Caroline Starr Rose’s new historical novel, Blue Birds, gives middle grade readers an intriguing glimpse of some of the earliest settlers who came to the New World. Vivid personalities bring the 16th-century settlement of Roanoke, Virginia, to life as one young settler from England finds a friend who will change her life.

Twelve-year-old Alis is looking forward to the adventure of leaving the dirty and smelly London of 1587, even though she will be the only girl making the journey to the New World. Shortly after her arrival, Alis encounters Kimi, who belongs to the Roanoke tribe. The two girls secretly meet in the woods and develop a firm friendship, despite the teachings of their respective cultures and initial feelings of distrust and anger. The girls cement their bond by each exchanging a mantoac, a spiritual object of protection for the owner. Alis and Kimi’s bond is tested when Alis makes a decision that will affect not only her friendship but ultimately the fate of her family.

Free-verse lines bring to life each girl’s experiences and thoughts as they grow to understand not only new cultures but also themselves. Enduring themes of love, friendship, sacrifice and loyalty reach across the centuries to connect with readers. An appendix contains a helpful glossary of the Native American phrases used in the novel and the history of Roanoke.

Eleven-year-old Ari Hazard is living in the shadow of her mother’s dying wishes: She must get into the prestigious Carter middle school and stick by older brother Gage no matter what. When Gage has a falling out with their guardian, he takes to the streets with Ari in tow. Staying with friends and occasionally at a juvenile shelter, they do the best they can, but the stress is overwhelming. Paper Things uncovers an often-unknown reality that is often hiding in plain sight.

Author Jennifer Richard Jacobson (Small as an Elephant) perfectly captures the reality of being rootless while still trying to present a normal facade. When Ari overhears classmates making fun of her dirty hair, it’s a double blow, reminding her that she doesn’t have easy access to a shower. Her game of “Paper Things,” a dollhouse world made of catalog cutout pictures, lets her grieve for her parents and visualize her ideal home and family at the same time. Tradition is a theme throughout the book, including an elementary school protest in defense of their student activities that gives a nod to civil disobedience.

While the story is sad, it’s also powerfully optimistic. Gage loves and protects Ari, but she’s the one who makes the mature decision to reclaim the childhood that homelessness is stripping away from her. Paper Things treats honesty, compassion and generosity as things we can never have too much of in life. Here’s hoping it inspires more of the same in its readers.

The Chosen Prince occurs in a Greek world imbued with the mysticism of the goddess Athene. Zeus has rent the Kingdom of Acroferra into two warring factions doomed to fight until the time is right for Athene to send a champion to undo Zeus’ punishment. Prince Alexos is her chosen one, and his upbringing is harsh, but his love for his little brother glows brightly.

However, after a series of heart-wrenching events, Alexos commits a shocking act, very much out of character. Despite this, readers will still root for Alexos as he learns to live with his past while forging ahead with his destiny. The true magic of this book shines with the culmination of events on a deserted island. As the tale unwinds, the characters’ actions reveal themes such as power, truth and, most of all, forgiveness.

Readers familiar with William Shakespeare’s The Tempest will discover delightful allusions in The Chosen Prince. Some references are overt: a storm bringing characters to the island; a man and his daughter set adrift at sea to die. Others are subtle: unearthly music, mystical visions or references to a brave new world. However, knowledge of The Tempest is not a requirement for enjoying this finely wrought story, complete with surprising twists right up until the end.

Three months after her friend Sarah dies, Iris Abernathy and her parents move from sunny California to an old farmhouse in rainy Oregon, where the miserable weather suits Iris’ mood. While Iris’ mother is adjusting well to her new job at a university and her father has taken to gardening and raising chickens, Iris can’t move past her grief. She believes Sarah is a ghost living in her new house.

When Iris begins sixth grade, she meets Boris, a socially awkward kid who’s into magic. Iris learns that Boris was a miracle baby and wasn’t supposed to live past his birth. Boris’ cousin, a devout Catholic, prayed for his survival and now, 12 years later, the Vatican is coming to Boris’ house to interview him. Iris wonders, if Boris’ miraculous existence is the evidence of divine intervention, then why couldn’t that same intervention turn Sarah into a ghost? And if Sarah is a ghost, maybe Iris doesn’t have to say goodbye to her best friend.

The Question of Miracles isn’t a story about the supernatural or religion, but rather about a young girl’s grief. Iris’ loss is heartbreaking, and readers will be touched by her strength as she searches for answers, struggles to accept Sarah’s death and embraces the small miracles as well as the big ones.

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

When young Ursula Brown reaches the estate of the Vaughns (who are also recognizable as the Three Bears) to be a governess for their son, Teddy, her story becomes less a simple fairy-tale retelling and more of a mash-up of classic literary tropes.

Set in the Enchanted Forest just outside of Bremen Town, this Regency romance recalls the manners and traditions of a Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë novel. And like the heroines from these popular writers, plain but passionate Ursula finds herself in an impossible love triangle.

There’s more at work than romance, however. Not all of the town’s humans think the talking bears are charming, and many start to consider their species to be superior and voice their discrimination openly. The unexpected arrival of a blonde, petty-thief girl at the Vaughns’ manor only complicates the heated debate.

Peppered with Mother Hubbard, Mrs. Van Winkle (whose husband disappeared and hasn’t been seen in years) and other nursery-rhyme and fairy-tale characters, the story turns suspenseful with the introduction of a villainous individual straight out of traditional literature. Regional dialects and humorous takes on the human-animal relationship add even more amusement. This deceptively simple story will give readers paws—or rather, pause—to appreciate the clever construct and wordplay.

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Finding the Worm is Mark Goldblatt’s second book about Julian Twerski and his 34th Avenue gang, based on the author’s childhood experiences in Queens, New York. The sequel to Twerp continues with language that is simple and accessible but packs a punch, especially when dealing with the sensitive topic of cancer.

When the guidance counselor pulls seventh-grader Julian and his friends out of class, they share the same unspoken fear: that their friend Quentin has died. Quentin has a brain tumor, but fortunately his prognosis is good, and he will soon be returning to school.

Julian, Shlomo, Lonnie, Beverly, Howard and Eric provide a safety net for Quentin that is poignant and believable. They wrestle his wheelchair onto the bus every day, chat at his bedside and cushion him from the ignorant bullies who tease him at school.

Julian’s principal, rabbi, older sister and friends help as he struggles to accept why bad things happen to good people. Finding the Worm offers no glib answer but satisfies with a powerful portrayal of friendship at its most meaningful.

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

BookPage Children's Top Pick, February 2015

You could say Mark is running from death. But, in a way, he’s also running toward it.

When the 12-year-old from Washington state runs away—with his camera, notebook and beloved dog, Beau—he’s got a plan and a reason. “The mountain was calling me,” he says in The Honest Truth. Mark plans to reach the top of Mount Rainier.

Mark has been battling cancer for years. It has once again returned, so Mark decides this is his last chance to make the climb. He leaves his parents and best friend, Jessie, for the adventure of a lifetime. And adventure, indeed, is what he finds. A series of chilling setbacks threaten Mark’s journey but only add to the suspense. The theme of friendship—between Jessie and Mark and between Mark and Beau—is a steady undercurrent that guides the journey as well.

The book is told in alternating chapters, with Mark’s first-person narration juxtaposed against a third-person account of the people searching for him. It’s an effective device, revealing to readers both sides of Mark’s journey.

Inspired by the loss of a friend who loved mountain climbing and dogs, writer/librarian Dan Gemeinhart has taken great care to craft a believable and poignant tale of steely resolve and undying friendship. Reluctant readers will especially enjoy the forward-moving adventure, and dog lovers will be thrilled with this truly magnificent tale of “boy loves dog” (and vice versa). This is an outstanding debut novel.

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Twelve-year-old Mel isn’t expecting Christmas to be exciting. His family life has recently come apart, so he and two other classmates are spending the holidays at their posh boarding school, where they’re known as “the Left Behinds.” When a history teacher escorts the trio to a Christmas Day re-enactment of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware, things go strangely haywire, and Mel, Bev and Brandon inexplicably find themselves thrust back in time to December 25, 1776.

The resulting nonstop historical action begins when Mel discovers a body lying on haystacks in a stable and realizes that the deceased is none other than “stone-cold dead” General George Washington. Mel determines that a rogue iPhone app, iTime, is to blame, and he and his friends must fix history and save the Revolution. The excitement never stops in this riveting tale, leading Mel to Philadelphia in search of Ben Franklin (whose electricity can recharge Mel’s iPhone) and on to Trenton to surprise the Hessian forces.

David Potter’s debut is smart, funny and the first adventure of the time-traveling Left Behinds. Readers will charge through these super-short chapters like a Revolutionary soldier on the run.

This article was originally published in the January 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Miles Murphy is not happy about starting at a new school in the snoringly boring town of Yawnee Valley. The only thing that might make this OK is becoming the greatest prankster the school has ever seen. Miles was proud of his reputation as “King Prankster” at his old school, even if it meant that some of his friends didn’t like hanging out with him anymore.

On the first day of school, however, Miles discovers that there is already a pretty awesome prankster among the students: Niles Sparks, apparent goody two-shoes. Niles would like to team up with Miles, but Miles isn’t having it. It takes some pranks gone wrong to convince Miles that together—as the Terrible Two—he and Niles could be legendary.

This story by veteran children’s author Mac Barnett and his longtime friend Jory John is absolutely hilarious. The illustrations by Kevin Cornell add just the right flavor to the comic writing. With genius pranks, a purple-faced principal and lots of cows, there’s something here for everyone.

This article was originally published in the January 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The indefatigable Mary Pope Osborne returns with a new title in her popular Magic Tree House series. Set in occupied France during World War II, Danger in the Darkest Hour, the first Magic Tree House Super Edition, provides the same reading level as the Merlin Missions (books 29 through 52) but with a longer story and more complex plot.

In their new adventure, Jack and Annie travel through time to June 4, 1944, just days before the Allies’ invasion of Normandy. Merlin has sent their friends, the young enchanters Teddy and Kathleen, to London to bolster the hopes of British leaders during the dark days of the war. Teddy and Kathleen have become secret agents in the SOE, the Special Operations Executive. (Known as “Churchill’s Secret Army,” the real SOE sabotaged and fought the Nazis throughout occupied Europe.) But now Teddy desperately needs Jack and Annie’s help. Kathleen has disappeared while on a mission to France, so Jack and Annie must parachute into Normandy to find her.

Complete with maps and an overview of WWII, Danger in the Darkest Hour introduces sophisticated themes in an accessible and exciting package appropriate for young readers. Clearly, Osborne still has the magic touch.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is The Great Trouble.

This article was originally published in the January 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Grumpy Cat’s got nothing on Hissy Fitz, the eponymous feline of Patrick Jenning’s latest middle grade novel. Hissy lives with the Fitz family, and he loves his owner, young Georgie; she’s his favorite, and she treats Hissy just like a sibling. Unfortunately, Georgie’s actual sibling, young Zeb, lives to annoy Hissy. Zeb is noisy, rambunctious and does what little boys do.

But all Hissy wants to do is sleep. And, unfortunately, that’s about the gist of the book: Hissy gets annoyed; Hissy can’t sleep—endless loop.

Beginning readers will find the playful tug-of-war between Hissy and Zeb interesting (and the battle between Hissy and a neighborhood raccoon bandit). But the grumpier the insomniac cat gets, the more bored readers may become. There’s not much development past that thin plot line—with one exception, when all the neighborhood cats team up to play soccer in an effort to take Hissy’s mind off his insomnia and chaotic family life. It’s an odd diversion, one that makes little sense in the scheme of the book. Thin character development and a repetitive plot will have readers wishing for the Bad Kitty series.

Sharon Verbeten is a freelance writer and children’s librarian in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Carrie Ryan, who is best known for the young adult apocalyptic zombie series, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, finds her kindler, gentler (but no less thrilling) side as she teams up with her husband, John Parke Davis, for the first in a projected four-part middle grade adventure series.

Marrill is disappointed to learn that she is going to be living in Phoenix for the foreseeable future while her mother undergoes treatment for a serious illness. She wishes her family could return to their itinerant, adventure-seeking lifestyle from before her mom got sick. So when she encounters a mysterious ship floating on what appears to be an abandoned parking lot, she is more than a little intrigued.

Meanwhile, in another world full of monsters and wizards, Fin possess the magical blessing or curse of being utterly forgettable—even the woman who rescued him from the orphanage and raised him has completely forgotten his existence. So when he receives a cryptic letter from someone who not only recognizes him but acknowledges his powers of thievery, he knows he needs to follow the clues.

When Merrill and Fin meet each other, it’s the start of a powerful friendship—and the kickoff of an adventure that readers will devour. The authors cleverly balance witty wordplay, action, suspense and emotional impact for a novel that is a lively introduction to a great new series—and a quest that kids will want to embark upon.

Truly Lovejoy, or Drooly as her brother calls her, tries to stay under the radar. But she’s nearly six feet tall and sporting size 10.5 shoes, so being overlooked is impossible.

When her father loses an arm to an IED in Afghanistan, the family is yanked from their first home in Austin and plunked into tiny, duller-​than-dull Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire. The move is supposed to be good for her dad, but Truly struggles with being displaced. A bright spot is getting to know her colorful and perky Aunt True, who begins to work with Truly’s dad to make over the 100-year-old family bookstore. The whole town soon comes together to turn the bookstore into something wonderful. While working in the store, Truly finds a cryptic message stuck inside a copy of Charlotte’s Web. Soon she finds that chasing clues is more intriguing than dwelling on being “stuck” in Pumpkin Falls.

Absolutely Truly is a series opener by Heather Vogel Frederick, award-winning author of the Mother-Daughter Book Club series. Middle grade readers will enjoy the cozy town, engaging characters and easily relatable family situations.

This article was originally published in the November 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.