Our middle grade book spotlight this week is on books that are some of my all time favorite authors!!! These are the authors that as soon as they have a new book out, it is an immediate must read and I already know that I am going to be reading till 3:00 in the morning (we have all been there before), may leave me speechless and filled with emotions (including some crying on the couch), wanting to talk about it with someone instantly, and then telling everyone else they have to read it! There is some nonfiction, graphic novels, and a mix of historical and realistic; this was such a hard list to make. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #elyse’sfavorites as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new middle grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Ghost by Jason Reynolds--If they can get their acts together, Ghost, Lu, Patina, and Sunny—four kids with widely different backgrounds and explosive personalities—could potentially become their middle school track team's elite squad, and maybe even qualify for the Junior Olympics. Ghost has outstanding natural talent, but no formal training, and his discipline is lacking ever since his father chased him and his mother out of the house. He will have to do everything he can to stay on track, physically and figuratively, to be the best sprinter in the city.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson--The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.
We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly--In 1986, Cash, Fitch, and Bird Thomas are in seventh grade. Cash loves basketball, but just broke his wrist and is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon at the local arcade and deals with an explosive temper. His twin sister, Birdie, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing. They all exist in their own little orbits in their tense home, with little in common. But after the disastrous launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, their lives change in unexpected ways.
Terrible Typhoid Mary by Susan Campbell Bartoletti--Little did young Irish immigrant Mary Mallon know when she set foot on American soil in 1883 at the age of 15, she would become one of the most dangerous women in the nation's history. The woman who would become known as Typhoid Mary is alleged to have infected over 50 people with the deadly disease in the course of her career as a cook. Previous biographies have emphasized Mallon's ignorance of her role as a carrier and her refusal to stop working despite being repeatedly quarantined, but author Bartoletti's well-researched biography plumbs new depths in Mallon's life, considering what her experiences reveal about human rights, the science of pathology, and the immigrant experience.
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers by Don Brown--This graphic novel recounts the events that followed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, describing the personal stories of those who survived, were rescued, and died saving lives. Recounts the Herculean efforts of the clean-up crew, the resulting wars and capture of enemy combatants, and reverberating anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick--Twelve-year-old orphan Hugo lives secretly in the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s. After his father died, Hugo became obsessed with fixing up an old automaton (human-like figure sitting at a desk with a pen in hand) believing it will write a message from his father that could save his life. While stealing repair parts, Hugo has a run-in with an elderly shop owner and his goddaughter, Isabelle, who joins Hugo on his mission to solve the mysteries of the automaton.