Blog

New releases: February 2016

By on February 1, 2016   /   Book Lists, Fiction, Nonfiction  

Hooray for leap year 2016! February 29 means we have an extra day for reading this month, which you’re all going to need when you look at this lineup of selected new releases. Historical fiction/adventure, fantasy, realistic fiction, nonfiction picks, poetry, and new installments in popular series (listed at the end)  — two dozen titles featured here. Enjoy!

sybilSybil Ludington: Revolutionary War Rider by E.F. Abbott
What would you do if your country was counting on you to deliver a message? That’s 16-year-old Sybil Ludington’s urgent mission during the American Revolutionary War.  When British troops raid a nearby town in 1777, Sybil rides her horse through the night to alert her father and his militiamen. The journey is dangerous, with obstacles at every turn. Maybe you’ve heard of Paul Revere? Sibyl Ludington rode twice as far on her latenight mission …

 sarahSara Lost and Found by Virginia Castleman
Sisters Sara and Anna face an uncertain world. Their mother left home and may not be coming back. Their father is a drummer in a band and comes home long after the girls go to sleep—if he comes home at all. One night, three loud knocks at the door change everything: their father is in jail and social services has come to take the girls away. Rather than risk being split up, Sara and Anna decide their only option is to run away.

fenwayFenway and Hattie by Victoria J. Coe
A dog’s eye-view of the world and a best friend. Fenway is an energetic Jack Russell terrier living in the city with Food Lady, Fetch Man, and, of course, his beloved short human and best-friend-in-the-world, Hattie. Everything changes when they all move to the suburbs. He’s pleased with the huge Dog Park behind his house, but Hattie seems more interested in her new friends than her dog.

akasjaSweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg
This exciting pioneering story, based on actual events, introduces readers to a fascinating chapter in American history, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt set up a colony in Alaska to give loans and land to families struggling during the Great Depression. Terpsichore is sure she’s going to follow in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s footsteps in hew new grand adventure.

lettieThe Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn by Sam Gaylton
Lettie Peppercorn cannot go outside. Ma told her so right before she disappeared forever. So Lettie’s house is on stilts, and she is stuck with only the wind and a pigeon for a friend. Nothing exciting has ever happened to her until the night a strange merchant appears. A reviewer in School Library Journal said “Hand this title to fans of Roald Dahl.”

home runHome Run by Tim Green
Josh’s life has just fallen apart. His father will no longer be coaching the travel baseball team and is moving to Florida, forcing his mom and little sister to move into a small apartment on the wrong side of town. To make matters worse, the new coach of the travel team is an unforgiving drill sergeant. When Josh finds out about a home-run contest where the winner gets a new house, Josh works on hitting it out of the park to save his family.

red moonRed Moon Rising by K.A. Holt
Rae Darling and her family are colonists on a moon so obscure it doesn’t merit a name. Life is hard, water is scarce, and the farm work she does is grueling. But Rae and her sister Temple are faced with an added complication: being girls is a serious liability in their strict society. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly says that Holt “presents some thought-provoking ethical dilemmas, while also making points about colonialism and respect for native cultures.”

saving wonderSaving Wonder by Mary Knight
Having lost most of his family to coal mining accidents as a little boy, Curley Hines lives with his grandfather in the Appalachian Mountains of Wonder Gap, Kentucky. When a new coal boss takes over the local mining company, life as Curley knows it is turned upside down. Does he speak out against Big Coal and save his mountain, or does he remain silent and save his way of life?

keyThe Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd
Everyone in Emma’s family is special. Her ancestors include Revolutionary War spies, brilliant scientists, and famous musicians–every single one of which learned of their extraordinary destiny through a dream. But when Emma’s dream finally arrives, it points her toward an impossible task–finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town’s cemetery.

pilferPilfer Academy: A School So Bad It’s Criminal by Lauren Magaziner
George has never heard of Pilfer Academy, a top-secret school for cultivating young crooks, until he’s kidnapped as its newest student. Between disguise classes, cracking safes, and DIY gadgets, George becomes an expert bandit and finds true friendship with Tabitha, his new partner-in-crime. But everything is ruined when George comes to a shocking realization: He is just too “good-hearted” to be a thief.

last boyThe Last Boy at St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone: Seventh grader Jeremy Miner has a girl problem. Or, more accurately, a girls problem. 475 of them to be exact. That’s how many girls attend his school, St. Edith’s Academy. Jeremy is the only boy left after the school’s brief experiment in co-education–and now he wants out. Getting expelled may be the only way …


charlie priceThe Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price by Jennifer Maschar
Ever since 12-year-old Charlie’s mom died, he feels like his world has been split apart. When his sister, Imogen, starts skipping school, Charlie sets out to follow her down a secret passageway to a parallel world where their Mom is alive.

just my luckJust My Luck by Cammie McGovern
Fourth grade is not going at all how Benny Barrows hoped. Worst of all, he worries his dad’s recent accident might be all his fault. Benny tries to take his mom’s advice to take things one step at a time. But when his dad ends up in the hospital again, Benny doesn’t know how he and his family will overcome all the bad luck that life seems to have thrown their way until he finds how much he truly has to offer his friends and family.

paxPax by Sara Pennypacker
Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit. But one day, the unimaginable happens: Peter’s dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild. At his grandfather’s house, three hundred miles away from home, Peter knows he isn’t where he should be with Pax. He strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox.

NONFICTION AND POETRY:

SERIES (just a few selections from the many new additions to your favorite series): 

  • Bad Luck by Pseudonymous Bosch (The Bad Books series)
  • The League of Beastly Dreadfuls: The Dastardly Deed by Holly Grant (Book 2)
  • Firelight by Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet series #7)
  • Masterminds: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman (Masterminds seris)
  • Mabel Jones and the Forbidden City  by Will Mabbit (Mabel Jones series)
  • You’re Invited Too by Jen. T. Malone and Gail Nall (RSVP series #2)
  • The Thickety: Well of Witches by J.A. White (The Thickety serise)

Linda Johns is the author of the Hannah West mystery series Hannah West: Sleuth in Training and Hannah West: Sleuth on the Trail (Two Lions/Nancy Pearl Book Crush Rediscoveries, 2016). She is a librarian in Seattle.

Back to Top

Indie Spotlight: Hooray! Indie Bookshops are Thriving

By on January 29, 2016   /   Book Lists, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Indie Spotlight  

screenshot_50

For the new year, here’s a retrospective of bookstores we spotlighted in 2015, recalling a special feature or two of each and a couple of their favorite books for middle-graders.
The shops we featured are all over the country (well, okay, two are in Oregon). Some are new and already doing well, and one claims to be the country’s oldest continuously operating shop. Most are in small or mid-size towns or neighborhoods, and many were founded by first-time booksellers simply determined that their community would have a bookstore.   They thrive by knowing their readers, that stubborn and growing tribe who like to hold physical books in their hands and talk about them with real people who know and love books.
The great thing about independent bookstores is that they’re free to create whatever atmosphere they imagine and to choose what books to buy and promote. If you have discovered a shop you love, support them by going there often to hang out, buy and enjoy. Since each bookshop is a unique experience though, you also might want to “collect” those experiences, seeking out shops in your region and wherever you travel, and taking a middle-grader or two along.
How about one of these?

screenshot_51–Bookends, Kailua, Hawaii (through the tunnel from Honolulu)
Interview  with owner /manager Pat Banning in January 2015, who says the secret lies in being “just big enough.”Heap Magyk
Features: general collection of new and used, but strong in children’s. Lots of fantasy and screenshot_49hard to find older books like Raggedy Ann and some early Nancy Drew .
Pat recommends: Magyk by Angie Sage and The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley

writers block logo sign #5–Writer’s Block, Las Vegas (www.writersblock.org)
Interview with  Drew Cohen in February 2015, who says of the store’s writer’s workshops: “middle-graders are often the most fun to work with.”screenshot_52WB Battle Bunny
Features: a new store, with a woodshop and fascinating artificial bird sanctuary and adoption program.
Drew recommends: Battle Bunny by Jon Scieska and Mac Barnett, and Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine.

Octavia logo—Octavia Books, New Orleans (www.octaviabooks.com)
Interview with co-owner Judith Lafitte in March, 2015bookstore waterfall
Features: It’s not every bookstore that has an atrium with a waterfall or served as a “port in the storm” after Hurricane Katrina.Octavia Ms. RapscottOctavia Imaginary
Judith recommends: Ms. Rapscott’s Girls by Elsie Primavera and The Imaginary by A.F. Harold.

square books logo—Square Books, Junior, Oxford MS (www.squarebooks.com/junior)
Interview with Paul Fyke in April 2015
Features: Called ‘an independent among independents,” it strives to be welcoming with couches and play spaces rather than having a commercial look.Square Books How they croakedSquare Books, Name of this Book is Secret
Paul recommends: The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch and How They Croaked: the Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg

Annie B's gift card—Annie Bloom’s, Portland Oregon (www.anniebloomsbooks.com)
Interview with  children’s author and bookseller Rosanne Parry in May, 2015
Features: Part of the charming Multnomah Village neighborhood. Has a spinning rack of unabridged classics. The store cat’s name is. . .Annie Bloom.Annie Bloom's poisoned applesAnnie Bloom's Brchbark House
Rosanne recommends: Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich and Poisoned Apples by Christine Hepperman
Stone Alley logo—Stone Alley Books & Collectables, Galesburg IL
Interview with  Ben Stomberg, founder/owner/manager in June 2015 .
Features: Ben went into the bookstore business when the town’s only bookstore closed. Strong in fiction, YA, and children’s books Stone Alley. Silversteinand has a growing stone alley blumeselection of comics. Recently merged with the local gaming store to their mutual benefit.
Ben recommends: ” you can’t go wrong with classics” like Where the Sidewalk Ends or anything by Judy Blume.

Crious Iguana logo—Curious Iguana, Frederick Maryland (www.curiousiguana.com)
Interview with Marlene England, co-founder and co-owner in July 2015
Features: Just two-and-a-half years old and thriving. Diverse and globally focused books. Curious Iguana WarA screenshot_53percentage of monthly sales goes to global nonprofits.
Marlene recommends: The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker and The Crossover, Kwame Alexander

images—Beach Books, Seaside Oregon
Rosanne Parry’s interview with owner screenshot_55Karen Emerling in November, 2015
Features: Monthly Lunch in the Loft series with regional authors. Carries many local authors and books related to the coast.

screenshot_05—Once Upon a Time, Montrose CA
Interview with Maureen Palacios in December 2015
Features: The oldest continuous children’s bookshop in the country and never had a better year, Noted for their lively window displays. screenshot_28Décor and screenshot_30music have the more sophisticated child in mind.
Maureen recommends: Crenshaw by Catherine Applegate and Gingerbread for Liberty: How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution by Mara Rockliff.

Readers, have you visited any of these shops?  Do you have another favorite you think MUF should spotlight?

Sue Cowing lives in Honolulu and is the author of puppet-and-boy novel You Will Call Me Drog (Carolrhoda 2011, Usborne UK 2012)

Back to Top

Sister Act: 10 middle grade novels with sisterly bonds

By on January 27, 2016   /   Book Lists  

When I was about ten, I almost grasped an important grammar lesson from my father: If there are two siblings, one is older and the other is younger, not oldest and youngest. It was a conversation about comparatives and superlatives, but what stuck with me is that you need three to add the all-important -est to an order. This blew my mind, as I had firmly planted in my mind that I was the youngest. Turns out I was merely the younger. My dad tried to explain it to me in terms of “good, better, best …” and this is about where I stopped listening and just imagined that it meant he was giving me a secret message that I, as the younger, was the better, not thinking through that my sister, as the older, was also the better.

Here’s the truth: Older, younger, oldest, youngest, middle — all sisters are not only better, they’re the best.  Here are 10 middle-grade novels that portray that sisterly bond, even if the family relationship is not the focus of the plot. And because I’m a bit obsessed with sibling order, I’ll make sure to note whether the main character is the younger or the older ….

I Don’t Know How the Story Ends by J.B. Cheaney:
It’s 1918 and 12-year-old Isobel isn’t too excited to spend the summer at her aunt’s home in Hollywood with her mother and sister until her cousin, Ranger, involves the sisters in creating the perfect film.
     Main character:  Isobel is the older sister. 

A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder: Long ago the dam formed, the lively river turned into a swamp, and the wasting illness came to Luna’s village, and now that her little sister is sick Luna will do anything to save her, even offer herself to the creature that lives in the swamp on the day of the nearer moon. Booklist said “Crowder has crafted a book about the deep ties of sisterhood that will entrance readers with a love of magic.”
     Main character:  Luna is the older sister.

The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne: Hamlet, whose parents are Shakespeare scholars, longs to be normal, but that’s hard when her younger sister is a genius. A review in Booklist said: Some sisterly bonding, the sweet flutterings of a  first romance, and a  creatively contrived comeuppance for the mean girls  make this a cheerful read.
     Main character: Hamlet is the older sister.

The Perfect Place by Teresa E. Harris: Twelve-year-old Treasure Daniels and her younger sister must move in with Great-aunt Grace until their mother sorts herself out, but life in Black Lake, Virginia, where segregation lingers, is hard and Grace is a nightmare–at least on the surface.
     Main character:  Treasure is the older sister.

Rules for Stealing Stars by Corey Ann Hadyu: Four sisters (four!) rely on each other–and a bit of mysterious magic–to cope with their mother’s illness. A Booklist starred review said ” … The way the sisters fight and love in equal measure, as well as their basic need for one another, rings poignantly true in this touching and heartwarming story.”
     Main character: Younger (and youngest!) sister.

Flutter: The Story of Four Sisters and an Incredible Journey by Erin Moulten: Nine-and-a-half-year-old Maple and her older sister, Dawn, must work together to face treacherous terrain, wild animals, and poachers as they trek through Vermont’s Green Mountains seeking a miracle for their prematurely-born sister. From Publishers Weekly: “Moulton’s charming debut explores the challenges and rewards of sisterhood.”
     Main character: Middle sister.

Finding Ruby Starling by Karen Rivers: Through e-mails, letters, blog entries, and movie scripts, twelve-year-old Ruth, an American girl, and Ruby, an English one, discover that they are long-lost twins. Publishers Weekly said: “Rivers’s (The Encyclopedia of Me) epistolary novel conveys both the unique intimacy created by writing letters (or, in this case, emails) and the thrill of discovering an unknown family member.”
     Main character: Twins!

Sealed with a Secret by Lisa Schroeder (coming this spring): When Phoebe finds a beautiful antique at a flea market, she’s not sure whether it’s as valuable as it looks. But inside she discovers a letter written during World War II, from a young girl to her sister who’s been evacuated from London. The letter includes a “spell” for bringing people closer together; perhaps Phoebe can close the gap with her own sister.
     Main character: Phoebe is the younger sister.

Dream On, Amber by Emma Shevah: Abandoned by her father at a young age, half-Japanese, half-Italian middle schooler Amber Miyamoto must dream up a way for her and her sister to make it on their own while making friends at her new school. Amber tries to protect her younger sister from emotional trauma by forging letters from their father to Bella. Four starred reviews for this one.
     Main character:  Amber is the older sister.

The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh: Twelve-year-old GiGi and her big sister DiDi move to Long Island, New York, so that GiGi can attend a fancy new private school. DiDi is doing double-duty as big sister and surrogate.
     Main character:  GiGi is the younger sister.

More older than younger sisters in this round-up, but 100 percent of the sisters are the best.

Linda Johns is the author of the Hannah West mystery series Hannah West: Sleuth in Training and Hannah West: Sleuth on the Trail (Two Lions/Nancy Pearl Book Crush Rediscoveries, 2016). She is a librarian in Seattle.

Back to Top