[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Hi. I'm all caught up and need some new MGs to read. Please feel free to recommend your own book, if it fits!

Here's what I like:
- humour
- animals
- great voice
- fantasy, SF
- historical
- fantastic writing/ unusual style
- diverse, multi-cultural is great

Here's what I don't like:
- fatal diseases
- anything medical/hospitals, etc. (I really need to escape from all that stuff.)
- sports
- religion (I did like The Inquisitor's Tale, maybe because it was done with humour; but nothing preachy, please)
- anything depressing

An example of a recent book I loved is Voyage of the Dogs by Greg van Eeekhaut. (SF, animals, some humour)

[Vijaya Posts: 7,164 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

I just finished a delightful MG book Trouble at the Scriptorium by Anne E. Johnson. It's not new but the author used to be a member here. Medieval mystery.

[Schriscoe Posts: 1,765 Status: Offline www.sharonchriscoebooks.com WWW]

Stacy McAnulty’s The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is fantastic.

[Hopeful Posts: 226 Status: Offline I love kid books!]

The "Spy School" series by Stuart Gibbs is very popular with the students at my local middle school.  Actually, Gibbs' FunJungle series would probably be more appealing to you if you like animals.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks! I'm making a list... 

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

I've ordered these, as well as the latest MG from Cynthia Lord, Because of the Rabbit. I always like her novels! Also I'm buying Jinx a fantasy by Sage Blackwood and Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly. Sage and Lynne are people I follow on Twitter who seem nice.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[AnneB Posts: 3,753 Status: Offline]

Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary Schmidt. Reviews have been mixed but I really REALLY enjoyed it (and know I would have when I was the age of the target market as well). A butler comes to visit...

I also liked:
The Friendship War, by Alexander Clements (mis-named IMO; I'd bet a grande chai latte that the original title was The Button War) but the MC is absolutely wonderful).
Better You than Me, by Jessica Brody, wherein two tweens--a movie star and a fan--switch bodies.
A Handful of Stars, by Cynthia Lord. Classic Cynthia Lord. She is one of my idols. Involves a dog, but *spoiler alert* dog does NOT die!

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks, Anne. These sound great. I read A Handful of Stars as soon as it came out, and I loved it. I'll check the summary of Pay Attention, Carter Jones on Goodreads and Amazon. Gary Schmidt has written one of my absolute favourites, The Wednesday Wars, and one of my biggest disappointments, Okay for Now (surprise fatal disease plotline).

[JulieM Posts: 986 Status: Offline WWW]

How to Bee by Bren MacDibble (who has been on these boards) has the best voice ever!!! Great story too. Highly recommended.

[Marcia Posts: 475 Status: Offline Never Too Late To Be What You Were Meant to Be WWW]

I've just enjoyed Jo Knowles' latest: Where the Heart Is. It's pretty light even though a few heavy themes are introduced. My own Roller Boy might fit your taste, unless you consider spinning around on a roller-skating rink to fall under sports.    Oh, and another I recently enjoyed (not new) is Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon--loved the audio version!

[HDWestlund Posts: 951 Status: Offline writer and bookseller]

My favorite book I read last year was THE DRAGON WITH THE CHOCOLATE HEART by Stephanie Burgis. It’s funny, it’s heartfelt, and its comentary on human nature is spot on. I also really loved Emily Whitman’s THE TURNING about a half-selkie boy who needs a skin so he can join his true family—or so he thinks. Gorgeous, poetic prose in an action/survival/friendship story.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks for these suggestions! I've enjoyed some of Jo Knowle's books, so I'll check out Where The Heart Is. Marcia, I loved Call Me Amy, but I'm going to pass on your new sportsy book. It does have a great cover, by the way. (I mean it; I hate sports and sports books. I end up skimming over anything about sports. My loss, I'm sure...) HD Westlund, The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart and The Turning sound like my kind of thing. 

[Vijaya Posts: 7,164 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

I just remembered an oldie but a goodie: The Cat  Who Came in Off the Roof by Annie Schmidt--a quickie review here: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2018/10/reading_30.html

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Ooo, thanks, Vijaya! That sounds great! I have a soft spot for The Netherlands, too. 

[marla-lesage Posts: 383 Status: Offline Write. Illustrate. Revise.]

I just read & enjoyed Kate Messner's Breakout - not depressing but definitely thought provoking & an interesting format.

Mostly I read graphic novels... do you like GN's? Surfside Girls by Kim Dwinell was very refreshing & I enjoyed Hope Larson's All Summer Long, and Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner is different/interesting too.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,000 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Here's a series about ten years old: Vordak the Incomprehensible. (Funny.) And more recently, Spy School.

[217mom Posts: 1,289 Status: Offline "Keep the child in view"- Charles Dickens WWW]

Wonderful, Debbie.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks, Debbie!

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,000 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Afraid you'll have to thank my son. He has a lot more time to read than I do. It just took me this long to catch him and ask what he thought.

[nancy-kanyuk Posts: 13 Status: Offline]

Not sure you’re still checking this post. One of my favorite reads this year is Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman. Excellent book for adults as well.

[jerry-harwood Posts: 11 Status: Offline Pax Vobiscum WWW]

You may not be checking this anymore, but I appreciated the suggestions and wanted to contribute.  I found at our local used bookstore a set of RL Stine books.  I can move through one in two evenings.  They are loads of fun.  I saw there several sets of other prolific authors.  Stine is an expert at the cliffhanger chapter ending.  So not only is it an enjoyable story, but also a very good example for my own writing.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Hi, Jerry and Nancy and other MG readers. I'm still checking this, so thanks for any suggestions.

Out of last year's suggestions, I read and really enjoyed THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART, VINCENT AND THEO (really a YA non-fiction, not a MG novel, but still very interesting),  and TROUBLE AT THE SCRIPTORIUM.

The purpose of my reading list is for to keep up-to-date on current middle-grade novels, which is what I write. My taste is very personal, subjective and quirky.

Oh, I have two to recommend:
OWL'S OUTSTANDING DONUTS by Robin Yardi.  Funny contemporary MG with an owl who is obsessed with donuts and a kid who solves an ecological mystery with his help. 

Robin also wrote another funny MG with talking animals, THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO  MARTINEZ , which features contemporary knights and talking skunks.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Update, February 21, 2021.

Hi, MG readers and writers! I'm all out of MG novels and want to buy some more.

Here's what I like:
- humour
- fantasy
-SF
- animals
- contemporary
- diversity, other cultures
- unusual structure
- strong or unusual voice
- mystery
- historical

Here's what I don't like:
- sports
- religion
- anything depressing
- medical stories (I'm looking for escape from this stuff)
- fatal diseases

Feel free to recommend your own book if it fits!

Thanks!

[Hopeful Posts: 226 Status: Offline I love kid books!]

I recently read the contemporary middle grade novel "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" written by Leslie Connor.  My 6th grader had recommended it to me.  I thought it was excellent.  My middle schooler's favorite book, though, was "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" written by Stacy McAnulty.  She also liked Dusti Bowling's novel, "24 Hours in Nowhere."  I thought these books were also very good.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,164 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Barb, I recently read Daniel Nayeri's Everything Sad is Untrue (a true story). Memoir+myths+history+funny+sad. I loved it.
Seconding Lightning Girl. I also loved Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.
You might get some good leads from marvelous middle grade monday blog roundup: https://gpattridge.com/

[Pons Posts: 2,465 Status: Offline]

And, as a sequel to Three Times Lucky, the Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage. It's even better than Three Times Lucky.

[dewsanddamps Posts: 2,302 Status: Offline]

I really enjoyed THE WOLF HOUR, Sara Lewis Holmes. My book discussion group read it, and we all liked it.

[mrh Posts: 4,758 Status: Offline www.marciahoehne.com WWW]

I'm now finishing JUST LIKE THAT by Gary D. Schmidt, and all I can say is Newbery Newbery Newbery. (Actually, most books I like in this same way take Newbery Honors, but that counts.)

If you can forgive him for what he does on p. 2, the book is well worth the ride. Wonderful characters, voice like no other, harrowing and beautiful scenes, suspense, laugh-out-loud lines, and for Boomers, a good dose of nostalgia since it's set in 1968. As someone who returns probably around 70% of what I check out from the library either unread or mostly skimmed, I can't recommend this one enough.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,257 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks! These all sound good. I'm making a list. I do like Gary Schmidt's writing, especially THE WEDNESDAY WARS, which is one of my favourites.

[217mom Posts: 1,289 Status: Offline "Keep the child in view"- Charles Dickens WWW]

 

I'm now finishing JUST LIKE THAT by Gary D. Schmidt, and all I can say is Newbery Newbery Newbery. (Actually, most books I like in this same way take Newbery Honors, but that counts.)

If you can forgive him for what he does on p. 2, the book is well worth the ride. Wonderful characters, voice like no other, harrowing and beautiful scenes, suspense, laugh-out-loud lines, and for Boomers, a good dose of nostalgia since it's set in 1968. As someone who returns probably around 70% of what I check out from the library either unread or mostly skimmed, I can't recommend this one enough.

Your rec sent me straight to "look inside" on Amazon, and now I will not only read this book, but will wonder what is there to forgive on page 2, because I don't see it