Posts Tagged middle-grade fiction

Great Reads for Young Music Lovers

By on September 29, 2023   /   Articles   /   Leave a comment

Here are seven great reads for young music lovers, both fiction and nonfiction.  These books feature—in unusual ways— musical theatre, young players of instruments, and the great eras of the musical past You’ll encounter a wheelchair actor and a time-traveling jukebox.  You’ll also discover a life-changing family secret. A not-so-extinct tiger. Tales-out-of -school about the Beatles!

Just out from Abrams this month is THE CHANCE TO FLY, by Tony-Award winner Ali Stroker and acclaimed author and playwright Stacy Davidowitz.  Ali Stroker made history in 2019 as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway. 13-year-old Nat Beacon, her  main character in the THE CHANCE TO FLY, also gets around with a wheelchair. Nat is obsessed with Broadway musicals. When her family moves from California to New Jersey, she auditions for a kids’ production of Wicked. She not only gets into the ensemble, but she gets to know the cute male lead. Then a week before opening night, things get really challenging! Kristin Chenoweth, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer,  says of this story: “The perfect read for any dream chaser . . . You’ll realize how unlimited your possibilities are.”

BROKEN STRINGS, by Canadian children’s writer Eric Walters, and Katy Kacer, award-winning writer of Holocaust fiction and nonfiction, (Puffin Canada, 2020).  It is a story about the power of music. Shirli Berman, the best singer in her Jr. High, auditions for the lead in their production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” She gets the part of the old Jewish mother instead. But she decides to make the best of it, so she rummages through her grandfather’s attic for props. She shows him an old violin she finds, and he becomes angrier than she has ever seen him be. Shirli is determined to find out the reason, and an old family secret comes to light.

JUKEBOX by Nidhi Chanani (First Second, 2021) is a time-bending magical family quest story. Shaheen’s father disappears, leaving behind only a mysterious juke box, some old vinyl records, and some notes on music history. When Shaheen and her cousin Tannaz try to figure things out, they turn to the jukebox, which begins to glow. It transports them back through to other eras of music, decade after decade. Will they find Shaheen’s father?

For some nonfiction time travel through the great eras of music, read TURN IT UP!: A PITCH-PERFECT HISTORY OF MUSIC THAT ROCKED THE WORLD (National Geographic Kids, 2019) It traces the origins of all genres of music, from tribal, to classical, to folk, to jazz and blues, to rock, to rap and hip hop. Other topics  include instruments, sounds, and styles.  There is a wonderful glossary of musical terms at the end.  (Not as ‘new’ as most other titles in this post, TURN IT UP! is a timeless treasure for young musicians and music lovers).

In Michelle Kadarusman’s MUSIC FOR TIGERS (Pajama Press, 2021), Louisa, a passionate young middle school violinist, has to go off for the summer to stay with eccentric Australian relatives. There she learns about a mysterious place called Convict Rock, a sanctuary  her great-grandmother set up for the supposedly extinct Tasmanian tigers.  Convict Rock is now under threat from a mining operation. The last tiger must be moved, but it hasn’t trusted any human since her great-grandmother. The more she learns, the more Louisa thinks her own music may be the key to saving the tiger.

Twelve-year-old Rose Brutigan and her twin brother Thomas couldn’t be more different. In GIANT PUMPKIN SUITE by Melanie Heusler Hill (Candlewick, 2021), serious-minded Rose focuses  on winning the upcoming Bach Cello Suites competition,  Her brother is just trying to grow a giant pumpkin in their neighbor’s yard. An accident causes Rose to reexamine her priorities and connect with the community.  Subplots abound in this well-told coming-of-age story.

THE BEATLES COULN’T READ MUSIC? is Dan Gutman’s latest in the series, WAIT? WHAT? (Norton Young Readers, 2023), illustrated by Allison Steinfeld. With Gutman’s famous madcap humor, the sibling narrators of this unique biography, Paige and Turner, reveal little known facts of the rock stars’ lives, from their childhoods through their years of world fame as a group. Both accurate and hilarious.

Apologies in advance if I’ve added to your already tottering must-read pile!

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Author/Illustrator Spotlight: Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford

By on September 18, 2023   /   Author Interviews   /   Leave a comment

You’ve in for a special treat, Mixed-Up friends! Joining us on the blog today are Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Weatherford, the author-illustrator/mother-son duo behind the middle-grade verse novel, Kin: Rooted in Hope. The novel, which explores the history of Carol and Jeffery’s family tree, shaped by enslavement and freedom, has been hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “a layered text that highlights the perseverance of the Weatherfords’ ancestors and the horrors that they endured,” and by Kirkus as “a striking work that reshapes the narrative around enslavement.” It’s out tomorrow, September 19, from Simon & Schuster.

A Summary of Kin: Rooted in Hope

Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford’s ancestors are among the founders of Maryland. Their family history there extends more than three hundred years, but as with the genealogical searches of many African Americans with roots in slavery, their family tree can only be traced back five generations before going dark. And so from scraps of history, Carole and Jeffery have conjured the voices of their kin, creating an often painful but ultimately empowering story of who their people were in a breathtaking book that is at once deeply personal yet all too universal.

Carole’s poems capture voices ranging from her ancestors to Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman to the plantation house and land itself that connects them all, and Jeffery’s evocative illustrations help carry the story from the first mention of a forebear listed as property in a 1781 ledger to he and his mother’s homegoing trip to Africa in 2016. Shaped by loss, erasure, and ultimate reclamation, this is the story of not only Carole and Jeffery’s family, but of countless other Black families in America.

Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford: The Interview

Carole and Jeffery… Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files. It’s honor to have you here! Carole: Kin is told from a fascinating array of perspectives. In addition to accounts from your ancestors, the Copper family, key figures include: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman; your ancestors’ enslavers, the Lloyd family; an archeologist; Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Non-human narrators are represented, too: Wye House; the Chesapeake Bay; a cemetery. How did you inhabit each character as deeply, and as authentically, as you did?

CBW: I realized after writing my first verse novel, Becoming Billie Holiday, which was in first person, that I had this ability to channel the voices of my subjects. I ask my characters to speak to and through me. It helped that I grew up visiting my great-grandparents’ house in the area. So, I was already rooted in the land long before writing Kin.

The Magic of Scratchboard Art

Jeffery: While we’re on the subject of illustrations, Kin features more than 40 black-and-white pieces of scratchboard art. Can you tell Mixed-Up Files readers more about this medium? What made you choose scratchboard for this particular book?

JBW: Certainly! Scratchboard art is a distinctive and evocative medium, offering a visual dance between darkness and light. At its core, scratchboard is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or light-colored layer beneath. It’s a medium that requires precision, foresight, and an intimate understanding of light and shadow.

For Kin, I felt that scratchboard was the perfect choice because it mirrored the book’s underlying themes—the contrasting narratives of hardship and hope, of oppression and freedom, of the dark past and the light of progress. Much like our own stories where we strive to find clarity amidst confusion, scratchboard art involves meticulously carving out light from the darkness. It’s about finding and showcasing beauty, no matter how deeply it’s buried. The medium’s inherent contrasts and textures brought depth to the narrative, providing readers with not just a story to read, but an experience to feel.

Additionally, the tactile nature of scratchboard echoes the raw, visceral emotions and historical touchpoints present in Kin. Just as the book delves into the intricate tapestry of ancestry and legacy, the scratchboard technique, with its layers and intricacies, became a metaphor for the multifaceted journey of discovery and understanding.

(For more on the fascinating medium of scratchboard art, click here.)

I Call Their Names

Carole: Much of the material for Kin came from the Lloyd family’s ledgers, including the names of your ancestors, which you call out frequently—almost like an incantation: Yellow Molly; Chicken Sue; Prissy; Daphne; Old Suckey; Charity; Nurse Henny; Barnett; Peg Shaw… How do these names resonate with you? 

CBW: Wye House, the Lloyd’s flagship plantation, was once home to more than three hundred enslaved people. Their marginalized voices begged to be amplified and their stories to be told. I invoked the names of the enslaved residents of Wye House. Perhaps that was my way of asking their permission to channel their voices and conjure their stories.

Remembering… And Forgetting

Carole: Early on in the book, you reveal that your great grandfather never talked about his father-in-law, Isaac Copper, who fought in the Civil War after his enslavement at Wye House. You then pose the question: “Was forgetting less painful than remembering?” Could you elaborate on this?

CBW: I don’t know whether my great-great-grandfathers told my great grandparents about enslavement. History can be heart-rending—even traumatizing—especially when it comes to enslavement. As one formerly enslaved woman said in the 1930s, “My folks don’t want me to talk about slavery.” Sadly, many firsthand recollections of enslavement vanished before ever being passed down. On one hand is a reluctance to recall painful memories; on the other, the grief over what is forgotten or unknown. I wish I had inherited more stories.

Poetry in Motion

Jeffery: In addition to being a children’s book illustrator, you’re a performance poet. How has your experience as a poet guided your work as an illustrator—and vice-versa?

JBW: My journey as a performance poet has deeply enriched my perspective as an illustrator. Engaging in spoken word and poetry, I’ve been exposed to the raw, unfiltered emotions of an audience, and I’ve felt the weight of words in a room—the palpable tension, the riveting silences, and the roaring applause. This intimate dance with emotions and public vulnerability has emboldened me in my artistry.

It’s often said that public speaking is a fear greater than death, and if that’s true, then through my countless performances, I’ve confronted and embraced that fear many times over. This recurrent act of braving the stage has translated into an audacious spirit in my illustrations.

Art, much like poetry, is an act of audacious vulnerability. It necessitates the courage to mar a pristine canvas, to take risks, and to lay one’s soul bare for the world to witness. My poetry has taught me to speak, while my illustrations have taught me to visualize; and together, they’ve allowed me to weave narratives that are both visually and emotionally resonant. The synergy between both realms is profound—while my poetry gives voice to my emotions, my illustrations provide them a visual stage.

Fertile Ground for Creativity

Carole: You wrote many of the poems for Kin on your family’s farmstead in Copperville, Maryland. What was this experience like for you? Did this rural location help you feel connected to your ancestors in any way?

CBW: I sense ancestral spirits there. My great-great grandfather Phillip Moaney co-founded Copperville during the Reconstruction. The village is less than two miles from Wye House where my forebears were enslaved. My family’s small farm in Copperville is fertile ground not only for agriculture but also for creativity.

African Homecoming

Carole and Jeffery: In 2016, you travelled to Africa to learn more about your ancestors—some of whom descended from royalty. How did this trip deepen your understanding of your family’s history? How did it affect you personally?

CBW: The purpose of our African homecoming was to share our debut collaboration, You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. At the time, we had not begun work on Kin. Off the coast of Dakar, Senegal on Goree Island, we toured Maison des Esclaves (The House of Slaves). Shortly after our return, I learned from an art exhibition that my great-great grandfather descended from royalty and was known as the Royal Black. That knowledge filled me with pride and inspired me to research our roots.

JBW: The trip was NWA NWA, which means incredible, amazing, magnificent!  I felt like I was returning home. Getting to stand on the Goree Island I could feel the power of my ancestors and the light of their smiles. It returned something to me that I cannot explain.

It’s All in the Research

Carole: As a follow-up, what sort of research did you do for Kin? Without birth records, marriage licenses, and death certificates available to trace your family’s genealogy, it must have required a tremendous amount of time, patience, and skillful detective work.

CBW: I was researching family history long before I envisioned Kin. Once, I began work on the book, I studied plantation ledgers, letters, military records  archeological reports, the landscape and material culture to reconstruct my ancestors’ milieu. I also read Frederick Douglass’s firsthand account of enslavement at Wye House. Last but not least, I visited the burial ground for the plantation’s enslaved residents. Amidst unmarked graves in a grove of trees, I broke down and cried.

Jeffery: How did the research affect, and enrich, your artwork?

JBW: The research process has been instrumental in shaping the authenticity and depth of my artwork. By delving deep into historical accounts, personal narratives, and cultural contexts, I’ve been able to tap into a reservoir of emotions, experiences, and textures that might have otherwise remained elusive.

Family Affair

Carole and Jeffery: This isn’t your first children’s book collaboration, but I suspect it’s the most meaningful. How has Kin brought you closer, both as collaborators and mother and son? Also, how has this project differed from other books you’ve created together?

CBW: Kin was truly a family affair, conceived with collaboration in mind. Kin is the book of our hearts, an offering to our ancestors and to our offspring, born and unborn.

JBW: We have been working together for a long time, this book has allowed us to dive into family history on an entirely different level and share that experience with the rest of the family.

On the flip side, how do you handle disagreements when it comes to creative decisions? Does the mother-son dynamic ever get in the way? When it does, what are your strategies to resolve the problem?

CBW: I can’t recall a disagreement, maybe because I’m the boss. Joking! Seriously, I consider myself an illustrator’s author. My words are evocative enough for illustrators to express their vision for the art. I was blown away when I saw Jeffery’s art for Kin.

JBW: We don’t particularly argue about the process, to be honest–just about chores that need to be done for tidying up spaces. Kidding. I don’t have many chores from my mom anymore. All jokes aside, it’s been a wonderful experience working with her, and going all over the world to enrich the youth.

It’s Personal

Carole: You have written more than 70 award-winning books, but my research reveals that Kin is your most personal one yet. Was there a watershed moment, or inner force, that impelled you to share your family’s history?

CBW: In late 2016, I went to an exhibition of Depression-era paintings by Ruth Starr Rose, a white artist who came of age at Hope House, the former plantation where my great-great grandfather was the gardener. I was awestruck that Rose’s paintings depicted my relatives, whom the curator referred to as Maryland’s founding families. I suspect that one painting shows my father as a boy. The exhibition also featured a photograph of my great-great grandfather, whose face I had never before seen. The exhibition underscored for me the significance of my family’s history.

Carole and Jeffery: Thank you for chatting about KIN today. I know your book will resonate with readers as much as it did with me.

Bios

Carole Boston Weatherford

Carole has written many award-winning books for children, including You Can Fly, illustrated by her son Jeffery; Box, which won a Newbery Honor; Unspeakable, which won the Coretta Scott King award, a Caldecott honor, and was a finalist for the National Book Award finalist; Respect: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; and Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo Square; Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement; and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Carole lives in North Carolina. Visit her at CBWeatherford.com.

Jeffery Boston Weatherford

Jeffery is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and a performance poet. He has lectured, performed, and led art and writing workshops in the US, the Middle East, and West Africa. Jeffery was a Romare Bearden Scholar at Howard University, where he earned an MFA in painting and studied under members of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCobra. A North Carolina native and resident, Jeffery has exhibited his art in North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Visit him at CBWeatherford.com.
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Back To School Books!

By on September 14, 2023   /   Articles, Book Lists, Diversity, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers   /   Leave a comment

Back-to-school can be exciting and nerve-wracking for kids, but nothing soothes the soul better than a good book.

To help kids get back into the groove of learning, making new friends, and facing new challenges, I’ve curated a fantastic list of middle grade novels. 

And because I am a HUGE Taylor Swift fan, I’ve selected 13 stories for young readers to enjoy.

Happy Reading!

THE DO MORE CLUB by Dana Kramaroff

A Jewish boy’s bravery and kindness are tested after an antisemitic attack on his middle school in this rousing novel-in-verse.

Ever since twelve-year-old Josh Kline found an antisemitic note in his family’s mailbox in third grade, he has felt uncomfortable about his Jewish identity. At a new school where he’s pretty sure he’s the only Jew, he’s hoping to just keep religion out of everything . . . until the morning someone sprays swastikas all over the building. That’s when everything changes.

In one of the school counseling groups set up in response to the attack, Josh finally reveals that he is Jewish, and quickly finds out there’s more to the other kids in his grade too: All of them have their own struggles. Maybe Josh can do something to help—to “repair the world” as his rabbi teaches, by starting a Do More club to spread kindness. But making a difference is never simple, even when you have new friends by your side.

Fast-paced and conversation-starting, Josh’s story is an empowering examination of prejudice, bullying, and how to take the first step toward change.

MRS. SMITH’S SPY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS by Beth McMullen

A girl discovers her boarding school is actually an elite spy-training program, and she must learn the skills of the trade in order to find her mother in this action-packed middle grade debut.

After a botched escape plan from her boarding school, Abigail is stunned to discover the school is actually a cover for an elite spy ring called The Center, along with being training grounds for future spies. Even more shocking? Abigail’s mother is a top agent for The Center and she has gone MIA, with valuable information that many people would like to have—at any cost. Along with a former nemesis and charming boy from her grade, Abigail goes through a crash course in Spy Training 101, often with hilarious—and sometimes painful—results. But Abigail realizes she might be a better spy-in-training than she thought—and the answers to her mother’s whereabouts are a lot closer than she thinks…

DEAR STUDENT by Elly Swartz

When Autumn becomes the secret voice of the advice column in her middle school newspaper, she is faced with a dilemma—can she give fair advice to everyone, including her friends, while keeping her identity a secret?

Starting middle school is rough for Autumn after her one and only BFF moves to California. Uncertain and anxious, she struggles to connect with her new classmates. The two potential friends she meets could not be more different: bold Logan who has big ideas and quiet Cooper who’s a bit mysterious. But Autumn has a dilemma: what do you do when the new friends you make don’t like each other?

When Autumn is picked to be the secret voice of the Dear Student letters in the Hillview newspaper, she finds herself smack in the middle of a problem, with Logan and Cooper on opposite sides. But before Autumn can figure out what to do, the unthinkable happens. Her secret identity as Dear Student is threatened. Now, it’s time for Autumn to find her voice and her courage and follow her heart, even when it’s divided.

A GOOD KIND OF TROUBLE BY Lisa Moore Ramee

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)

But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what?

Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn’t think that’s for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.

Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn’t face her fear, she’ll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.

A WORK IN PROGRESS by Jarrett Lerner

A young boy struggles with body image in this poignant middle grade journey to self-acceptance told through prose, verse, and illustration.

Will is the only round kid in a school full of string beans. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who knows he doesn’t have a chance with—string beans only date string beans—but he can’t help wondering what if?

Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise. But the results are either frustratingly slow or infuriatingly unsuccessful, and Will’s shame begins to morph into self-loathing.

As he resorts to increasingly drastic measures to transform his appearance, Will meets skateboarder Markus, who helps him see his body and all it contains as an ever-evolving work in progress.

AIR by Monica Roe

Twelve-year-old Emmie is working to raise money for a tricked-out wheelchair to get serious about WCMX, when a mishap on a poorly designed ramp at school throws her plans into a tailspin. Instead of replacing the ramp, her school provides her with a kind but unwelcome aide―and, seeing a golden media opportunity, launches a public fundraiser for her new wheels.

Emmie loves her close-knit rural town, but she can’t shake the feeling that her goals―and her choices―suddenly aren’t hers anymore. With the help of her best friends, Emmie makes a plan to get her dreams off the ground―and show her community what she wants, what she has to give, and how ready she is to do it on her own terms.

Air is a smart, energetic middle grade debut from Monica Roe about thinking big, working hard, and taking flight.

SMALL SPACES by Katherine Arden

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think—she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods—bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them—the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

FREE LUNCH by Rex Ogle

Instead of giving him lunch money, Rex’s mom has signed him up for free meals. As a poor kid in a wealthy school district, better-off kids crowd impatiently behind him as he tries to explain to the cashier that he’s on the free meal program. The lunch lady is hard of hearing, so Rex has to shout.

Free Lunch is the story of Rex’s efforts to navigate his first semester of sixth grade―who to sit with, not being able to join the football team, Halloween in a handmade costume, classmates and a teacher who take one look at him and decide he’s trouble―all while wearing secondhand clothes and being hungry. His mom and her boyfriend are out of work, and life at home is punctuated by outbursts of violence. Halfway through the semester, his family is evicted and ends up in government-subsidized housing in view of the school. Rex lingers at the end of last period every day until the buses have left, so no one will see where he lives.

Unsparing and realistic, Free Lunch is a story of hardship threaded with hope and moments of grace. Rex’s voice is compelling and authentic, and Free Lunch is a true, timely, and essential work that illuminates the lived experience of poverty in America.

SWEET AND SOUR by Debbi Michiko Florence

For as long as she can remember, Mai has spent every summer in Mystic, Connecticut visiting family friends. And hanging out with her best-friend-since-birth, Zach Koyama, was always the best part.Then two summers ago everything changed. Zach humiliated Mai, proving he wasn’t a friend at all. So when Zach’s family moved to Japan, Mai felt relieved. No more summers together. No more heartache.But this year, the Koyamas have returned and the family vacation is back on. And if Mai has to spend the summer around Zach, the least she can do is wipe away the memory of his betrayal… by coming up with the perfect plan for revenge! Only Zach isn’t the boy he used to be, and Mai’s memories of their last fateful summer aren’t the whole truth of what happened between them. Now she’ll have to decide if she can forgive Zach, even if she can never forget.

AMINA’S VOICE by Hena Kahn

Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight. She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin. Except now that she’s in middle school everything feels different. Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the “cool” girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more “American.”

Does Amina need to start changing too? Or hiding who she is to fit in? While Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized.

Amina’s Voice brings to life the joys and challenges of a young Pakistani American and highlights the many ways in which one girl’s voice can help bring a diverse community together to love and support each other.

FALLING SHORT by Ernesto Cisneros

Isaac and Marco already know sixth grade is going to change their lives. But it won’t change things at home—not without each other’s help.

This year, star basketball player Isaac plans on finally keeping up with his schoolwork. Better grades will surely stop Isaac’s parents from arguing all the time. Meanwhile, straight-A Marco vows on finally winning his father’s approval by earning a spot on the school’s basketball team.

But will their friendship and support for each other be enough to keep the two boys from falling short?

ONE TRUE WAY by Shannon Hitchcock

A heartening story of two girls who discover their friendship is something more. But how, among their backward town, will Sam and Allie face what they know is true about themselves?

Welcome to Daniel Boone Middle School in the 1970s, where teachers and coaches must hide who they are, and girls who like girls are forced to question their own choices. Presented in the voice of a premier storyteller, One True Way sheds exquisite light on what it means to be different, while at the

same time being wholly true to oneself. Through the lives and influences of two girls, readers come to see that love is love is love. Set against the backdrop of history and politics that surrounded gay rights in the 1970s South, this novel is a thoughtful, eye-opening look at tolerance, acceptance, and change, and will widen the hearts of all readers.

KARMA KHULLAR’S MUSTACHE by Kristi Wientge`

Karma Khullar is about to start middle school, and she is super nervous. Not just because it seems like her best friend has found a newer, blonder best friend. Or the fact that her home life is shaken up by the death of her dadima. Or even that her dad is the new stay-at-home parent, leading her mother to spend most of her time at work. But because she’s realized that she has seventeen hairs that have formed a mustache on her upper lip.

With everyone around her focused on other things, Karma is left to figure out what to make of her terrifyingly hairy surprise all on her own.

 

 

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