middle grade book

Book Review: Esperanza Rising

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Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan

5 out of 5 stars

Esperanza is used to living on a wealthy ranch in Mexico with her family. She has always had servants and beautiful clothes and pretty dolls. But when her father is murdered by bandits, they lose their home and all their wealth. Esperanza and her mother travel to California where they get work as harvest laborers. Now Esperanza lives in a tiny shack in a migrant camp, and she has to work hard and learn new skills to survive. Her mother teaches her to have hope, but Esperanza gets more and more discouraged as some of the other workers strike and there is sickness and poverty all around. Eventually, Esperanza has to find her own hope from within, and find the strength to embrace a new kind of happiness.

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Book Review: The Secret of White Stone Gate

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The Secret of White Stone Gate by Julia Nobel

The Secret of White Stone Gate (Black Hollow Lane, #2)
by Julia Nobel

3 out of 5 stars

Emmy is back for her second year at the exclusive Wellsworth boarding school, and she’s eager to reconnect with her friends Lola and Jack. She quickly develops a crush on Jack’s new roommate, Sam, but worries that Sam will get involved in the dangers surrounding the mysterious Order of Black Hollow Lane. When the Order frames Lola for stealing and gets her expelled, they tell Emmy that they will bring Lola back to school if Emmy tells them where to find her father. The problem… Emmy doesn’t know where her father is. Emmy has to decide if she can trust Sam to help with their plans to circumvent the Order and get Lola back in school.

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Book Review: The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

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The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Black Hollow Lane, #1)
by Julia Nobel

4 out of 5 stars

Emmy discovers that her dead father left behind a mysterious box of medallions with a note urging her to keep them safe. When her mother sends her to boarding school in England, Emmy thinks the medallions have some connection to the old school. Perhaps her father was a student there at some point and copied the odd symbols that are engraved on library books and wall carvings about the school. Emmy enlists the help of her new friends, Jack and Lola, and they investigate the existence of an underground society that will go to any lengths to hide their secrets. Now Emmy isn’t even sure if her father is really dead, or if the secret society is hiding something even more dastardly.

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Book Review: Giant Pumpkin Suite

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Giant Pumpkin Suite by Melanie Heuiser Hill

Giant Pumpkin Suite
by Melanie Heuiser Hill

4.5 out of 5 stars
Rose is a 12-year-old prodigy studying for a Bach Cello Competition, hoping to win a scholarship with a famous cello teacher. Her twin brother Thomas is helping their neighbor to grow a giant pumpkin in the backyard. As Rose becomes hyper-focused on the music competition, her teacher encourages her to pursue other interests like helping out with the gardening for the pumpkin. Rose and Thomas are very different, but they come together to research how to grow giant pumpkins. They might even have a pumpkin large enough to win a blue ribbon at the State Fair. Rose suffers a setback in her music goals, and the pumpkin becomes more important than ever.

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Book Review: The Burning Maze

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The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan

The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo, #3)
by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Zeus punishes Apollo by turning him into a mortal human. Apollo must complete various trials and serve a demigod named Meg, so that he can regain his godly status. But Meg has a complicated relationship with her stepfather, the evil emperor Nero. In this third book, they are travelling with Grover the satyr to find the oracle imprisoned in the burning maze that is part of the Labyrinth. Anyone who enters the maze will fall into fire traps, but the fire is also burning aboveground in some places and causing wildfires throughout Southern California. The dryads and other nature spirits are suffering from drought and fire, and Grover vows to help them. They enlist Jason Grace and Piper McLean to help with their quest, but Jason and Piper have their own problems.

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Book Review: DragonQuest

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DragonQuest by Donita K. Paul

DragonQuest (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #2)
by Donita K. Paul (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Kale is now an official servant of Paladin, but she has barely completed three weeks of training at the Hall, before she is sent away to apprentice with the Wizard Fenworth who is having trouble controlling his dragon. As the DragonKeeper, Kale has a special connection with all dragons, but she finds this particular dragon to be quite a challenge.

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Book Review: House of Elephants

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House of Elephants by Claribel A. Ortega

House of Elephants (Witchlings #3)
by Claribel A. Ortega 

2.5 out of 5 stars
Seven and Thorn are trying to find a magical cure for one of their friends who has been hexed. They begin to realize that the answers lie in the past history of all the Spares in the Twelve Towns. If they can uncover the secrets of the past, they will be able to restore the magical balance and save their friend from the hex.

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Book Review: Dragon of Cripple Creek

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The Dragon of Cripple Creek by Troy Howell

The Dragon of Cripple Creek
by Troy Howell

3 out of 5 stars

When Kat falls down a mine shaft during an Old West tour in Colorado, she discovered a hidden cavern where a dragon is living on a pile of gold. She pockets a nugget of gold, but feels guilty about stealing from the dragon when he was so kind to show her the way out of the caves. Her family have called the police and rescue workers to search for her in the mines, and when they find her safe and sound, she accidentally drops the golden nugget in front of all the reporters. The story gets blown out of proportion and a new Gold Rush begins. Kat is afraid that she has put the dragon in danger, now that everyone wants a piece of the gold.

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Book Review: Magnus Chase: The Hammer of Thor

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The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)
by  Rick Riordan

Magnus and his friends are tasked with finding Thor’s missing hammer, but as usual, Loki has his own mysterious plans for them. They receive a tip that the hammer might be buried in a Viking barrow, so they decide to track it down. Loki is up to his old tricks and it will take all of Magnus’ courage and resourcefulness to retrieve the hammer and hopefully not get killed by giants.

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Book Review: Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

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The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)
by Rick Riordan

4 out of 5 stars

Zeus punishes Apollo by turning him into a mortal human. Apollo must complete various trials and serve a demigod, so that he can regain his godly status. The first demigod he meets is a street urchin named Meg, and she claims his service. He agrees to take her to Camp Half-Blood, hoping they will be safe there, but when they arrive, campers are missing and Apollo starts hearing strange voices. The Oracle can’t see the future, so they are blind and can’t authorize any quests until the Oracle is freed.

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