Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Anything But Typical (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010) by Nora Raleigh Baskin has a main character who is “anything but typical.” 12-year-old Jason Blake is autistic kid living in a neurotypical world. “School doesn’t always go very well,” he says. Jason flaps his hands if excited, when he’s going to say something, or if thinking. Others think he is weird. He knows he’s supposed to look people in the eye, but he doesn’t like to. Besides most people look the same to him. “I know no girl will ever like me,” he says. But then PhoenixBird likes his stories on the Storyboard website. Maybe she can be his friend. But when they both get to go to the Storyboard conference, he’s afraid once she sees him she won’t like him anymore.
This story is well-told. It made me more understanding and sympathetic of those who have some strange uncontrollable habit. I think every kid should read this award winning novel. Look here at all the awards!
I love what Nora says on her site: “Most everything I write, whether it is a novel or an essay or a short story is very much a part of my life.. The world as I remember it… In other words..I rarely make anything up..mostly I pick and choose from things I’ve experienced or seen or done..and give them to my characters.” Read about her other books on her website.
Tag: Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Words in the Dust
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Words in the Dust (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011) by Trent Reedy is an amazing story inspired by a true story of a real girl in Afghanistan. The author uses sensory details and language to make the reader see Zulaika’s world and how many in that culture view us.
Here’s a brief introduction:
Zulaikha is forgetting how to write the letters of the alphabet her mother taught her. Boys’ call her “donkeyface,” shopkeepers look at her in disgust, her father’s second wife doesn’t like to look at her cleft lip, and she even has difficulty eating. But when the Americans come, they offer to fix her mouth. Zulaikha knows it will change her world if the surgery works out.
You’ll definitely want to go to Trent’s website to see how he wrote this story “by accident” and who and what book inspired him. There you’ll also get to see two other covers of the book–one for the UK and one for Germany.
Inside Out and Back Again
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Newbery honor book Inside Out and Back Again (HarperCollins, 2011) by Thanhha Lai is written in verse snapshots. Here’s a brief summary of the story:
It’s 1975, 10-year-old Hà, her mother and 3 older brothers must leave Saigon, Vietnam. Schools were closed a month early, the president has resigned, the communists are coming. They pack up and head for the Navy ships to escape. They end up on the island of Guam and then in Alabama.
Thanhha brings Hà and her family to life. I love the line: “It’s hard to be grateful when you feel stupid because you don’t know the language.”
I also enjoyed the inside story on how the author wrote this award winning story. Read the article here. Read more about her and her books here.
Fetching
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
8th grade Olivia has been comparing the groups of kids at her middle school to the dog breeds she’s familiar with. And it’s hysterical. But when the tormentors go too far and the assistant to the assistant principal won’t even listen to her complaint, Olivia has to serve her own justice. But will she go too far herself?
Fetching (Disney – Hyperion, 2011) by Kiera Stewart is a very well written, very funny book. I love the extra text on the cover: Middle School. Unleashed. It’s so appropriate. Any kid going in to middle school, in middle school, or who has been in middle school will recognize the setting of this book.
This is author Kiera Stewart’s first book, but she has another she sold this March. It’s titled: How To Break a Heart. I can’t wait. You should really check out her website–I love the middle school hall look to it. Plus, you’ll enjoy reading Kiera’s bio–she’s even funny there!
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
11-year-old Dini and her best friend, Maddie, love watching Bollywood movies and are big fans of movie star Dolly Singh. When Dini’s mother drops the big news that the family is moving to India for two years, the girls are heartbroken at being separated. If Dini and her family were at least going to Bombai where the filmi people are, she might get to see her favorite movie star. But, no, they are going to a little town called Swapnagiri. However, fate has something surreal in mind for Dini. Of course, fate does get some help from Dini herself.
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything (Atheneum, 2011) by Uma Krishnaswami and illustrated by Abigail Halpin is a fun read. I liked a look into a world I know nothing about. I especially like how all the threads of the different people and their stories come together in this novel.
Go to Uma’s website to see other books by this prolific author. She also teaches for the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
And if you, like me, enjoy the cover of this book go to Abigail’s website and see what else she is up to and see some of her art.