Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
A Whale of the Wild (Greenwillow Books, 2020) by Rosanne Parry and illustrated by Lindsay Moore was such a moving story. And is a New York Times bestseller!
Told from alternating viewpoints of Vega and her little brother Deneb, it feels like we are right there in the ocean with these two young orca whales, experiencing the Pull and Push of the tide, the dark below water, the glow of the sunshine, and the hunger. Someday Vega will be a Wayfinder, who finds the salmon for the family. But not yet. Then an earth shake separates the two from the rest of the pod and Vega has to figure out how not only to find their way back to the pod, but feed her little brother, too.
The spot illustrations enhance the story. There’s also a bonus section in the back about orcas and other sea creatures.
Rosanne is the New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander among other middle grade/young adult novels that you can read about here. Her next book is a picture book which you can check out here.
Lindsay is an author/illustrator. Check out some of her beautiful illustrations here and read about her here.
Heart of a Shepherd (Random House Books for Children, 2009) by Rosanne Parry is a lovely book. I enjoyed the intergenerational relationships, the faith of the main character, and a look into a military and shepherd family’s life.
What do you do when you’ve always wanted a dog, but your mother gives you a guinea pig instead? In 5th grader Rufus’ case he decides to keep Fido since she annoys his clean freak dad (the reason he can’t have a dog). But then something strange happens. Fido starts acting like a dog.
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Simon and Schuster, 2009) by Mac Barnett illustrated by Adam Rex is one funny mystery. The story is modeled after the old time kid detective novels, so expect some corn.
The sequel Brixton Brothers 2: The Ghostwriter Secret came out last fall and is on my to-be-read list. The next in the series, It Happened on a Train, will come out this October.