Middle Grade – Page 71

Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade

Dav Pilkey collaborates with George and Harold to bring us Dog Man

Posted on July 23, 2016July 22, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dog Man (Dog Man #1), by Dav Pilkey, (Aug. 2016, Graphix/Scholastic), $9.99, ISBN: 9780545581608

Recommended for ages 7-10

Remember George and Harold, the dynamic duo who “write” Captain Underpants an Ook and Gluk? Well, get ready – the twosome rediscovered a comic they wrote back when they were in Kindergarten, spruced it up, and give us the story of a cop whose origins are slightly Robocop-like, with a little bit of K-9 thrown in for good measure. Dav Pilkey presents: Dog Man.

Officer Knight and his canine partner, Greg, were critically injured while defusing a bomb set by the evil feline mastermind, Petey. Officer Knight’s head was dying, and Greg’s body was dying; to save these two brave officers, doctors did what they had to do: sewed Greg’s head onto Officer Knight’s body, giving us the next name in law enforcement: Dog Man. This first volume contains four adventures, including Dog Man’s origin story.

If you love Captain Underpants, you’re going to love Dog Man. It’s a graphic novel with all the elements we’ve come to love in a Pilkey book: the flip-o-rama action, the drawing lessons, the bathroom humor, and the overall sense of fun and play. Pilkey is pure escapism, and I love him for it; he uses his childhood struggles with dyslexia to fuel his mission to create playful illustrated books for kids; he gives kids characters like George and Harold to empower kids to create their own comics; he makes his books read like they were created for kids, by kids.

When kids walk into my library – boys and girls alike – they overwhelmingly ask for Captain Underpants (and Wimpy Kid). I can’t wait to show them Dog Man and watch them go crazy.

Having Captain Underpants in your collections is a no-brainer. So is having Dog Man on your graphic novel shelf. Show kids how much fun reading is, and then print out some comic book templates to let them tell their own stories. Dav’s author website offers a downloadable PDF biography – that’s a great way to get kids telling their own stories!

Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Murder on The Transatlantic Express? The Transatlantic Conspiracy

Posted on July 23, 2016July 22, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Transatlantic Conspiracy, by G.D. Falksen (June 2016, Soho Press), $18.99, ISBN: 978-1616954178

Recommended for ages 12+

It’s 1908, and 17 year-old Rosalind Wallace, daughter of a self-made millionaire industrialist, is vacationing in England, spending time with her best friend, Cecily de Vere. Cecily’s family is high-society, old moneyed England, and treats Rosalind as more of a curiosity, even referring to her as “my peasant”. Where Cecily eschews intellectual pursuits and seeks a full dance card during party season, Rosalind is more adventurous; her father has used her to promote his inventions for years, and she’s quite brilliant. When her father calls for her to return back to the States by way of his newest venture, the Transatlantic Express – an underwater railway – Cecily and her handsome brother, Charles, offer to journey with Rosalind.

The problems begin almost immediately, when Charles goes missing while boarding the train; things take a turn for the worst when Cecily and her maid are discovered murdered in their room. Rosalind tries to deal with her grief while proving her innocence and conducting her own investigation into her friend’s murder.

There is so much rich material to draw on in The Transatlantic Conspiracy, but it never fully realized its potential. It’s promoted as a YA novel, but reads more like a middle grade book; the black and white illustrations throughout the book add to this overall look and feel. The characters are stiff, with little development; there are some interesting concepts glanced over, but we don’t get much in the way of development. The detective on the train is one-dimensional but borders on being so much more. Cecily is victimized by her lack of development; all we get is a vapid party girl who, it turns out, is more than she seems, but gets killed off so early on, that I guess we’ll eventually find out about her, posthumously, in subsequent adventures.

I was hoping for more from The Transatlantic Conspiracy. It may be a good introduction to readers who aren’t typical steampunk readers, but fans of the genre may be let down. I’m going to test this one out with the kids in my library and see how it goes; I’ll report back.

Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction, Tween Reads

Kid Artists is a great addition to Quirk’s “Kid” series

Posted on July 21, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Kid Artists, by David Stabler/Illustrated by Doogie Horner (Aug. 2016, Quirk Books), $13.95, ISBN: 9781594748967

Recommended for ages 8-12

The third outing in Stabler and Horner’s “Kid” series, following Kid Presidents and Kid Athletes, introduces kids to artists. Before the museum exhibitions, every artist was a kid, shaped by his or her circumstances. Kid Artists organizes 17 artist profiles into three sections: Call of the Wild, focusing on artists who grew up with a love of the outdoors; It’s a Hard-Knock Life, featuring artists who overcame obstacles like discrimination, war, poverty, and extreme shyness; and Practice Makes Perfect, where artists who had a teacher, friend, or family member cheering them on to practice, perfect, and succeed.

There are funny stories and inspirational stories, all illustrated in full-color. We learn that Claude Monet had a lucrative caricature business as a kid, and that Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Medusa, on a shield was so terrifying that his father almost ran away from it! Kids will meet artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose graffiti art on the streets of New York garnered them fame, and Jacob Lawrence, whose Migration Series tells the story of the migration of African-American families from the rural, southern United States up north, in search of a better life.

I enjoy this series, because it introduces kids to a wide range of people under one umbrella term. They’ll be exposed to new people, cultures, and ideas, in a kid-friendly atmosphere with a bite-sized biography that shows them that no only do we all start out as kids, but we all have challenges to overcome.

Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

NatGeo’s 2017 Almanac is jam-packed!

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2017 (May 2016, National Geographic), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1426324178

Recommended for ages 8-13

NatGeo’s 2017 almanac is packed with content from their kids’ magazine, their collection of books, and their NatGeo Kids website. It’s chock full of articles, facts, games, and digital extras, including an invitation to the Newsmaker Challenge, where kids can submit their own time capsule artifact photos to be featured in next year’s almanac. Features on animals encourage kids to get involved in the Summer Mission Animal Rescue Challenge, increasing awareness about endangered species and how they can play a part in helping do their part toward conservation and protection.

Information is broken out into 10 sections, covering current events, animals, going green, world cultures, adventure, fun and games, science and nature, history, and geography. Each section is loaded with breathtaking photos, top 10 lists, homework help and research ideas, and a quiz.

These books are a great idea for kids who love trivia, and they’re great for introducing readers to the world outside their doors. Like I’ve said before, NatGeo books are a win with the kids in my library, my own kids, and the kids in my extended family. There’s so much to love!

Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Memoirs of a Sidekick – good guys don’t always finish last

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Memoirs of a Sidekick, by David Skuy, (Oct. 2016, Kids Can Press), $16.95, ISBN: 9781771385688

Recommended for ages 9-12

Boris Snodbuckle and his best friend, Adrian, are two students at Bendale Public School. They’re not exactly the most popular kids; Boris and his harebrained plans often put him at the mercy of school bullies and teachers alike, and Adrian’s parents aren’t exactly thrilled with Boris, either. But Boris – “the B-ster” – is endlessly optimistic and just happens to see things differently. He decides to run for student council president, because he wants to make positive changes happen for all the kids across every grade. But Robert, Boris’ chief tormentor, also decides to run, and sets about stealing Boris’ ideas, taking all the credit, and getting the student body to promise their votes to him! Can Boris’ latest wild scheme turn things around?

Memoirs of a Sidekick is built on good values: persistence, optimism, and loyalty, for starters; there’s a strong vein of altruism, with Boris’ desire to take a stand for others. The novel touches on bullying and school social groups, and being a good citizen in the world at large, and there’s a nice emphasis on honesty being the best policy. The book meanders a bit at points, and Boris’ adherence to the Rules he and Adrian live by is relatable, if at times frustrating. Readers will appreciate Boris’ unique way of looking at the world and Adrian’s unflinching loyalty to his best friend.

Memoirs of a Sidekick is a good additional purchase for realistic fiction collections.

Intermediate, Middle Grade, Middle School, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction, Tween Reads

Inside Your Insides puts you under a microscope

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Inside Your Insides: A Guide to the Microbes That Call You Home, by Claire Eamer/Illustrated by Marie-Eve Tremblay, (Sept. 2016, Kids Can Press), $17.95, ISBN: 9781771383325

Recommended for ages 8-12

This interesting nonfiction book takes a look at the microbes that live on our bodies: in our hair, on our skin, and the ones we pick up everywhere we go. We’re microbiomes: a walking, talking collection of microbes, and Inside Your Insides introduces us to some of the most common microbes we share our surroundings with. We learn about bacteria, archaea, viruses, fingu, protists and mites; their preferred environments; and all the places they live on and around us. Complete with brightly colored, cartoony illustrations, makes this a good introduction or companion for middle grade science students.

There are some good callout facts and groan-worthy jokes scattered throughout the book, and a glossary and index round everything out. Kids will learn that not all bacteria are bad for you: you don’t need everything antibacterial, and it may be doing more harm than good, anyway! A section dedicated to saving our microbes goes into detail on how to take care of ourselves to attract the “good” microbes: play outside, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and explore your world. The combination of clear, instructional writing with a humorous bent, and the eye-catching illustrations, kids will get a kick out of this intro to microbiology. It’s a good additional purchase for collections where science books circulate.

You can also direct kids to the Genetic Science Learning Center’s Human Microbiome site. There are teacher resources, interactive simulators, informative videos, and information that’s written in a clear, interesting way to get kids excited about learning more.

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

The Lost Twin: A boarding school whodunit

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Scarlet & Ivy: The Lost Twin, by Sophie Cleverly, (May 2016, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $16.99, ISBN: 9781492633396

Recommended for ages 9-13

Ivy is still grieving the death of her twin sister, Scarlet, when the letter from the school comes: a spot has opened up, and she can expect to be picked up immediately. Ivy is indignant – how rude and cold, to be referring to her sister’s death as an “opening” – and it only gets worse once the imperious headmistress, Miss Fox, comes to collect her. Miss Fox tells her that Ivy’s expected to become Scarlet – a face-saving measure for the school. Once at the school, Ivy finds herself in the thick of a few mysteries, all having to do with Scarlet and her disappearance from the school. Can Ivy unravel all the mysteries surrounding the school and learn what really happened to her sister?

Scarlet and Ivy: The Lost Twin is a well-paced, consuming boarding school mystery, set in 1935 England. The characters are interesting and the intrigue keeps pages turning, while getting readers riled up at the injustices Ivy endures. There are so many little mysteries entwined with larger ones – once a thread gets pulled, you’ll be consumed with following it to see where it goes. Fox is an awful human being that loves corporal punishment a bit too much to be in charge of children; Ms. Cleverly has given us a truly hissable villain here (she and Professor Umbridge would get along swimmingly). You’ll root for Ivy and her friend, Ariadne, and the ending leaves you bouncing up and down with the knowledge that we’ll be getting more adventures in the future.

According to Sophie Cleverly’s Twitter, the third Scarlet & Ivy book is out – pretty sure it’s only out in the UK, but let’s be really, really nice to Sourcebooks Jabberwocky and Ms. Cleverly, so they’ll bring the further adventures of Ivy, Ariadne, & Co. to us here in the States.

The Lost Twin is a good summer reading choice for middle grade readers who enjoy a good mystery with a few well-placed plot twists. I’ve got a lot of kids asking me for good mysteries, so I’ll add this one to my booktalks, along with The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee and Audacity Jones.

Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Could Dracula make it in today’s world? Monster Science gives you the scoop.

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Monster Science, by Helaine Becker/Illustrated by Phil McAndrew, (Sept. 2016, Kids Can Press), $18.95, ISBN: 9781771380546

Recommended for ages 8-12

Monster Science takes a look at some of our favorite monsters – Frankenstein’s Monster, vampires, Bigfoot, werewolves, zombies, and sea monsters – and, using science smarts, discusses the plausibility of these monsters’ ever being able to exist in our world. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you should really start stockpiling food and weapons for the upcoming zombie apocalypse, or stared for a little too long at those blurry pictures of Bigfoot and Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, you’ll love this book.

The book devotes a chapter to each monster, provides background info, incorporating the history of the monsters, and using science, history, literature, myths and legends, helps readers work through whether or not these creatures could have ever existed or could exist today. There are colorful, cartoony illustrations, seriously groan-worthy jokes, and pop up facts throughout the book, and a quiz tests finishes up each chapter and challenges readers to remember what they’ve just read. There are enough gross facts – the stages of decay; electric shock bringing making dead body parts jerk and move, dead people who sat up at their own funerals – presented with a humorous bent, to delight middle graders who want something fun and gross to read, yet will also give them some cool facts to bring to their science class.

This is the kind of book I love booktalking to kids, because my awesome nonfiction selections are sadly underappreciated. When I put a coding book out, I get interest, because I have a library full of Minecraft mouse potatoes, but when I try to get them excited about science, I usually get eyerolls, or – zounds! – blank stares. A book like this will help me explain how wonderful and gross science can be! We can talk about The Walking Dead (no, they’re not old enough to read the comics, but you know they’re watching it at home), we can talk about Dracula and Frankenstein, and I can terrify them with repeated viewings of Mad Monster Party and the Groovie Ghoulies, because ’70s monster claymation and cartoons are aces with me, but they leave the kids bewildered. They don’t know what they’re missing.

In all seriousness, the book is fun leisure reading and a good companion to science, history, or ELA classes. There’s so many interesting facts, presented in a fun, light, manner, that kids will end up reading and remembering more information than they can imagine. Add it to your library collections, or make it a fun gift for a monster fan you know and love.

Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

A teaspoonful of drama queen: Dara Palmer’s Major Drama

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dara Palmer’s Major Drama, by Emma Shevah (July 2016, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $16.99, ISBN: 9781492631385

Recommended for ages 8-13

Dara Palmer was born to be a star: just ask her, she’ll tell you. But when she’s passed over – once again – for a part in the school play, The Sound of Music, Dara wonders whether it’s because she looks different. Was she passed over to be Maria because she doesn’t look like a typical fraulein? It’s not, as she learns: she just can’t act. Or rather, she overacts. But this episode starts Dara thinking about her life: about being Cambodian, about being an adoptee, and about not seeing any actresses or models who look like her. And then, it hits her: she’s going to write a play about her own life. Because she has to be the star of that, right?

Emma Shevah nails it again. I loved her voice as Amber in Dream On, Amber; here, she captures another tween who’s facing some big issues: realizing the world doesn’t revolve around her, and feeling like one person “on the inside” while looking like a different person “on the outside”. As an adoptee, she wonders about her birth parents and the circumstances that led her to the Happy Family home where she ended up, ultimately being adopted by her British family. As she becomes more aware of who she is – beyond her daydreams of marrying her British actor crush – she notices that no one looks like her in Hollywood, or on the covers of magazines, and this motivates her to action. She also realizes what fair-weather friends are, and handles it with a minimum of angst, which is beautifully done.

Dara Palmer’s Major Drama has received a starred review from School Library Journal. Booktalk this with Shevah’s first book, Dream On, Amber, and Nancy Cavanaugh’s Just Like Me. A great add to reading lists and collections all around for its discussions about adoption, diversity, and ethnicity.

Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade

Hilo’s back to save the Whole Wide World!

Posted on June 24, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hilo Book 2: Saving the Whole Wide World, by Judd Winick (May 2016, Random House Books for Young Readers), $13.99, ISBN: 9780385386234

Recommended for ages 7-12

The boy who crashed to Earth returns, one piece at a time – no, seriously, the book starts out with his friends DJ and Gina holding a toe – to save the world again! Hilo, the android boy who captured readers’ imaginations and hearts, returns to learn how to tell knock-knock jokes, gets excited about transportation, and discovers cool new things he can do. He thinks everything is outstanding, especially dogs and cereal with milk. Then, the portals start opening up all over the place, letting in freaky things like viking hippos, mutant chickens, and a very cool warrior cat. What the heck is going on? It sounds like Razorwark is back in town – or, at least, trying to get back to town. Hilo and his friends are charged with keeping the planet safe one more time, but Hilo doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

Hilo’s first adventure was a huge hit, receiving a 2016 Choice Book Award and multiple starred reviews. I haven’t seen it on my shelves since the day I put the first copy up, and I really need to order more for Summer Reading. I love Judd Winick’s fun art, and Hilo’s genuine love of life and discovery. He’s relentlessly optimistic, even when faced with monsters coming through portals.

Add the Hilo books to your graphic novel collection: there’s fun, friendship, diversity, and some great word definitions (another cool thing Hilo does). Booktalk it with one of my favorite series, the Zita the Spacegirl books by Ben Hatke, and Hatke’s Little Robot, and introduce kids to the joy that is science fiction.

Judd Winick has scripted issues of bestselling comic series, including Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Justice League, and Star Wars, and has been head writer on the Hulu network’s animated series, The Awesomes. Judd also appeared as a cast member of MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco and is the author of the highly acclaimed graphic novel Pedro and Me, about his Real World roommate and friend, AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. Check out his author website for more about his books and artwork, and take a look at more of Hilo: Saving the Whole Wide World right here.