This is a middle grade book you won’t want to miss. It’s not long after the close of World War II, and war heroes get homecoming celebrations. But in the North Carolina town of Birdsong—and in other parts of the South—the parades are only for the white soldiers....
In Alone by Megan E Freeman, twelve-year-old Maddie plans a secret sleepover with two friends featuring a smorgasbord of Twinkies and soda. But her friends cancel and she sleeps by herself at her grandparents’ otherwise empty apartment. Then she wakes up to a...
Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga tells the tale of the widow and three children of the King of Anniera, a blessed island kingdom overwhelmed nine years before by the dreaded fangs of Dang. This book is Book 3 of the four-book saga, The Monster in the Hollows (2011)....
I am reviewing North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, Book 2 in the Wingfeather Saga (2009). This mid-series book could suffer from middle-of-story sag. But it doesn’t. In fact, it’s an intense read. The three Igiby children, their mother Nia, and their grandfather...
Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner, Book 1 of The Keepers TrilogyPublished 2010 by Delacorte Press, 312 pagesGenre: Secular middle-grade fantasy In Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner (2010), Book 1 of a trilogy, Goldie is a protected child. She’s so protected...
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (a Newbery Honor winner from 2013) tells a winsome and magical story about a ten-year-old girl and a squirrel. Flora is surrounded by some dysfunctional people, like her parents, who are separated, and a new young neighbor who...
Dreamtreaders by Wayne Thomas Batson, a reviewPublished 2014 by Thomas Nelson, 289 pagesGenre: Middle grade fantasy fiction In Dreamtreaders, a middle-grade story by Wayne Thomas Batson (2014), Archer Keaton, age 14, serves humanity as a Dreamtreader. In his...
Failstate: Legends by John Otte, Book 2 of Failstate seriesPublished 2013 by Marcher Lord Press, 455 pagesGenre: Young adult superhero tale, suitable for middle grade and up Failstate: Legends by John Ottte (2013) looks like a graphic novel, but it isn’t....
I reviewed the first book in the series, Merlin’s Blade. This second book, Merlin’s Shadow (2013), like any middle book in a three-book series, leads us through some majors trials for the main characters. Merlin finds himself fleeing the traitor Vortigern, who...
