Tag: diverse

cover of Nightingale
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Nightingale

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Nightingale (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2022) by Deva Fagan was a fun fantasy–there’s a magic sword, flying, an evil factory owner, workers literally ghosting, princes, a giant robot, a possibly war on the horizon, and a hero or two.

12-year-old Lark is an orphan just trying to earn enough money to get her mother’s locket back from mean Mrs. Starvenger. During an attempted theft she accidentally touches a magicked sword and becomes the fabled hero Nightingale expected to save Gallant from an ancient evil. 13-year-old Prince Jasper was the one who awakened the sword, but unfortunately the sword has a mind of it’s own and won’t go back. But Lark can’t be a hero, can’t she?

The book is a 2022 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year and has been put on a several state lists. Read more here.

Read about the author here and check out her other books on her site.

cover of Westfallen
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Westfallen

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Westfallen (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024) by Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares is not quite time travel, perhaps time communication, but in the same exact place.

79 years apart, six kids meet via an old radio. The 2023 kids (Henry, Frances, and Lukas) unwittingly tell the 1944 kids (Alice, Artie, and Lawrence) some things that change the past and their future–today is not the American the modern three know, but now a country called Westfallen. With men in uniforms with swastika armbands. The six have to work together to change the past and present. But they destroyed the radio…

This is the first book in a planned trilogy of alternate history.

Ann is the bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, plus others. Read more about her books here, and about her here.

Ben, her brother, also has other books–check them out here. Read about him here.

paperback cover of Ban This Book
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Ban This Book

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Ban This Book (Starscape, 2017) by Alan Gratz is such a good read. It’s definitely still timely. I wish I’d noticed this book sooner.

When Amy Anne Ollinger tries to check out her “favorite book in the world” from the school library, the librarian tells her the book has been banned. She learns it’s a classmate’s mom who thought the book was inappropriate. After a failed attempt to talk to the school board about the book, Amy Anne starts a secret banned-book library out of her locker. Trouble ensues.

Of course, there’s more involved in the story. Amy Anne has to learn how to speak up in other places as well…like at home. And you’ll probably recognize books from the banned book lists at Amy Anne’s school.

I love the log line on Alan’s website: “PUTTING FICTIONAL KIDS IN DANGER SINCE 2006.” Read about this bestselling author here. See all his novels here. He’s also written a graphic novel, Captain America: The Ghost Army. His short fiction is posted here.

Previously, I recommended Alan’s historical book, Allies.

Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Witching Wind

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The Witching Wind (Scholastic Press, 2024) by Natalie Lloyd is a novel full of magic and hope.

Grayson, going to yet another foster home, doesn’t mind because soon her older sister Beanie will come and take her away.

Roxie, was excited about starting sixth grade, until she made everyone laugh at her at the pool. But she’ll go on a singing tour with her gran and can forget about the whole embarrassing event.

Unfortunately, both Beanie and Granny are missing, and the two new friends think the Witching Wind stole them. Together they must find the truth.

The personalities of these girls shine in this dual point-of-view novel. I also love the way Grayson’s disability is dealt with.

Read about this New York Times Bestselling Author here and check out all her books here.

I previously recommended Natalie’s Over the Moon and A Snicker of Magic. I need to catch up on more of her books.

cover of Love in the Library
Posted in PB, So Many Good Books

Love in the Library

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrate by Yas Imamura is based on a true story about love in a Japanese internment camp. I love it so much I wish every kid and adult would read this.

Tama should be going to college, but she’s incarcerated because she Is Japanese-American. She works in the Idaho camp library where she meets George. The library gives her hope as she can escape in books. And then…

These lines: “To fall in love is already a gift. But to fall in love in a place like Minidaka, a place bulit to make people feel like they weren’t human–that was miraculous.”

Inspired by her maternal grandparents’ experience, Maggie has written a heart-wrenching story. Currently, there are terrible stories about immigrant detention. See this report on migrant children.

See Maggie’s other books here and read about her here.

See Yas’ art here and read about her here where you can also click on the awards tab.