Middle Grade – Page 80

Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Pack your bags for creepy Camp Midnight!

Posted on November 19, 2015November 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Camp Midnight, by Steven S. Seagle/Illustrated by Jason Adam Katzenstein (April 2016, Image Comics), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1-63215-555-9 (Diamond ID: AUG150485)

Recommended for ages 8-12

Poor Skye is shuttled between her divorced parents – and she is NOT a fan of her step-monster, Gayle. When her mother drops her off at her father’s for summer vacation, she finds out that they’ve made plans to send her off to camp – and then they end up sending her to the wrong camp! Camp Midnight is no ordinary camp: the head counselor is a witch, and the really cute boy she likes is a werewolf. Skye is under pressure to show her “real self” from the mean girls in her cabin, but she and her new friend Mia are keeping their secrets to themselves. Skye will learn a lot this summer, especially when Mia reveals her secret and it’s up to Skye to decide whether or not it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

Camp Midnight is an original graphic novel from Big Hero 6 creator Steven T. Seagle and New Yorker artist Jason Adam Katzenstein. This brilliant pairing brings a lot to the table: we have a sarcastic middle grade main character who readers will love. Skye’s in a position too many kids understand, being shuttled between two households; she has the indignity of a step-mother who makes no secret about not wanting her around, and a seemingly clueless father. Sent off to summer camp without even being asked, she finds herself the odd kid out in a big way, and reacts by rejecting everyone outright before they can reject her. Middle graders are going to love Skye’s sarcastic exterior and her vulnerable interior.

The art is a brilliant accompaniment to the story. I love Katzenstein’s rendering of the “step-monster”, with her glaring dark color and overbearing stature. Mia is drawn to be as soft and sweet as her character, with huge eyes, evoking sympathy from the get-go. The art is often exaggerated, larger than life, giving a bigness to the story that a tale with monsters deserves. Color is for overall mood, with panels in shades of orange, brown, or red, often with one color – like a blue or fuschia – to set apart a mood or action.

Camp Midnight is a fun addition to graphic novel libraries, and I already noticed the kids in my comic book group at the library circling while I was reading it (during what was supposed to be their comic book creating time). Call your distributors and pre-order it!

Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The Poe Estate: Like Warehouse 13, for tweens!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Poe Estate, by Polly Shulman (Sept. 2015, Nancy Paulsen Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9780399166143

Recommended for ages 10-14

Sukie’s not having an easy time of it these days. Her older sister, Kitty, has passed away but has vowed to always protect her – often to the point of scaring away potential new friends. Now, she’s living in some huge, creepy mansion with her distant cousin, an elderly woman named Hepzibah, and she’s dreaming about ghosts that look like her and her classmate, Cole. She’s hearing all sorts of wacky stories about magic brooms and doorknobs, and when two employees from the New-York Circulating Material Repository show up to her family’s flea market stand, she hears things she really can’t believe – but together with Cole, Hepzibah, and her new friends from the Repository, she’s off on an adventure full of adventure, pirates, possibly some romance, and maybe, just maybe, a hint of fiction – or not. Now, if only Kitty will give her some space to grow up…

The lines between fiction and reality blur in The Poe Estate, which makes it fantastic reading for tweens and young teens. It’s full of imagination and literary references, but first and foremost, it’s fun. Readers start off thinking they’re getting an interesting ghost story, but The Poe Estate becomes so much more – it’s an adventure tale heavily imbued with fantasy and book lovers won’t be able to help but think, “I knew it!” about literary artifacts they’ve always treasured. I don’t want to drop any spoilers, so I’ll just reiterate that any fans of Warehouse 13 will love this book, and fans of something new and exciting, with a light touch of reality, will enjoy. I enjoyed the characters and would love to see more tales from the Repository – after reading, so will you. Anyone unfamiliar with the SyFy Channel series Warehouse 13 can watch episodes here.

Need a good reading group activity to go with this book? Have your readers create their own Repositories, loaded with artifacts they’d track down and store there. And watch a couple of episodes of The Librarians while you’re at it.

Polly Shulman is also the author of The Grimm Legacy (a Bank Street Best Book and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Finalist) and The Wells Bequest. Her author website includes a list of her books, a bio and FAQ, and social media links.

Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen

Two! Two Programs! (Insert Count von Count laugh here)

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I was still on a high from having kids show up to my comic book discussion group, so I decided to charge headlong into more programming this week. I had a teen coloring club scheduled, and I have to be honest – I was terrified. I had to venture into the Teen Center here at my library, which is like walking into the lion’s den, for me. It’s unfamiliar territory; these teens don’t see me at all, since the Children’s Room is on the other side of the library, and they’re a small, insular group. As teens are. I walked over with some mandala pictures and two boxes of colored pencils, nervously asked if anyone was interested in a coloring club, and was ready to scamper out of there when I heard someone say, “Miss! Over here!”

There was a group of three young teen girls sitting by the window, hands raised and waving at me. “Do you have pencils?” They asked.

“I sure do! Here, see? May not be Power Puff Girls (did I completely date myself with that reference? Better than Bugs Bunny, I guess, which was first on my lips), but check it out!” They cooed over the mandalas, so I felt like I made an awesome score; put down the sheaf of papers and pencils like an offering, introduced myself, told them where to find me, and backed away slowly.

Guys, teens liked my pop-up passive program!

I was so heady with glee that I went full steam ahead and started talking up a reading group idea I’d been working on earlier with my tweens. I’ve been dying to have a book discussion group for tweens, and the parents here have been asking for programs for their school-age kids. I announced that the first book would be The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and a group of kids jumped to sign up. I’m so excited to be trying out new program ideas, and have kids that want these programs! We’ll be having snacks and making our own Origami Yodas at the end of December. I’ll report back.

I missed the chance to try this Kind Bombing idea in observance of World Kindness Day today, so maybe I’ll sneak it in next week.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Non-fiction

Add Make: Paper Inventions to your Maker Library!

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Make: Paper Inventions: Machines that Move, Drawings that Light Up, and Wearables and Structures You Can Cut, Fold, and Roll, by Kathy Ceceri (Sept. 2015, Maker Media, Inc.), $19.99, ISBN: 9781457187520

Recommended for ages 5+ (with some help!)

I love maker spaces in the library. I had a small one at my last library, and I’m psyched to set one up here in my new digs. The kids love having projects to do, and you don’t need a huge area with 3-D printers chugging along to be a maker. Duct tape, construction paper and imagination are a great start. Make Magazine has been a great resource for years, as is their Maker Camp, a virtual summer and holiday “camp” that provides cool projects and a discussion space for anyone who wants in. The Maker Media books are a huge help for anyone – parent, educator, and kid – who needs some ideas on how to stir up some creative juices.

One of the latest books in the series, Make: Paper Inventions is for anyone interested in paper crafting, paper engineering, and paper technology. Offering projects for relative newbies or whose skill level is “mostly thumbs” all the way up to creating paper-based automatons, light-up cards, even a geodesic dome!

Make: Paper Inventions, like every Maker Media book, wants to educate you as well as entertain you, so you’ll find a wealth of information on the nuts and bolts, the science and math, behind paper engineering. You’ll read about paper structures, for instance, and why folded paper can hold greater weights than a plain piece of paper. You’ll also learn why paper will tear rather than stretch if you pull it, but it will bend nicely for a pencil.

There are tons of projects in here for anyone and everyone, in any space. Kids can have a blast making their own paper – their own edible paper, even – with relative ease. Like most maker movements, the Maker Media books are big on reusing, reducing, and recycling, so projects are here for all weights of paper, from rice paper to card stock, and you can use old notebooks, newspapers, or copy paper for many of these projects. There are comprehensive materials lists and step-by-step instructions and photos for every design, and math and science concepts that you can discuss with kids will make teachers happy, and make kids realize that yes, you will use that math outside of math class, and for cool stuff, to boot. An appendix with project templates and an index round out this resource.

I can’t wait to get the kids here at my library paper quilling – it’s one of the easier projects in here that will appeal to my library group’s need for fairly instant gratification. There’s a wealth of Pinterest resources, too, which makes me really happy, because this is likely to be a program I’ll repeat. Paper circuitry looks fantastic, and who knows? Maybe that’s a project for Valentine’s Day – once I get some practice time in.

Check out some of the photos from Make: Paper Inventions, and then add this to your reference library or your crafting library. Get those makerspaces operating!

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

Launch a Rocket into Space – boost your math skills!

Posted on November 6, 2015August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Launch a Rocket Into Space (You Do the Math Series), by Hilary Koll & Steve Mills, (June 2015, QED Publishing), $17.95, ISBN: 9781609927295

Recommended for ages 8-12

Called “Math That’s Out of this World!”, this latest entry into QED’s You Do the Math series gets kids acting like rocket scientists – for real! The book takes kids all the way through the steps involved in a rocket launch – from astronaut selection to the return from space – and the math needed to complete each step. No nuclear physics here, just solid math skills designed to strengthen every student’s math familiarity. Astronaut Selection works on interpreting tables; Getting Ready for Launch reinforces comparing weights; Going Into Space looks at temperature and negative numbers.

All operations are attached to a particular area of mathematics, presents a scenario, asks questions (answers are included in the back of the book), and challenges readers to apply similar skills to their own lives. For instance, when looking at astronaut selection, kids are asked to compare their own heights against those of their friends; comparing weights in space asks kids to figure out their own weights when in orbit. The book also includes a timeline of key events in the history of rocket ships, a glossary, and an index.

This book isn’t meant to teach your kids math, but it’s a helpful book to have on hand to help them reinforce concepts they’re learning in school, and showing them the useful side of mathematics; because, you know every generation asks, “But what will I need to know this stuff for?” Well, now you know. So put on an episode of Big Bang Theory, pull out this book, and get your rocket scientist ready for MIT. (Psst… Math teachers… good ideas for extra credit abound!)

Fiction, Horror, Middle Grade, Middle School, Tween Reads

Took – You’ll never look at your dolls the same way again

Posted on November 2, 2015November 1, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Took, by Mary Downing Hahn (Sept. 2015, Clarion Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9780544551534

Recommended for ages 10-14

Local legend says that Old Auntie takes a new girl every 50 years to slave for the old witch. Once she’s worn out, she lets her go and takes another. And the girl let go never lives for long after.

Daniel and his sister Erica are new to West Virginia when they hear this story. It sounds ridiculous, right? And Daniel has more on his mind than worrying about some crazy old fairy tale. His family has relocated from Connecticut to this ramshackle house with a history in West Virginia after his father’s layoff. The kids at school are awful, and Erica withdraws further into herself and her doll, Little Erica. But when Erica disappears one night, word is that she’s been “took” – especially when a girl who looks like the one who disappeared 50 years before shows up wearing Erica’s clothes. His family is falling apart, and Daniel knows it’s up to him to get his sister back and make things right.

This book wraps itself around you like a fall chill. You can feel it creeping through you, but you can’t quite get it out of your bones until you finish it. Ms. Hahn creates a tale that had me searching the Web to find out if this was an actual local legend, it’s so fleshed out and believable. She gives us solid characters with issues we can certainly understand, possibly even empathize with – unemployment, underemployment, being bullied for being the new kid at school, and watching the cracks in one family threaten to tear it apart. It’s a very human story set within a paranormal thriller, and it’s a great read for kids who have aged out of Goosebumps and are ready for a little something more.

Mary Downing Hahn is an award-winning children’s book author and former children’s librarian (whoo hoo!). You can check out her author page and see a complete list of her books and read an FAQ with Ms. Hahn.

Fantasy, geek, geek culture, Graphic Novels, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction

Star Wars Jedi Academy: Attack of the Journal!

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Attack of the Journal (Star Wars Jedi Academy), by Jeffrey Brown (Aug. 2015, Scholastic), $9.99, ISBN: 9780545852784

Recommended for ages 7-12

For all the kids who love Jeffrey Brown’s Jedi Academy series, there’s now a journal where you can DIY your own comics, write your own stories, and read commentary from Roan and his fellow Jedi Academy classmates and instructors!

Want to make your own Jedi Academy class schedule? Make your own lightsaber? Write for the school newsletter, the Padawan Observer? This is the place for you! Loaded with creative and introspective ideas for kids, the Jedi Academy Journal offers kids fill-in-the-blank story outlines, lots of creative spaces for their own drawings and original writing, and prompts throughout the book. Some prompts encourage kids to look inward and write about what they feel they could do better, who inspires them and who they think they inspire. Comic strips with the characters from the Jedi Academy series pop up throughout the book, making this a great purchase for Star Wars fans. When they finish the book, they can even fill out their own Jedi Academy Diploma!

This is a journal, so it’s mean to be written in – so libraries may not want to invest money in this one. It’s a great gift idea, though, in the vein of the Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself book and a fun way to extend and put a personal spin on a favorite series.

Attack of the Journal is already in stores, so put this one on your shopping lists. The holidays are coming! If you’re bringing the joy of Star Wars to a lucky kid for the first time, consider the 3-book set, which includes the first and second Jedi Academy graphic novels and the journal.

Middle Grade, Middle School, Non-fiction

What’s Up in the Amazon Rainforest?

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

What’s Up in the Amazon Rainforest?, by Ginjer L. Clarke (Sept. 2015, Grosset & Dunlap), $8.99, ISBN: 9780448481036

Recommended for ages 8-12

I’ve been doing a lot of weeding in my new library spot, and the first section I hit was the Animals section. Naturally, I need some new books to fill in my shelves, and this beauty fits the bill. It’s a new geography series, loaded with color photos and a fold-out map, and it’s laid out like a dossier file, with photos sharing space with informative text, laid over maps in the background, and little touches like circled paragraphs and paper clips to give the feeling that kids are reading an environmentalist’s journal.

There’s a ton of information packed into this book: Ginjer Clarke looks at each layer of the rainforest, the flora and fauna that can be found there, and moves on to provide quick profiles on the people that live in the rainforest, products that come from the rainforest (yay, coffee and chocolate!), and most importantly, the importance of conservation and preservation. A bibliography and index round out the book. I’d love to see a glossary and some websites for kids included in future editions – admittedly, I’m working from a galley of the book, so if any of these resources are included in the finished copy, I apologize! In the meantime, her blog offers really cool updates and photos of different places she visits while researching her books. (Wait until you see the size of the oarfish.)

You’ll learn about pink dolphins – who knew there were dolphins in the rainforest? – and howler monkeys, Kapok and cacao trees. Fold-out maps will let kids place themselves in the locations they’re reading about.

Author Ginjer L. Clarke writes popular nonfiction books for kids. She’s got a section dedicated to her Baby Animals series on her website, and sections with more information about her other series, including more of her What’s Up, Out, and Wild Animals series.

Check out some more of What’s Up in the Amazon Rainforest below. The pictures are unbelievable!

Animal Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency is open for business!

Posted on October 30, 2015October 29, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency, Book 2 The Enchanted Egg, by Kallie George/Illus. by Alexander Bolger (Nov. 2015, Disney Book Group), $14.99, ISBN: 9781423183839

Recommended for ages 8-12

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency is back, and so are Clover, whose gifts with animals surpass any magic she may not have, Mr. Jams, the proprietor, and Dipity, the green magical cat Clover rescued from the witch in the first book. In this second book in the series, Clover must once again keep an eye on the adoption agency while Mr. Jams is away – but a large egg has hatched early, and the newest member of the adoption agency is keeping Clover on her toes!

This series is a feel-good read. Clover is a sweet, gentle soul who learns about herself and what she’s capable of in each book, going from a self-conscious, clumsy girl in the first, to a more confident young girl who realizes that she doesn’t need magic to take care of magical creatures in this book. There are positive messages about self-esteem and caring for others, taking responsibility, and most importantly, the value of being kind.

This is a great series for kids, especially those who love fantasy or just love animals. The first book was well-received at my former library, and I can’t wait to get these two books into my new patrons’ hands. Animal fiction does really well with middle graders, and a series like this, that pairs the fantastic within our everyday world gives readers a necessary spark of magic in their lives.

Magic Tree House fans, Critter Club fans, steer them all to these books. They’ll love you for it.

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

Spotlight On: The Top Secret Files series!

Posted on October 20, 2015September 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

If there’s any way I can get kids in my libraries (and my house!) reading nonfiction, I jump on it. This series takes a look at some of the more adventurous, juicier – even scandalous! – parts of history. Check ’em out, load your shelves, and make sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to win a book pack of your own!

Top Secret Files by Stephanie Bearce

October 1, 2015

Book Information:

Title: Top Secret Files: The Wild West

Author: Stephanie Bearce

Release Date: October 1, 2015

Publisher: Prufrock Press

Summary:

Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden…

Bandits, lawmen, six shooters, bank robberies, and cowboys were all a part of the Wild West. But so were camels, buried treasure, and mail carrying ponies. Dive into strange tales like the mysterious Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine and Rattlesnake Dick’s lost fortune. Discover the truth about notorious legends like Pistol Pete, Buffalo Bill, bandit queen Belle Starr, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Then, learn how cowboys branded and drove cattle and how to make your own chuck wagon grub. It’s all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Wild West.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26052945-top-secret-files

Buy Links:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/SlLQh

Barnes & Noble- http://ow.ly/SlM0K

Books A Million- http://ow.ly/SlMhO

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/SlNaP

Indiebound- http://ow.ly/SlNOJ

Book Information:

Title: Top Secret Files: Gangsters and Bootleggers

Author: Stephanie Bearce

Release Date: October 1, 2015

Publisher: Prufrock Press

Summary:

Blind pigs, speakeasies, and tarantula juice were all a part of the roaring 20s. Making alcohol illegal didn’t get rid of taverns or crime bosses: They just went underground. Secret joints were in almost every large city and could be entered if you knew the code words. Discover the secret codes of the Prohibition Era- why you should mind your beeswax and watch out for the gumshoe talking to the fuzz or you might end up in the cooler! It’s all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: Gangsters and Bootleggers.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26052934-top-secret-files

Buy Links:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/SlPri

Barnes & Noble- http://ow.ly/SlP9P

Books A Million- http://ow.ly/SlOZ1

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/SlOED

Indiebound- http://ow.ly/SlOwt

Also Available:

Top Secret Files: Pirates and Buried Treasure

Top Secret Files: American Revolution

The Civil War

Top Secret Files: World War I

Top Secret Files: World War II

Top Secret Files: Cold War

Top 3 Gangster and Bootlegger Secrets:

1) Striped Pigs and Blind Tigers- When the sale of alcohol became illegal, several enterprising liquor salesmen decided to make money another way. They wouldn’t sell alcohol to their customers; instead, they would sell them a chance to see something unusual, like a pig with stripes or a blind tiger. Once the patron paid to “see” the animal, he or she was given a free drink of liquor. People started saying they were going to a “blind pig” when they were headed to visit a speakeasy.

2) Carrie Nation and the Saloon Busters- Carrie Nation was one of the leaders of the Temperance Movement. These were people who believed that banning the sale and consumption of alcohol would improve life in America. Carrie was famous for leading saloon attacks with a group of like-minded female activists. Carrie and the saloon busters would storm saloons smashing bottles, barrels, windows, furniture, and everything else they could. She was arrested more than thirty times for her activism.

3) Lipstick Long- Lipstick Long was one of the most famous flappers. She was hired by The New Yorker to write about jazz clubs and speakeasies in New York. Lipstick too her job very seriously and spent every evening out on the town dancing and drinking in all of the best, and some of the worst-clubs. She would often go directly to The New Yorker office from her night out. She would arrive in the early hours of the morning wearing her party clothes and smelling of bootleg drink. She would then strip down to her slip and plop down at her typewriter to dash off her latest column for the paper.

About the Author: Stephanie Bearce is a writer, teacher, and history detective. She loves tracking down spies and uncovering secret missions from the comfort of her library in St. Charles, MO. When she isn’t writing or teaching, Stephanie loves to travel the world and go on adventures with her husband, Darrell.

Social Networking Links:

Website: http://www.stephaniebearce.com/about.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulateacher

Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for the chance to wine a Top Secret Files Book Pack of your own!

//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js