This time it’s not Sleeping Beauty in a castle hidden by thorns; instead it’s the son of the village blacksmith. Sand wakes up in the abandoned castle and has no idea how he got there. Worse yet, the thorns keep him from leaving. From the heights of the broken castle, he can see the village, but no one can hear him. How is he to survive?
The Castle Behind the Thorns (Katherine Tegen Books, 2014) by Merrie Haskell has magic in the story and in the telling of it.
This is the author’s third book. I want to check out the others. Read about them here on her website.
Category: MG Novels
middle grade novels (for 8-12 yo)
Hook’s Revenge
Hook’s Revenge (Disney Hyperion, 2014) by Heidi Schulz is a fun adventure with leading heroine being Captain Hook’s twelve-year-old daughter, Jocelyn. Of course, there are pirates and lost boys, a ticking crocodile, mermaids and more. But there’s also finishing school…
The book makes me smile. I think you’ll agree that author Heidi Schulz did a brilliant job with this story. The book has been published in Britain as Hook’s Daughter. 
There’s even a sequel coming out, called Hook’s Revenge: the Pirate Code.
Read more on the author’s website.
Nickel Bay Nick
Nickel Bay Nick (GP Putnam’ Sons, 2013) by Dean Pitchford was a fun read.
Not that 11-year-old Sam Brattle is having a good time. He’s just had the worst Christmas ever. And his town of Nickel Bay isn’t doing so well either. They mysterious Nickel Bay Nick who has been the anonymous Santa that starts up Christmas for the whole town is a no show this year. Sam’s in trouble again, too. This time his running from the police ends up with damage to Mr. Wells’ house, and his neighbor is going to make Sam pay for the damages by working for him.
I loved reading about Sam’s training and his special assignments and how he changes as a result. It’s a story to give one hope.
Nickel Bay Nick received the 2014 Cybils MG Fiction Award book.
Author Dean Pitchford is also an actor, singer, songwriter, screenwriter, playwright, director. Look at his amazing and extensive biography here. You’ll definitely recognize songs and movies.
Fortunately, The Milk
Fortunately, The Milk (Harper, 2013) by Neil Gaiman is also an imaginative book (as was the last book I posted about). Be prepared for lots of humor in text and illustrations, which are done by Skottie Young.
Mum has gone to a conference and there’s no milk to put on the cereal. The kids’ dad goes out for milk and is gone a lonnngggg time. His reasons why involved aliens, pirates, dinosaurs, volcanos, time travel, wumpires, ponies, and a Floaty-Ball-Person-Carrier.
Neil Gaiman is a well-known author of children’s and adult books. If you’ve never read any, you can’t go wrong by starting with this book. Read more about the author here on his site.
You can check out the illustrator here. His current project, adaptions of L. Frank Baum’s OZ novels with writer Eric Shanower, sounds fantastic.
Every Day After
Lizzie Hawkin’s Daddy tells her she was born to succeed. Is it true or not? Hard for her to believe it with him gone. At first, eleven-year-old Lizzie keeps herself going ’cause she knows she has to make her daddy proud. But with all the work she’s having to do to take care of her mama and feed the two of them, her grades are beginning to tumble. And because of the newcomer who stole her best friend, the walls surrounding her secret will, too.
Every Day After (Delacorte Press, 2013) by Laura Golden is a historical novel set in the Depression Era. The story was inspired by family events as is her forthcoming book, Standing Tall on Mulberry Hill. Both books are set in Alabama.
One of the things I enjoyed about this book was Lizzie learning to see herself more clearly.
There’s a lovely book trailer here.