According to author Jessica Lawson, Tom Sawyer was a tattletale and Becky Thatcher was the real rascal getting into all sorts of trouble in St. Petersburg, Missouri. That’s the inventive premise of this gem of a chapter book that stirs up all of the ingredients of the American classic to create a thoughtful, energetic new debut novel.

Lawson’s Becky is a tomboy who’s new to town. Her family is mourning the loss of Becky’s beloved older brother Jon―so much so that Becky’s mother has completely withdrawn. Meanwhile, Becky’s father, Judge Thatcher, is alarmed about a pair of outlaws on the loose.

A writer named Sam Clemens happens to be stuck in town due to a grounded steamboat. Becky befriends this “story man,” who carefully takes notes on Becky’s exploits and ideas (rafting down the river, the nickname Huckleberry, going to your own funeral and more).

Becky falls into a mess of trouble when she takes on a bet to try to steal something from inside the home of the Widow Douglas, reported to be a witch. There’s no end of excitement as Becky finds a new best friend, gets involved with grave robbers, uncovers stolen treasure and gets trapped in a cave with the outlaws.

Lawson borrows many elements from the original Tom Sawyer tale, but wisely, Becky is the star of this show, while Tom is an important but peripheral character who is “too scared to have his own adventures.”

Don’t worry, the story man assures Becky. “The name of Tom Sawyer might have some adventures in it yet.”

Young readers will race through this adventure, while teachers and adults will delight in its gold mine of creative parallels.

When Jade gets caught making up school reports about her summer vacations, her parents send her to have a real summer adventure in Wyoming with her aunt. From stargazing on the roof to meeting a boy who claims to be related to Butch Cassidy, Jade’s world starts rapidly expanding. Skies Like These isn’t all sunny weather, but even the storms make for great slumber parties.

Jade has a lot of eccentricity to cope with, and the story feels a bit overstuffed at times—with a kennel full of dogs, a planned art heist, cowboy poetry contest, wild neighbors and Aunt Elise expanding her rooftop parties to include astronomy classes—but it’s sweet to see Jade making new friends both young and old and finding her own way.

This story would be ideal for a youngster traveling for the first time, as it’s ultimately about finding contentment wherever you are and making the best of what you find there. Aunt Elise moved to Wyoming to find a sense of peace but left family ties behind; her time with Jade lets her renew that connection. Skies Like These is a jumble, but a warm and friendly one.

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

Sam Angus, author of the World War I historical novel Soldier Dog, takes readers to World War II-era Great Britain in her new novel. Like other children, Wolfie and his older sister Dodie have been sent by their caretaker to the countryside to protect them from London bombing raids. Their beloved Pa has returned safely from the war, but their joy is short-lived, as Pa is being held and tried for cowardice.

While Pa tries desperately to prove his innocence, the shadow of suspicion follows the children to the countryside. They are turned out of their first home, but not before Wolfie finds an abandoned foal he fights to keep alive. Hero becomes the light of the young boy’s life, and when Hero and other ponies mysteriously disappear, Wolfie is determined to find his horse again.

Angus intertwines Wofie and Dodie’s story with actual events from World War II, as well as facts about the Exmoor pony, one of Britain’s native breeds that was often used as pit ponies in mines. Fans of War Horse will enjoy this heartfelt coming-of-age story.

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

What happens when a group of middle school geniuses trains for months to win a special contest at a Disney World-style Florida theme park called Incredo Land? That’s the premise of Bringing Down the Mouse, a page-turning caper whose hero is sixth-grader Charlie Lewis, known as “Numbers,” the nerdy son of an MIT professor dad and a mom with two Ph.D.s.

Charlie’s life is usually uneventful, until one day when two seventh-graders invite him to join the Carnival Killers, a group led by college student Miranda. Sworn to secrecy, they covertly hone their skills at mastering several seemingly impossible games in the hopes of earning a chance at spinning Incredo Land’s Wheel of Wonder and winning eight lifetime passes to the park. As one of the seventh-graders explains, “It’s not a trick. It’s math, chemistry, and a little physics.” Charlie is eager to use his knowledge to calculate exactly where the wheel will land until he realizes that Miranda isn’t who she says she is at all.

Author Ben Mezrich is best known for his adult nonfiction, the true stories of young geniuses toeing the ethical line for the sake of a big payoff—such as in Bringing Down the House (about MIT students playing blackjack in Vegas) and The Accidental Billionaires. With Bringing Down the Mouse, Mezrich has brought this theme to middle school fiction, and the result is a clever, breathtaking escapade with a likable cast.

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

BookPage Children's Top Pick, July 2014

S.E. Grove’s debut novel is set in 1890s Boston, a place that anyone who has read history or historical fiction set in that era will recognize—or will they? This world shares geography with our own, but thanks to the Great Disruption, which happened almost a century earlier, the Earth’s regions became unmoored from time. Although New Occident (where Boston is located) lies firmly in the 19th century, other countries are in the Dark Ages, prehistory or even the future.

This fluidity of time means that cartologers, like Sophia’s uncle Shadrack, must make maps that depict not only place but also time. Like Sophia’s long-absent parents, Shadrack is an explorer. Just when he is beginning to show Sophia the mysteries of maps and mapmaking, he is kidnapped, leaving Sophia with a cryptic message—and an even more mysterious glass map. Now, Sophia and her new friend, Theo, must travel south to the Baldlands, where they find themselves threatened by shifting time boundaries and constantly pursued by others who want the map.

The Glass Sentence is the first book in the Mapmakers Trilogy, and it’s a great start. The narrative, which alternates between Sophia’s and Shadrack’s perspectives, is action-packed; the world that Grove has created is rich and interesting; and the characters are complex and endearing. It’s hard to say which part is more compelling—Sophia’s world travels or her internal journey, as she figures out who she can trust and how to trust herself.

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

Author James Howe, known for Bunnicula and countless other children’s books, tackles the angst of teen life in his Misfits series. Also Known as Elvis, the fourth and final installment, gives voice to 13-year-old Skeezie Tookis, the odd one out who has to work and babysit his cantankerous sisters all summer while his four best friends relax on vacation.

We meet Skeezie, always in his dad’s leather jacket, at the Candy Kitchen with his best buds. The "gang of five" survived seventh grade, but Skeezie wonders if he’ll make it through this summer. He became the man in the family when his deadbeat dad left, and now his mom needs him to step up and earn some cash. Luckily, he nabs a job at a favorite hangout.

A job won’t fix everything. His home life is rocky. When Becca, one of the popular girls, likes him, friend Addie texts him to be careful. His father shows up at the soda shop wearing a tie and paying the kids’ tabs, and Skeezie doesn’t know what to think. His discomfort intensifies when his dad makes him an offer he can’t refuse.

The story—told from the dual vantage points of teen Skeezie as he confronts life-altering choices, and adult, happily married Skeezie as he looks back—is reassuring. We know he’ll turn out OK.

The informal language, relatable experiences and insightful narrative will hit home with young readers, as will the camaraderie of friends whose quirky personalities are the backbone of the story.

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

From the title of Jonathan Auxier’s fascinating, original (and more than a little creepy) version of a Victorian ghost story, one might suppose that The Night Gardener is, like The Secret Garden, a sweet, perhaps a bit sentimental, coming-of-age story. And while the novel does share some elements with the classic tale, including orphans (Molly and her little brother Kip); a creepy mansion; spoiled children (Penny and Alistair Windsor); and somewhat magical growing things, The Night Gardener is decidedly darker—in the most delicious and delightful way.

When Irish orphans Molly and Kip arrive to work at the Windsor estate, they find a family out of sorts, a father in financial trouble, curious muddy footprints and, of course, a mysterious room at the heart of the house. As Molly and Kip seek to free the Windsors and themselves from the malevolent presence that stalks the family, they find unexpected sources of courage and allies, including an old storyteller.

This is exactly the sort of scary, spooky story kids love.

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

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

It is true that Lisa Graff’s latest book, Absolutely Almost, brings to mind someone else’s work, but not because Graff is in any way imitative—she’s far too brilliant to sound like someone else. Lately the patrons of my school library have been asking, “Do you have any books like Wonder by R.J. Palacio?” and now I have the perfect offering. Like Wonder, Absolutely Almost is the story of a boy struggling to fit in. Unlike Auggie, however, Graff’s protagonist Albie doesn’t have any noticeable problems; he just cannot succeed at school. Reading is hard. Math is impossible. So much so, in fact, that he can no longer attend private school. His busy parents are not happy. Albie, who now has to adjust to fifth grade in public school, is definitely not happy. A reader might hope for a magic answer: Does Albie have a learning disorder? Will the new nanny fix everything? Something will make it all better, right? Maybe. At the end of Wonder, Auggie was still Auggie—a kid with problems, both ordinary and extraordinary. Albie is also just a kid trying to find his way.

Graff has an uncanny ability to sound exactly like a 10-year-old boy, which allows the reader to feel the “almost” that Albie confronts every day. Graff almost won the National Book Award for A Tangle of Knots; here’s hoping she gets a big award soon. Like Albie, she deserves it.

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

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

BookPage Children's Top Pick, June 2014

Following Countdown, Deborah Wiles’ tale about the Cuban Missile Crisis and the first book in her Sixties Trilogy, Revolution spotlights the Freedom Summer of 1964. During this volatile time, black and white volunteers from four major civil rights organizations joined efforts to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi, at the time one of the country’s most racist and dangerous states. These “invaders” have been strategizing for months, but for 12-year-old Sunny Fairchild, it all begins the night she and her new stepbrother sneak into their Greenwood, Mississippi, whites-only swimming pool. They’re not expecting company, especially not Raymond, the “colored boy” with high-tops.

At first Sunny doesn’t understand the uproar when she hears about integration, civil rights and voting registration. Don’t blacks have their own churches, restaurants and schools? She witnesses white students and black citizens being berated and jailed for even attempting to register to vote. When the hatred turns violent and affects her own family, Sunny realizes that doing what’s right often means taking risks.

Readers get the true flavor of this tumultuous and groundbreaking summer as Sunny catches the latest Hayley Mills movie and her parents listen to Walter Cronkite report on the escalating war in Vietnam. But what sets this book apart from other historical fiction is the wealth of photographs, quotes, profiles and song lyrics on topics that range from President Johnson and the three murdered Freedom Riders to Willie Mays and Cassius Clay, better known as Muhammad Ali. For today’s children, these events will be just as much of an awakening to equality as they are to Sunny.

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

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Deborah Wiles about Revolution.

Everyone should read Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird; at least that’s what eighth-graders Lucy and her friends Michael and Elena think. In fact, they believe so strongly in this summer reading-list classic that they decide to put their clever and surreptitious marketing skills to work to get everyone talking about—and searching for—the book. The trio begins creatively “hiding” copies of the book in stores and libraries; they’re not doing anything illegal, just generating some buzz.

But thanks to the power of the Internet and social media, the plan that starts in their small Connecticut hometown spreads nationwide, creating a dearth of the beloved novel and making everyone desperate to find one. Mission accomplished, right? Conspiracy theories abound over who is plotting this literary revolution, why they are doing it and when it will end.

Paul Acampora has crafted a savvy, witty and funny novel about the power of friendships, the lure of a good book and the influence of social media. Throw in lively characters like Fat Bob Nowak and one of the funniest graveside scenes ever written (R.I.P. Fat Bob), plus budding puppy love and a bookstore owner named Dobby, and you’ve got a can’t-miss middle-grade winner.

Smart literary references, funny interludes and spot-on tween dialogue are keenly interwoven, and readers will keep reading to see where this farce finally ends. Just as this trio wants people to read Mockingbird, clearly Acampora hopes his own readers will be inspired to pick it up, too. This is one of the best new middle-grade titles.

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

Jaleigh Johnson has created a uniquely imaginative world in her first book for middle-grade readers, The Mark of the Dragonfly. Thirteen-year-old Piper is a feisty, orphaned girl who survives by discovering and restoring flying objects from meteor showers. What she doesn’t count on is finding Anna, who is being chased by a member of King Aron’s army and bears the mysterious mark of the dragonfly. In the hopes of earning a reward for her safe return, Piper decides to help Anna get home, but the two girls soon form a close, sister-like bond—and find themselves on an action-packed journey through a magical landscape.

This page-turning novel takes the reader on a heart-thumping adventure filled with rich, imaginative characters. The fantastical world of Solace is filled with surprising creatures like the sarnun, who communicate telepathically, and chamelins, who shape-shift from human to lizard-bird-human hybrids. Piper is a strong, gutsy heroine with plenty of her own secrets, and although she’s been dealt a rough hand, she is willing to sacrifice whatever security she may have to ensure Anna’s safety. The story lends an air of mystery as readers try to determine the reason why Anna is being hunted, the significance of the dragonfly marking, and how Piper will be able to save her.

Middle-school readers will delight in the fast-paced, thrilling action and fictional otherworld, while rooting for two strong female characters who do not disappoint.

Under the Egg starts out with a horrific bang: 13-year-old Theodora Tenpenny sees that her beloved grandfather Jack has just been struck by a cab. She’s just in time to hear his dying words, “Look under the egg,” with instructions to also look for a letter and a treasure.

A treasure is urgently needed, because Theo lives in a 200-year-old Manhattan townhouse with her unstable (but pleasant) mother, who spends her hours sipping expensive tea and working on a math dissertation that’s been unfinished for years. The family funds in Jack’s money jar are rapidly dwindling, with only $384 left, leaving Theo to subsist on their chickens’ eggs and beets from the garden.

One day, as Theo mulls her fate in her grandfather’s art studio, a mouse runs up her leg, causing her to spill a bottle of rubbing alcohol on one of Jack’s paintings. It turns out that another painting lies underneath, which upon further inspection might be a Raphael. Theo is bewildered and a bit alarmed, because Jack was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Could this treasure be stolen?

Laura Marx Fitzgerald’s fiction debut reminds me of a middle-grade version of Donna Tartt’s award-winning The Goldfinch, which also involves a teen whose guardian suddenly dies and who becomes the unexpected caretaker of a valuable work of art. Both novels share a certain Dickensian quality, along with an abundance of action and plot twists and turns.

Just as Tartt’s hero gains a sidekick, Theo soon meets Bodhi, the daughter of famous actors, who quickly becomes her friend and fellow detective. The pair roams New York City, tracking down clues about the origin of this mysterious artwork. Their search is a riveting exploration of art history and world events, especially once Theo and Bodhi unearth the fact that Jack was held captive in a German POW camp during World War II and was involved in a secret mission.

Readers will sail through this novel, thanks to Fitzgerald’s skilled writing, which includes just the right amount of historical details to make this caper riveting from start to finish.

Who hasn’t imagined a new life, with new parents, in an exciting place? And a castle—definitely a castle! With chefs and maids and servants—everything you could ever want. In Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times, written by Emma Trevayne, 10-year-old Jack gets exactly this. Unfortunately, things are not as wonderful as they may seem. Jack’s new life takes him out of London to Londinium, a parallel city where the pollution is so bad that people have filters installed in their nostrils, and non-functioning body parts are replaced by devices both mechanical and magical.

Jack first discovers Londinium by accident. All he did was follow Lorcan, the strange man who wanted to take Jack on as an apprentice, through a door at the base of Big Ben. When Jack emerges from the other side, he finds himself surrounded by clockwork and wind-up dolls who can think. The Lady, ruler of Londinium, wants a new son, and Jack is to be that boy. The persistent queen will do anything to have her new, perfect, flesh-and-blood son. Jack receives help from the most unlikely of sources, and must decide whether life in luxury with the Lady is worth the terrible sacrifices it requires.

Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times is set in a world that draws heavily from the burgeoning steampunk culture—intricate clockwork, detailed mechanized creations, elaborate clothing and accessories. It is a visually rich novel with a unique setting, full of fascinating, complex characters who hold the reader’s attention until the very end. Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times is a refreshingly distinct voice in middle-grade literature, and will be enjoyed by fans of adventure, steampunk, fantasy and mystery.