In The Mystery of the Scarlet Rose, Sherlock, Lupin, and Irene are reunited. While in London together, the trio of friends unriddle a clue in the newspaper that allows them to predict the locations of a series of yet-to-come crimes. But Scotland Yard isn’t about to take advice from three children. In A Nest for Celeste, which is told from the point of view of a mouse. Celeste only wants a nice, safe home and enough food to eat, but when important guests come to the house in which she’s made a home, her life is changed by a gentle boy who treats her kindly. Set up against historical events surrounding the travels and artistry of Mr. Audubon, who is famous for his illustrations of North American birds. In the Fog Diver, Chess is the tether boy for a salvage crew who dives from a balloon-lofted raft into the nanite-ridden fog that’s swamped the entire planet. They’re little more than scroungers, barely getting by in the slums of a planet still suffering from the effects of science-gone-wrong. Fog Diver was one of my favorites. Highly recommended!

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Locomotion is a novel in verse from the point of view of a boy who lost his parents (they died) and his sister (who was adopted by a different family). Loco makes the most of what he’s got, even if it means keeping his true thoughts and feelings behind a more socially acceptable front. In Swordbird, an evil hawk and his crow minions use slave labor to build a stronghold in the midst of the forest. They pit the cardinals and the blue jays against each other to keep them distracted from this greater threat. Enter “swordbird,” a messiah of sorts, who dishes out prophecies and promises. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise was one of my favorite books the year I read it. Coyote lives in a bus with Rodeo, and every day’s a journey. But when Coyote hears from her grandmother that a park in their old neighborhood is being torn out, she knows she needs to get back before that happens.

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Incentive? It’s surprising how much fun I have dropping books onto my reading calendar.

Always a Challenge. Now that I made it through #BookADayMay, I’m turning my attention to other reading challenges I’ve taken on for the year. The next books in my To Read Pile were chosen because they fit the empty spaces in my A to Z Challenge over on Great Middle Grade Reads (on Goodreads).

I’m also working through a list of 100 middle grade books I want to read in 2021. These titles do double duty because they also fit that list. : )