middle grade book

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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Book Review: Mwikali and the Forbidden Mask

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Mwikali and the Forbidden Mask by Shiko Nguru

Mwikali and the Forbidden Mask (The Intasimi Warriors Book 1)
by Shiko Nguru

3.5 out of 5 stars
On her first day at a new school, Mwikali discovers that she is descended from a long line of Kenyans with mystical powers. She and her friends must find and destroy the dreaded Forbidden Mask before the powers of darkness can gather and unleash its evil power.

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Book Review: A Spoonful of Time

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A Spoonful of Time by Flora Ahn

A Spoonful of Time
by Flora Ahn (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Maya’s grandmother moves in, and the two begin cooking their favorite Korean recipes together. Maya discovers that her grandmother has the ability to revisit moments of her past, using food as the memory trigger to time travel. They can’t change the past, but can only watch themselves reliving those same moments, frozen in time. Maya has many questions about her Korean family, her father’s death, and why her mother is so sad and distant. She hopes that these visits to the past will provide answers, but the more Maya finds out about her family, the more questions she has.

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Book Review: Over Sea, Under Stone

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Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

Over Sea, Under Stone (The Dark Is Rising, #1)
by Susan Cooper (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

The Drew children are on holiday in Cornwall, renting the old Captain’s house while he is away. They explore through the dusty attics of the house and discover what appears to be an ancient map with the name Arturus Rex. They embark on an adventure to recover a lost treasure that tells the true story of King Arthur. But there are others who also search for the treasure for their own nefarious purposes. The children’s Great-Uncle Merry warns them of the constant battle between good and evil, and tries to protect them as they search for the treasure.

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Book Review: The Rat Queen

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The Rat Queen by Pete Hautman

The Rat Queen
by Pete Hautman

2.5 stars
Annie’s father teaches her to write down all the bad things she does and feed the paper into a little hole in the floor of their house. After she drops the paper into the “sin eater” hole, her regrets and guilt go away and she feels better. Annie hears a mysterious skittering and chattering in the cellar, and the neighbors begin to report seeing rats around the neighborhood. Annie learns about her Litvanian heritage and the dark secrets of her family past.

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Graphic Novel Review: Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy

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Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy by Jonathan Hill

Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy
by Jonathan Hill 

5 out of 5 stars

Tommy has a secret. His family are actually lizard people trying to blend in with the human world. Tommy has to wear a human skin over his green lizard face. It’s difficult trying to be “normal” in middle school when everything is so different from your own lizard culture.
Tommy meets other seventh-graders who also have trouble fitting in. One of his new friends, Dung, is a Vietnamese boy who is dealing with culture shock and trying to learn English. They bond over their differences, discovering that they have more in common than they realized.

I loved this graphic novel! The plot is hilarious and emotional. The characters are complex. Their stories are meaningful. The setting and background are interesting. And the storytelling style is superb!

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Non Fiction Review: Middle School Safety Goggles Advised

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Middle School - Safety Goggles Advised by Jessica Speer

Middle School – Safety Goggles Advised: Exploring the WEIRD Stuff from Gossip to Grades, Cliques to Crushes and Popularity to Peer Pressure
by Jessica Speer (Goodreads Author)

2 out of 5 stars

This book gives advice about how to navigate the difficulties of middle school. There are chapters about not judging others, bullying, friendships and cliques, trying to be popular, having a crush on someone, gossip, social media, and peer pressure.

My main problem with this book was that it didn’t really go into WHY young people should avoid bad decisions and toxic behaviors. It didn’t talk about honor or morality or modesty. It didn’t talk about honesty or virtue. It just says lots of nice things about being kind to others, but the whole philosophy is very casual and lackadaisical. It even says at one point that “There are no correct responses.” You can do whatever and make whatever choices and nothing is right or wrong. The entire attitude is very amoral and toxic.

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Book Review: Starlet Rivals

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Starlet Rivals by Puneet Bhandal

Starlet Rivals (The Bollywood Academy)
by  Puneet Bhandal (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Bela dreams of becoming a movie star in Bollywood, and hopes that her dance skills will win her a scholarship to the famous Bollywood Academy, where young students are trained as actors, dancers, and film crew. Her mother, a dance instructor, convinces her that she is good enough to enter the Dance Starz TV competition, and Bela submits an entry. When Bela dances, she feels supremely happy as if the entire world just falls away. But will her love for dance be enough to win the competition and the scholarship?

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