Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
I loved The Storm Keeper’s Island (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2018) by Catherine Doyle!
Although Fionn Boyle comes from a long line of seafarers, he fears the ocean will gulp him down. When he and his sister, Tara, go to Arranmore Island to visit their grandfather for the summer, it’s like the island itself welcomes him. Fionn hates Malachy Boyle’s house on sight and just wants to be back in their Dublin apartment with his mother. But surprisingly he likes his grandfather. Then he finds out about the magic of the Island. It will be choosing a new Storm Keeper to replace his aging grandfather. Could it be Fionn?
This is the author’s debut novel. Wow! There’s a sequel coming in July–The Lost Tide Warriors. Woo hoo!
Catherine’s own grandparents grew up on Arranmoore Island. Read more about the author here. And interestingly enough, just this week I came across this article about the Island.
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and her Monster (Amulet Books, 2018) by Jonathan Auxier is a book to love and hate. I love the story; I love the main character. I hate the villains and the callous treatment of chimney sweeps in Victorian London.
Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes (Scholastic Press, 2017) by Mary E. Lambert was such a heart-wrenching book for me. I didn’t grow up like this main character did, but have some family members who were close to it. The story was very believable.
I loved Skylark and Wallcreeper (Little Bee/Yellow Jacket Books, 2018) by Anne O’Brien Carelli so much!