Tag: orphan

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

Sam

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Sam (DCB Young Readers, 2025) by Eric Walters is as disturbing as its cover. But it’s also a good story with a hopeful ending.

Orphaned Sam can’t stay out of trouble. When a run-in with high schoolers ends badly, Sam is sentenced to Johnson “Blue Gables” Juvenile Center for six weeks. There he’s assigned to read a book about another redheaded orphan, Anne of Green Gables, which of course, Sam thinks is stupid. But despite himself, he gets interested in the story.

When I started reading this book, I didn’t even like the main character. However, the writing was so good, I pressed on. And my opinion of Sam changed as he did. I’m glad I persevered.

Read about this prolific Canadian author here. Here’s a list of many of his novels.

cover of Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood (Disney/Hyperion, 2024) by Robert Beatty is a mysterious story.

Thirteen-year-old Sylvia Doe tries to stay with her foster families. But the only place she feels she belongs is Highland Home for Children, with it’s caretaker, and the horses. Sylvia always finds her way back. “Caught in a nook here, and a cranny there, she was the one little pebble that the river could never seem to push downstream.” Once “home” a powerful storm causes the river to flood and Sylvia finds strange things that don’t belong, and even rescues an odd boy, who doesn’t seem to be from her time.

Watch the book trailer on this page.

Read about the bestselling author here and check out his Serafina and Willow series here.

Posted in MG Novels

Wild Things

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

wildthings.jpgThe title of the book Wild Things (Boyd’s Mills Press, 2009) by Clay Carmichael fits in so many ways: a wild main character, a wild cat, and other things you’ll have to read to discover yourself.
11-year-old Zoe has basically raised herself, but now she’s been sent to live with her Uncle Henry, whom she’s never met. She expects him to fail her as everyone in her life has done before, including her now deceased mother and all her various boyfriends. Henry doesn’t believe her when she tells him there’s a cat hanging around his place, but not only is Zoe right about him, but she senses the presence of others, too. And the cat knows more than he can tell. I love how the cat and girl viewpoints work together to tell the story.
Don’t miss the “Story Behind the Story” on the author’s website. And, take note, the author illustrated the cover herself, plus did the drawings inside the book!