Merci Suárez Changes Gears (Candlewick Press, 2018) by Meg Medina is the 2019 Newbery Winner (in case you missed the news). Here’s a video of what it was like for Meg getting “the call.”
Sixth grade isn’t easy for any kid, but Merci Suárez, a scholarship kid at Seward Pines Academy is struggling with some additional issues–her left eye that doesn’t always track, her unusual living situation, and being stuck in Sunshine Buddies. But when she comes home from school to find a police cruiser outside Abuela’s house, she doesn’t know it’s the beginning of everything changing.
This is a lovely story of a girl negotiating changes in her family, new responsibilities, and having to grow up.
This is Meg Medina’s first middle grade novel. She also writes young adult novels and picture books. See her books here. Read about her and her many awards here.
Category: MG Novels
middle grade novels (for 8-12 yo)
The Turning
The Turning (Greenwillow Books, 2018) by Emily Whitman is SO good! It’s compelling from the first line to the end. I had so much sympathy for the main character. And his family.
Aran is a selkie. He lives at sea with the clan. But unlike the others he is always in longlimbs as he has no selkie skin to transform him into a seal. He prays to the moon to give him one so he can dive without needing to surface for breath, so he can swim long distances and keep up with the others. Then he finds out his mother has kept a secret from him and he may never get a pelt. Aran will risk everything to be a full selkie–even living on land.
What a magical story of a convincing world! (The book has a cool cover too.) You really don’t want to miss reading this book that has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Selection.
Read Emily’s About Me to learn some of the inspiration for this book. The author has also written YA books–you can read about them here.
Inkling
Inkling (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018) by Kenneth Oppel is a book I’m not quite sure how to describe. We’ve got a nonhuman, but likable main character, who is an inkblot. Seriously! He’s discovered by a boy named Ethan, who names him Inkling. Ethan’s sister Sarah who has Down’s Syndrome meets Inkling too although she calls him Lucy. We’ve got lots of drawing, both good and bad. We’ve got problems, kid-sized and adult. It’s funny. It’s sad. It’s touching.There’s a bad guy. But with some help Ethan and Inkling win in the end. And so do some other people.
This is a fun and satisfying story. Looking at it several weeks after I finished it, I find it hard not to pick the book up and read it again.
Kenneth Oppel is an award winning author. You can read about him here. See his awards here and check out his books here.
The illustrations (inside and out) are done by Sydney Smith. You can see a bunch of the illustrator’s covers here.
Just Under the Clouds
I loved Just Under the Clouds (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018) by Melissa Sarno. It’s such a good book. And has a gorgeous cover.
Twelve-year-old Cora and her family, consisting of her mother and her sister Adare, have been moving from place to place for six years since Daddy died. Now they’re homeless. Cora gets comfort from knowing and climbing trees in Brooklyn, just like her father taught her. But with watching her “different” sister while Mom works, and struggling with algebra in school, Cora worries they’ll never belong anywhere.
Just Under the Clouds is the author’s debut novel. Read about the birth of the story here. Her next book, A Swirl of Ocean, comes out in late summer and I’m really looking forward to it. Read more about Melissa here.
Squirm
Squirm (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018) by Carl Hiaasen is an intriguing book involving snakes, eagles, grizzlies, panthers, and drones (the man-made kind). I love the cover!
Thirteen-year-old Billy Dicken’s is one tough kid. He makes the kids at school leave his locker alone by putting a live rattlesnake inside, stands up to bullies, and is determined to meet the father who left when Billy was four. Billy doesn’t know where his dad lives or what he does for a living, but he’s determined to find out. His mom and sister won’t help, so Billy will do whatever it takes to find his father. His journey takes him from Florida to Montana and back again.
Author Carl Hiaasen has five other books out for young readers. Read about them here. His book Hoot was a Newbery honor book and was made into a movie. You can listen to an interview with Carl on Mike Lupica’s podcast.