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Candace, the Universe, and Everything by Sherri L. Smith features eighth grader Candace Wells who loves to draw. Her life intersects with that of 93-year-old Loretta Spencer and 53-year-old Professor Tracey Auburn because all three share a connection to locker 235 at Walden Elementary School. As it turns out, the top shelf of that locker was designed to accommodate a window in the sky in 1908 when Elizabeth Simpson, an avid bird watcher, visited with Ellis Monroe, the draftsman for the architect for the school, who arranged the design. Since then, birds fly in and out of knots and connect the three to a timeRead More →

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Whether through empathy or some other form of understanding, humans will frequently attempt to form a connection with others in order to perceive alternate life experiences and to consider how those experiences might differ from their own. When documentary filmmaker James Robinson writes his memoir about seeing and being seen, he seeks to build not only understanding but compassion and a more accurate representation of the disability experience in the media. Whale Eyes relates Robinson’s experience from childhood through young adulthood as he contends with a condition often referred to as strabismus. With his misaligned eyes, which can make such tasks as reading and playingRead More →

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In her novel for middle grade readers entitled What Happened Then, Erin Soderberg Downing writes about family and the generational trauma that gets passed down. Twelve-year-old Avery knows she’s best in small doses. “Every time I try to fade, I fail . . . and flare instead. In a crayon box of colors, I’m the shocking pink and laser lemon” (5). Although she wishes to be less exuberant and less talkative, she hasn’t yet mastered moderation. “I know I’m too much. Too loud, too annoying, too big for any room I step into. . . . I wish I could edit and refine myself, likeRead More →

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With her graphic novel Free Piano (Not Haunted), Whitney Gardner uses her protagonist Margot to remind middle grade readers that self-worth cannot be measured by the number of followers a person achieves on social media platforms.  Furthermore, having followers doesn’t let you know if you’re good at something or not. Feeling abandoned since her mother works so much and her father is focused on his music career, Margot thinks if she’s famous, she’ll never have to be alone. When she finds a Prophet-5 synthesizer on the sidewalk, Margot decides to ask her dad to teach her how to play. However, he has determined that aRead More →

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In The House of Found Objects: A Bea Bellerose Mystery, Jo Beckett-King introduces middle grade readers to her twelve-year-old brainiac detective. When Bea’s parents travel to New Orleans for a conference, rather than allowing their daughter to remain in New Jersey, they send her to Paris to visit Aunt Juliette. Yet, Aunt Juliette, a journalist for a weekly news magazine in France, is too busy to play tour guide. And Grandma Sylvie, aka Mamie, is too burdened by her antiques business to share the sites. When Bea’s mom and dad first told her they were sending her to France, they’d made the trip sound likeRead More →

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Carter Peregrine lives in Sterling, North Carolina, with his mom and little brother, Martin. Carter’s FOMO has him addicted to screens, so when the boys join their father in Colorado for a skiing vacation during spring break, no screens allowed, Carter is certain he’ll miss out on the latest viral videos. While “babysitting” his younger brother on the bunny slope, Carter cheats and pulls out his phone. Entirely oblivious to his brother’s path, Martin plows into Carter, breaking both of Carter’s legs. Now what? Carter’s dad gives his son something to think about: “If you hadn’t been staring at your phone, you just might haveRead More →

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Targeted for middle grade readers, Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson features twelve-year-old Kaylani McKinnon. Given her focus on being strategic about #operationFREEDAD, Kaylani has no time for frivolity. So, when her mother suggests a summer of fun at the vacation home of a family friend in Martha’s Vineyard, this Brooklyn-based girl is resistant. After all, she has pre-law camp to consider if she hopes to get her wrongfully accused dad out of prison. When Kaylani arrives, she is even more certain that this place is not her jam. As the ferry docks in the town of Oak Bluffs, Kaylani feels like DorothyRead More →

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With her debut graphic novel, On Guard!, Cassidy Wasserman creates a clever metaphor between fencing and life.  As the story unfolds, Grace Collins is beginning seventh grade at Marshall Middle School. To further complicate life, her parents have divorced, the custody agreement adds challenges, and her best friend has moved on to a new friend group, replacing Grace with Lana. Adrift, angry, and alone, Grace starts watching the eighth grade fencers during her lunch hour. Although she imagines herself armed with a sword, she considers herself unathletic and chooses to sit on the sidelines instead. However, when her father notices Grace’s withdrawn demeanor, he encouragesRead More →

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Just as William Blake, in his poem “The Tyger,” explores the duality of human nature and our potential for both good and evil, SF Said takes up the task in his novel Tyger illustrated by Dave McKean.  Although the novel is targeted for middle grade readers, its themes, morals, and complexity suit a much broader readership. Both the poem and the novel ultimately suggest that the imagination is the location of a miraculous but dangerous kind of creative strength. The willingness to “dare,” as the poem would put it, to create anything of any worth out of the “fire” of creativity, requires both bravery andRead More →