Much has been written and admired about “Louder Than Hunger,” John Schu’s brutally, almost painfully honest book about his near-death experience with anorexia nervosa. I think this is a book that will become an important personal experience to each person who reads it as each reader uses Schu’s fictionalized experiences as a mirror that might reflect certain experiences in the reader’s life. Jake, the narrator in this account, is a happy kid for the most part growing up. His parents aren’t perfect, his dad is absent a lot, and his mother suffers from depression, but he has a fantastic grandmo ..read more

Adam Gidwitz is a much loved children’s author whose fabulous tales have taken readers young and old from Grimm’s fairy tales (“A Tale Dark and Grimm“) to the Inquisition (“The Inquisitor’s Tale“) and now to WWII in “Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II.” This historical fiction also contains Gidwitz’s trademark fantasy twist with two mythical creatures who accompany main character Max as he travels from Berlin to London as part of the Kindertransport, which took Jewish children from Germany to countries where they stayed in foster homes until the end of the war. Gidwitz was insp ..read more

Adrian So is not your average fourteen year old. He wrote a middle grade novel, “The Groundworld Heroes,” and it’s being published by Monarch Educational Services this August. Adrian described how he started writing by explaining that during COVID, he was stuck at home and had nothing to do but read and write. He wrote nonstop and wrote short stories daily. He wasn’t ready to write a book, he thought. But by the end of sixth grade, he started writing his first novel. He said, “Of course, it isn’t the one that got published.” In addition to school, he divides his time between soccer and his wr ..read more

In “Walkin’ the Dog,” Chris Lynch tells the story of Louis, a boy who loves being home, has no friends, and will be going to the public high school after being home schooled. His father is a retired firefighter who bought a fishing boat and moved them to a seaside town. His mother is an activist whose mental health has been suffering, and she is in a facility working on regaining her equilibrium. The family is having a really hard time without her stabilizing presence. Louis and his slightly younger sister Faye have a close relationship, but she wants him to have more friends. Because he does ..read more

“Wrecker,” is pure Carl Hiaasen with its Key West setting and fabulous action, quirky characters, and clever plot. Carl Hiaasen is known for his novels about Florida, its struggle against pollution and destruction of the land and waters around it, as well as his tongue-in-cheek depiction of people who are oblivious to common sense and basic reasoning skills. This is a book that, in pointing out the racist past of Florida, and Key West in particular, could very well be banned in Hiaasen’s home state of Florida: In this clever and gripping novel, one of the characters actually feels terrible ab ..read more

Sometimes coincidences can be astounding. Last night I read the children’s picture book “Growing Up Under a Red Flag: A Memoir of Surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution” written by Ying Chang Compestine and illustrated by Xinmei Liu. It’s a powerful book about how civil liberties flew out the door when Mao Zedong took over China and unleashed his Red Guard to terrify civilians into submission. The text is informative, very accessible, and appropriately shocking. Instead of wearing red MAGA hats, people were ordered to carry “The Little Red Book” with them everywhere, to wear Mao uniforms ..read more

Can I just say that I love the “City Spies” series by James Ponti? This latest one, “Mission Manhattan,” is just as exciting and thrilling as the preceding books, and reading them brings me as much pleasure as reading one of my favorite adult spy novels, like Tess Gerritsen’s “The Spy Coast” or even John Scalzi’s “Starter Villain.” While granted, these spy novels are geared for middle grade readers, the plots and the action are every bit as well plotted and gripping as many of that genre written for adults. The major differences are that the books in this series are much quicker reads with sp ..read more

“Finally Heard” is Kelly Yang’s newest middle grade fiction. Author Yang is known for her powerful middle grade and young adult novels about fitting in, making friends, finding one’s place in life, and appreciating family. Many children appreciate the vulnerability in her fictional characters because it reflects some of their own feelings. Her first novel, “Front Desk,” for example, reflected her own experiences growing up as her parents managed hotels and she helped work the front desk. In this novel, we meet Lina, whose parents immigrated to the United States from China. Her father works in ..read more

In her new book, “Project F,” Jeanne DuPrau takes us yet again far into the future to a different kind of world. It’s a simpler world where there is some electricity, but little technology. Through the eyes of main character fourteen-year-old Keith, we learn about a world in which there are no cars, no planes, no smart phones. Instead people take trains if they need to travel long distances, they bike within their small cities, and they walk. Life as we know it today is hundreds of years in the past. Keith is an adventurous type and often daydreams at school. At the beginning of the story, he ..read more

“Mixed Up” is a typical Gordon Korman novel; typical because it’s both very accessible and very brilliant. Korman’s books are legendary (among teachers and students) because they are almost unique in their ability to provide a plot that moves rapidly with plenty of action, yet at the same time offer us thoughtful issues to consider — in every story. His newest release accomplishes all that. A word of warning, though: This novel isn’t for the faint of heart. In the very first chapter, we learn that one of the two protagonists, Reef Moody, is an orphan because his mom died of Covid. He blames h ..read more