MG Novels – Page 59 – Susan Uhlig

Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Susan Uhlig

3rd Grade Worries and Wisdom

Be prepared to laugh out loud when reading Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters (Feiwel and Friends, 2010) by Rachel Vail. The story is told in diary style and has fun illustrations by Matthew Cordell.
3rd grader Justin Krzeszewski gets nicknamed Justin Case because he’s a worry wart. He’s afraid of “The Way-Back in the Basement,” robbers breaking in, dogs–especially the dog he begged for–his new teacher, classmate Xavier Schwartz, and more. Here’s a sample of Justin’s perspective on third grade: “I figured out why it is called cursive: because of the bad words you think when you can’t draw the dumb letters right.”
Rachel Vail is a prolific author, and, as I found out at the LA SCBWI conference, a good speaker. She shared that she wrote this book for one of her sons. A month later I still find myself grinning over part of her talk. Go to the SCBWI blog for some snippets: Standing Room Only and Keynote.
Lean more about Rachel and her books here. Check out the Fun Stuff link. See more o Matthew Cordell’s art here. Read his blog and find out about work he’s doing for a book by Gail Carson Levine!

Mackenzie Blue

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Susan Uhlig

mackenzie blue 01 7th Grade – no laughing matter

Unless you’re getting to read about it! Yesterday, I got caught laughing out loud in a waiting room as I finished reading Mackenzie Blue by Tina Wells (HarperCollins, 2009). I laughed so often that others commented that I must be reading a good book.
Mackenzie’s got the common fear of starting 7th grade, plus her BFF has moved away. Jasper–recently moved from England–is her friend, but she’s supposed to be helping him. Of course, there’s a mean girl . . . or is she? A crush interest. A new teacher whom Zee likes, but someone’s trying to get fired. Mix in embarrassing events (I’m not just talking parents), a lost diary, a rock band, a Teen Sing competition, and life is pretty much hopping at Brookdale Academy.
But wait, when you get done with the book, you don’t have to leave Mackenzie Blue’s life. Next up is The Secret Crush (2010). Science projects, homework, parties, and best yet a Rock and Roll Musical that is more important to Zee than anything. Well, except her relationship with her BFF (why can’t Ally be here to help her out?) and the confusion about one certain boy, complicated by two new kids joining the music class, and a note from a secret admirer.
Just out is Friends Forever? What could be better than a week at camp with all your friends? Well, not having to worry about bugs and wild animals and weird bathrooms . . . or the mysterious MOUNTAIN MAN! And how come Mackenzie’s friends are arguing? What’s a girl to do?!
I’m still smiling from reading these two books this afternoon–yes, I’ll confess, I read them straight through one after the other. Looking forward to the next book scheduled to come out in December, as well.
You also won’t want to miss the Mackenzie Blue website where you can check out Kathi’s closet, take a quiz to see which character you are, see the lost diary, get green tips from Jasper and money tips from Marcus. Oh, and you can even read about the author, Tina Wells!

MG Novels, So Many Good Books, YA Novels

Over and Under . . . Weight

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Susan Uhlig

CHARACTERS, that is . . .
Though both of these characters and their stories are so believable, you feel as if you could meet them on the street.

In Erin Dionne‘s debut middle grade novel, Models don’t eat chocolate cookies, (Dial, 2009), we meet 12-year-old Celeste Harris. Celeste is round and doesn’t mind being round, but when she tries on the bridesmaid dress for her cousin’s wedding, it’s a disaster. The disaster gets worse when her aunt spots the Husky Peach modeling competition and thinks Celeste should enter, in fact she enters her. To make things worse, Celeste’s best friend Sandra starts hanging out with Celeste’s archenemy Lively Carson who calls Celeste a cow and worse.
Who can help Celeste in this dilemma? The lady in red!
Author Erin Dionne says she’s “been a Husky Peach and a Skinny Banana” so knows what it is like to struggle with weight. Read more about Erin and her next book at: www.erindionne.com

YA novel Wintergirls (Viking, 2009) by Laurie Halse Anderson deals with anorexia and bulimia and obviously strikes a chord with many teen readers–just check out all the YouTube videos made about the book!
The opening is fascinating: “So she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee. She tells me in four sentences. No, five. I can’t let me hear this, but it’s too late. The facts sneak in and stab me.” Doesn’t that make you want to read on? It sure did me. And I discovered that Lia wants to weigh . . . 0. Don’t you wonder how someone can be that desperate.
The questions is: Will finding out what happened to her ex-best friend Cassie change anything for Lia?
Laurie is the author of Speak, Chains, Fever 1793 and more. You can read about her and her books at her website: http://www.writerlady.com/.

Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

How to Steal a Dog

Posted on May 19, 2010June 15, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

How to Steal a Dog How to Steal a Dog (Frances Foster Books an imprint of FSG, 2007) by Barbara O’Connor is winning awards: Kansas’ William Allen White Award (3rd-5th grade book) and the South Dakota Children’s Prairie Pasque Award.
“The day I decided to steal a dog was the same day my best friend, Luanne Godfrey, found out I lived in a car.” How can you not read on after reading that line? The rest of the book holds up to that beginning, too.
Good story about what happens after a father abandons his family and truthful look at the struggles (laundry, hygiene, food, frustration). Georgina tries to fix their homelessness herself. We see her bad attitude towards her mother, how her little brother figures out things she should have, and her notebook about how to steal a dog. Through the help of a bum, Georgia learns about forgiveness.
Barbara O’Connor has published 8 novels and 6 biographies. Read more about her here.

Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Susan Uhlig

Brilliant isn’t just a word in the title.

brilliant fall If it was up to me The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z (Walker, 2009) by Kate Messner would be a Newbery winner. I absolutely loved this book.
7th grader Gianna loves to run, but is on probation for the sectionals cross-country track meet unless she gets her leaf project turned in on time for science, and she’s barely started. Throw in family problems, sabotage, a friend being teased, death, and a funny little brother for a great mix. The author juggled issues on many levels and created believable characters. (Warning to writers: it’s so good it may make you despair over your own writing… However, you’ll see Gianna didn’t give up, so why should you?)
Read more about the book and the author at www.katemessner.com/books.html Fun to have the sound on, too. You’ll need it to watch the trailer anyway where authors talk about what kind of tree they’d be.
You can also become a fan on facebook.