Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Trouble with Heroes (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2025) by Kate Messner is a compelling read.
Finn Connelly is about to fail seventh grade. He’s not a hero like his dad was. He’s never been in the news like Dad, until now. For vandalizing a cemetery. The daughter of the dead woman will drop the charges, if he will climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks this summer. And he has to bring along the dead woman’s dog!
I love the first two lines: “If I were a better kid, this story would start with my seventh-grade diploma. Instead, is starts with this.” What follows is a news clipping with the headline “Local Cemetery Vandalized.” How could you not read on after that?
See this prolific author’s books here and also sign up for her newsletter on the same page. And, yes, Kate has climbed all those mountains that her character Finn climbs!!!