middle grade book

Book Review: The League of Seven

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The League of Seven by Alan Gratz

The League of Seven (The League of Seven, #1)
by Alan Gratz (Goodreads Author), Brett Helquist (Illustrator)

3.5 out of 5 stars

Archie’s parents are part of the Septemberist Society, a secret organization that has kept evil monsters locked away for centuries. When the Swarm Queen begins to awaken out of her prison, Archie’s parents are kidnapped and brainwashed to release the monster. Archie and his robot servant have to unravel the secrets of the ancient civilizations that imprisoned all the monsters in the first place. Along the way, Archie befriends two other children who are also searching for answers… and revenge.

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Book Review: Griffin’s Castle

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Griffin's Castle by Jenny Nimmo

Griffin’s Castle
by Jenny Nimmo

3 out of 5 stars

Dinah and her mother move into a dilapidated old house, where Dinah discovers a small griffin statue. She names the house the Griffin’s Castle, and hopes that they will be able to stay forever. But her mother is not exactly reliable, and the landlord can’t stand children. Dinah notices animal statues in the city, wishing that they could protect her new home. The misty spirit of a lioness statue follows Dinah home, and Dinah can see and feel the lioness even though no one else can. Soon, more of the animals statues begin to follow Dinah home, and they become so real that others can feel their presence. Dinah’s friends at school are worried about her. Are the animals really protecting the house, or are they imprisoning Dinah within the crumbling walls?

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Book Review: The Westing Game

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The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin

4 out of 5 stars

Sam Westing leaves a puzzle in his will, and any of the heirs who can solve the riddle will win the entire inheritance. The puzzle is, who murdered Sam Westing? The heirs are broken up into teams and given different clues, but only by working together can they solve the mystery.

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Book Review: Woodwalkers: Holly’s Secret

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Holly's Secret (3) by Katja Brandis

Holly’s Secret (3) (The Woodwalkers)
by Katja Brandis, Rachel Ward  (Translation), Claudia Carls (Illustrations)

4 out of 5 stars

Carag and his shape-shifting friends begin to investigate a strange burglary at the local bank. They wonder if a woodwalker could be involved, but Carag worries that Holly might be up to her old thieving tricks again. She is known for being a petty pickpocket, but she wouldn’t do something as risky as rob a bank, would she?

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Book Review: V is for Victorine

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V Is for Victorine by Anne Nesbet

V Is for Victorine
by Anne Nesbet (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Victorine and Darleen are on their way to Hollywood! They travel out to California with Darleen’s uncle, but get mixed up with burglars along the way. When Darleen’s uncle is mistaken for a burglar too, the girls are left on their own. Victorine is worried that her lawyers are looking for her again, wanting to put her under the care of legal guardians. But Victorine is perfectly happy pretending to be “Bella Mae” and making movies with the Darling family. Or is she?

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Book Review: Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen

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Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen by Anne Nesbet

Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen
by Anne Nesbet (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Darleen is the star of silent films produced by her family’s film company just outside New York City. As part of a publicity stunt, they set up a fake kidnapping to bring more attention to their films, but something goes terrible wrong. Darleen gets trapped in the middle of a real kidnapping with a wealthy heiress, Victorine Berryman. Now the two girls must discover who the kidnappers are and stage a daring escape.

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Book Review: Melody Queen

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Melody Queen by Puneet Bhandal

Melody Queen (The Bollywood Academy)
by Puneet Bhandal (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Simi’s parents have always encouraged her to study acting as her career, since they are both actors as well. But Simi’s true passion is for composing and arranging music. However, the music industry in Bollywood is completely dominated by men composers. Not even Simi’s teachers at Bollywood Academy think it would be possible for her to break into such a difficult field. As Simi loses her dream, she sees her friends (who are male) pursuing music and writing hit songs. Simi doesn’t want to let her parents down, so she determines to just accept a career as an actress, even though her heart isn’t in it. But is that truly the right decision?

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Book Reviews: Woodwalkers #1-2

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Carag's Transformation by Katja Brandis

Carag’s Transformation (Woodwalkers #1)
by Katja Brandis, Rachel Ward  (Translation)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Carag is a shapeshifter, changing from his puma animal form into a human whenever he wants. But his family have always lived as pumas, rarely changing into their human shapes. Carag decides to leave his family and start a new life as a human, where he is placed with a foster family. But being a human is more difficult than he thought, and he finds it complicated to navigate through the nuances of human behavior. Carag begins to attend a special school for Woodwalkers who can shapeshift, and he makes enemies and friends along the way.

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Book Review: Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity

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Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity (Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery 5)
by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Myrtle and Miss Judson are traveling to Scotland to inspect the estate which Miss Judson has just inherited from her great-uncle. There are rumors of ghosts around the estate, and a long-lost treasure of the MacJudd clan. Myrtle’s detective skills are called upon when a man is discovered dead in the pond. Since the estate is located on a remote island, the police will not arrive for several days, so Myrtle must uncover evidence and follow the clues herself.

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Book Review: World’s Worst Time Machine

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World's Worst Time Machine by Dustin Brady

World’s Worst Time Machine (Volume 1)
by Dustin Brady, Dave Bardin (Illustrator)

4 of 5 stars

At the garage sale of a famous scientist, Liam finds a box labeled, “World’s Worst Time Machine”, and decides to try it out. He slaps together a few wires, sticks an old-fashioned telephone onto it, hooks up half an ink-jet printer, fastens it all together with duct tape, and plugs it in. His friend Elsa warns him not to mess with time travel, but Liam is too excited to listen. And of course, disaster strikes! He gets mixed up with the wrong Thomas Edison, a dastardly gang of gangsters, and a mysteriously dangerous bronze dog statue. But through all his adventures with time, it becomes apparent that Elsa is hiding some secret knowledge of her own.

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