Middle Grade fiction

Once (Once #1) – Morris Gleitzman

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I enjoyed this first installment of the Once series and I’m just about to start the second book (Then).  For those unfamiliar with this series of quick reads it’s set in 1942 in German occupied Poland during WWII.  It’s the story of Felix, a maybe orphan on a journey to find his parents after 3 years and 8 months of waiting around in an orphanage for his parents to come and get him.  The innocence of Felix and his love of telling stories make this book enchanting despite its grim nature.  Looking at the Holocaust through the eyes of a young Jewish orphan boy is pretty eye opening especially as Felix is growing up on his journey to find his parents. This is a really good way to introduce a pretty horrific time period in recent past to a younger audience, Felix is charming and likable and forever innocent in this first tale.  Really looking forward to seeing what become of him in the second installment.

Holes – Louis Sachar

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I’m not sure why I waited so long to read this modern classic. I actually remember when this book came out, I would have been the perfect age to read it then, about 11 and a friend even recommended it to me, but it just hadn’t caught my interest at the time. This story is about a a young boy who’s family is cursed with bad luck, and through this our hero Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake to dig holes in a rehabilitation program for a crime he didn’t commit, but things aren’t as they seem at the camp. All the boys at the camp are digging 5×5 foot holes, but why?  This was a great read and I enjoyed the untangling of the story, Stanley doesn’t make all the right choices, but he certainly owns up to the ones he’s made which really made this story stand out.

Lumberjanes – Beware the kitten holy – Written by Noelle Stevenson & Grace Elli; Illustrated by Brooke Allen; Colours by Maarta Laiho; Letters by Aubrey Aiese

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What a great comic. Each girl in the girl-scout-like troupe is unique and wonderful.  They each have their own distinct traits, making each one likeable and relatable; you’re either like one of these girls or you ‘ve known someone like them. I also really like the behaviours they are modelling: camaraderie, compassion, helpfulness, friendship and fierce loyalty.  Each girl is a bad ass in her own way and the group encourage each other to use their individual strengths, trusting that the girl knows what she is doing.  It’s refreshing to see and it made me feel goodas an ex-scout to read it.I really enjoyed how they used heroic and notable women’s names as exclamations, I had to look up a few and really liked learning about some really amazing women. The art is also dynamic and does a great job of telling the story, the colours are rich and vibrant and convey real feeling and impact as the girls go on their adventures. I loved this comic and I’m looking forward to grabbing another volume.  Well done Lumberjanes team!

The girl who owned a city – by O.T. Nelson; Adapted by Dan Jolley; Illustrated by Joelle Jones; Colours by Jenn Manley Lee

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This is a book by O.T. Nelson, but I haven’t read it so can’t compare this graphic novel to the original 1975 novel.  Back story here is everyone over the age of 12 was killed off by a virus, leaving behind a bunch of kids who are starving and often useless. Our main character Lisa is just trying to keep herself and her little brother Todd safe.  There are gangs roaming around, and as in usual kid fashion are completely cruel.  Lisa then enlists the kids on her street to form their own community in which they share resources and knowledge, different from the menacing gangs, these kids actually look after each other. The story really begins once Lisa has built a virtual empire and rival factions get jealous and then come the internal problems Lisa faces with her co-leaders.  I enjoyed this story, even if it seemed a little far fetched in places as I’m not sure a 12 year old could be quite that mature, but I liked where the story went and the overall themes and storytelling, some good examples here of growing up and people management.

Sanspell (Bloodtree Chronicles #1)– Elizabeth Pulford

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This book started off well, it had a great concept, it just didn’t execute it well.  The story is meant for middle grade (ages 8-12ish) and starts out in the modern world suddenly we’re thrown head first into a world of magic and stories.  Being thrown head first is one of my favourite ways to get into a story.  Our lead Abigail is just a mostly normal girl who likes stories, her parents, as most are horrible at telling her important things that will change her life. This is where it begins to get confusing.  That is my biggest hang up with this book, the plot line was confusing.  I pushed on hoping it would become clear, but it all seemed to sort of just never got cleared up. So Abigail is sent to another world by her mother and meets her unknown aunts. She’s then sort of told that she’s a story teller or some sort, but gets put in a story..?? Like I said, it’s confusing, they tell her she’s supposed to spin the story, then she gets put in someone else’s story and it really didn’t make sense, but what she got up to in this story world was pretty interesting. I don’t think I’ll continue with this series, there wasn’t enough world building around Abigail, more like she was just thrown into another world and she didn’t understand it, so no one would. I don’t think I would recommend this one unless the child is an avid reader, the lack of a clear plot line was hard for me as an adult, I can only imagine what a turn off it would be for a kid who doesn’t enjoy reading.

Jump To It!

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ool reads Bounce by Megan Schull is an enjoyable read and great for your burgeoning tween. The story is told by Frannie, a twelve year old girl whose family is rather disjointed and unaccepting of her.  The book is set over Christmas with her parents going on a trip leaving her and her older brother and sister alone for the holiday.  Her siblings are as bad as her parents, ignoring her and making her feel terrible, leading her to wish for a new life as someone else, and that’s just what happens.  She wakes up Christmas morning as a different twelve year old girl.  For the first time in her life she is experiencing what it means to be part of a caring and gentle family and learning what it means to be your own person without losing that crucial support from those around you. In Frannie’s day-to-day life she has no understanding from the people who are supposed to be the closest to her and having the love and warmth of the people around the girls she wakes up as each Christmas morning helps her to realise that she can be her own support person.  Each time she ‘bounces’ into another life she is met by a whole new circumstance and a host of different characters, each one teaching her something about herself.  She learns about confidence, in which she is sorely lacking, about belief in not just others but in yourself and this helps her build her inner strength.  A great read for those turbulent years rife with bullying and self-consciousness.