middlegradeeveryday

[middlegradeeveryday]

The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

Summary:

Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out.

But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with earth in four days, and with that collision, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.

But over the course of the four days, even facts don’t feel true to Kemi anymore. The new town she moved to that was supposed to be “better for her family” isn’t very welcoming. And Amplus-68 is taking over her life, but others are still going to school and eating at their favorite diner like nothing has changed. Is Kemi the only one who feels like the world is ending?

With the days numbered, Kemi decides to put together a time capsule that will capture her family’s truth: how creative her mother is, how inquisitive her little sister can be, and how much Kemi's whole world revolves around her father. But no time capsule can change the truth behind all of it, that Kemi must face the most inevitable and hardest part of life: saying goodbye.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

Summary:

Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from the tragedy. 

But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it--is that a doll?--and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature's hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. 

Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left Black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves? 

Book Type: Novel

Genre: Folklore

[middlegradeeveryday]

Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

Summary: Bo and her mom always had their own rhythm. But ever since they moved to Harlem, Bo’s world has fallen out of sync. She and Mum are now living with Mum’s boyfriend Bill, his daughter Sunday, the twins, Lili and Lee, the twins' parents…along with a dog, two cats, a bearded dragon, a turtle, and chickens. All in one brownstone! With so many people squished together, Bo isn’t so sure there is room for her.  Set against the bursting energy of a New York City summer, award-winning author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich delivers a joyful novel about a new family that hits all the right notes!

Book Type: Novel

Genre: Realistic Fiction

[middlegradeeveryday]

Yummy: A History of Desserts by Victoria Grace Elliot

Summary:

Have you ever wondered who first thought to freeze cream? Or when people began making sweet pastry shells to encase fruity fillings? Peri is excited to show you the delicious history of sweets while taking you around the world and back!

The team-up that made ice cream cones!

The mistake that made brownies!

Learn about and taste the true stories behind everyone’s favorite treats, paired with fun and easy recipes to try at home. After all, sweets—and their stories—are always better when they’re shared!

Genre: Non-Fiction

Book Type: Graphic Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Dead Good Detectives by Jenny McLachlan

Summary:

Sid Jones and her best friend, Zen, like to play in their local graveyard—but they never expected their ghostly games to suddenly turn real. When Sid accidentally frees the spirit of Ezekiel “Bones” Kittow, a pirate who died nearly three hundred years prior, he asks her to help him find his long-lost treasure so his soul can finally be at rest. The only problem? He can’t remember where, or even what, the treasure is.

With nothing but a spectral hand-drawn map to help guide their search, Sid, Bones, Zen, and an annoyingly loud ghost parrot set out to complete their quest. But haunting their every step is Old Scratch, a creepy specter who runs the eerie graveyard prison keeping Bones, his crew, and many other spirits trapped. Old Scratch won’t let Bones be free without a fight, and in the end, there may be much more sinister threats to face down. . . .

Genre: Scary Stories

Book Type: Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Twins by Varian Johnson

Summary: Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods, and are partners on all their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran -- a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister!Maureen and Francine are growing apart and there's nothing Maureen can do to stop it. Are sisters really forever? Or will middle school change things for good?

Book Type: Graphic Novel

Genre: Realistic Fiction

[middlegradeeveryday]

President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston

Summary:

When Brianna Justice's hero, the famous celebrity chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and traces her own success back to being president of her fifth grade class, Brianna determines she must do the same. She just knows that becoming president of her class is the first step toward her own cupcake-baking empire!

But when new student Jasmine Moon announces she is also running for president, Brianna learns that she may have more competition than she expected. Will Brianna be able to stick to her plan of working with her friends to win the election fairly? Or will she jump at the opportunity to steal votes from Jasmine by revealing an embarrassing secret?

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

Summary: In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don’t mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.  Ban This Book is a stirring defense against censorship that’s perfect for middle grade readers. Let kids know that they can make a difference in their schools, communities, and lives!

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

It’s All or Nothing, Vale by Andrea Beatriz Arango

Summary: All these months of staring at the wall? All these months of feeling weak? It’s ending— I’m going back to fencing. And then it’ll be like nothing ever happened. No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident. After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number one: Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that. But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Free Verse

[middlegradeeveryday]

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Summary: Eleven-year-old Elijah lives in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves near the American border. Elijah's the first child in town to be born free, and he ought to be famous just for that -- not to mention for being the best at chunking rocks and catching fish. Unfortunately, all that most people see is a "fra-gile" boy who's scared of snakes and tends to talk too much. But everything changes when a former slave steals money from Elijah's friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South. Now it's up to Elijah to track down the thief -- and his dangerous journey just might make a hero out of him, if only he can find the courage to get back home.

Book Type: Novel

Genre: Historical Fiction

[middlegradeeveryday]

Into The Heartlands by Roseanne A. Brown

Summary:

Twelve-year-old Shuri is a lot of things. Scientist. Princess. All around cooler person than her pain-in-the-butt big brother, T’Challa. Shuri knows she could do so much more to help Wakanda, but everyone is obsessed with the prince because he’s the next Black Panther. That is, until Soul Washing Day, one of the most important rituals of Wakandan society.

When an argument between T’Challa and Shuri leads to one of Shuri’s inventions accidentally destroying the sacred ceremony site, chaos reigns instead of prosperity. Suddenly the people of Wakanda, including her mother the queen, are becoming sick! Could this be a curse from the ancestors? Desperate to save her mother, Shuri dives into research and finds an answer hidden deep in an ancient children's myth. It may be nothing more than a fantasy, but with the sickness spreading each day, the young princess must trust her instincts and travel deep into the mysterious Heartlands to save her family and her kingdom.

Joining Shuri on her journey is none other than a meddling T’Challa. If Shuri and T’Challa can set aside their jealousy and resentment of each other long enough to survive this journey, they might just discover that they are far more powerful together than they could ever be apart. But if they can’t face their fears in the Heartlands and lift the so-called curse, it may not be just the end for their family, but the end of Wakanda as they know it. No pressure, right?

Genre: Superhero

Book Type: Graphic Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Summary: It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own.   So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.   And then there’s the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention—and more trouble—than any of them need.   All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home—but is a strong will enough to get them there? 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Book Type: Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Books I Read In 2022 (and by read I mean actually liked)

Boy-Crazy Stacey (The Baby-Sitters Club #8) by Ann M. Martin

I'd never wear it, but I'd keep it to remind me of the first boy I ever fell in love with.

⭐⭐⭐(3 STARS)

I don’t have too many fond memories of this book since I found Stacey to be so insufferable when I first read it, but I also read this when I was like 10 years old, so my ability to empathize clearly hadn’t fully developed. Don’t get me wrong, it was still frustrating to be in Stacey’s head, but this was an important lesson for her to learn. I wish she’d also been able to see how an 18-year-old flirting with her when she’s a literal child is not okay, but this is just a thing that happens where Stacey keeps crushing on these much older guys and they flirt back and it is still just all kinds of weird to me.

I also want to add that the book never really goes beyond the message that “some boys are jerks, but not all of them” and I know that this is a middle-grade book, but I feel like not addressing Stacey’s behaviour sends out a rather harmful message. Stacey thinks that doing favours for boys is an honour and she was jealous when other girls would get to, let’s say, bring lunch to the lifeguards. The book never says that there’s anything wrong with this, it’s just something Stacey believes and we never get anywhere further than that. And also the way she treated Mary Anne; yes, Stacey apologized, but Mary Anne being all ‘yeah, I get it, you were in love’ was not needed, Mary Anne is a much better person than me because after everything Stacey did, I would not have forgiven her that quickly. (Also, if I were Mallory, I would ask for Stacey’s share of the money because let's be honest, Mallory pretty much did Stacey’s job for her.)

Details that stuck out to me:

“I was beginning to think that “mother’s helper” was a pretty funny term, since Mary Anne and I were going to be helping Mr. Pike as much as Mrs. Pike. Maybe we should be called parents’ helpers.” - LITTLE LOUDER STACE!!!

Mary Anne mentioning how she remembered the triplets taking swimming lessons when they were younger - I always love little anecdotes of their childhood and the earlier books in the series do this really well (unlike a certain prequel novel that shall not be named). 

The Pike kids trying to take care of Mary Anne after her sunburn was such a cute scene - they’re my favourite charges for a reason!

Adam being nice to Nicky for once - I was floored!

Byron being the sensitive, more serious of the triplets is something that I do remember being introduced for the first time in this book, but I feel like it’s also been consistently highlighted in other books featuring the Pike kids.

[middlegradeeveryday]

[middlegradeeveryday]

more kidlit art i never posted

[middlegradeeveryday]

Maeve Mulvaney Has Had Enough by Kelly Mangan

Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Maeve feels more at home in the pages of her comics and sketchbook than she does in "Nowhereville" (her maybe-not-so-nice nickname for the small Florida town where her family just moved). In the comic-book version of her life, she's a brave superhero who always bests the bad guys. In reality? Not so much. 

When a bully at her new school makes her life miserable over her weight (and a sexist teacher defends him), Maeve isn’t sure what to do. Her mom thinks she should just cheer up, brush it off, and stay positive. But then Maeve hears from other misfit eighth graders who are also being picked on, and she decides that enough is enough.

Drawing inspiration from her comics, Maeve creates a feminist superhero club, hoping she and her new friends can inspire meaningful change in their community. But it turns out, fighting back without becoming the bully yourself is harder than it seems…

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Novel

[middlegradeeveryday]

Timid by Jonathan Todd

Summary: Cecil Hall and his family have just moved from Florida to Massachusetts, near Boston. Cecil is anxious about making friends because he doesn't know where he'll fit in. His older sister, Leah, thinks he should befriend the other black kids at his new school, but Cecil isn't sure how he’d go about doing that. He wants to be known for his comics-making talent, anyway. But the few kids who are impressed by Cecil's art aren’t always nice to him. When one of his drawings is misused and gets him into serious trouble, can Cecil stand up for himself and figure out who his real friends are?

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Graphic Novel