 If you read last week’s review of The Lions’ Run, by Sara Pennypacker, you’ll know I’m on a WWII kick in my reading, and I saved my very favorite for last: Each and Every Spark, by Claire Swinarski, is a masterpiece of both historical and contemporary fiction, as it spins a dual timeline story of two girls desperate to discover their place in the world.
Here’s the publisher’s description: Paris, present day. Penny Marks has never felt so alone. Forced to move to France for some fancy job her mom couldn’t turn down, she’s now miles away from her old life. If she hadn’t quit art after all that drama went down last year, she’d at least have something to keep her mind off the fact that life back home is moving on without her. Paris, 1943. Marie Bonnet has never felt so afraid. When the German army seized power over France, she and her sister Heloise watched their father get taken away, leaving them on their own. Then Marie finds evidence that Heloise has secretly been working for the French Resistance—a group of rebels determined to take the Nazis down—and while it has danger written all over it, she's desperate to join. Any small act of uprising could help their country…but it could also cost them their lives. Penny and Marie’s worlds collide when an old painting resurfaces in present-day Paris after decades of being hidden. Along with it is a note whose message may lead Penny to Marie…and the fate that awaited her. What I thought: I’ve always been a total sucker for WWII stories, and that preference has even strengthened as an adult, as I live in a world with so many tensions, prejudices, and injustices of its own. As horrific as the world war was, seeing the beauty and humanity and hand of God throughout it all gives me so much hope for my own present life. Claire Swinarski, by telling the story of a contemporary character alongside the story of a historical character, makes that point even more dramatically. Things were bad then. Things are bad now. But each and every human has the ability to make a difference. Every good thing we do, large or small, matters. By diving into both Penny’s and Marie’s stories, Claire subtly whispers to each of her readers: “You, too. You, next. You matter, and you can make a difference.” Resistance isn’t always grand and dramatic—in fact, it rarely is. Most often it means sticking to our guns, standing by the oppressed, choosing to spread love and joy instead of hatred and violence—in a million little sparks that add up to a glorious flame. On another note, I loved the quiet but strong presence of Marie’s and Penny’s Catholic faith. It was peripheral to the plot, but helped develop who these girls had become—and provided a link to the lives of many young readers of faith who are looking for characters like themselves. Parents will want to be aware: Like all WWII books, this contains upsetting content. Sensitive children may be very upset by the realities children at the time faced. Hardest for me was the abduction of Marie’s Jewish classmate and a melancholy, if not exactly tragic, ending. In the present day section, there is an instance of terrorism. One or two instances of God’s name in vain; to me, their addition made sense because of the circumstances. Penny makes some foolish decisions—but all of them have clear consequences. In my family, this will be for my upper middle grade or teenage readers, but you know your children best! Each and Every Spark releases in February, but you can pre-order it now! For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, visit Always in the Middle: www.gpattridge.com
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 I’ve been on a WWII kick in my middle grade reading lately, and I couldn’t be happier about it. In the course of a week, I read Daniel Nayeri’s The Teacher of Nomad Land (reviewed here on Instagram), The Lions’ Run, by Sara Pennypacker, and Each and Every Spark, by Claire Swinarski. The latter two books both center around the French Resistance. And boy do I love the French Resistance. Mark your calendars for February, folks, because when these books come out, you’re going to want to grab some French cheese and croissants, set yourself down in a comfy chair, and enjoy a “book flight” of these two very different but complimentary stories.
I’ll start today with a review of The Lions’ Run, with Each and Every Spark coming up next week! Here is the publisher’s description of The Lions’ Run: Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he’s tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be. He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers. Soon Lucas begins to realize they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbor in town may be harboring a Jewish family. Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all. And my thoughts! I think most of us, when we think of the word Resistance, or what the French Resistance was all about, think of bold and brassy individuals who fly in the face of danger and darkness. The reality—as so perfectly shown in The Lions’ Run--is that bravery most often didn’t look like defiance. It was quiet, consistent, and undercover. It involved tremendous risk, but very often the risk was not in standing against someone so much as standing for, and by, someone. In her character Lucas, Sara Pennypacker exemplifies the type of courage I hope my children can grow up to possess. Courage born from a love so strong that it can’t stand back and do nothing for someone who is hurting. Courage that acts despite fear, not in the absence of it. Courage that builds up those around us, rather than tearing down. Besides this spectacularly-developed theme, I simply loved the plot and characters of The Lions’ Run. I found myself surprised by plot twists several times (unusual when I read a middle grade book!) and a few times had to go back to read a section or two over just to relish them. The characters were all wonderful, but I especially appreciated the nuance of Lucas’s friend Alice, who is complicated in the best of ways. The juxtaposition between poor, orphaned Lucas and rich, slightly-spoiled but still good-hearted Alice was very well handled. I also loved the Catholic priest—after reading several stories recently where the religious characters are insipid at best, this depiction of a brave man of God was refreshing and rang true to so many true historical accounts I have read. Parents may want to know:
The Lions’ Run releases in February but you can pre-order it now! For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, visit Always in the Middle: www.gpattridge.com  I'm so pleased today to welcome Anna Rose Johnson, whose newest novel, The Blossoming Summer, releases tomorrow!
Here's the publisher's description of Anna Rose's book: Life in England is all Rosemary has ever known. . . but as WWII changes the world, no one’s life is left unscathed. Suddenly, she’s sent away to escape the devastation of London. Her grandmother’s house on Lake Superior is safe, but unfamiliar, especially as she discovers her parents have kept a tremendous secret. Rosemary and her family are Anishinaabe—and no one is supposed to know. Far from home but newly connected to a once-hidden part of her family, Rosemary develops a warm, close relationship with her grandmother… and a local boy whose love of gardening helps her to see the beauty in her unexpected circumstances. As Rosemary grows into her new life like a flower in bloom, she realizes that maybe she’s not as far from home as she thought. FEH: And now onto the interview! Hello, Anna Rose, and welcome! I absolutely loved The Blossoming Summer and can't wait for everyone to be able to read it. Can you share a little about some of your inspirations for this story? ARJ: I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The Blossoming Summer is the story of thirteen-year-old Rosemary, who is evacuated from WWII London to her grandmother's home in northern Wisconsin. When they arrive, she uncovers the hidden family truth—that they are of Ojibwe descent. This discovery leads her to embrace her heritage, forge new bonds, and find beauty in unexpected places. I’m very excited about it! My inspiration for the book began when I was doing research on a family who was of Ojibwe and British descent and moved to England in the 1800s. I was very fascinated by that, and I began to think: what if I wrote a book about a girl with Ojibwe ancestry who had grown up in England and knew nothing about her heritage? Rosemary’s story began to percolate in my mind. I also knew that I wanted to write a novel that explored gardening, flowers, and the delight that comes from spending time in the natural world, and incorporating those elements in this book was one of the highlights of the writing process! FEH: Did you have any favorite bits of research that never made it into the story? ARJ: Yes, actually I had some specific radio programs that I wanted the characters to listen to, and I’d done quite a bit of research to make sure I got everything correct, and then later when I switched the year the book is set, I had to remove those programs. It was sad, but I still had fun researching them. FEH: One of my favorite things about all your stories is the realistic families you write, and the very unique ways that they live out that family relationship. In The Blossoming Summer, Rosemary’s relationship with her brothers grows and develops as they work together in their grandmother’s garden. Can you talk about that a little? Is gardening a love you share with your own siblings? ARJ: Yes! My entire family has always enjoyed gardening, and we have so many favorite plants that we’ve grown over the years. I’m delighted that you enjoy the families in my stories! When I began brainstorming this book, I knew I wanted it to be a story that focused on a family that’s been apart for a long time, and that has some challenging dynamics. I have found that sometimes with grandparent-grandchild stories, sometimes the parent isn’t really in the picture, and I’ve often thought that it’s more interesting when you have all three generations to work with. (Sometimes I that parents aren’t always included in a story because it’s a way to cut down on characters, but I love big casts of characters! I really tried to explore the story from different angles, and to help make readers able to understand how Rosemary feels, how her dad is feeing, and what her grandmother’s perspective is. Every character has their own spin on the events of what’s happened and what’s going on now, and it all makes sense to them. But I also do try to leave some things a little more ambiguous. I feel like especially for a middle grade book, a child character is not always going to understand the entire backstory, so I try to bring in some realism that way. FEH: Was it ever hard for you to keep track of the three very different families you wrote? I was so impressed by how each of them is a GOOD family—yet they are all so different. It reminded me that there is no one way to be a good family, but that we all just have to follow where God calls! ARJ: This absolutely makes my day! I really strive to make each character and family distinct, so I’m delighted to hear you say that. I don’t have trouble keeping track of characters from book to book, because once I invent them, they’re very firmly planted in my mind. But I do try to ensure that each character is different enough from characters I’ve written in the past, because that’s probably what I worry about more than anything else when I’m in the brainstorming/early writing phase. But I do like refining characters, and I often try to think of new, unexpected angles… I always look for contradictions with my characters. It’s my little trick: I try to find at least one thing about a character that does not seem to go with the rest of them, and that usually makes them click into place for me. FEH: In the story, Rosemary learns of her heritage through her grandmother, though her father had kept it a secret, and learns to honor it through language and tradition. Do you and your siblings have any special way of honoring your Ojibwe heritage? Was it always part of your life? ARJ: It’s really been a delight to be able to write about characters who share my Ojibwe heritage, as I’ve done with all three of my books now. I’m a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and it has been very interesting to explore my heritage through my writing. One of the major ways that I stay connected to my heritage is to learn from my tribe, and a few years back they had a language conference that was fascinating because I was able to learn from tribal elders. My family and I have learned some Anishinaabemowin, and I’ve had the chance to work with one of the language specialists at our tribe. She’s helped me with all of my books, to make sure that I’m getting the Ojibwe words correct—so that’s been very special to me! And it’s been wonderful to hear from some tribal members who have read my books, so I’m happy that people are enjoying them. FEH: Switching tacks from this particular story to writing in general, what is a piece of writing advice that you would like to share with aspiring writers among this blog's readership? ARJ: I think that a lot of writers wonder if they should be a discovery writer or an outliner, and I’ve found that you can do an in-between method. I try to make sure that I have all of the main elements of story structure in place when I begin writing, or at the very least, I know the main plot points that will comprise Act 1. These days, I like to divide the book into Act 1, Part 1 of Act 2, Part 2 of Act 2, and Act 3. Breaking a book down into four sections makes it so much more manageable for me, and I think it can be a really helpful method. FEH: My readers may know already that you and I share a deep love for vintage children's books. What are five vintage books that fans of your books might like to discover? ARJ: I think that if you like my books, you would probably enjoy Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery, the Mitchells books by Hilda van Stockum (starting with The Mitchells: Five for Victory), Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace, and The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright! FEH: Anna Rose, thank you so much for this lovely interview, and congratulations on The Blossoming Summer! I can't wait for everyone to read it and fall in love with Rosemary's story as I have.  Unpopular bookish opinion: I don't care for most novels in verse.
I've always been a lover of poetry, but verse novels didn't feel like poetry to me, so for a long time I didn't even see the point. Then Caroline Starr Rose won me over. Her book, May B., was a verse novel with a really good reason for being told that way. The main character struggles to read, and her story is small but dramatic and poignant, with a wide emotional arc. All those reasons made its format make sense, and the writing was beautiful. I loved it. I felt the same way about Rose's second verse novel, Blue Birds, about the friendship between a Roanoke girl, Kimi, and English settler, Alis. Because the girls don't speak one another's languages, the sparse verse made total sense to me and allowed me to fall into the story without being distracted by the format. So of course when I found out Caroline Starr Rose had a new verse novel coming out, you know I jumped right on the chance to read it! The Burning Season is possibly my favorite of her verse novels, with a realistic and relatable main character in a setting and situation very different from my life. Like Rose's previous novels in verse, The Burning Season makes perfect sense in this format. The verses are an excellent medium to tell a fairly "small" story, of a girl training to become a Wildfire spotter despite her deep fear of fire. The swings from quiet introspection and normal life hopes to the high drama of raging fires and missing family members are perfectly mirrored by the shape and structure of each poem. Additionally, the sense of place in this novel is as much a part of the story as the plot. The poems bring the Gila Wilderness to life with a subtlety and clarity that perhaps only a poem can provide. So if you're not a big fan of novels in verse…you're not alone. But give this one a try. Here's a more detailed plot summary from the publisher's description, if you're curious! Twelve-year-old Opal has a she’s deathly afraid of fire. Still Opal is preparing to become a fourth-generation lookout on Wolf Mountain, deep in the New Mexico wilderness. She, Mom, and Gran live at ten thousand feet in a single room at the top of a fire tower. They are responsible for spotting any hint of smoke before it becomes an uncontrollable blaze. Instead of training for the lonely life of a lookout, Opal wishes she could be starting seventh grade in Silver City, attending real classes with kids her own age and even going to afterschool clubs like FFA. But Wolf Mountain has other ideas. When Mom makes the long trek to town for supplies and Gran goes missing, Opal is the only one to spot a tell-tale spiral of smoke moving up the mountainside. She’ll have to be braver than she’s ever been as she heads into the woods, beyond Wolf Ridge’s old blackened burn scar, to face down a fire on her own. But when a fire is what took her father away, and Opal herself knows the sting of smoke and lick of flames, how can she be brave enough when it really counts? The Burning Season releases in May but is available for preorder now. Thanks, Netgalley, for the chance to read it early! For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle: http://gpattridge.com  One of my very favorite thing about having high schoolers is the way that when I take the time to dive into their passions, I find my own expanding. Case in point: graphic novels. I have always generally enjoyed graphic novels, but my oldest daughter’s deep dive into the world of comics and sequential art has led me to a much greater appreciation for this art form (and it has subsequently influenced my own writing). So I found myself a month ago, scrolling through possible books to review on Netgalley, suddenly shouting to my daughter in delight: “Hey, Lucy, guess what? Scott McCloud endorsed this new graphic novel! It must be pretty good, at least from an art standpoint.”
Scott McCloud (I will explain to those of you like the me of two years ago) is basically Yoda of the comics world. He has studied everything about the topic, analyzed it at every level, and stepped up to train all the young comics Jedis in his ways. His books Understanding Comics and Making Comics are the textbooks par excellence of the graphic novel world. Through studying them, my daughter has come to have—and share with me, at some level—a deep understanding of the art form: what makes it work, and what makes it great. And Boticelli’s Apprentice is definitely one of the good ones—I mean, it already has an endorsement from Yoda, but I’ll throw in my two cents from the storytelling side of things as well. Here’s what the publisher has to say: Life as a chicken girl isn’t so bad, but Mella wants more. Though girls can’t be official apprentices to artists in Florence, Mella has been secretly teaching herself to paint while tending to artist Sandro Botticelli’s chickens. When one of Botticelli’s actual apprentices discovers Mella’s work, he threatens to take full credit for it. Why does it matter who drew it if it’s good? With the help of unexpected allies, an important patron, and a tenacious stray dog named Blue, Mella must summon all her courage, smarts, and skills to prove her worth and demand the recognition she deserves. One interesting thing about this story is that you’d think it would take some considerable suspension of disbelief to buy into a story about a girl who wants to be Botticelli’s apprentice... because most of us know how unlikely that would be—so unlikely that a girl probably wouldn’t even have such a dream in the first place. Ursula Murray Husted took a huge risk in telling such a story, and another huge risk in telling this story in modern dialect. There is no attempt to make her characters sound like Italians from hundreds of years ago; rather, you could imagine overhearing most of the conversations in a local 21st century restaurant or at least art school. The funny thing is, it totally works. And not only does it work, but that choice in dialect succeeded in making her choice of story seem more plausible as well. Or at least easy to suspend disbelief. I found myself saying, “Yeah, I know this isn’t a real historical story, and I don’t care. I want to go along for the ride anyway.” That’s not to say she didn’t get the historical details right. In fact, her research into art and lifestyles of the Renaissance was thorough and well represented in both narration and art. Being a bit of a nerd about art details like pigments, I really enjoyed all the discussion of various ways artists made different colors, and the difference in quality, durability, etc. Clearly the aforementioned risks were intentional. I’ll dip my toe into artistic critique just for a moment. The colors are gorgeous. The pictures are interesting to look at but so perfectly paced (if that’s the right word for pictures in sequential art) that I almost forgot they were there unless I stopped to pay attention. They just told the story and pulled me right along. Scott McCloud (or my daughter) could probably tell you exactly why they worked so well. I just know that I loved every minute of the story. Botticelli’s Apprentice releases on March 11 but is available for pre-order now. (I received an electronic ARC from Netgalley.) For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, be sure to visit Always in the Middle: http://gpattridge.com  I have a great middle grade book to share with you all today, but first: some news! Little Hough #9 was born last Friday: Blaise Sebastian. He's our second boy and our second November baby—I'm enjoying lots of snuggling and reading during these chilly fall days postpartum. Forgive me for a less thorough review than usual—I suppose this is more of a recommendation than a real review—but there is more cuddling to be done. :) And my high schooler needs to use our sole family computer for her college Latin class (having a high school senior and a newborn at the same time is just as wild as you might imagine. And a lot of fun).  Now onto the recommendation!
The Wonder Brothers, by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, has been the perfect relaxing postpartum read. It's funny and heartfelt, features kids obsessed with their hobby (kids with obsessions are always my favorites in books), plus: MAGIC. Of the illusions and sleight of hand variety. It was great fun and absolutely ideal for warding off any baby blues! (That is also to say: not so much of a tearjerker as some of the author's other books. This one stayed very light.) Here's the publisher's description: ‘Maybe you don’t believe me. Maybe you don’t believe in magic. I bet you will by the time you’ve heard what happened to us.’ Cousins Middy and Nathan love magic. The on-stage, cape-swirling, bunny-out-of-a-hat kind. For Middy, it’s all about patience and practice. She uses magic skills to help her out of tricky situations. Nathan is a show-off and a total danger magnet, he is drawn to the sensation, spectacle and audience. So when the famous Blackpool Tower dramatically vanishes the night of the Grand Lights Switch-On, showman Nathan announces live on TV that they will magic it back home. With a stick of rock, a spangly cape, and a bit of misdirection, they end up lost in Las Vegas, home to the grand master of illusion, Perplexion, ‘Legend of Magic’. Full of tricks, twists and deceptions, the delightful Nathan and Middy will keep you guessing until the very end. No matter how big the show, family, friendship and adventure shine through in The Wonder Brothers. Have any of you read this, or other books by Frank Cottrell-Boyce? He's one of my all-time favorite authors, little known by American readers, though apparently he's massively popular across the pond. For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle: http://gpattridge.com  I have such a fun book to review today! It was released in 2023 (and I even received it as a Christmas gift!), but somehow I didn't get around to reading it until this Fall. Which turned out to be perfect, because mysteries are essential fall reading as far as I'm concerned—and also because now I only have to wait a few weeks until Book #2 comes out! Final Word, by Janet Sumner Johnson, is a perfect mystery read for a sensitive reader—not too scary, not too intense, but with puzzles galore, wonderful characters, and an atmospheric old house full of secrets.
Here's the publisher's description: Thirteen-year-old twins Hope and Gordon enter a spelling bee in a last-ditch effort to save their family from financial ruin, only to find themselves in a cut-throat competition to uncover a fortune and dark secrets about the wealthy relations they’ve never known. Hope Smith can’t stand rich people—the dictionary magnate family the Wintertons most of all. Not since she and her twin brother, Gordon, learned that their dad was one. So when Gordon enters the family into the Winterton’s charity spelling bee, Hope wants nothing to do with it. But with their mom losing her job and the family facing eviction from the motel where they live, they desperately need the money, and it looks like Hope doesn’t have much of a choice. After winning the preliminary round, the Smiths are whisked to Winterton Chalet to compete in the official Winterton Bee against their long-lost relatives. Hope wants to get in and out, beat the snobbish family at their own game, and never see them again. But deceased matriarch Jane Winterton had other plans for this final family showdown. Before her death, she set up a clue hunt throughout the manor—an alternate way for Hope and Gordon to get the money that could change their lives. Still, others are on the trail, too. With tensions at an all-time high, a fortune at stake, and long-simmering family secrets about to boil to the surface, anything could happen. I loved so many things about Final Word: spelling bees and dictionaries! old houses! Jane Austen references galore! big family dynamics! mercy and healing and hurt and peace. Really, it was wonderful, and one of my favorite reads of the year. Some topics parents/teachers may want to be aware of before handing this to a child: --a lot of discussion of a character's death, including the resulting trauma and guilt that his family suffered because of it —the main characters' parents were not married (and the father is now dead) —one adult is very emotionally abusive to his family and others (this is not justified in any way in the story, but it can be hard to read at times) —some very mild crude language on a couple occasions I hope you get a chance to pick this up soon (read it while it's still fall!), and I'll keep you posted on what I think of the sequel! For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle: http://gpattridge.com  Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to read one of my most highly anticipated middle grade books of 2024 early—but don't worry, you won't have to wait long! You can pre-order Take it from the Top now, and it will be available in November.
On to the review! Let's start with the publisher's description: Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, regional indie bestseller of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour. Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her. But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why. Well, maybe she does… There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives? I absolutely loved this story! Eowyn and Jules are both wonderful and wonderfully-crafted characters. I wish I could be friends with both of them…and still I found myself ready to smack both of them at various points throughout the story (okay, so I was a little invested). Like all of Claire Swinarksi's books, character development takes center stage, but Take it from the Top also brings the setting to life in such a tangible way. I could practically feel the stage makeup tickling my nose and imagine the chilly lake and cozy cabins of summer camp (and that says a lot considering I never went to summer camp). This is an obvious pick for the theater lovers in your life. What might not be as obvious from the description is how much Take it from the Top is a book about families—how they form us, how they hurt us, how they heal us, how they make us who we are and how who we are is not defined by them. The friendship between Jules and Eowyn is the central relationship in the story, but the entire plot revolves around how their two respective families and family situations create a conflict that Jules and Eowyn have to work to overcome. Perhaps this reminds you a little of a very famous play? Maybe the name Jules was chosen as a subtle nod? While these very normal American families may be no Capulets and Montagues with ill blood between them, Take it from the Top presents a more (to my mind) interesting and relevant inter-family dynamic: can our backgrounds be so different that true understanding is impossible? Of course the answer is no…but it is also: it might be difficult. And that's okay. Because so many of the things worth putting our time into in life are difficult. Like family. And friendship. And singing on stage in front of hundreds of people. As usual, a note to parents on whether this book is right for your child. Here are few topics and themes I'll discuss with my children either before, during, or after they read Take it from the Top: -death of a parent and how it affects a family -a couple cases of characters taking God's name in vain (my children are very sensitive to this) -a lot of crushes… The main characters are 13, and my 13-year-old has absolutely no interest in crushes. :) For that reason, I'll probably give it to my older daughters first. I love that the boy-girl relationships are always innocent—the relationship between Eowyn and her crush is particularly very sweet, but I would discuss with my kids that she sneaks out of her cabin to talk to him at night several times… I know, I know, kids do this. But I'm a mom of teens and my child safety detector is on high alert. -some of the songs and musicals mentioned are more mature than what I let my 13-year-olds view, so I'll be giving them a heads up before they start searching Youtube… (I always provide these notes as an aid to parents, teachers, and librarians, but I won't recommend any books I wouldn't feel comfortable handing to my own kids—as a parent, I simply always appreciate having more info rather than less! Sometimes I incorporate topic notes into my reviews, but in the future I'm going to try to list them out like this for viewing ease.) As I said, Take it from the Top will be available in November, so be sure to pre-order from your favorite bookstore or library now! For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, visit: http://alwaysinthemiddle.com  Fun fact: when I was 14 years old, I won $1000 in a writing competition for a story about a little girl's love for a library book–written from the perspective of the library book--its journal through the years. (No, I have never expanded upon that idea of mine, but yes, my mom and my kids all want me to.) It was the first money I ever made from writing, and I used it several years later to buy my dream wedding dress. Not a bad way to get me hooked on the idea of writing as a career.
I bring this up to explain why my nerdy, history-loving little heart got so very excited at the prospect of a book told from the point of view of a typewriter. There are certain inanimate objects–books, typewriters, rocking chairs, quilts, to name a few–that have always seemed to me to hold so many stories. I desperately wished I could see what they had seen, know what they had known or felt, if they could know or feel. In Olivetti, Allie Millington explores that idea, taking it from a whimsical thought to a central plot point, when the typewriter Olivetti turns out to be the only "person" with the information needed to find a family's missing mother. As a writer who has wondered from time to time how I might expand on that old diary of a library book idea…I was impressed by just how beautifully this rather unlikely plot twist worked. Here's the full publisher's description: Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive. Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice--his used-to-be most frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him. Their search takes them across San Francisco—chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost. What that description doesn't mention may be my very favorite part of the story: the delightful side character of the pawn shop owner's daughter, who really brought the story glowingly to life. (She reminded me wonderfully of Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl.) As much as I enjoyed this story, there are certain plot elements that may make it too intense for the younger middle grade reader, particularly a parent's physical and mental illness. I won't spoil the story for you by going into too much detail, but feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to know more before handing it to your child. For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle: http://gpattridge.com  Want another book to add to your 2025 Newbery hopeful list? You've come to the right place. The Secret Language of Birds, by Lynne Kelly, has so many elements that I love in a middle grade novel: a main character with a fun obsession, a plot that revolves around friendship and fitting in (or learning when not to), an evocative setting, and a "plot problem" that is both realistic to the middle grade years while feeling high stakes for that character.
Here's the publisher's description: Nina is used to feeling like the odd one out, both at school and in her large family. But while trying to fit in at summer camp, she discovers something even more two majestic birds have built a nest in the marsh behind an abandoned infirmary. They appear to be whooping cranes, but that’s impossible—Nina is an amateur bird-watcher, and all her resources tell her that those rare birds haven’t nested in Texas for over a hundred years. When Nina reports the sighting to wildlife officials, more questions arise. Experts track all the endangered birds, but they can’t identify the female bird that Nina found. Who is she, and where did she come from? With the help of some fellow campers, Nina sets out to discover who the mystery bird really is. As she gets closer to the truth, will she find a flock of her own? This instant classic from award-winning author Lynne Kelly captures the coming-of-age moment of learning to spread your wings in a way you'll never forget. I think I can safely say that my very favorite types of characters in middle grade (maybe in all books?) tend to have one trait in common: they LOVE things deeply. They get obsessed. They can tell you every detail about their favorite things, whether you asked or not. So Nina's obsession with birdwatching automatically pulled me into her story—especially, okay, because birdwatching is an obsession I might just happen to share. Lynne Kelly even managed to get two of my favorite birdwatching bits of trivia into the story (how to tell the difference between young herons and egrets—hey, it comes up a lot when you live next to a river—and one I will call "the Shakespeare one" so I don't spoil it for you, but it's very funny). My children have heard me monologue for minutes on end about the recovery of the osprey population in Connecticut (as I explain WHY I am so excited about something that is now so commonplace as an osprey nest), so none of them were surprised at all when I fell in love with a book about two endangered birds and a girl who loves them. All that said… even if birdwatching holds very little interest for you, you will be pulled in by Nina's story. Because birdwatching is just a fascinating canvas on which Lynne Kelly paints the story of a girl who is learning to love who she is and to love others for who they are, too. Who is growing in her ability to accept love and to give it. Basically, a girl who is learning how to be a friend. And there's no more quintessentially middle grade story than that. Mostly, the themes in this book are appropriate for even young middle grade readers, though before you hand this off to a sensitive reader, you may want to be aware that is discusses purposeless hunting of an endangered bird. The main character also sneaks off by herself several times throughout the book and keeps secrets from adults—but both of these issues are met with consequences; she does regret her bad choices and learns from them. Have you read The Secret Language of Birds yet? What did you think? For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle at http://gpattridge.com |
About meHi! I'm Faith. I blog about books and creativity, family and faith. Welcome! Archives
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