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Readers of Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling will likely enjoy Angie Thomas’ new fantasy series for middle grade readers, The Manifestor Prophecy. In its first installment, Nic Blake and the Remarkables, readers will meet Nichole Blake, Alex DuForte, and Joshua Paul Williams (JP).  Each member of this dynamic trio has idiosyncrasies with which readers will identify and appreciate. Just as the Harry Potter books has muggles and wizards, the Nic Blake books feature Remarkables and Unremarkables, manifestors and monsters. When she was just a baby, Nic’s Dad kidnaps her, so the two have been living on the run—something Nic only learns later, along with aRead More →

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Told in five parts and written from the perspective of a Mars’ Rover intermixed with letters from Sophie, A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga targets middle grade readers who are fascinated by space, earth science, and computer coding. Inspired by NASA’s real Mars’ Rover, Warga creates Resilience. Under the influence of Warga’s pen and through anthropomorphism, Resilience learns important lessons about what it might mean to be human. Res develops relationships with two NASA scientists, Rania and Xander who work in California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and with a community of machines, namely Journey, Fly, and Guardian. Built for observation, Resilience awakens to knowledge. Although notRead More →

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Legends of Lotus Island: The Guardian Test is the first installment in a new series by Christina Soontornvat. In this fantasy series targeted for middle grade readers, Soontornvat introduces a cast of characters with Plum as the protagonist and creates a mysterious setting called Lotus Island. Because a storm capsized her parents’ boat on the open sea, Plum is an orphan living with her grandparents. Gardening, talking to the worms, fox bats, and other creatures while also taking care of Tansy the goat consume Plum’s days. However, her grandparents are afraid they are holding Plum back from something more significant. Without consulting Plum, Grandpa completesRead More →

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When Torrey Maldonado conceived of the idea to write Hands, he wished to produce a much needed book for readers—especially those living in rough neighborhoods—who might be wondering whether fighting is an essential component for survival. He knew the book would have to be a fast-paced, thin one so that readers wouldn’t get “weighed down” by heavy content. He hoped not only to inspire readers to feel more positive but to empower them to respond to challenges in productive ways. He succeeds with Hands, a 136-page book thick with complexity and targeted for tweens. At age ten, Trevor follows in his stepdad’s footsteps, thinking he’sRead More →

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An unwieldy topic, climate change has been creeping up on us in slow motion for more than 200 years. To humanize this topic and to motivate activism, Alan Gratz writes his middle grade novel Two Degrees. Written in seven parts, his book features four tweens from different locales in North America, all linked by an invisible web. These seventh graders are connected through the adversity they individually face with wild fires, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and storm surges. Living near the Sierra Nevadas in California, Akira Kristiansen seeks to escape the chaos of school and family by riding Dodger, her chestnut gelding quarterRead More →

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Fond of precision and happiest when she’s in charge, nine-year-old Jessie Treski always says exactly what she means. Her brother in the fifth grade, Evan refers to his sister as “Obsessy Jessie” because of her intensity. Yet, Jessie looks to her big brother as someone “who always [has] the answers and who always [helps] her when she [can’t] figure things out on her own” (134). Furthermore, Evan will often play translator for his sister since Jessie considers feelings a mystery and finds reading people’s facial expressions confusing. These two siblings play the role of protagonists in Jacqueline Davies’ latest book The Bridge Battle. Because Jessie’sRead More →

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Perfect for animal lovers, How to Heal a Gryphon by Meg Cannistra puts a magical spin on veterinarians and showcases a plump witch with spunk and sass. Giada Bellantuonos is twelve, and on her thirteenth birthday, she is expected to take the oath to become a guaritrice and to join the family business. These guardians of the people use their power to strengthen people. However, the family business is not Giada’s dream. She has lived in the shadow of her famous brother Rocco, and wants her own identity as a famous fixer. Rather than heal people, she wishes instead to honor Diana, goddess of wildRead More →

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Shaheer Atique is afraid of getting attached to a place because it always ends up in the rearview mirror. His highly talented and ambitious father chases hospital jobs, so Shaheer and his grandfather are always on the move. The trio’s latest stop is Virginia. When quiet and withdrawn Shaheer attends the first day of eighth grade, he encounters several people who tease him, laughing at his hair, which “must be a wig.” Before long, he realizes he is a doppelgänger for Ashar Malik, a defense man on the hockey team. Ashar’s dream is to use his position on The Husky Bladers to get noticed andRead More →

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Set in London in 1963, Wildoak by C.C. Harrington features eleven-year-old Margaret Stephens. Maggie stutters, but not whenever she speaks to her pet mouse Wellington or to the injured dove Flute whose wing she has wrapped for healing or to the two snails, Spitfire and Hurricaine, whom she has rescued from the garden. Still, it’s not her gifts that she sees. Maggie sees herself as broken, a child that doesn’t work properly. Some of these fears derive from people’s reactions to her blocking and her inability to get the words out. Her father even threatens to send her to Granville, a special school where rumorRead More →