards live on Alcatraz. Moose, the narrator, always tries to do what is right, but keeps getting mixed up in schemes invented by the warden’s daughter, Piper. When Piper isn’t getting him in trouble, Moose is busy protecting his autistic sister, Natalie.

In this installment the island is getting ready for a visit from the Bureau of Prisons, and Moose’s dad is up for a promotion. Moose is about to enter high school, and his main focus is getting on the baseball team. Natalie is turning seventeen and this is creating new dangers for her living on an island of convicts. If keeping her safe isn’t difficult enough for Moose, Piper is back and sneakier (and prettier) than ever.

My Thoughts

Al Capone Does My Shirts is one of my absolute favorite middle grade books. I don’t love the sequels as much, but they are still great reads. This is the first one I’ve read since visiting Alcatraz a couple of years ago on vacation. While the kids would never have actually been able to get into the cell house or have interactions with Al Capone, the rules of the prison are very true to real life.

I really enjoyed the way the characters have matured in this series but stayed true to themselves. Moose is still trying to take care of everything. Piper is trying to be good but can’t always fight her sneaky impulses. Natalie is making eye contact but is still very young for her age. Mrs. Flanagan is making an effort to be more understanding of Moose’s feelings, but still struggles with seeing Natalie clearly.

What I love most about this series is the way Moose interacts with Natalie. Even though he often resents the responsibilities that come from having a sister with a disability, it is obvious he loves and understands Natalie. It also shows how kids are often more accepting than adults.

I would recommend reading this series in order. There is enough humor, baseball and adventure to keep a young reader interested while still giving touching life messages.

July 17, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

This is week two of my new “middle grade book of the week” feature. As I mentioned last week, I created this feature to motivate myself to reach my goal of reading more middle grade books. I am so glad I did. This was another excellent book.

Summary

When Stars are Scattered is a graphic novel based on the life of a Somalian refugee, Omar Mohamed. Omar and his brother, Hassan are separated from their parents during the Somalian civil war and end up in a Kenyan refugee camp. The majority of the story takes place after they have been in the camp for several years and Omar has the opportunity to go to school. Previously, he didn’t go because he was caring for Hassan, who is nonverbal and suffers from a seizure disorder. Life is difficult in the camp and struggles with maintaining hope. But he works hard to do well in school, and dreams of becoming a UN social worker one day. Eventually, Omar and Hassan are resettled in America where Omar has gone on to help many refugees.

My Thoughts

I don’t read a lot of graphic novels. I keep them in my classroom because I know students like them, but I’m not drawn to them myself. However, I wanted to read this one because it would be a grade companion read for A Long Walk to Water, which sixth graders read at my school. It’s made me rethink my feelings about graphic novels. The format made it an engaging and quick read, without taking away from the depth of the story. I was so impressed with the way Jamieson was able to achieve so much characterization and evoke emotions with so few words. It’s a great inspirational read, that is not intimidating for reluctant readers.

July 9, 2022

Middle Grade Book of the Week: My Storied Year by Katie Proctor

Two of my goals for summer are to read more middle grade books and to write more blog posts. So, I’m going to combine the two and a feature a new middle grade book each week. This will also help keep me accountable. When I wrote my Top Ten Tuesday post this week, I included five middle grade books that I planned on reading this summer. It wasn’t until after I posted that I remembered that there was another book I had to read first. At the end of the year, one of my students gave me (and all of her other teachers) a book for our classroom libraries that she had read with her mom and enjoyed. The week before one of my friends had asked my opinion on an end of year gift for her kids’ teachers. My response was that I wished more students would give me books. Granted, it’s not easy for anyone, including close friends and family, to pick out a book for me because I have so many. But, I love the idea of students sharing books they love for the classroom. I loved this book for so many reasons, it was a great start for my middle grade posts. My Storied Year is somewhat obscure, as it only had 92 ratings on Goodreads. So, I don’t know if I would’ve found it otherwise.

Summary

Dragon (yes, that’s his real name) is a seventh-grader with dyslexia and a slew of problems at home. He spends most of his time at school trying to fly under the radar, except when he can’t control his frustration and lashes out. But, seventh grade is different. The assistant principal tries to help him find ways to cope instead of just punishing him. Then, his English teacher hooks her students as writers by having them share stories. She is such a good writer and storyteller that he can’t hide his interest for long. He slowly begins sharing more with his classmates and finds he actually likes writing.

My thoughts

One of my biggest complaints about books set in schools is that you can tell the author is writing about their own experience at school, which may have been decades ago. Proctor is a teacher, and it shows. This felt like a contemporary school. The way Mrs. Parkman talks about writing from small moments, is a lesson I’ve given myself. The staff obviously has some understanding social emotional learning and has some awareness of why Dragon acts out and how to help him. Without actually saying it, you can tell that Dragon is in classes with special education support, since the same kids are traveling together, but other kids are sometimes added. I could pick out so many of my students in these characters.

Taking away my teacher mindset, as a reader it was just a great story. This a quick read that is intended for young readers, which they will be able to relate to their own lives. However, it still deals with adult themes like the importance of connections and the effects of trauma. It touches on these themes in a way that is accessible to kids. So many times, the books we pick out for students are the books we think they should like from our adult perspective. This meets them at their level. I highly recommend it.

Rating

July 2, 2022