My Favorite Middle Grade Novel This Year

(at least thus far this year)

 

The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick,  Algonquin Young Readers

As the winter solstice nears, the days get shorter. But what if the days were literally getting shorter as time was lost, forever? Edward doesn't believe in his aunt's new agey Solstice nonsense until the unthinkable happens. Annoying classmate Feenix disappears and no one seems to notice. Pumpkins decay in the course of a single class. And time has started disappearing. Though Edward would rather do the easy thing than the right thing, he and three classmates will have to venture into the snow if the world is to be put back into balance. Take the dimensional characters and realistic relationships from Rebecca Stead's books and mix with the strange magic of The Peculiar; the result is Amy Herrick's stunning middle grade debut. 

I think it has Newbery potential. 

Splendors & Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Clara's four siblings died when she was little and their deaths still consume her family's house. Cassandra holds a powerful stone containing a magic fire that consumes her. Clara and Cassandra are drawn together by Grisini, whose skill at manipulating puppet strings carries over into manipulating people. Grisini's apprentices, Parsefall and Lizzie Rose, are pulled into the dark web as well, and the three children must find a way of manipulating their own strings before they find themselves completely tied up. Newbery Medal-winning Laura Amy Schlitz has crafted an intricate tale that will keep readers frantically turning pages as they try to discover what splendors and glooms await each character.

Annotations part 1

I've just finished up a class on sci-fi and fantasy in children's literature. For the final, I wrote up a number of annotations. Some of these were for books I'd been planing to read, others were books I selected from a list simply because I had never read them before. There a ten books total, so I'll be dividing them up into four posts and the books will be listed in the order I read them (because why not).

Savvy

Ingrid Law. New York, NY: Penguin (2008).

When Mibs turns thirteen she will discover her Savvy, or magical talent, and she's certain it will be something great. But when her poppa ends up in an accident, all Mibs wants is a Savvy to cure her father- and she'll do anything to get to the hospital where he's held. This road-trip adventure is more than a magical coming-of-age story as Mibs and her companions come to realize that even non-magical people have a Savvy-like talent. With tall-tales and mid-western flavor, Savvy is an American immersive fantasy.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making

Catherynne M. Valente. New York, NY: Feiwel and Friends (2011).

One day September is whisked away from her normal life in Omaha by the Green Wind, who takes her to Fairyland. With the help of some strange magical creatures, September must find a way to stop the bossy Marquess, who rules Fairyland with an iron fist. September's quest follows the format of a classic hero's journey. While Valente references touchstones of children's portal fantasy in her text, her world and characters are unique creations.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick

October 25th, 2011
by Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, Lemony Snicket (introduction), and Chris Van Allsburg.

Very very rarely, I will swoon over a book. Swoon-worthy books must not just be well-written, they have to be beautifully packed, or have exquisite illustration, mostly, all three. Four stories into The Chronicles of Harris Burdick I was already swooning. Mind you, this is the ARC, too, not the gorgeous hardcover that will be the best holiday gift when it hits shelves.

What strikes me as I read- one story at a time, with space between each to savor- is the inventiveness of the writers. Van Allsburg's illustrations are surrealistically magical drawings, but they are snap shots. The ability to see the past, future, and alternative presents hinted at in these illustrations is an amazing imaginative feat.

Strangely enough, they now have my mind turning to Lev Grossman's The Magicians. There is a kinship here, I think. Both loved, enjoyed, and familiar, yet strange, surreal delights. Not matter how many times one sees a Van Allsburg drawing or reads a Lev Grossman novel, they will be strange and mysterious, even if you feel, as I do, that you somehow know them, even during the first reading.

From a darkly humorous story by Jon Scieszka to the fearful hint of magical oddness in Stephen King's, The Chroicles of Harris Burdick will leave readers spellbound. Adults who remember writing their own Harris Burdick stories and readers ages 10 and up will enjoy the strange magic of the tales. In a collection featuring such incredible authors as this, it will be difficult to choose a favorite.

Middle Grade

A Series of Unfortunate Events
By Lemony Snicket
The Baudelaire children have an unfortunate future when their parents die. In fact, one horrible thing after another happens, and, of course, adults are no help of all. It’s up to the three siblings to evade Count Olaf, a master of disguise intent on stealing their fortune, despite the bewildering misfortunes that beset them. Luckily, Klaus has knowledge obtained from reading, Violet is an inventor, and the baby Sunny, well, she has some sharp teeth. Grade 2 & up. A Wrinkle in Time
By Madeleine L’Engle
One of my all-time favorite books. Meg’s father has been missing for years, gone on some top-secret scientific project for the government. One fall night a strange visitor, Mrs. What, and her friends Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, appear to take Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and her new friend Calvin on an adventure to save Meg’s father. This is no ordinary journey, requiring travel in time and space to reach their destination. And getting there is only the beginning. This classic science-fiction story is just as wonderful today as in 1963– there’s a reason the protagonist of When You Reach Me, this year’s Newbery Winner, carries a copy around with her. Ages 8 & up.


Peter & the Starcatchers
By Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
Have you ever wondered how Peter Pan came to fly? Or exactly why he and Captain Hook are mortal enemies? The orphan Peter and brave Molly have to use their wits (and a band of porpoises) to outsmart thieving pirates intent on stealing the magical starstuff. Barry & Pearson will take you on a thrilling adventure with pirates, secret societies, fierce natives, sea battles, traps, and a pinch of magic, revealing the exciting adventures behind the boy who never grew-up. 3rd grade & up.


The Brixton Brothers: The Case of Mistaken Identity
By Mac Barnett
In the spirit of the Hardy Boys, the Brixton Brothers is a rip-roaring adventure. Steve Brixton is not a detective, but when the league of librarians (the most secret agents of the US government) catch him checking out a book on needlework, they target him as an enemy agent. With the help of his Bailey Brothers detective books, Steve is off to catch the true crook! This adventure will have you reading under the covers with a flashlight. Ages 8 & up.

Rebecca Stead's First Light

I liked Rebecca Stead's second novel, the Newbery Award winning When You Reach Me, but First Light, her debut novel, gripped me even more. While Stead's love of Madeleine L'Engle is blatant in When You Reach Me, any L'Engle lover will recognize her influence in First Light. Think Troubling a Star meets aspects of the Wrinkle in Time series, complete with a mitochondria-studying mother and father whose scientific research takes him to strange places.

Written in the third person, First Light jumps between three characters, spending the most time with Peter and Thea. Peter is fourteen and lives in NYC with his parents. His mother, who is writing a book about mitochondria, has occasional headaches, which cause her to spend a few days at a time unmoving. When Peter himself starts experiencing these headaches, he keeps them secret, along with the strange visions that accompany them. Peter's father, a professor and glaciologist interested in global warming, takes Peter and his mother to Greenland, where he's situated for six weeks gathering data. After a few weeks, it becomes clear to Peter that his parents are searching for something more than snow statistics.

Interspersed with Peter's life are chapters of Thea's. Thea's world, Gracehope, is strange and other, a place where bowls are made of ice, and people skate from place to place; not to mention that Gracehope exists entirely underground. Thea is raised by her aunt, her mother having died in a vast underground lake, attempting to find a place where Gracehope could expand.

Thea and Peter's stories slowly grow together, and readers will enjoy piecing together their mysteries in an attempt to learn the truths that bind the two characters together.

Honestly, I enjoyed this even more than When You Reach Me. To anyone who has recently enjoyed one of Rebecca Stead's books, you will fall madly in love with L'Engle if you haven't already.

Oh- and thank you to Rebecca Stead. Now that L'Engle is gone, it's nice to see you on the scene.

2010 Newbery Award & the beloved A Wrinkle in Time

I love A Wrinkle in Time. Actually, I love all of Madeleine L'Engle's work. And so, any book that can put A Wrinkle in Time back on the NYTimes Bestseller list is obviously a book worth reading- and, in this case, worth a Newbery.

That's right, this year's Newbery Award: When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. The best description of this book is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets A Wrinkle in Time. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in that the setting is very similar, NYC 1979. A Wrinkle in Time is constantly referred to by the protsgonist, Miranda, who keeps a copy of it with her at all times. The story is not as otherworldly as Wrinkle, but contains moments hinting at other-worldliness, with the possibility of tesseracts running through the novel (if you don't know what a tesseract is, it's a wrinkle in time. Read the book of the same title to learn more). But a hint of this magical science is all you need. The complex issues of friends, classmates, the hobo at the corner, and realities of being a latch-key kid all feature in the narrative.

Young readers will be smitten with Miranda's NYC latch-key existence. And while Miranda's life isn't perfect, it isn't bad. That's something I admire about Rebecca Stead's narrative, the normal issues of friends and school are enough, there's no horrible family life or abuse to deal with on top of everything.

A fifth-grade boy of my acquaintance, notoriously difficult to find books for, devoured this and loved it to the point of recommending it to others. Also recommended by middle school teachers of discerning taste and now the Newbery committee, this is not to be missed. However, if you haven't yet read A Wrinkle in Time, read it first, as it will only serve to enrich your experience of When You Reach Me.