Tag: mg adventure

cover of The Girl Who Could Not Dream
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Girl Who Could Not Dream

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The Girl Who Could Not Dream (Clarion Books, 2015) by Sarah Beth Durst was very enjoyable. It has such a fun concept: dreams can be bought and sold. I love the opening line, “Sophie had only ever stolen one dream.”

Sophie’s best friend is a sweet monster, with iridescent fur, tentacles, sharp teeth, who talks. She brought him out of a dream when she was six. Now Monster and her new friend Ethan help Sophie when her parents go missing and their shop’s dreams are all stolen.

You’ll meet funny and scary characters in this adventure, plus be introduced to interesting machinery that processes dreams. Get a sneak preview here.

Sarah Beth Durst writes for kids, teens, and adults. She’s one prolific author! On her website you can choose a category of her books to see what they are. Read about Sarah here.

Previously I recommended a later book of Sarah’s, Spark. It was good, but I like this one even better.

Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books, YA Novels

Dog Driven

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Dog Driven (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2019) by Terry Lynn Johnson is quite the scary adventure.

It’s risky enough for any teen to participate in the Canadian Great Superior Mail Run dog race, but for fourteen-year-old McKenna, who has hidden her deteriorating sight from her family, it could mean death for her and her dogs. But she is determined to win this race to encourage her younger sister Emma in her battle with Stargardt, an eye disease. Afterwards, she’ll tell her parents about her vision problems. And maybe she can help eight-year-old Emma gain some independence, too.

The author puts you right on the trail with McKenna and her dogs so you hear and feel what’s going on. As I said above, it’s scary to see what McKenna risks, but her determination is believable. Plus there are letters from the late 1800s about this mail run that increase the tension of the story.

Earlier I recommended her award winning book, Ice Dogs. I missed reading Falcon Wild, which I need to catch up with. Her newest book, is Rescue at Lake Wild–coming soon. Read about Terry Lynn Johnson here.

Note: Dog Driven is aimed at ages ten to sixteen according to the publisher.