The Unknowns is a mystery with thriller tendencies and a misfit cast. I’ve never met a more mathematical read. I’ll confess to reading Viking It and Liking It because I needed a “V” book for my alphabet challenge. But the Time Warp Trio stories are a hoot. I’ve begun collecting this lower middle grade series. Masters of Disaster is full of zany plans that’ll make any mother cringe. Set in a bygone era. I love the charismatic ringleader’s tendency to speak in capitals.
Summer Reading! Time for a fresh sticky post for my August BINGO board, part of the Summer Reading Challenge for #MGCarousel at Elymnifoquent.com, where Elza and I blog about middle grade books.
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Can’t read those tiny book covers? I’ve listed the titles/authors. Continue reading #MGCarousel – Summer Reading Bingo
Got one! I didn’t read as much as usual during July because of #CampNaNoWriMo, but I did manage one BINGO for #MGCarousel’s Summer Reading Bingo.
Don’t miss out on the fun. Elza posted the August Bingo Board, and the new categories have loads of potential!
Olive’s Ocean has a wistful, nostalgic ambiance. On the day before her family leaves for summer vacation, Martha is visited by the mother of a girl in her class who recently died. With Olive on her mind, Martha sees things a little differently. The Dagger Quick is a fast-past adventure of the swashbuckling variety. Vivid and thrilling. And Bliss is a family-centered story of the magical bakery variety. Recipes awry and heartwarming moments.
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Through a series of autobiographical poems, Jacqueline revisits her childhood in Brown Girl Dreaming. Yes, it’s a peek into the civil rights moment, but even more, a celebration of family and beginnings and cherished things and stories. Beautiful. The Poet’s Dog is a short story about two lost children who are led to safety by a dog. And Inside Out & Back Again is the story of a Vietnamese family who leaves behind their war-torn home in Saigon. Poetic snippets give us glimpses of the home Ha loses, the fear and uncertainty, the hunger and grief, the desperation and frustration … and everything else that comes with the total displacement that allowed her, her mother, and her three brothers to survive.
Rules was impossible for me to put down. It’s a sibling story & a friendship story. (Two of my favorite things!) Catherine makes a new friend in the waiting room at the office where her little brother David (who is autistic) goes for occupational therapy. Jason can’t talk, but Catherine steadily adds words to his vocabulary. In The Wednesday Wars, Holling Hoodhood is pretty sure that his teacher hates his guts. Especially when she decides to introduce him to Shakespeare. (Set during the Vietnam War.) And Mission Typhoon will prepare young readers for the rigors of surviving in the jungle during a typhoon. (Umm, do not make the mistake of reading this while eating. My bowl of rice coincided with the ant larva scene and … eww.)
The Jacket turns a simple misunderstanding into one boy’s wrestling with his understanding of race, equality, and bigotry. The Cat Who Went to Heaven is a picturesque historical piece about a Japanese artist. It includes many simplified versions of stories about the life (and reincarnations) of Buddha. Drizzle is a delightful save-the-farm story that includes a magical rhubarb patch and regularly scheduled rainstorms.
In Buried Fire, the new minister at the church on the hill revels in the discovery of an ancient cross buried on their grounds. Meanwhile, a boy on a sleepy hillside is trapped and changed by a malicious thought that rises up from the Pit. In The Gravedigger’s Son, Ian is destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, watching over the dead. The only problem is, he’d really rather be a healer. And Night of the Howling Dogs is a survival story about a scout troop camping in Hawaii when an earthquake hits.
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In The Spindlers, Liza can tell something’s wrong with her brother. His soul has been stolen by the spindlers, and if she doesn’t get it back, Patrick will be gone for good. Wednesdays in the Tower is the second book in the Castle Gower series, which I love because … a sentient castle! And Freaks is a historical mystery with steampunk trimmings that centers around the members of a freak show.
The Dire King is the finale of the Jackaby series, where fabled creatures are coming out of the woodwork. (I adored the first two books in this series and would recommend those. Not as pleased with the concluding volumes.) Iron Hearted Violet is a princess story with an ominous tone. There are secrets in the castle that shouldn’t have been uncovered … and terrible consequences to those who listen to the whispers coming from the castle mirrors. And The Fairy Tale Detectives is the first in The Sisters Grimm series, which was all kinds of fun. Looking forward to more of these!
C. J. Milbrandt 