Debut author Sarah Jean Horwitz brings to life a fun and frolicking middle grade adventure, packing it full of enough fantasy, humor and heart to make giddy even the most finicky reader.

Felix Cassius Tiberius Carmer III is a magician’s apprentice and an amateur inventor, though his passion truly lies in the pursuit of the latter. But the makeshift family he’s found in the likes of his master, Antoine the Amazifier, and his lovely assistant, Kitty Delphine, is all Carmer has, and he can’t abandon them now, when their show is facing financial ruin. Elsewhere in Skemantis, something sinister is attacking faeries, and one-winged faerie princess Grit is determined to find out what’s going on. Carmer and Grit couldn’t be more different, but they’ll have to figure out how to work together if they’re to solve either of their problems.

In a story populated with small boys with impossibly long names, cat automatons and feisty faeries, Horwitz strikes a balance between being humorous and fun and also holding deeper meanings that stretch beyond mere entertainment and make a lasting and important impact on the lives of the young readers. Through Carmer and Grit, kids will learn what it is to surpass what others see as your limitations and embrace them, rather than trying to ignore or hide them. They will see a model of how to work, and even form a friendship, with someone very different from themselves, and the many unexpected benefits that can bring.

Great life lessons and tons of fun await anyone who ventures into this landscape of steam-powered cities and faerie-inhabited willow trees.

The unlikely pairing of a young girl from Minnesota obsessed with bees and an up-and-coming baseball player from the Dominican Republic produces pure magic in Kurtis Scaletta’s latest middle grade novel.

During a family vacation to Florida, Maya’s family catches a Minnesota Twins’ baseball training camp game. One young player notices Maya’s older sister and signs her outstretched baseball. At that moment, Maya decides to become a fan of that player, Rafael Rosales, even though he has the worst statistics on the team.

Multiple storyline undulate throughout to form a coherent whole. The backstory of a young Rafael growing up in the Dominican Republic reveals how he joined the Twins; Maya’s story highlights her concern for the environment (a subplot involves Maya criticizing her father’s company for dubious environmental practices and the surprising results of that criticism); and Rafael’s career in the United States, partially followed through Maya’s sister’s baseball blog, touches upon the dark side of baseball recruiting. As punishment for taking Maya to a baseball game without permission, Maya’s sister loses her blogging privileges. When Maya gives a brief update to the blog, the blog becomes an internet sensation, and the girls become minor celebrities. Through the lens of fame, Maya and her family have to examine their principles and how far they are willing to go for their beliefs.

Rooting for Rafael Rosales hits for the cycle with its multilayered storylines, and Scaletta triumphs with a grand slam.

Christina Baker Kline’s adapts her bestselling Orphan Train for young readers with Orphan Train Girl. The main difference between the two versions, other than length, is the protagonist’s age: In the adult version, she’s an older teenager; in the new version, she’s in middle school.

Molly Ayers is a preteen struggling to fit into her latest foster home, and after stealing a book from the library, she must do 20 hours of community service. Molly’s assignment is to help Vivian Daly, who is nearing 100 years old, clean out her attic. Molly is sure that this old lady will not approve of her, but Vivian turns out to have more in common with Molly than she thought.

Kline reveals their often-parallel stories in alternating chapters. Molly’s are set in the current day and reveals her life as a half-Penobscot Native American finding her way without a tribe to guide her. Vivian’s story flashes back to her arrival in New York with her Irish family and follows her on her journey after she is orphaned by a fire. As Molly learns about Vivian’s story, she begins to find peace in her own situation.

Kline’s prose is fluid and draws readers into the characters, and each chapter’s cliffhanger ending keeps the pages turning. Part coming-of-age novel, part historical fiction, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Jennifer Bruer Kitchel is the librarian for a Pre-K through eighth-level Catholic school.

Even when we can’t quite understand it, we know there’s a deep and special bond shared by family. In The Emperor’s Riddle, readers learn firsthand just how strong that bond can be—even with half a millennium of time, half a world of distance and half a life of wisdom separating family members.

When nearly-12-year-old Mia is dragged away from her American friends for an awkward family trip back to Fuzhou, China, the only thing that keeps her excited about her lost month of summer is hanging out with her Aunt Lin. For years, Aunt Lin has been telling Mia about their ancestors’ ties to a young emperor who ruled China more than 600 years ago and had hidden a massive treasure that no one has ever found. But now that Aunt Lin has discovered an incomplete map and a handful of riddles, she and Mia can finally solve it—together.

But when Aunt Lin suddenly goes missing, Mia must solve the emperor’s riddles and finish the map alone, no matter the cost. It’s the only thing that gives her a chance of saving her Aunt Lin.

Author Kat Zhang flexed her adept young adult literature muscles with her phenomenal The Hybrid Chronicles trilogy. Her first foray into the middle grade arena perfectly embodies that challenging period of childhood when we’re all first learning to trust ourselves—no matter our insecurities—while convincing our families to do the same.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

Three Pennies by Melanie Crowder is a gorgeously told orphan’s tale, with an old-fashioned ring that pairs with modern elements to create a fast-moving, carefully structured plot.

Eleven-year-old Marin Greene lives in a foster home in San Francisco where she tries to tell her fortune using the I Ching book that once belonged to her mother, who abandoned Marin at age 4. When a single, lesbian surgeon named Dr. Lucy Chang hopes to adopt Marin, the preteen becomes more determined than ever to reunite with her birth mother, despite the appeal of this extraordinarily kind, loving physician.

With short chapters that keep the action rolling, the story unfolds from multiple viewpoints that include Marin, Dr. Lucy and Gilda, a hardworking social worker who gives readers an informative peek into the thorny world of foster care. Marin also has a guardian angel in the form of an owl who watches her carefully, adding yet another uniquely wise voice to the mix.

Neither Marin’s nor Dr. Lucy’s life has gone as planned (the doctor loved a woman who died), but when an earthquake strikes, they realize that they’ve found each other. Three Pennies is an enjoyable reminder that despite the many “topsy-turvy changes that come with this life,” unexpected guardians are often waiting to guide us.

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Eleven-year-old Joe Grant, who has never felt rain or sunshine, often wishes “my real world was as big as the one in my head.” As the only person in England with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), Joe was born without an immune system and has spent most of his life in a “bubble,” a specially designed hospital room in London. In his first novel for children, author Stewart Foster offers a glimpse of the highs and lows of this difficult yet remarkable life.

Joe tells his own story, countering fatigue, fear of getting sick, endless therapies, isolation and even occasional thoughts of death with dreams of being a superhero. Like most boys his age, he enjoys sports and video games, and like anyone, he craves friendship. Joe looks forward to visits from his older sister and Skypes with Henry, a boy in Philadelphia who also has SCID. But the predictability of Joe’s world is shaken when Henry, thanks to a suit designed by NASA, has the chance to walk outside. Joe begins to wonder if his new daytime nurse, an Indian immigrant named Amir, could assist with a similar adventure.

Readers, particularly fans of R.J. Palacio’s Wonder, will admire Joe’s strength, courage and hope. His tender story reaffirms humanity.

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

BookPage Children’s Top Pick, May 2017

Clayton Byrd is a bluesman. Despite his young age—and the fact that he can’t quite get those blue notes to wail like his grandfather and best friend, Cool Papa Byrd, can—he knows he’s a bluesman. He can feel it deep down in the pit of his stomach.

And like a true bluesman, when his grandfather dies, Clayton turns to music for solace. One problem: His mother has hidden his harmonica because he keeps falling asleep in class. Faced with the loss of his grandfather and a mother whose pain blinds her to his needs, Clayton recovers his harmonica and takes a note out of Cool Papa’s songbook—he hits the road.

But on his way to join up with Cool Papa’s backing band, the Bluesmen, Clayton runs into a pack of wayward youths who spend their days on the subway, dodging the police and dancing for spare change. Drawn by the beat-boxed rhythms that accompany their dance, Clayton adds his harmonica melody to the mix and quickly finds himself embroiled in their less-than-sunny subterranean world.

When his plan to join the Bluesmen goes bust and he finds himself holed up in a police station, waiting for his mother to pick him up, Clayton begins to grasp the desperation and despondency that births the blues anew in each generation.

In Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, three-time Coretta Scott King Medal winner Rita Williams-Garcia has crafted an endearing family drama with all the wit, wisdom and resonance of the best blues songs.

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The storytelling and visual talents of Tania del Rio and Will Staehle come together in the second installment of the Warren the 13th series.

In this next chapter, Warren and the quirky staff of his now-famed “walking hotel” are traveling throughout the countryside. All is well, with the daily routines of this most unusual of hotels running smoothly—until an unexpected breakdown leads to an unplanned trek into an ominous forest and the discovery of Warren’s unwholesome lookalike, a dastardly chap by the name of “Worrin,” who’s determined to seize control of the remarkable hotel from the boy who claims rightful ownership to that moniker.

This bitingly witty, outrageous story is absolutely one of a kind. It delivers in both written and visual elements, with the clever story complemented and enhanced by striking illustrations found on nearly every page. The text and visuals are integrated so seamlessly that they create an almost cinematic experience for readers, immersing them more fully into the imaginary world than a regular novel typically could. The story itself is not only laugh-out-loud funny but also whip-smart, challenging young readers to use their minds while also keeping them entertained.

Replete with adventures and mayhem including quicksand, secret codes, witches, angry trees and more, Warren the 13th and the Whispering Woods is unlike any book out there, in the best way.

Rebecca Donnelly’s debut novel is a treat on many levels. The format, prose style and story are all appealing, making this middle grade book a solid read for audiences of all ages.

The hero of the story, Sidney Camazzola, is a middle schooler with dreams of one day becoming a play director. He and his family are deeply involved with the Juicebox, the local children’s theater. But the theater is in danger of closing due to lack of funds, so Sidney and his pal Folly King must come up with a plan to save it.

As Sidney tells the story directly to the reader, he explains how he has designed the tale in the form of a play. There are three acts, scene changes and cast lists as Sidney builds the drama. The antics of the characters are funny and sincere enough without the play construct, but this format allows readers to understand Sidney while encouraging appreciation for theater as art. The laugh-out-loud moments are tempered by heartfelt character development, as Sidney discovers truths about himself and tries to direct the story to a satisfying conclusion. A fun read from opening scene to final curtain, How to Stage a Catastrophe will be a favorite for many years.

Jennifer Bruer Kitchel is the librarian for a Pre-K through 8th level Catholic school.

“I loved my dad’s tattoos―they told the story of his life,” writes eighth-grader Stevie (named after Stevie Nicks), narrator of Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel. She adds, “Tattoos covered most of his upper body from his neck down to his belly button. He said he’d eventually make it to his toes but he still had a lot of living to do.”

Sadly, her father doesn’t get that chance. And, as it turns out, there’s quite a lot that Stevie doesn’t know about his life, or her mother’s, for that matter. Settle in for the latest offering by National Book Award-winning author Kimberly Willis Holt (When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, Dear Hank Williams); you’ll be in good hands as mysteries, as well as people, reveal themselves.

Stevie’s world―on a small farm near Taos, New Mexico, where her parents have a fruit and flower stand―is shattered when a drunk driver crashes into the stand and kills her parents. She’s sent to live with her estranged, crusty grandfather, Winston, who runs a ramshackle motel in a small Texas town. As they subsist on cans of Campbell’s soup, Winston can’t seem to look Stevie in the eye nor stand to mention her parents.

Thankfully, a host of kind people welcome Stevie, including a handyman and his eighth-grade son Roy; a classic movie fanatic receptionist named Violet; and Horace and Ida, a wheelchair-bound couple who live at the motel. Winston sends Stevie to be home-schooled with Mrs. Crump, an elderly narcoleptic who once taught her mother. As always, Holt adeptly turns her quirky characters into a multidimensional, believable cast.

As with previous novels, Holt sensitively portrays a teen attempting to navigate the world without parents. Carrying on with the gardening skills learned from her parents, Stevie gradually starts building a new life and trying to get to know her grandfather, while secretly working hard to unravel the mysteries of her parents’ past. Stevie’s story begins with tragedy, but Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel remains firmly rooted in hope and perseverance. As Stevie concludes, “Even if life doesn’t turn out exactly like we thought it would, it can still be wonderful.”

As a “Pb,” the lowest of three classes in Lahn Dan, Serendipity’s life is narrowly prescribed: a food pill for breakfast, manual labor for lunch, another pill for dinner and then off to sleep in the cramped pod she shares with her ailing mother. But when she discovers a handwritten map that details a world stretching beyond Lahn Dan’s walled confines—a world her government says no longer exists—everything begins to change. With the light of dawn slicing through the proverbial crack in the wall, Serendipity is left facing a world she no longer fully recognizes or trusts.

Aided by a host of colorful characters—most notably Professor Nimbus, a subversive storyteller whose tales offer the Pb children one of their few delights, and Tab, a rough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside smuggler—Serendipity risks her life to discover what is real. Is her map real? Is there really a world where horses still roam free?

Set in a near-future London, Zillah Bethell’s dystopian world fails to inspire nagging unease, but a storyline that rarely lags makes A Whisper of Horses a memorable tale. It may not keep kids reading late into the night, but it will keep them entertained.

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In a departure from such evocative adult works as Room and The Wonder, Emma Donoghue crafts her first novel for children, The Lotterys Plus One. Set in progressive Toronto, it begins: “Once upon a time, a man from Delhi and a man from Yukon fell in love, and so did a woman from Jamaica and a Mohawk woman.” When the two couples befriended one another, had a baby together and won the lottery, the result is enough money to buy a huge home (dubbed Camelottery) and more than enough love to fill it with seven children (all named after trees).

Told from the perspective of 9-year-old Sumac, the fifth child, the story describes this whirlwind family that lives green without a car, eats all-natural and thrives on individuality. Each child not only has a different racial background but also adds to the family through varying abilities, gifts and gender fluidity. Despite their seemingly chaotic lifestyle, the Lotterys value their rich family history.

The family’s fun-loving harmony is tested, however, when one dad’s father (a racist and homophobe, to boot) displays signs of dementia and moves in with the Lotterys. Even if their grandpa is more of a “Grumps,” can Sumac find it in herself—and help show the rest of the family—to find patience and love for one more?

Donoghue’s quirky family story is a winning combination.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Emma Donoghue for The Lotterys Plus One.

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Since Steffy was 3, she and her sister, Nina, have lived with Auntie Gina. All that changes when their aunt decides to move in with her boyfriend, and Steffy’s dad, a musician she scarcely knows, comes for dinner. Steffy makes homemade pasta and draws a name tag for the stranger who’s about to take Auntie Gina’s place in the bedroom down the hall.

Steffy is a budding chef, and cooking is how she frames her life and makes sense of things. Through cooking, she tries to reconnect with her mother, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident and has to be re-introduced to her daughters each Sunday when they visit. Steffy’s only connection to her mom is the old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook filled with handwritten notes. She carries homemade favorites to her mother’s long-term care facility, fixes the family meals and even enters a cooking contest.

Steffy and Nina want to get close to their dad, but he’s unapproachable. When Steffy does some sleuthing in the church basement where he attends meetings, she hears his secret. Her dad’s an alcoholic, and he’s struggling to get better for his wife and his girls.

Jen Nails draws in readers with a disarmingly simple style. As the story builds, the characters take on more depth. One Hundred Spaghetti Strings shines with nuance and simplicity.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.