Middle-Grade Review: Not Quite a Ghost

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail last week that I read right away: Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu, a middle-grade spooky thriller with a twist from a favorite author and a virtual friend for over 15 years. She and I share the same chronic illness, ME/CFS, an immune disorder, and we each reached out to the other at various times, as I explain in this post on my chronic illness blog, Great Books from a CFS Author. I reviewed her first middle-grade novel, The Shadow Thieves, book one of The Cronus Chronicles, in which she cleverly worked her illness into the story of modern-day kids battling Greek gods. My son (a young teen at the time) and I both loved the action-packed, funny series. I later reviewed her middle-grade novel Breadcrumbs (and also reviewed it for Family Fun magazine), which features a ten-year-old girl dealing with real-life issues who meets fairy-tale characters in the snowy woods. I enjoyed it so much, I gave it to my niece for Christmas that year! I also enjoyed The Real Boy, about a young boy who works for a wizard and is dealing with his own challenges. I reached out to Anne recently to see how she was doing and how her health was, and she sent me a copy of her latest middle-grade novel, Not Quite a Ghost. I read it immediately and think it may be my favorite of her novels, which is saying a lot!

Eleven-year-old Violet is going through a lot of changes in her life. Her family has just moved out of their too-small house into an older house that needs some work. Violet's teen sister, Mia, is thrilled to finally have some privacy and gets her first choice of rooms, and their little brother needs to be near their parents. That leaves Violet up in the creepy attic bedroom with the ugly wallpaper all by herself. She's also starting middle school, where her closest friends suddenly seem to change and to want a bigger friend group. Then, in the first weeks of school, Violet gets sick ... and she doesn't get better. Sometimes she feels OK and tries to act normally, leading some friends to think she's faking, and other times, her body just won't work and she can't get out of bed. Spending a lot of time in the attic bedroom, Violet begins to see strange things in the weird wallpaper and suspect that she's not alone up there. She calls on her new friend, Will, who's been researching ghosts, to help her, but is there anything they can do? 

I loved this spooky, unique novel and never wanted it to end! Violet is eventually diagnosed with ME/CFS, the same illness that the author and I share. Both of my sons got it, as well (it has genetic roots), at ages 6 and 10, and it affects millions of other kids and teens all over the world--even more now since long-COVID often develops into ME/CFS. Ursu describes the disease perfectly, with all of its mysterious symptoms, seemingly random ups and downs, dismissive doctors and school personnel, and disbelieving family and friends (though Violet's family is very supportive). I felt seen. If all of that sounds like it might be depressing, it's not! 

Ursu brings her marvelous sense of humor to this novel, and I was often laughing out loud while reading it. And she writes kids so well; young readers will definitely see themselves in Violet and her friends. Plus, there is also that wonderfully creepy supernatural plotline throughout the novel. The suspense and tension crank up as the strange experiences in Violet's attic bedroom increase, and she and Will try to figure out what's happening. Ursu has created a clever parallel to what's happening in Violet's body with the house being unable to expel whatever has "invaded" it in the attic. It's a gripping, original story with a nail-biting climax that is perfect. Like I said, of all of her unique, magical, funny, suspenseful novels, this one is my new favorite.

288 pages, Walden Pond Press

HarperAudio

You can visit Anne's website for more information about her books. And to read about her inspiration for this book and her own illness experiences, see her blog post "On Hauntings" on the Nerdy Book Club blog.

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - October - Wicked Good Reads

Alphabet Soup Challenge - N

Diversity Reading Challenge

Literary Escapes - Minnesota

RIP - Readers Imbibing Peril 
 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me  

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too, which showcases the humor in the story).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Middle-Grade Review: Countdown

Back in 2015, I read Revolution by Deborah Wiles, which was book 2 in her Sixties Trilogy. I absolutely loved the novel (my review at the link), but it took me this long to finally read book 1, Countdown. I listened to it on audio and absolutely loved it. These books overlay the experience of a child against a historical backdrop, showing their perspective(s) of significant events in our history. The result is engrossing and fascinating.

Revolution took place in 1964 in Mississippi and was about the Freedom Summer. In Countdown, the setting is Maryland, near Washington, DC, in 1962, during the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis. As the novel opens, eleven-year-old Franny is in school. She's upset because her teacher never calls on her to read aloud during Social Studies and fumes while she calls on other kids all around her. The class goes out for recess, and Franny doesn't know what to do because she forgot to bring her Nancy Drew book, and her best friend Margie seems to have a new best friend, Gale. Their typical school day is interrupted by a shrill, shrieking sound: the town's air raid siren! They're supposed to hide under their desks when it goes off, but what do they do when they're outside? Their teachers call all the students together, and they crouch on the ground against the brick building and cover their heads in terror until the all-clear alarm when their principal calls out, "It's OK, kids, it's just a drill!" At dinner that night, Franny and her younger brother, Drew, tell their parents all about the frightening air raid drill. Also at the table are their older sister, Jo Ellen, who just started college, and Uncle Otts, who lives with them and sometimes thinks he is still fighting WWI. Tonight, the air raid siren set him off, and he was marching to all their neighbors' houses, wearing his helmet and passing out civil defense literature, much to Franny's embarrassment.

The story continues in that vein, focusing in on Franny's perspective, as she worries about school and friendships and is starting to notice boys (well, one boy), while the world seems to be in frightening chaos all around them. She tries to protect her little brother and her uncle, while her older sister is getting involved in protests at college with a new group of friends. Their father is in the air force, which makes the threats of nuclear attack, Communism, and potential war all the more frightening.

What makes the books in this series so special is that the author integrates real-life documentary-style media throughout: quotes from magazines, ads from the time, headlines and excerpts from newspapers, posters from schools featuring duck and cover drills, and excerpts from social studies textbooks of the time. In the print version, all of this is interspersed with the narrative, scrapbook-style. I worried I would miss some of that by listening to the audio, but the audio book is equally immersive, with real TV and radio ads, recordings of Walter Cronkite reading the news, radio programs, and even John F. Kennedy addressing the nation about the Cuban Missile Crisis. This helps today's kids to better understand exactly what Franny and her family and friends are experiencing, and it provides a fascinating window to the past for us adults. Integrating all of those primary sources with the story narrative is very powerful, as Franny deals with both ordinary kid problems and extraordinary world events. Franny is a very likable and relatable narrator, and the other characters are equally interesting and realistic. I absolutely love these books and will definitely be reading book 3. And I hope that teachers are using these books in the classroom!

400 pages, Scholastic

Scholastic Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - C

Literary Escapes Challenge - Maryland

Big Book Summer

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. In the sample, you can hear some of those historical audio clips

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too). This sample is from part of Franny's narration.

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

   
  

3 Great Middle-Grade Audio Books - Mini Reviews

In March, I participated in Middle-Grade March and the Fierce Reads event for International Women's Month. I listened to three excellent middle-grade novels on audio, all by women authors and featuring fierce female characters (and with great female narrators). The first was historical fiction, and the other two were modern-day realistic fiction. My brief reviews are below, and you can also check out my review of The Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang, a middle-grade graphic novel I also read in March.

My first middle-grade audio was Iceberg by Jennifer Nielsen. I'm a longtime fan of Nielsen's middle-grade historical fiction (like Lines of Courage and A Night Divided), and as you might guess from the title, this one is about the Titanic. Twelve-year-old Hazel is on a mission to save her family after her father's death. Her mother has sent her to the docks to board the Titanic for New York, where Hazel's aunt has promised her a job in a garment factory, so she can send money home to keep her siblings from starving. But when Hazel tries to buy a ticket, she finds that all of her family's savings isn't enough for the fare for even a third-class ticket. She finds a way on board as a stowaway. Luckily, she makes some friends on board, including Charlie, a boy working as a porter, and Sylvia, a girl her age in First Class. With a dream of becoming a journalist one day, Hazel begins to hear rumors about the ship that make the reporter in her interested--and wary--so she sets out to investigate and learn more. We all know how the Titanic's story ends, so there is plenty of suspense here, as well as fascinating historical details. It was an excellent novel with a wonderful main character (and yes, don't worry--she survives).

 352 pages, Scholastic Press

Scholastic Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

Monthly Motif Challenge - "Thrill Me" - this was a historical thriller

Travel the World in Books - UK (and Atlantic Ocean!)

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

_______________

Next, I listened to Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy, my first novel from this very popular YA author (this is her first middle-grade novel). Twelve-year-old Sweet Pea feels torn apart by her parents' divorce, despite their efforts to keep everything "normal." She splits her time between her mom's house and her dad's, which are identical homes two doors down from each other! They've divorced because her father has come out as gay. She's also still grieving the loss of her first-ever best friend, Kiera, who's found prettier, thinner, more popular girls to hang out with. Luckily, Sweet Pea has Oscar, her new best (only) friend and her cat, Cheese. Her strange elderly neighbor asks Sweet Pea to help out while she travels to stay with her ill sister, and Sweet Pea makes some pretty big mistakes but also learns and grows. I enjoyed this warm, funny novel, focusing on several common adolescent issue--like divorce, life changes, and secrets--between Sweet Pea, Kiera, and Oscar and what it means to be a friend.

288 pages, Balzer + Bray

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - D

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Texas

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

_______________

My last middle-grade audio book in March was Home Away from Home by Cynthia Lord, an author I have enjoyed in the past. Mia and her mom always visit her grandma in Maine every summer, but this year, Mia's there alone. Her mom and her boyfriend are working to sell their old house and find a new one, for "a fresh start." Mia wishes everything would stay the same, but she loves visiting her grandma in the small, seaside town. Things are different there this year, though, too. Mia meets grandma's neighbor, Cayman, who's her age and seems to have made himself at home at grandma's house! The two kids spot an unusual white bird of prey when they go to check on the baby eaglets the town is known for, and Mia launches an investigation. This was a wonderful middle-grade novel that deals with lots of typical adolescent issues, including divorce and friendship, as well as the perils of social media, with a hefty dose of nature added in (which I loved).

224 pages, Scholastic Press

Scholastic Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Literary Escapes - Maine

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

You can buythe book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Middle-Grade Review: Parachute Kids

One of my choices for Middle-Grade March and Fierce Women Reads was Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang. I'd heard a lot about this middle-grade graphic novel, and it lived up to my expectations. The novel was informative, engrossing, and entertaining.

Ten-year-old Feng-Li and her family are traveling from Taiwan to California for a family vacation in 1981. She's very excited and has been poring over guidebooks, picking out all the sites she wants to see. Her parents, older brother and sister, and she do have a nice week-long vacation. But then their parents break the news: the kids will be staying in America to get away from the volatile situation at home and to get a better education. Dad is returning home to go back to work, so he can support the family, and Mom plans to stay with the kids, in the house they bought. The kids all choose American first names because their Taiwanese names are too difficult for Americans to pronounce. After a month, though, mom has to return to Taiwan, too, when the U.S. won't extend her visa. There are good family friends from Taiwan who live in the same town with their daughter, Olivia, having immigrated a few years earlier. For the most part, though, sixteen-year-old Jessie, fourteen-year-old Jason, and Feng-Li with her new name, Ann, are on their own. They all have major challenges. Jessie knows English the best of the three, but she's the closest to college age and must be ready to take the SAT in less than a year. Jason has a secret and got in a lot of trouble in Taiwan; the only kids who talk to him at school are a group of Chinese boys (other parachute kids) who probably aren't the best influence. And poor Ann jumps into fifth grade without knowing a single word of English. She misses her friends and her old school, where she was a good student. At the same time, they have to manage a household, take care of the house, and get along with each other! They each make some mistakes and bad choices along the way, and Ann feels like it's up to her to keep her family together.

There is so much depth and complexity in this graphic novel! The issues these three kids are dealing with are huge, including some very adult issues. Their parents didn't abandon them, and both are trying to get new visas to come back, but the process takes a long time. I had never heard the term "parachute kids" before, but apparently, it's a fairly common experience (and one that has grown exponentially in the last decade) for Chinese parents to send their kids to the U.S. for a better education. Often, they have a host family to stay with or live in dormitories at private schools, but sometimes kids like the Lins must fend for themselves. I found news articles on the phenomenon in a Palo Alto high school newspaper and the New York Times. The novel provided an inside view to what it is like for these kids, living without their parents and trying to assimilate into American life. And it showed the language barrier by using yellow dialogue bubbles for Taiwanese and white for English. The author explains in a note at the end that she and her siblings were parachute kids in 1979, and her deep understanding of the challenges is evident. Despite the often harrowing subject matter, the novel is also entertaining, with a great sense of humor, and illustrates the love the siblings have for each other (behind the typical bickering!). I enjoyed reading it very much, and I feel like I better understand how difficult it is for kids like these.

(Note: the novel is written from Feng-Li's perspective, which is why it's middle-grade, but the teens' struggles are addressed as well, so it might appeal to older readers, too.) 

283 pages, Graphix (imprint of Scholastic)

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Alphabet Soup Challenge - P

Diversity Challenge & mini-challenge for March: #ownvoices

Literary Escapes Challenge - California

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. This sample is a note from the beginning, explaining about the Taiwanese language and accents in the audio.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too). This sample is from the main part of the book, so it shows the different voices and accents, along with sound effects. I wouldn't normally recommend an audio of a graphic novel, but this one might be an exception to better understand the language barrier.

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  
  

Middle-Grade Review: Bea Wolf

I was intrigued by the title and cover of middle-grade graphic novel Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith, illustrated by Boulet, and I absolutely loved this smart, clever, funny riff on the Old English classic Beowulf.

The graphic novel begins with a short history lesson, about a long succession of child kings (and queens), going back generations, ruling benevolently over the other kids in the suburban neighborhood, ensuring there was plenty of candy, toys, and fun for all:

"Listen to the lives of the long-ago kids, the world-fighters,
the parent-unminding kids, the improper, the politeness-proof,
the unbowed bully-crushers,
the bedtime-breakers, the raspberry-blowers,
fighters of fun-killers, fearing nothing, fated for fame."

We learn about each of these renowned child leaders, including the famed Carl, who eventually succumbed to teendom: "Lament not his low fate. Time lingers for no kid." Finally, we get to the current kid king, Roger:

"Kids who knew the crown-line of Carl flocked to their cause.
So that by the reign of Roger, so rich was the candy cache,
so much bully-gold was berthed, so well-betoyed were boy and girl,
that Roger, game-giver and toy-sharer,
turned his thoughts to treehouses."

Roger and the other kids build an amazing treehouse, which comes to be known as Treeheart and provides a place for raucous, unfettered, un-chaperoned kid fun. But Mr. Grindle watches all this unbridled chaotic joy from his yard:

"He would stride the starless dark, staring over hedge, stirring his temper,
harrowing his hearing, hating the gum-smacking, the blowing of bubbles,
the butt-jokes and belching laughter, the bursting of bang snaps,
the vast-volumed video games of no educational value whatsoever!"

Mr. Grindle, "the fun-grinder, the grim-faced joy-gobbler," won't stand for such unproductive, noisy activity, and he attacks Treeheart, with his cleaning supplies and educational materials. Things become sad and hopeless for the kids for a while, until Bea Wolf, a five-year-old cousin of Carl, who lives upriver in Heidi's domain, comes to save them.

I just had to include several quotes from this book because the text is so delightfully clever and fun! Every page is like that, as the author mimics the cadence, rhyming, and alliteration of the original Beowulf. I never read the epic poem myself (so you don't need to know it to appreciate this wonderful book), but I remembered my son studying it in Brit Lit, and I looked it up while reading this graphic novel to further enhance my enjoyment. I knew about Beowulf and Grindle, but Weinersmith also takes some other character names from the original, like King Hrothgar (Roger), as well as the general storyline. But the writing is only half of the fun here! The fabulous illustrations are just as enchanting, and I often took my time to reread the text and enjoy the pictures before turning the page.

When my sons were young, they would have loved this joyful, witty, ingenious book! I'm sure we would have read and reread it, as they said, "again!" and I can just see them poring over each detailed illustration intensely. This is the best kind of book for kids--the kind that adults will love, too.

208 pages, First Second

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Diversity Reading Challenge
R.I.P. Challenge

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    
  

Middle-Grade Review: The Strangers

I always enjoy Margaret Peterson Haddix's middle-grade novels, and The Strangers, book one in her Greystone Secrets series, is no exception! Like some of her best, it combines kids who feel real with a twisty, intriguing science fiction plot.

The Greystone kids live with their mom in a house in Ohio and live a pretty normal life. Chess, short for Rochester, is in 6th grade and is protective of his younger siblings. Emma is a math whiz in fourth grade. Second-grader Finn is active and enthusiastic and keeps things fun. One day, the three of them come home from school to find their mom engrossed in the TV news. As they watch with her, they hear the stunning report that three siblings in Arizona--named Rochester (who goes by Rocky), Emma, and Finn--have been kidnapped. As the reporter provides details on the missing kids, the Greystones realize that these kids not only share their names but also their ages and birthdates. How is that possible? The next morning, their mother abruptly leaves on a business trip, which is unusual for her. She works from home as a graphic designer, and on the rare occasions that she travels, it's usually planned well in advance. The kids are staying with their mom's friend who has a daughter a year older than Chess. They discuss the strange circumstances of the past 24 hours and decided to investigate. They're allowed to visit their house to feed and check on their cat, and when they do, they realize that the bizarre things happening have only just begun.

This is just the kind of story that Haddix excels at, with interesting kids, strange things going on, and lots of secrets and mysteries to uncover. The four children investigate what's happening and uncover mysterious codes, secret rooms, and some major surprises. When the twist was revealed, I squealed out loud because it was just perfect (and the kind of plot I really enjoy in fiction). As always, Haddix has created three-dimensional characters that the reader quickly comes to care about. Here, chapters are written from alternating viewpoints, so you get their very different perspectives on what's going on. The audio production was well-done, and the story and its mysteries provided gripping suspense that helped me finish this unique novel in record time. I definitely want to read books two and three now!

433 pages, Katherine Tegen Books

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Big Book Summer Challenge

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

Middle-Grade Review: It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit

For Middle-Grade March, I listened to four middle-grade audio books (check out my first two reviews here), and enjoyed them all.

In It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit by Justin A. Reynolds, twelve-year-old Eddie has a great plan for the summer. He has some chores and is responsible for his own laundry, but Eddie decides to wear every piece of clothing in his room first. Then he'll only have to do laundry once, in the middle of the summer! Brilliant, right? Maybe not so much because on Day 40, wearing his last item of clothing (his bathing suit), his enormous pile of dirty laundry is discovered by his mom. She grounds Eddie, even though it's Beach Bash day, the highlight of the entire year in his town, when everyone heads to the beach for a fun day in the sun. Everyone except Eddie, who will be home doing his laundry. As Eddie starts his second load, thinking of his family and friends all enjoying the beach, the power goes out. He tries to text his mom, but cell service is out, too. Eddie's best friend comes by, and the two of them go through the neighborhood and find three other kids. As evening comes and they remain without power or cell service, the five kids band together. No one comes back from the beach and there is no sign of anyone else in the neighborhood, so the kids gather supplies and take care of themselves.

I enjoyed this funny novel about friendship, though it is unusual. Despite the promise of its intriguing premise, not much happens here. It's not really an adventure or apocalyptic story, and it ends without knowing what is happening in the wider world (it's unclear if it's a standalone or the set-up for a sequel). The focus is just on these five kids. Eddie is a very charming and amusing narrator. He explains early on that he has ADHD, so his narrative tends to ramble with lots of tangents. The overall tone is not dark or scary; it's all very fun and light, about the kids getting by on their own ... and having fun!

304 pages, Scholastic

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - I

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes - Ohio

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

      <script
      src="https://bookshop.org/widgets.js"
      data-type="book"
      data-affiliate-id="1993"
      data-sku="9781338740226"></script>      
  

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Middle-Grade Review: A First Time for Everything

I finally have an iPad Mini to replace my very old Kindle, and I finally learned how to download review PDFs to it and open them up in the Books app. That means I am back to reviewing graphic novels (which went all digital last year). Yay! I missed them. The first one I read was a winner: A First Time for Everything, a graphic memoir by Dan Santat.

Dan wasn't very happy in middle school. Like many kids that age, he felt very self-conscious. He had some friends but found that the bullies in middle school were really mean. Then, a teacher asked him to recite a poem in front of the entire school at an assembly, and the teasing really ramped up. He was not looking forward to high school. His parents encouraged him to sign up for a three-week European study abroad program during the summer before high school, and he did, reluctantly. The only kids going that he knew from his school were some girls who were sort of mean to him usually, so Dan didn't have high hopes for the trip. But that trip changed his life. As the group from two cities traveles across Europe to four different countries, Dan experiences a string of firsts. He discovers a popular soda in Europe called Fanta, and aims to try every flavor. He makes new friends. He sees amazing things and, when his camera breaks, discovers how much he loves to draw. Maybe he'll even meet his first girlfriend?

Based on the author's real middle-school experiences taking a European trip, this graphic memoir captures the awkward, embarrassing, funny, and unforgettable moments of adolescence that most of us can relate to. It's part coming-of-age memoir and part travelogue, with the illustrations showing both traditional story-telling panels and also Dan's wonderful drawings of the trip and the things that they saw. It's a wonderful story that reminded me of my own trip to England and France in high school. I enjoyed every page of this beautiful graphic memoir.

320 pages, First Second

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - F

Nonfiction Reader's Challenge (my first of the year!) - Memoir category

Travel the World in Books - UK, France, Switzerland, Germany

 

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 

 

Or you can order A First Time for Everything from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Two Great Middle-Grade Novels on Audio

I've been enjoying Middle-Grade March, an annual reading challenge, and using it to help me catch up on some middle-grade books on audio. Here are two that I've enjoyed this month:

First up, I listened to Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, which combines mystery, thriller, family drama, and science fiction. It won the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.

Twelve-year-old Katrina is in the witness protection program with her parents. The three of them are very close but live isolated lives, on the run from a dangerous drug cartel and unable to stay in one place for very long. Katrina is only the latest of her names; she's been choosing them alphabetically and is up to K. New place, new name. Their new location is something different, though. They usually live in cities, where they can get lost in the crowd and blend in. This time, they are in an RV, pulling into a trailer park in a small town in Georgia. Katrina's parents are hoping that this will allow her to have some independence and maybe even make a friend or two. And right away, Katrina meets the boy in the trailer next door, Parker, who is a computer whiz her age. Things are looking up. But then, everything goes wrong. Katrina's parents are missing, and she and Parker are on their own ... and on the run again. 

As Katrina tries to find her parents and is on her own for the first time, long-held secrets are uncovered, lies are revealed, and the danger builds. This is an excellent (award-winning!) and very twisty thriller with a gripping story that kept me rapt. It's an outstanding audio, wholly original and completely compelling.

320 pages, Scholastic

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges

Alphabet Soup - C

Literary Escapes - Georgia 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!
 
  

Or you can order Concealed from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

 

 

My second audio book this month was completely different but just as good: Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott. 

 

Eleven-year-old Tally is starting sixth grade and middle-school. She's extra nervous about this big change because she's autistic. Her parents are very supportive (and so is her older sister, most of the time!), but no one at school--kids or teachers--knows about her autism, except her best friend. Tally works very hard to try to fit in and be like everyone else, but she's not like everyone else. She sees and hears and feels and notices everything and is constantly trying hard to act "normal." Her nemesis, a mean boy named Luke, is here, too, making things even harder. The pressure Tally feels to not seem weird builds and builds, until it finally starts to come out. Along the way, she finds an unexpected ally in her new drama teacher and a new friend in a three-legged dog.

This honest story about empathy and kindness puts the reader right inside Tally's perspective, experiencing the world as she does. It includes diary entries--a suggestion from a counselor--and Tally's tips for others interacting with those with autism that she hopes will someday help others. In fact, the diary entries were written by a real-life girl with autism, the co-author Libby Scott, who was just nine years old when this book was published! Libby's contributions add to the authenticity of this wonderful novel. Listening to it on audio makes the experience of being in Tally's shoes even more immersive and insightful. I enjoyed the book and learned a lot.

368 pages, Scholastic

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Diversity Challenge (and mini-challenge: #ownvoices)

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

   

 

Or you can order Can You See Me? from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

 

Disclosure: I received these books from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.