Book Lists

A Book (List) for Every Occasion

By on November 28, 2016   /   Book Lists  

Over the weekend, America officially kicked off the 2016 holiday buying season with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and a whole lot of sales. If you’ve got children ages 8-12 on your shopping list–or just need a lot of books to keep them busy over that long winter break from school–here are some resources to help you find the perfect book:

The first place you go when you need a book recommendation is your local librarian, right? Well if not, it should be. But barring that, you can always look to the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC) for their annual Notable Children’s Books list.

Note that their recommendation categories vary a bit from ours, with what we call middle grade being divided between Middle Readers (age 8-10) and Older Readers (age 11-14). This year’s titles include one of my favorites, The Thing About Jellyfish.

Although the finalists won’t be announced until January 1, the Cybils Awards nomination list has a lot of great titles for middle-grade readers. Books are nominated and judged by middle grade and young adult book bloggers. Don’t forget to check out the nominations for nonfiction and graphic novels.

Voting just closed on the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2016. This has grown into one of my favorite contests of the year because votes are cast by the readers themselves.

 

That’s not to say that I don’t browse the major contests when I’m looking for books for the kids on my list.

The Newbery Medal Honor Books are always a great place to look for the very best of the year’s children’s books and two of my favorites this year, Echo and Rollergirl, are on this list.

 

 

 

And the recently-announced National Book Awards are full of gorgeous titles, including the timely March trilogy by Congressman John Lewis.

I particularly liked the visual list of middle-grade titles put out by We Need Diverse Books and covering everything from nonfiction to humor to fantasy.

Still not finding what you’re looking for? Check out one of our book lists from The Mixed Up Files.

Where do you go to find book recommendations for your middle-grade readers?

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Historical Hysteria

By on November 23, 2016   /   Book Lists  

What is it about history that makes it so intriguing? Our innate desire to understand where we came from? The challenge of figuring out how we came to be where we are today? The drama of past events and the personality of the characters involved? A drive to dig deeper into the facts of history to pull out a somewhat complete story?

All the above?

Whatever the reason, the power of history draws us in like no other area of human study. History seeps into the cracks of everything because everything has a history. The middle-grade years are not immune to the magnetic draw of history. In fact, it is probably at this age where history is most appealing.

History is more than facts and dates. It lived and breathed. Each historical event documented in a single paragraph of a textbook has been distilled, sifted, cleaned up, manipulated, and finally written from a library-sized store of viewpoints, documents, accounts, and physical artifacts. That is the beauty of history. It is alive. It is vibrant. It shifts and changes with discovery and time.

As a reader and a writer, I am crazy over history. Researching history is a rabbit hole for me. I often get lost in the deep forest of the topic and have to force myself back on the intended path, while jotting notes of interesting things found in the deep forest, of course. I do have a special place for history. Maybe it’s because I’m creatively still stuck in a middle-grade mindset. Maybe it’s because history is a nice balance to my professional life in science.

Whatever the reason, I am drawn to history, especially the American Civil War. Growing up in Kansas City, I have a particular interest in the Border War between pro-slavery Missouri and Free State Kansas. This conflict was the lit match that ignited the powder keg of the Civil War. So many little stories surround American Civil War and the wealth of information in diaries, personal accounts, newspapers, magazines, photographs, and books, provides resources. A writer’s dream.

One of the beautiful things about history in literature, besides there being a nearly infinite source of subject matter for the writer or reader, is its seamless integration into both fiction and nonfiction. A piece of history works in historical fiction as a dramatic foundation on which to build the fiction upon. The piece of history performs just as well as the central component in nonfiction, where the actual facts and occurrences are under the spotlight. Narrative nonfiction appeals to me, in particular, because it artfully weaves the facts to present them as an engaging story.

As we stand at the edge of the winter/holiday season and contemplate a “historical” reading list for those long, cold, windy nights (at least like we have here in Kansas), I’ve assembled two TBR suggested titles list of historical middle grade books. The first is a historical fiction list of middle grade books with a heavy influence of time, place, and event. The second list is historical nonfiction, many of the narrative variety. (I feel I should probably apologize for the large percentage of the nonfiction list being from Steve Sheinkin, but HIS BOOKS ARE AWESOME. It is no small wonder middle grade readers flock to his books where history not only comes alive, but jumps off the page.)

Each list consists of ten books. Each list could have easily have been 50 books. There is so much great middle grade historical fiction and nonfiction out in the world it was hard to leave fabulous books off my lists. Since there exists a finite amount of bandwidth, though, the self-imposed limit was set at ten. If you have favorite historical middle grade books to add or comments on my humble list, please leave a comment. I am always looking for more historical reads.

Ten TBR Historical Fiction Titles

okayfornow_coverIn-the-footstepsjasper_coverghost_coveronecrazysummer_cover

1. OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt
Troubled family life in 1968 New York.
2. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CRAZY HORSE by James M. Marshall III
A modern retracing of Crazy Horse’s life in the 1870’s by a grandfather to his grandson.
3. JASPER AND THE RIDDLE OF RILEY’S MINE by Caroline Starr Rose
The Klondike Gold Rush, 1896
4. HOW I BECAME A GHOST by Tim Tingle
Choctaw Trail of Tears, 1831
5. ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia
Civil Rights in Oakland, CA, 1968

manifest_coverhiddenroots_coverboxerssaints_coverwedwars_coverbirchbarkhouse_cover

6. MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool
1918 WWI & 1936 Depression in Southeast Kansas
7. HIDDEN ROOTS by Joseph Bruchac
Native identity in upstate NY in 1950 and the Vermont Eugenics Survey ~1930’s
8. BOXERS AND SAINTS by Gene Luen Yang
China’s Boxer Rebellion in 1900
9. WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt
Long Island, 1967-68. Vietnam, religious identity
10. THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE by Louise Erdrich
1847 Ojibwa community in Lake Superior region

Ten TBR Historical Nonfiction Titles

march_covernotorious-benedict-arnold_coverlincolngraverobbers_coverbomb_coverQuail Ridge Brown Girl Dreaming

1. MARCH Graphic Novel Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell
2. THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD: A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM & TREACHERY by Steve Sheinkin
3. LINCOLN’S GRAVE ROBBERS by Steve Sheinkin
4. BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD—AND STEAL—THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON by Steve Sheinkin
5. BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

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6. PARROTS OVER PUERTO RICO by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore
7. UNDER SIEGE! THREE CHILDREN AT THE CIVIL WAR BATTLE FOR VICKSBURG by Andrea Warren
8. PHINEAS CAGE: A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY OF BRAIN SCIENCE by John Fleischman
9. TILLIE PIERCE: TEEN EYEWITNESS TO THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG by Tanya Anderson
10. UNDEFEATED: JIM THORPE AND THE CARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM by Steve Sheinkin

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Reasons to be Cheerful

By on November 21, 2016   /   Book Lists, Diversity, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, MUF Contributor Books, News  

Whatever your political leaning, you probably agree that it’s been a bruising couple of weeks. So for my last post on this blog, I’d like to share a few things that have made me happy lately.

truth-or-dare_final1- A book club for girls at Forgan Middle School in Forgan, Oklahoma chose to read my latest middle grade novel, TRUTH OR DARE. For the club’s seventh and eighth grade girls, as well as their teachers, to be able to buy their own copies, they needed a sponsor. And you know who sponsored their purchase of 23 hardcover copies? Delbert, the school custodian. The idea that this lovely man stepped up to buy all those copies of TRUTH OR DARE for a group discussing girls’ body issues, self-esteem, and related topics–well, it makes my heart burst.

A lot of folks want to keep kids reading–and they’re not just teachers, librarians, and publishing world insiders. Let’s be sure to celebrate the Delberts of the world. They’re definitely out there.

star-crossed-jpeg-516kb2-My next middle grade novel, STAR-CROSSED, will be published by Aladdin/S&S in March 2017. It’s about a middle school production of Romeo & Juliet in which the girl playing Romeo realizes she has a crush on the girl playing Juliet. This book is very much a middle grade novel–positive, gentle, and, unlike Shakespeare’s play, a comedy. Despite its lightness and wholesomeness, STAR-CROSSED would surely have been deemed too edgy for mainstream publication just a few years ago. But when I proposed STAR-CROSSED to my publisher, Simon & Schuster, they embraced it immediately–in fact, they recently highlighted it in their Spring 2017 Library/Education newsletter as a book promoting diversity. I’m also delighted to report that Scholastic has just licensed STAR-CROSSED (with a specially designed cover) for sale through book fairs and book clubs.   

So yes: #weneeddiversebooks on middle grade shelves. And you know what? We’re getting them. Joining STAR-CROSSED, LILY AND DUNKIN, GRACEFULLY GRAYSON, DRAMA, GEORGE,  LUMBERJANES and others, there’s Jen Petro-Roy’s PS, I MISS YOU coming Fall, 2017.  For more middle grade titles with LGBTQ characters, click here.

3-A related development in middle grade fiction: tough topics explored with special sensitivity for the age of the reader–for example, Nora Raleigh Baskin’s NINE, TEN, A September 11 Story

 

and RUBY ON THE OUTSIDE,

and Kate Messner’s THE SEVENTH WISH.

 My other book launching next year, HALFWAY NORMAL (Aladdin/S&S Dec 2017), deals with a different sort of tough topic. It’s about a girl who, upon returning to middle school after two years away for pediatric cancer treatment, feels as if she can’t communicate her story–until the class begins its study of Greek mythology. Not once did my publisher fret about the subject matter being too dark for middle grade readers; they trusted me to write something age-appropriate and even (yes, really, I promise!!) fun.

Ultimately, what I think HALFWAY NORMAL and STAR-CROSSED are both about is how books give kids a language to express themselves, and connect to others. I’m truly encouraged by the way publishers have embraced stories like these, which promote empathy, inclusiveness, self-expression and self-esteem. We’re expanding the notion of what middle grade books should be–reaching more kids, touching more hearts, and opening more minds. We’re also making kids smile. As we give thanks this week, let’s remember that middle grade books are better, and more important, than ever. Cheers!        

BARBARA DEE is the author of six middle grade novels published by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, including TRUTH OR DARE, which was published in September.  Next year Aladdin/S&S will publish STAR-CROSSED (March 2017) and HALFWAY NORMAL (December 2017). 

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