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Reading Middle Grade

Books for Kids and Grown Ups

  • Book Reviews
    • Picture book
    • Middle-Grade Book Reviews
    • Graphic Novels
    • Young Adult
    • Adult Fiction
    • Adult Non-Fiction
  • Book Lists
    • Picture Books
    • Middle Grade Books
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  • Join My Newsletter!
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    • Review & Promotion Policy
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  • 2024 releases

Book Reviews, Young Adult · July 14, 2021

Review | Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance

Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance is Nisha Sharma’s sophomore YA novel. It follows Radha, a skilled Kathak dancer who decides to stop dancing after anxiety and a family betrayal cause her to bow out of a contest. Jai is a student at the Princeton Academy of the Arts where Radha transfers. Although she is insistent on not dancing, her dance skills may be Jai’s ticket to medical school (which he’s convinced e can’t attend). Add Radha’s grandfather’s cookbook, Jai’s family dilemmas, and plenty of dancing, and this story comes to life.

Book Reviews, Picture book · March 19, 2021

Picture Book Friday: Bindu’s Bindis

Bindu’s Bindis are her favorite accessories — and she has a lot of them! Her Nani (grandmother) sends her a new pack every week and Bindu loves changing them to match her mood, outfits, or the occasion. Bindu loves her culture and the heritage the bindis represent, but most of all, they make her feel connected to her Nani. But when Nani comes to visit and the family is confronted with xenophobic protests outside the airport, Bindu wants to hide her bindis and the parts of her culture that make her feel “other.”

Book Reviews, Picture book · March 12, 2021

Picture Book Friday: The Electric Slide and Kai

Kai is from a family of dancers, and he seems to be the odd man out. The family has been invited to their Auntie Nina’s wedding, and Kai and his siblings will have roles in the wedding. Kai immediately becomes worried because he has a history of messing up his moves. He even tripped over someone the last time he tried the electric slide.

Book Reviews, Middle-Grade Book Reviews · December 28, 2020

Review | The Sea in Winter

The Sea in Winter is the story of 12-year-old ballet dancer Maisie Cannon who is recovering from a torn ACL. Maisie is Native American and part of a blended family; her mom remarried after her father’s death and she has a younger half-brother. With regard to her heritage, her mom is Makah, her father was Piscataway, and her stepfather, Jack, is from the Elwha Klallam Tribe.

Maisie is miserable because her two closest (and only) friends Eva and Hattie are also ballerinas and now that she isn’t dancing, it’s too difficult to maintain her friendships with them. She’s also struggling with how slowly she’s recovering and is a bit depressed in general because of how much she loves ballet how tightly woven into her identity it was.

Picture book · September 25, 2020

Picture Book Love: Bunheads by Misty Copeland

Bunheads was my first experience with a Misty Copeland picture book. I love watching her dance, so I was happy to get a digital copy of this ARC. This story is based on Misty’s first-time experience with ballet class. The teacher tells them the story of Coppelia (which they will be performing), and then they learn the steps and eventually perform by the end of the book.

Book Reviews, Middle-Grade Book Reviews · September 7, 2020

Review | Lupe Wong Won’t Dance

Lupe Wong Won’t Dance is Donna Barba Higuera’s debut middle-grade novel. Her protagonist Lupe is a Mexican-Chinese girl who loves baseball. Her Chinese father died several years ago, so she lives with her Mexican mom and her brother Paolo. However, both her abuela and her Chinese grandparents are very present in their lives. Lupe is excited to get all A’s this year because her uncle has promised her a meeting with baseball star Fu Li Hernandez, who’s Chinacan/Mexinese like her if she does. But all of a sudden, there’s a new development in her gym class: Coach wants them to do square dancing instead of like, actual sports. And guess what? Lupe does not dance.

Book Lists, Early Chapter Books, Interests, Middle Grade Books · August 19, 2020

25 Middle-Grade & Chapter Books About Dance

Although I have zero professional dance experience, I love middle-grade books about dance! Sadly, though, new middle-grade books about dance are far and few in between. However, in this list of best middle-grade books about dance, I hunted down a few other excellent recommendations. Not all the books here are about ballet — some feature hip-hop, square dancing, and even one about a Mexican dance. The books all feature dancing as a central theme, and protagonists who either love dancing or at least come to appreciate it by the end.

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🎤 new chapter book series alert 🚨 Frankie 🎤 new chapter book series alert 🚨 

Frankie and Friends: Breaking News is the first in the new Frankie and Friends series. Frankie's mom is off on a reporting trip, and the whole family is missing her. 

With her stuffed animals as partners, Frankie decides to use the journalism tidbits she's learned from her mom -- like finding your beat and being honest -- to solve a surprising family mystery.

This is a charming, educational, and imaginative start to a fun series that's perfect for new readers. With a good mix of journalistic terminology, sister relationships, and depictions of imaginative play, supported by gorgeous full-color illustrations, kids will love Frankie and her determined efforts to break the news.

#chapterbook #booksforkids #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram
🕵️‍♀️ a new mystery for spelling bee fa 🕵️‍♀️ a new mystery for spelling bee fans

If you’ve been looking for more high-stakes mysteries for tweens, let me introduce you to THE WINTERTON DECEPTION! Meet 13-year-old twins Hope and Gordon. They’ve just found out that their dad was Brandon Winterton (of the wealthy dictionary magnate family). Unfortunately, Hope can’t stand rich people, especially since the twins and their mom are barely making ends meet and living in a motel. But their fortune is about to change.

When Gordon enters the family into the Winterton Bee, they’re thrust into into the midst of family’s secrets, with a deadly enemy, and a scavenger hunt set up by the family’s dead matriarch. 

This is a fast-paced mystery with plenty to gnaw on between the twin relationship, family drama, character development, and flashbacks that help readers learn more about the Winterton family.

So happy that more and more mysteries are coming out for readers in the 6th-8th grades. This one does touch a bit on addiction and there’s a scene where the kids’ lives are in danger but all ends well!

It’s out at the end of October! 🤩

#mysteriesforkids #middlegradebooks #bookstagram
👯‍♀️ TWINS in middle grade literature 💕 

I love seeing more twins in middle grade books. For a long time, the only twins I knew in middle grade lit were the Sweet Valley High girlies. Then, I got a glimpse of twin life with Issa and Jessie in @karinaisreadingandwriting’s THE VANDERBEEKERS. 

Since then, we’ve seen more depictions of twins, including Varian Johnson’s TWINS (a graphic novel about twin sisters Francine and Maureen entering 6th grade), MIRROR TO MIRROR by Rajani LaRocca, and Hope and Gordon in THE WINTERTON DECEPTION (review to come)!

And of course, these two books, TWIN CITIES and SAVING SUNSHINE (which I just started and am loving)! While these stories will appeal to twins, I think everyone who’s ever been curious about twins will love getting a glimpse into what life feels like as one half of a whole. 

Which middle grade twin stories have you read and loved? 😍 

#middlegrade #twinbooks #mglit #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks
📰 a beautiful graphic novel about speaking the 📰 a beautiful graphic novel about speaking the truth 

This stunning graphic novel follows Cinzia, Avvisi writer’s apprentice living in sunny Sianerra. Cinzia and her mestra write news stories/pamphlets to the city, but not everyone likes when they tell the truth. 

After an edition exposing the ruling family for extortion, cinzia and her mestra are arrested at night and she has to join forces with the princess to fight back against censorship. 

Besides the wonderfully imaginative and powerful storyline, loved the visuals and the diversity representation in this graphic novel. The main character has a bad leg and gets around with a walking stick, which is something rarely depicted in graphic novels (and it’s barely even discussed—it just is!).

Although, this book is closer to fantasy (but without magical elements), it’s set in a Renaissance-style Italian village, so it could work for lovers of realistic fiction too.

Look out for it in November! Have you read this graphic novel? Thoughts? Is it on your radar already?

#graphicnovels #mglit #booksforkids
🩰throwback Thursday - meet one of my favorites 🩰throwback Thursday - meet one of my favorites

Looking for an upper middle grade book about ballet, friendships, and body image? Meet TURNING POINT. 

This book focuses on Monique (Mo) and Rasheeda (Sheeda)’s friendship and how it changes over a summer when both girls are drawn into different pursuits. Mo is off at a ballet intensive with Mila, while Sheeda is stuck at church (with her church “friends”) feeling like she has no life.

At the ballet intensive, Mo comes face to face with her competitive attitude which is fueled by feelings of not “fitting in” with the mostly white, skinny ballet dancers. Even though she makes a couple of friends (who basically lovingly force her to befriend them), she’s insecure at times, afraid to be vulnerable because everything feels so different. On the other hand, Sheeda is desperate for something new. Unfortunately, she falls into a risky situation with Mo’s brother whom she happens to have a crush on.

Paula Chase is one of my favorite writers for this audience and this may be my favorite of hers so far. It’s in the same universe as two of her previous books, DOUGH BOYS and SO DONE but you don’t need to read them in order. 

I’d say her books are great for kids ages 12+
Have you read any books by this author? Which ones are your favorites?

#booksbooksbooks #mglit #bookstagram
🇲🇽Twins on opposite sides I’d seen this b 🇲🇽Twins on opposite sides

I’d seen this book floating around for ages but was never drawn to it (the cover maybe?) until I saw a review somewhere I can’t remember 🤪 I was pleasantly surprised!

Twins Luisa and Fernando find their paths diverging as they’re entering sixth grade. Luisa will be attending middle school in the US just across the border from Fernando’s school in Mexico. There, they come to face to face with different, but equally pressing challenges that threaten to tear them apart.

I really enjoyed this book. The side by side depictions of both kids parallel lives, the way the illustrations celebrate Mexican culture, living, and traditions, and the heartwarming way the twins find their way back to each other. 

I’d recommend this one to 6th graders and up (heads up for content warning: text mentions and depicts illicit drug use by a minor, although portrayed in a negative light) as a fascinating look into Mexican culture, life as a twin, and finding your own identity.

#kidlit #graphicnovels #mglit #booksforkids
♠️ on spades and what it means to be a man An ♠️ on spades and what it means to be a man

Ant isn’t your average 10 year old. He loves a good game of spades and he and his best friend are planning to revamp their reputation after losing badly at the last spades tournament. But things are changing in Ant’s life. His dad is acting weird, asking him to hide things from his mom. There’s a new girl in class who Ant maybe likes and who plays spades better than many boys he knows. 

When his best friend is grounded, Ant teams up with Shirley, hoping to impress his father and finally be tough like Joplin men should be. But instead, he learns what it really means to be a man—and it’s not about never crying.

There’s SO MUCH going on in this story, but the author does a stunning job of keeping all the threads in place. I was very surprised by all the protagonist has to manage at his age and the fact that it all remains believable. The story is told by Ant’s ancestor, lending a touch of magic realism. There are also many details about playing a game of spades and I loved, loved the audiobook narrator.

If you’re looking for a meatier middle grade book perfect for kids ages 9-12 (and older, really—love the cover!) looking for books that balance levity and relatability with real issues like toxic masculinity, parental addiction, friendship issues, and crushes.

#mglit #middlegrade #middlegradebookies #kidlit #booksforkids
❤️ a protagonist for the times Willow (Lolo) ❤️ a protagonist for the times

Willow (Lolo) Weaver’s summer is not going well. Her grandfather has recently died, her grandma isn’t herself and she’s given away her grandfather’s foster dog, Hank. Lolo’s mother is heavily pregnant and Lolo is in summer school because she didn’t do too well in her last exams. On top of that their lake town isn’t a lake town anymore because the lake’s been drained and smells awful now. 

Lolo wants to help her grandmother feel better and she’s convinced that getting back her grandfather’s dog will do the trick. The only problem is that the dog now belongs to someone else. So Lolo gets on Pop’s boat to steal Hank back—only to run into her summer school classmate, Noah (who’s the new dog owner).

I really enjoyed Lolo’s story. It’s strongly reminiscent of classics like Ramona and Lolo’s voice leaps off the pages. The setting is also an unmistakable part of this story and the story feels drenched in summer. My heart went out to Lolo who always feels like she’s the reason why everything’s gone awry. I also laughed plenty at her way of seeing the world. 

This book is perfect for family readalouds especially for kids in grades 3-5. Dog lovers and kids who like a good adventure with a sprinkle of mischief will love it too.

#mglit #summerbooks #booksforelementaryschoolkids #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram
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