Posts Tagged ‘middle grade fiction’Review of the Day: The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul CurtisSaturday, February 11th, 2012*Spoilers Included!* Fact: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a new book from Christopher Paul Curtis is a great good thing. Fact: There is a new book out there. It is by Christopher Paul Curtis. Opinion: It doesn’t work. When you hand a kid a Christopher Paul Curtis novel you can rest safe and secure in the knowledge that the book you’re handing… Read More Review of the Day: Fake Mustache by Tom AnglebergerWednesday, February 1st, 2012I said it about Laini Taylor. I said it about Jeff Kinney. Heck, I even said it about J.K. Rowling and now, my friends, I’m saying it about Tom Angleberger: I was into him before it was cool. Seriously, a… Read More Review of the Day: The Apothecary by Maile MeloyThursday, January 12th, 2012I can be a very smug librarian sometimes. It can get me into trouble. Take my reaction to the cover of Maile Meloy’s The Apothecary, for instance. Here we have one of the lovelier illustrated book jackets to come out in recent years. Illustrator Ian Schoenherr really put his heart and soul into it. So what was my initial reaction? I… Read More Review of the Day: The Luck of the Buttons by Anne YlvisakerWednesday, December 7th, 2011There are kids out there that like historical fiction. I know that there are. I’ve met them. They come into my library and curl their lips in disgust at the covers with the shiny dragons and sparkly motes of dust swirling and whirling. The thing is, they don’t know the term “historical fiction” and even if you told them that was the kind of book they preferred they’d look… Read More Review of the Day: The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer L. HolmTuesday, November 22nd, 2011Reviewing a Jennifer L. Holm book is a bit redundant. Telling anyone that the woman can write is like pointing out that the sky is blue. It’s self-evident. Using that logic, the only reason to ever write a review of a Holm title would be to do so when she writes a dud. Yet thus far Ms. Holm has… Read More Review of the Day: The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe StoneTuesday, November 8th, 2011It seems unfair that my attention was first drawn to The Romeo and Juliet Code because of its cover. No book deserves to be held responsible for its misleading jacket and Phoebe Stone’s latest is no exception. Set during the Second World War, the book looks like a rejected shot from a GAP catalog more than a historical novel (pink Converse?? Really??). When ire… Read More Review of the Day: Dragon Castle by Joseph BruchacSaturday, October 29th, 2011“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain though no one has ever been able to prove it much one way or another. The sentiment… Read More Review of the Day: A Monster Calls by Patrick NessMonday, October 17th, 2011I don’t mind metaphors as much as I might. I think that generally I’m supposed to hate them when they show up in children’s literature. I don’t if they’re done well, though. Maybe if I were an adult encountering The Lion the Witch Review of the Day: Icefall by Matthew KirbySaturday, October 8th, 2011
There’s a certain breed of middle grade fiction novel for kids that defies easy categorization. Call them fantasies without fantasy. These strange little novels pop up from time to time encouraging readers to believe that they are reading about something fantastical without having to throw magic spells, ghosts, or singing teacups into the mix. Frances Hardinge’s Fly by Night and Fly Trap fit… Read More Review of the Day: Ghetto Cowboy by G. NeriSaturday, October 1st, 2011Fun Fact: Parents these days speak in code. As a New York children’s librarian I had to learn this the hard way. Let’s say they want a folktale about a girl outwitting a witch. I pull out something like McKissack’s Precious and the Boo Hag and proudly hand it to them… Read More
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