They're about an order of mouse nuns (the Sisters of Our Lady Star of the Sea) who live in an abbey underneath G.K. Chesterton's house in England. They run a school for village mice and, inspired by Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, start solving local crimes. In the first book, The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese, the sisters (and two eager students) ride their tiny bicycles to London to investigate the theft of the prize cheese meant for the school fundraiser. And in the second book (my favorite of the series), The Curious Christmas Trail, Sister Seraphina and her friends must find Sister Dymphna, one of the senior nuns, who has started wandering off and becoming disoriented. All the excitement takes on Christmas Eve on the night of the Nativity Play and the Christmas feast!

FEH: I loved all your insights in Jane Austen's Genius Guide to Life. Even though I'm a diehard Austenite and have read most of her books multiple times, your focus on virtue and vice made me think about aspects of the stories I'd completely missed. Was this something you naturally made the connection with while reading, or was there a moment that pointed you in that direction?

Welcome to 2023! Usually, middle grade books make up the large bulk of my reading, but last year I read more non-fiction and adult fiction than usual. What my list lacked in quantity, however, it made up in quality. Some incredible middle grade literature is being published these days. Even though I re-read a lot of old favorites of classic children's literature, I'm deliberately only including new books on this list; the first three were published in 2022 and the final two are slated for 2023, so you can add them to your TBR list!

​1. Miraculous, by Caroline Starr Rose. This one stood out for its incredible character development and old-fashioned style. I could have imagined writing L. M. Montgomery writing a story like this.

2. The Star that Always Stays, by Anna Rose Johnson. I'm happy to see that books with old-fashioned feel are making a comeback! This debut novel by Anna Rose Johnson is everything I love in historical fiction: funny, atmospheric, and unhurried. It reminded me so much of Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy series.

5. The Labors of Hercules Beal, by Gary D. Schmidt. This doesn't come out until May, and the ARC is freshly closed for me. I wish you could read it now, because it's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I rarely do this, but I'm re-reading it again right now—actually I'm reading it aloud to my husband. We're both writers, and Gary D. Schmidt's writing is worth studying. The stand-out element here is the way Schmidt's prose seems so simple and straightforward, yet you catch your breath once at the beginning and never let it go all the rest of the novel. ​
(Also, it's set on Cape Cod, which is one of my favorite places in the world.)

​Finally, a shout out to two early readers—not quite fair to count them in the same category as MG novels, but I loved them just the same: The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese, and The Curious Christmas Trail, both by Haley Stewart. Good, sweet, and very fun ​mysteries for the earliest readers. 

What were your favorite MG reads in 2022? What are you looking forward to in the new year?

Anyone who's been reading my reviews long knows that I lean old-fashioned in my reading. Give me the historicals, the old-fashioned fantasies, the "timeless" contemporary stories, and I'm in book heaven. Today I'm reviewing something totally different from my usual taste in books—but I have to mention all that because it speaks to how dang good this book is.

What Happened to Rachel Riley? is thoroughly, decidedly contemporary. The story is told through transcripts of a podcast recording, emails, and texts. Any reader who has ever complained, "Why don't the kids have cell phones? Everyone has cell phones now!" will find herself totally satisfied here. As you might guess from the previous paragraph, I am not one of those readers. But Claire Swinarski pulled me into her story so masterfully that I didn't care. I enjoyed the novelty of the unique style without ever finding it gimmicky. I felt I knew each and every character, and the sense of place was clear and vivid—and considering the style, I found this particularly impressive.

Before I go on, here's the publisher's description:

In this engrossing and inventive contemporary middle grade novel that's Where'd You Go Bernadette? with a #MeToo message, an eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly popular girl is now the pariah of her new school. 
Anna Hunt may be the new girl at East Middle School, but she can already tell there’s something off about her eighth-grade class. Rachel Riley, who just last year was one of the most popular girls in school, has become a social outcast. But no one, including Rachel Riley herself, will tell Anna why.
As a die-hard podcast enthusiast, Anna knows there’s always more to a story than meets the eye. So she decides to put her fact-seeking skills to the test and create her own podcast around the question that won’t stop running through her head: What happened to Rachel Riley?
With the entire eighth grade working against her, Anna dives headfirst into the evidence. Clue after clue, the mystery widens, painting an even more complex story than Anna could have anticipated. But there’s one thing she’s certain of: If you’re going to ask a complicated question, you better be prepared for the fallout that may come with the answer. 

Here's another thing about me: I'm generally unenthusiastic about "issue" books. I find that poorly developed plots often hide behind the issue being discussed, weakening both the story and the message itself. Again, I'm saying this because that's not the case here. What Happened to Rachel Riley? is a story about sexual harassment—but first and foremost it's a story. If you think about it, lots of great books are issue books, but we forget about that because they're just telling the character's story. In this case, Anna's journey as a character and her drive to solve the mystery will keep you totally engrossed throughout.

I'd like to note that while this book is advertised for ages 8 and up, I think I'd generally wait until readers are the age of the protagonist or so (12-13). I was very comfortable handing it to my young teens, but parents will know best what is appropriate for their child—it's worth a pre-read because 1) you'll love it, and 2) it's such a perfect book for creating meaningful and important conversations that you might as well make a parent-child book club out of it, like I did with my daughters. 

What Happened to Rachel Riley? comes out early in the new year, but you can pre-order it now! Thanks to the author for providing me a review copy.

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle!

Here's my read-before-Advent book stack for November! 

Three re-reads, two non-fiction, and one I've been meaning to read forever. 

The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found, by Karina Yan Glaser, was the one I've been meaning to read—somehow I'd fallen behind on the series without realizing it until the latest book came out and my children scolded for me for beginning it without catching up. This was lovely, as expected! My favorite, favorite part (and skip ahead if you don't want spoilers) was when the children sat at the bedside of an elderly friend who was dying. Death is so, so hard but its hardness seems to make many people overlook the beauty of a happy death. I'm very blessed that my children have been able to be present at wakes and funerals and one death bed, and I'm happy to report that they cherish these memories and were not traumatized (that's not to say they aren't still grieving, but that is a very different thing). But children are very often sheltered from both the hardness and the beauty of death—I was so glad to see it handled sensitively but honestly here. Brava.

Online Marketing for Busy Authors, by Fauzia Burke. Oof. All the things I really need to learn before I get a book published, because we can all admit I've been flying by the seat of my pants for a bit. This book is well-structured and encouraging, as well as full of good sense.

I've just begin Tranquility by Tuesday, by Laura Vanderkam, and I already am gleaning so much wisdom. Her 168 Hours was life-changing for me in terms of time-management and mindset. This follows along the same vein, but with the focus being on contentment and calm rather than productivity alone.

When choosing books for my November reads, I had to go with comfort over everything else, and that's why I pulled from my three favorite authors for re-reads (I don't usually re-read this much in a month). Heaven to Betsy is the first Betsy-Tacy high school book, and Jane of Lantern Hill is one of L. M. Montgomery's most overlooked titles (also the rare story not set on Prince Edward Island). Pure comfort-y goodness. And besides being my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice is on my curriculum for my high school daughters, so we've been reading through it together (it's been a blend of read-aloud, read alone, and audiobook). I LOVE sharing favorite books with my teenagers. This is such a fun stage in our homeschooling journey. I've been loving it so much that I'm planning a post on read-aloud with teenagers, so stay tuned.

Okay, now I need your help: I need recommendations for good December reads! We read lots of picture books as a family during Advent (lots of Jan Brett this year as part of Read Aloud Revival's Christmas school), and I'll be reading the devotional Waiting for the Light. I'd love to add a new-to-me novel to the stack—do you have any you really love? Classic, contemporary, mystery, history—I'm pretty open! Please share your favorites!

Do you remember the first time you read The Secret Garden? I was about nine, I believe, and I can still recall the spine-tingling spookiness of Misselthwaite Manor, the delight in meeting Martha and Dickon and the wonderfully irascible Ben Weatherstaff, the wonder at Mary's discovery of the garden and passion for growing beautiful things. Even though Mary was quite horrid by all accounts, I was rooting for her from the start--perhaps because when I was nine, I was rather horrid by all accounts, too. 

I knew then that I loved the book. Re-reading it as an adult, I realized just how much it had impacted me. Is it really Mrs. Sowerby's advice that my children hear whenever I tell them to go outside if they're sick or grumpy? Did Mary and Colin's encounter with "The Magic" influence the way I'm always on the lookout for the wonder in God's creation? Did Mary's transformation from sour and unlikable to strong and comforting impact my ability to think I could change, too?

I'll never really know all these answers. Obviously I was formed by many things in life, and even if I was just counting books you'd definitely have to throw several L. M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott titles onto the pile. I do know, however, that The Secret Garden changes me for the better every time I read it, and brings me closer to God as well.

This last re-read of Burnett's classic was made even more meaningful by the addition of guided meditations by Rachel Dodge, in her lovely The Secret Garden Devotional. She breaks the book down chapter by chapter and explores the various themes raised by the author, connecting them with our own lives and relationship with God. She points out so many details I would have missed otherwise, using quotations from the story and selections from scripture to guide your experience of The Secret Garden and turn it from mere pleasure reading to a further encounter with the Divine. 

And I can't forget to add that the illustrations by Anastasia Nesterova are absolutely adorable. I want an edition of The Secret Garden itself illustrated by her!

This would make a lovely gift for an older middle grade reader, a teen, or any adult who loves this beautiful story. Until tomorrow, you can get an extra 20% off if you pre-order it through this link (provided to me by the author), so it's a perfect time to order it as a Christmas gift.

Thanks so much to Rachel Dodge and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for this review.

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle!