In most month long readathons, the second or third weekend becomes a mini more intensive read as much as you can readathon. This past weekend was the 48 hour “Gala of Peace” as part of Realmathon. With the weekend falling at the start of Spring Break, I made grand plans. Thanks to a rather large list of books that I need to read for a professional development committee I’m on, I had a wealth of middle grade books to choose from so I organized the list into 3 categories, two of which I would choose from – audiobooks with run times of 6 hours or less (2 hours at my normal 3x listening speed) and graphic novels. I knew that I wouldn’t get to all approximately 50 of them but I wanted to get to as many of them as possible. The final tally? 14 audiobooks and 11 graphic novels.
With so many reviews to write, I have to streamline my reviews or I would spend all of Spring Break writing reviews. I will not review three of them because they are part of my current SCASL project. THose reviews will come in the posts dedicated to that project. THe reviews will have three parts although two of them – description of my reading experience and my opinion of the book – frequently overlap. The last part is whether or not I would recommend the book for middle grade readers.
I had high expectations for this based on my previous experience with LaZotte as well as other reviews. This likely led to the slight disappointment I felt while I read this narrative, told in verse, dealt with heavy, unfortunately realistic situations being based on a true story. Perhaps I consumed the story
too quickly but I lean more towards unrealistic expectations since a very similar story Something Like Home (one of the SCASL books that I will review later) that I also read that weekend affected me more. I still think that LaZotte did a masterful job with this novel, handling these very difficult topics with care. This book provides much needed representation for the deaf as well as those in poverty. I will always recommend well-written novels in verse for middle schoolers.
This book embodies one way that my personal experience differs from my recommendation. Aida Salazar is quickly becoming a favorite middle grade author. She exhibits great skill in this narrative with an 8th grade male perspective. This 8th grade teacher of primarily Latine boys saw so many of my own students in this main character navigating first love and heartbreak. That
partially contributed to some discomfort with some of the mid descriptions of physical reactions that the main character does not understand. The other part comes with my recent knowledge of the supposedly “objectionable content” in yet another 10 books brought before the book banning committee in my state. (It has a euphemistic official name but I decline to use that.) My personal experience with this book was not particularly enjoyable. However, this book brings much needed representation to middle grade shelves since the vast majority of main characters are either animals or girls, most of them white. This main character is a Latine male. For that reason, I would definitely recommend this book and provide it to any of my male students who wanted to read it.
DiCamillo has a way with folksy, quirky characters and family which you can find in this book along with her more well-known works. I enjoyed this read as well as all of the characters housed within. This book trods familiar ground that many will enjoy. I probably will not purchase this one for my own classroom library though since I doubt that many of my students will be drawn to the story.
I really enjoyed this book with its fantastical nature and both disability and POC representation. The disability does not define the main character or get in the way of her making a new friend and rescuing her mom from fantastical creatures. The novel includes realistic fear in the main character
of the thoughts of new classmates each time she moves which helps this novel work on several levels. I would definitely recommend this book for middle schoolers.
I loved this dual perspective graphic novel where each of the cover characters has to deal with identity pressures from friends and/or family. The artwork contributes masterfully to the storytelling with subtle clues included form the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience and definitely recommend this book to middle schoolers.
Stories like this need to be told. These different life experiences need to be heard. The author and artist clearly work incredibly closely with Estelle Nadal to do justice to her story. I hate the fact that one portion of a panel depicting a happy memory from when Estelle was a toddler – bathing with her mother in a public bath where minimal aspects of the mother’s body are shown – might be enough for the bigots to ban this
book in my state. I feel so incredibly strongly in the promotion of people’s stories that it should come as no surprise that I recommend this book to all, especially to my middle grade students.
This graphic novel tells the story, with minimal words, of an American born first generation Japanese American who travels to Japan to be with her grandmother in her final days and ends up trapped in Japan when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. She was then also coerced into working as a spy because she’s bilingual. The graphic novel presents a scenario that I have not ever really considered before and definitely challenges
the reader. However, I do not think that the intended audience is middle grade due to the age of the protagonist and the subtly of some of the messaging.
I don’t know why but the cover of this graphic novel significantly raised my expectations which, unfortunately, slightly tainted my reading experience since the contents did not live up to my expectations. That being said, this graphic novel contains a fascinating fantastical story with just enough complexity to keep middle grade readers engaged but not too much that would cause them to lose interest. I think this is an excellent starting fantasy for middle schoolers.
This book had more personal appeal for me, a baseball fan and attempted author of a novel about the first female player in the MLB, than it would have for the average reader. I definitely enjoyed my read but also clearly see both the lack of depth to the actual story as well as its limited potential audience. I would probably put it on my classroom shelves to add another sports related book but it would not be a go to when giving recommendations.
Wow. This graphic memoir tells the story of two children in North Korea who, through various circumstances, find themselves fleeing the country and embarking on a harrowing journey to safety. The art joins masterfully with the narrative to tell their story and fully engage the reader. So many of my students have an almost cartoonish view of North Korea which makes this book a critical must-read for them.
This book explores grief in a realistic, relatable way with the main character holding onto viola performance as one last thing she had with her father. Even though she approaches potential performances on many levels, she does not want to give up since she believes that doing so would
irreparably disappoint her father or so she has it made up in her mind. I had a pleasant but not groundbreaking experience with the novel but would still recommend it for middle school students since I find such representations critical for students.
Wow. This book packs quite an emotional gut punch with unfortunate resonance to current events even though the book focuses on events of the first iteration of the current administration. Kareem feels between worlds and ends up having to face this unintended consequences of his actions (hiding his dad’s phone so he might not get in trouble at school) when national “policies” mean that his mom gets stuck trying to come home
from Syria. I highly recommend this book for middle schoolers.
I enjoyed this twist on the Babysitters Club – a series I loved as a kid in the 90s – even though I do not understand the relevance of the title in connection to the content of the book. Even though the book is short, I think that the author did a good job in creating a solid plot arc and decent characters as well as
showing some character growth in Gigi. Even though sequels have not yet been announced, I think that the author laid solid groundwork for a future series. I also think that some middle schoolers will find the book entertaining.
This book shows that some people still think that graphic novels automatically should be categorized as middle grade. This book is designed for adults, especially adults with a fondness for classic fantasy, specifically Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia aka someone like me. The narrative alternates between panels with a wizard and a lion (clearly representations of Tolkien and Lewis
on a journey through fantastical scenes and comparatively dense prose containing biographical overviews of their lives. While I had a pleasant reading experience, I do not know of many, if any, middle schoolers would pick this book up voluntarily.
Lisa Fipps did it again. Her free verse narrative cuts to the heart of tragic and realistic situations, in this case poverty and parents with addiction issues. So many times the narrative delivered a gut punch bringing me fully into the book. I wholeheartedly recommend this book, especially since it also centers a male protagonist.
I have no idea what anyone saw in this graphic novel to recommend. I was thankful for the short length because the plot had no coherence and the characters no depth. If I, an adult with significant reading experience, could not make sense of it, most middle schooler could not either.
Yet again, this is a case of mis-categorization. I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience and learning from the author’s experience. However, this graphic novel tells the author’s story of a year she spent in Japan, going “home” as a haifu – half Japanese – for the first time since she left as a five year old. She does this the year after graduating from high school thus making a categorization of YA much more appropriate than middle grade.
The art style really interfered in my reading experience with this graphic novel. I did not like the character depictions such as the overlarge heads of the kids that made them look like adults. The story itself also felt far more irreverent than I prefer, similar to 90s cartoons that I also did not like. Would I recommend it to a middle schooler? Not actively. Would I dissuade them? Also, not actively.
I appreciated this book a lot while reading but now when writing the review several days after I finished, I struggle to recall details of the narrative. This quick, short narrative lacks depth which does not make this a bad book, just one that’s not as effective as it could be.
This book read completely average to me. The idea has been done before in similar ways. When I write this review three days after reading the book, I struggle to remember the impression that the book left on me, aka anything more than the basic structure of the plot. I would not go out of my
way to acquire this book but I think that some middle schoolers may enjoy it.
While horror is still one of my least favorite genres, I can tolerate it fairly well as the middle grade level. This one fits the criteria perfectly. I thought that the author did a good job building the intrigue and creep factor while keeping it age appropriate. This genre tends to be popular with the middle grade
age group so I would certainly recommend this one even though it’s not the book for me.
Once again, this is a fairly average book which when read on a weekend along with 24 other books, blends into the mass of narratives. I had a fairly pleasant reading experience but, 3 days later when writing the review, do not remember many details which is unfortunate because this book deals with series issues of bullying, potential SA as well as the aftermath of self-harm for a side character. After refreshing my memory by
reading the synopsis, I do not think that I would recommend this book based on the “resolution” depicted.
Phew! 25 books in one weekend!
Am I deluded enough to try this again some time? Definitely, but not any time soon.
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