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All Middle Grade Coverage

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While most kids would welcome the chance to brag about a father who’s at the president’s beck and call, ready to take on global threats at a moment’s notice, 14-year-old Billy Harriman simply wishes his dad could spend more time with him at their Manhattan high rise, kicking back and watching a Knicks game. Unfortunately, he won’t have that opportunity. At the start of the quick-paced Hero, the latest book for young readers by sportswriter and author Mike Lupica, Billy’s father dies in a mysterious airplane crash.

Still coping with his father’s loss, the eighth grader must also contend with taunting from Spence, basketball rival and school bully. But soon, Billy begins to notice that he’s gaining superhuman strengths and talents, such as the ability to travel long distances in seconds and an enhanced sixth sense. Hoping to make sense of his father’s death, he travels to Long Island, where he meets Mr. Herbert, a strange old man who claims to have known his father and his true identity. Shocked to discover that his father was a real superhero and that he may become one too, Billy has no time to spare as “the Bads” begin following him and threatening his friends and family.

Every superhero needs a female to rescue, and Billy is no exception. While his best friend, Kate, is gifted in intelligence and reasoning, Billy suddenly finds his new powers especially handy when she’s threatened by the Bads. She also helps him figure out whom to trust now that his world is filled with constant peril.

Lupica includes plenty of sports references in this exciting tale, as well as numerous nods to Superman, Spiderman, Star Wars and other superheroes and pop culture fighters. Billy’s desire to live up to his new persona and unanswered questions about his father’s background beg for a sequel to this story for any boy who’s ever wished to be a hero—and who hasn’t?

While most kids would welcome the chance to brag about a father who’s at the president’s beck and call, ready to take on global threats at a moment’s notice, 14-year-old Billy Harriman simply wishes his dad could spend more time with him at their Manhattan…

Mary Downing Hahn channels Edgar Allen Poe-meets-Oliver Twist in her latest hair-raising thriller, The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall. When 12-year-old orphan Florence arrives at her amiable great-uncle’s estate far from the bleak London orphanage where she has grown up, she is thrown headfirst into a murderous plot by her vengeful cousin, Sophia—who should be resting peacefully in her grave after her accidental death almost a year ago.

Though mourned by her great-aunt Eugenie, Sophia still terrorizes her younger brother James from beyond the grave, even causing him to be confined to bed after a “sickness.” Even as sick as he is, James is grateful to be alive—which he won’t be for much longer if Sophia gets her way. If her wicked plan succeeds, Crutchfield Hall will never be safe for any of its residents again.

During her 30-year writing career, Hahn has become a favorite among young readers thirsting for a touch of unreality and horror. Her stories are noted for being spooky but never to the extreme, can’t-go-to-sleep-at-night level.

In The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall she maintains a chilling level of suspense while exploring the bonds between siblings, family and friends. Taking her cues from classic stories by Poe and the Brönte sisters, Hahn gives readers an atmospheric and age-appropriate ghost story that's sure to set the stage for Halloween.

Mary Downing Hahn channels Edgar Allen Poe-meets-Oliver Twist in her latest hair-raising thriller, The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall. When 12-year-old orphan Florence arrives at her amiable great-uncle’s estate far from the bleak London orphanage where she has grown up, she is thrown headfirst into a…

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When I teach my second graders about Grimm’s fairytales, they are often shocked by the graphic details in the stories they know only through the Disney movies they have watched since toddlerhood. It’s interesting to watch their faces when Cinderella’s stepsisters lop off their toes and heels or when Snow White’s stepmother dances to her death in red-hot iron shoes. Now that I have read Adam Gidwitz’s take on Hansel and Gretel, I know exactly what my students really feel: sheer terror.

Like any good storyteller, Gidwitz lures his readers into his tale. His light touch, humorous use of direct address ("if such things bother you, we should probably stop right now") and tongue-in-cheek warnings make the reader want to take up his challenge and turn the page, no matter what.

Gidwitz weaves a number of original tales into one satisfying, daring story of a brother and sister making their way in a world where adults, particularly parents, are unreliable, untrustworthy and in desperate need of forgiveness. The children learn to rely on each other as they make their way through many trials and eventually back home.

I found one chapter, “A Smile as Red as Blood,” downright disturbing. It involves a young man who invites Gretel, despite the warnings of the author and every character in the story, to his home in the woods where he has lured many young women before. Cannibalism in fairy tales is nothing new, but these graphic descriptions, no matter how the narrator assures the reader of the eventual outcome, is more than a little surprising.

Readers looking for a truly terrifying story, one that might give the most hardened middle schooler delicious nightmares, need look no further. And, if they make their way to the end of this somewhat familiar tale, they might find “the brightest beauty and the most luminous wisdom” that awaits them in the land of Grimm.

When I teach my second graders about Grimm’s fairytales, they are often shocked by the graphic details in the stories they know only through the Disney movies they have watched since toddlerhood. It’s interesting to watch their faces when Cinderella’s stepsisters lop off their toes…

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Few children can imagine walking eight hours a day or digging by hand deep into the mud, just to find water for their family. But the backbreaking work under the hot African sun is just a typical day for 11-year-old Nya, growing up in Sudan circa 2008. She rarely complains; it would do no good.

Salva, also 11, is from a prominent, upper-class Sudanese family. As the Second Sudanese Civil War erupts in the mid-1980s, Salva is forced to run as bombs hit his village. Fleeing quickly and leaving his family behind, he joins up with bands of strangers—all headed out of their war-torn homeland to Ethiopia.

Difficult as it may be, both Nya and Salva come to accept their own long walks to water—each peppered with challenges and each tied to family and survival. Nya’s sister becomes very ill; Salva loses several loved ones. But Newbery Award winner Linda Sue Park’s brilliant dual narrative provides a soulful insight into both journeys.

Both Salva and Nya are urged on by their individual reserves of hope—for a better tomorrow, a better future—but neither really knows what lies beyond. The book’s denouement, however, intertwines their stories in a soul-satisfying and optimistic way.

A Long Walk to Water is based on Salva Dut’s true story of perseverance amid adversity. But beyond that, it’s a touching narrative about strife and survival on a scale most American readers will never see.

 

Few children can imagine walking eight hours a day or digging by hand deep into the mud, just to find water for their family. But the backbreaking work under the hot African sun is just a typical day for 11-year-old Nya, growing up in Sudan…

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In Forge, the highly anticipated sequel to National Book Award finalist Chains, runaway slave Curzon finds himself alone. Rescued from a New York prison by fellow slave Isabel at the conclusion of the first novel, Curzon is left on his own when Isabel sneaks away to locate her younger sister in South Carolina. His solitary situation doesn’t last long, however.

Curzon unexpectedly saves the life of Ebenezer Woodruff, a young rebel soldier in the Sixteenth Massachusetts Regiment and nephew of the regiment’s commanding sergeant. He enlists in the Patriot army and marches with his comrades to Valley Forge as the end of 1777 approaches.

With meticulous detail and gripping insight, enhanced by chapter headings with quotes from primary source documents, Laurie Halse Anderson presents the brutal conditions—tattered clothes, starvation, frost bite, disease and leaky huts built by hand with pure sweat and few tools—that tested soldiers’ spirits during the Revolutionary War. In addition to these atrocities, Curzon must contend with constant racism. He remains tentatively protected as long as Eben’s uncle is in charge, but the sergeant’s demise brings new dilemmas to the African-American soldier’s already tenuous situation. As in Chains, the ideal of freedom is frequently questioned: Curzon prepares to fight for freedom—but for whose freedom?

An escalating series of twists and turns forces Curzon down more paths that may affect his freedom. As a result, Forge not only represents the encampment, but also the notion of building relationships, a brotherhood, a nation and, most importantly, freedom for all.

Fans of historical fiction will delight in the lengthy appendix, which provides more information about the author’s research, true events at Valley Forge, African-American soldiers and the real-life historical figures who make an appearance in the story, such as George Washington, Nathanael Greene and Benedict Arnold. But it’s the thrilling conclusion that will leave readers eager for the next portion of Curzon and Isabel’s story in the final Seeds of America novel.

In Forge, the highly anticipated sequel to National Book Award finalist Chains, runaway slave Curzon finds himself alone. Rescued from a New York prison by fellow slave Isabel at the conclusion of the first novel, Curzon is left on his own when Isabel sneaks…

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Lulu is a girl with a mind of her own.

An only child with indulgent parents, she proclaims that she wants a pet brontosaurus for her birthday—and she expects to get one.

"At first Lulu's mom and her dad just thought she was making a little joke. And then they saw—oh, horrors!—that she was serious."

When two weeks of temper tantrums and screeching fail to produce a brontosaurus, Lulu packs a bag and sets out, determined to find a dinosaur on her own.

In Lulu and the Brontosaurus, a new chapter book for early readers, veteran writer Judith Viorst introduces a character as prickly and unique as Alexander (of Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day fame). Lane Smith's highly stylized illustrations depict Lulu as a beady-eyed brat with an oversized head, annoying but extremely plucky as she trudges through a fanciful forest in search of the elusive brontosaurus.

When she finally encounters a dinosaur, it appears that Lulu has met her match. Just who will be the pet for whom? And could it be that headstrong Lulu will actually learn to say “please”? This test of wills between a tiny girl and a huge beast proceeds to a surprising conclusion, and the story takes a final interesting turn with not one but two alternate endings.

Throughout the book, Viorst interjects bold and often hilarious first-person comments about her storytelling choices as a writer ("if you don’t want to read this book, you can close it up right now—you won’t hurt my feelings," she says at the beginning). It's one of many creative touches that make Lulu and the Brontosaurus a fresh and original choice for young readers.

Lulu is a girl with a mind of her own.

An only child with indulgent parents, she proclaims that she wants a pet brontosaurus for her birthday—and she expects to get one.

"At first Lulu's mom and her dad just thought she was making a little joke.…

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“Time to visit kinfolk,” Aunt Tilley would say to 12-year-old Delana, reaching for the basket behind the sofa. Delana’s African-American family resided in that basket—photographs of aunts and uncles and cousins were brought out to have their stories told and bits of family history absorbed by Delana. But when Aunt Tilley dies and Delana begins to look further into the stories behind these tintypes, “card visits” and portraits, she realizes that Aunt Tilley’s stories weren’t always accurate—things don’t match up. Aunt Tilley had been so protective that Delana had lived a cautious “locked-up life,” always told what to do and how to be, and never learning the true story of the mother and father she has never known.

When Tilley dies, into Delana’s life comes her mother’s close friend, Ambertine, who urges Delana to get some “freedom wings,” to dream a world better than the one she has. While Tilley taught Delana to beware of life, Ambertine encourages her to see the world anew and decide what she wants out of life. Delana studies her pictures, “searching their faces for clues to me,” gradually “bringing some order to the kinfolk” and finding family in the pictures she has had all along, with new ones offered by Albertine and Grandpa.

Tonya Bolden, best known for her award-winning works of nonfiction for children and teens, sets this beautiful, quiet, “shimmershining” novel in 1905 Charleston, West Virginia, a step into the 20th century, yet not so far from slavery days. Much of the novel has to do with the legacy of slavery and Grandpa’s determination to make a place in the world for his family. Delana’s earnest first-person point of view rings true to the spirit and passions of a girl about to turn 13, and Bolden’s photographs from her personal collection help readers to be partners in Delana’s search for family.

Readers who find themselves entranced by Bolden’s photographs might also try Walter Dean Myers’ Here in Harlem and Lois Lowry’s The Silent Boy, both wonderfully wrought volumes that tell stories in words and photographs.

“Time to visit kinfolk,” Aunt Tilley would say to 12-year-old Delana, reaching for the basket behind the sofa. Delana’s African-American family resided in that basket—photographs of aunts and uncles and cousins were brought out to have their stories told and bits of family history absorbed…

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Author Jane Yolen and illustrator David Small have teamed up for the first time to create Elsie’s Bird, a captivating new picture book that recalls the wonder of Little House on the Prairie and Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Elsie is a city girl who relishes the sounds of Boston Harbor, from the calls of the fish merchants to her friends’ jump-rope rhymes. The most beloved sounds, however, are the songs of the cardinals, chickadees, robins and wrens.

Life changes suddenly when Elsie’s mother dies, and her father, overcome with grief, wants to make a fresh start in Nebraska. Elsie brings a birdcage and her new canary, Timmy Tune, on the long train ride. The bird becomes her only source of joy in a foreign land where “there is only grass and sky and silence.”

Self-confined to her new prairie home built in the ground, with a roof made of sod, a depressed Elsie refuses to venture out, even when her father leaves on a 10-mile supply run, until Timmy escapes. Running after him, the girl enters a “sea of grass,” so tall that farm wives have been lost in it. On the bank of a creek she not only finds Timmy but discovers the voices of the plains—the cries of blackbirds, larkspur and sandhill cranes. Her father has also brought back five hens, a banty rooster and a hound dog, which turn Elsie’s house into “a true prairie home” full of sound and friends.

Partly inspired by true stories of the Westward Movement and by Yolen’s late husband, who could identify bird calls, Elsie’s Bird is a visually stunning look at this era. In elongated pages, Small uses perspective to show the packed Boston waterfront, a lengthy train chugging across flatlands and the wide expanse of the Nebraska prairie. His gentle ink, watercolor and pastel illustrations capture the earthy colors of the Midwest, and show Elsie’s transformation as the dark, menacing tall grass gives way to the soft colors of wildflowers. Small, also a master of expression, not only reveals an evolution in Elsie’s geography but in her emotions. Readers will rejoice along with her when sound and a smile return.

Author Jane Yolen and illustrator David Small have teamed up for the first time to create Elsie’s Bird, a captivating new picture book that recalls the wonder of Little House on the Prairie and Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Elsie is a city girl who relishes the…

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The setting: The Brightman ranch, 60 acres of beauty in rural New Mexico. The joyful sounds of children playing, horses running, a dog barking.

The reality: A perilous war rages around them, threatening not only their existence, but their friends, neighbors and, ultimately, their beliefs.

Sky Brightman just wants to be a normal preteen. But nothing is normal in Sky’s world, and it hasn’t been for years, with terrorist strikes and widespread rationing. And even though Sky’s family is protected—living far off the grid that has long since collapsed—her world will soon become the epicenter of the melee.

An attack sends the Brightman family rushing to the grocery store for supplies. There they witness a hurtful and potentially dangerous confrontation, aimed at a family of foreign descent.

Then, mysterious arrests begin to occur—including the father of Sky’s close friend, Kareem. When Kareem himself is targeted, Sky is forced to look outside the narrow constraints of her sheltered world.

Sky takes on the forces of injustice and hatred herself, but ultimately her entire family teams up—exemplifying how resolve and the strong, sure voice of a young girl can have a big impact.

Diane Stanley’s thought-provoking novel is a timely take on the post-9/11 world, which is often rife with fear, ethnic/racial controversies and mistrust. The book is especially moving when readers witness the ever-protective and quick-witted Sky defending her friend amid dangerous circumstances.

Though Saving Sky addresses serious topics, Sky’s personality injects humor and hope into the story—making this book an insightful and conversation-opening read for preteens.

The setting: The Brightman ranch, 60 acres of beauty in rural New Mexico. The joyful sounds of children playing, horses running, a dog barking.

The reality: A perilous war rages around them, threatening not only their existence, but their friends, neighbors and, ultimately, their beliefs.

Sky Brightman…

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Because he has a secret he wants to keep, Johannes von Brock needs a certain kind of traveling companion—and he thinks he’s found someone perfect for the job. Ten-year-old Ansel is a smart boy, but he’s mute, and has been since his mother died suddenly when he was seven.

When Brock comes through their medieval village, Ansel’s father virtually gives him to the man, and so the lad finds himself serving an ersatz knight on an impossible quest: dragon hunting.

Award-winning British author Philip Reeve takes an old story and turns it on its ear in No Such Thing as Dragons, a beautifully written adventure story with surprising touches of humor and insight. At the heart of this compelling tale is a youngster forced by circumstances to be more than he dreams he can be.

Brock and his silent charge are headed for the village of Knochen, where, so they say, a dragon ravages the countryside. Though Brock has been hired to slay the beast, Ansel learns from his cheerfully honest boss that dragons aren’t real, and that Brock is basically a con artist. When they arrive at Knochen, they are met by an old acquaintance of Brock’s, a friar of dubious morality named Father Flegel. He informs them that the villagers have taken a young girl named Else up to a high pasture and left her there as a sacrifice to the monster. As Ansel hears the tales of the villagers, he begins to wonder if there may be something to the stories after all, and as he, Brock and a reluctant Flegel climb the mountain in search of the little girl, signs point to just one conclusion: Brock may be wrong!

No Such Thing As Dragons is a thoughtful and rewarding story that will tempt young readers—especially boys—to quit those video games for a while and get drawn into the infinitely more vivid worlds of their own imagination.

Because he has a secret he wants to keep, Johannes von Brock needs a certain kind of traveling companion—and he thinks he’s found someone perfect for the job. Ten-year-old Ansel is a smart boy, but he’s mute, and has been since his mother died suddenly…

In The Year Money Grew on Trees, first-time children’s author Aaron R. Hawkins, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, mines his own childhood memories of working in his family’s apple orchard. The result is as warm and delicious as a slice of apple pie.

It’s only February, but Jackson Jones, who lives on a dirt road in New Mexico, is already thinking about a summer job. His father wants him to work in the local junkyard. His neighbor, Mrs. Nelson, offers an alternative: If he can prove that he is a true heir to her late husband’s 300 apple trees, she will give the orchard to him. There’s only one catch—first he has to make $8,000 from this year’s crop and pay it to Mrs. Nelson.

Without revealing the precise details of the deal to anyone, even his parents, Jackson recruits a motley crew of cousins and siblings to tackle the challenge of bringing the orchard back to life. The kids supply the hard work, day in and day out. Advice (such as it is) must come from the one book on apple growing Jackson manages to track down in the school library, along with tips from adults in the community. Little by little, Jackson and his crew find out what they need to know, from pruning to fertilizing, thinning, irrigating and picking. The text is enhanced by the author’s delightful drawings—maps of the orchard, sketches of a tree before and after pruning, and diagrams of such essentials as the irrigation system. Teachers will be pleased to see how Jackson uses math to figure out his anticipated profits and expenses in the quest to become the orchard’s new owner.

The Year Money Grew on Trees yields a harvest of riches, not only as a wonderful story of one boy’s resourcefulness but as a humorous and insightful portrait of a community. Take a bite!

In The Year Money Grew on Trees, first-time children’s author Aaron R. Hawkins, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, mines his own childhood memories of working in his family’s apple orchard. The result is as warm and delicious as a slice of apple pie.

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Guilt is a heavy burden to bear for adults, and it’s doubly so for a child; children don’t have the wisdom that comes with years to discern when events are due merely to chance, and when they are truly due to an individual’s actions; or maybe kids just don’t know how to rationalize themselves out of it. Fadi Sahid certainly doesn’t. The protagonist of N. H. Senzai’s debut novel, Shooting Kabul, is carrying a huge weight on his small shoulders—the loss of his sister Miriam. Born in Wisconsin to Afghani parents, he moved back to his father’s native land while barely in grade school, and now—a middle schooler—he’s escaped with his family from the Taliban-controlled country. In the confusion of the escape, his 6-year old sister Miriam is lost, and Fadi feels like it’s his fault. Now he’s living in San Francisco, coping with adjusting to a new school and new friends, but his heart is half a world away.

While Fadi can’t imagine things could get any worse, they do—a lot worse—for you see, it’s the fall of 2001, and not long after he starts school, the September 11 attack makes his life almost unbearable, with name-calling, threats and physical violence. He perseveres, however, because he has a goal. Fadi’s one passion is photography, and he joins Ms. Bethune’s Photography Club when he hears about a city-wide student photography contest; the prize is a trip to India, and Fadi thinks that from there, he should be able to make it back to Afghanistan to find his sister!

With a little help from his big sister Noor, and his friend (and potential girlfriend) Anh, Fadi will try his utmost to win the contest, bring his mother Zafoona some peace, and try to stop one bully who has it in for him. N. H. Senzai has written a compelling novel for young readers, one that puts them in the shoes of a culture that’s been largely misunderstood because of recent events. And it has an ending that you won’t see coming; what more could you ask for?

Guilt is a heavy burden to bear for adults, and it’s doubly so for a child; children don’t have the wisdom that comes with years to discern when events are due merely to chance, and when they are truly due to an individual’s actions; or…

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It’s a good day for new readers when Grace Lin decides to write a book especially for them. And in Ling & Ting we have a story with details that new readers will love—twins, chapters, sunny illustrations and funny, realistic situations.

Twins Ling and Ting look exactly alike until a wiggling Ting causes a sneeze that makes the barber slip with his scissors. Now, people can certainly tell them apart. Six related stories introduce these two sisters, who have their own distinct personalities. When Ling does a card trick, Ting forgets the card she is supposed to remember. Ting’s dumplings are fat and lumpy, while Ling’s are smooth. Ting is adventurous with her chopsticks while Ling wisely uses a fork. Ting checks out the wrong library book for her sister. Each story is a slice of sisterly life filled with two little girls who enjoy each other, no matter what they look like.

There are so many things to like about this sweet offering for beginning readers. The story is constructed carefully so that new readers will have success. Many of the words are sight words and the other words are easily sounded out. Lin has the girls repeat parts of the stories, giving the new reader a way to remember the story while practicing reading new words. The stories are simple and familiar, but not boring. Lin’s whimsical illustrations show two sisters who enjoy each other and are just the kind of friends a first or second grade girl would like to have—kind and adventuresome, with a good sense of humor.

Writing for new readers is much more challenging than it looks, and Grace Lin successfully meets the challenges with a book that’s both readable and fun. Ling and Ting are sure to attract many fans, and we can only hope that the author has more adventures in store for these likable twins!

It’s a good day for new readers when Grace Lin decides to write a book especially for them. And in Ling & Ting we have a story with details that new readers will love—twins, chapters, sunny illustrations and funny, realistic situations.

Twins Ling and Ting look…

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