Our Middle Grade book spotlight this week is all about books that have All the Feels. Taking inspiration from our 2023 Winter Reading Challenge theme, we are exploring books which will have you experiencing every emotion as you follow the main characters through their life changing journeys. Many of them are ones we can relate to through our own life experiences but others titles can give insight and empathy to what others may be feeling and going through in the present moment. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthallthefeels 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!!
Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis--Eleven-year-old December Lee Morgan suffered a terrible injury from her mother years ago and now doesn’t have a permanent home. This has left her with psychological scars in which December becomes convinced that one day she will sprout wings from the scar on her back and fly away. Her new foster mother, Eleanor, however, is something different. Not only does December receive in Eleanor a respectful guardian, she also makes friends with a kind girl from school who is horribly bullied by girls who refuse to use her preferred pronouns. Slowly, December begins to think that being human isn’t so bad.
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart--Twelve-year-old Coyote and her father, Rodeo, live an itinerant life as they travel the U.S. in an old school bus. Along the way, she hears that the park near her old home in Washington State is getting demolished--the park where she and her now-deceased mother and sisters buried a memory box. Coyote must then trick her father to travel back to Washington from Florida, picking up eclectic travelers along the way.
The Line Tender by Kate Allen--Years after her marine biologist mother suddenly died, now twelve-year-old Lucy Everhart also loses a friend who might have been more than just a friend, and who also helped her as an amateur scientist. Lucy decides to take up her mother's research into sharks as a way to connect and grieve after the two losses. She joins a small, eclectic group to follow the great white sharks that her mother loved so much.
Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson--Some teachers are boring, some mean, some try too hard, others don't try at all—but Ms. Bixby is none of these. She is the kind who makes school feel worthwhile, who recognizes the best things in her young pupils, a teacher whom none want to disappoint. When Ms. Bixby is hospitalized for cancer treatment, Topher, Brand, and Steve—three of her sixth-grade students—come up with a plan to skip school and give her the fun last day she deserves.
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt--Carley Connors' home life is troubled. Although she loves her mother, she is unable to forget the violence that pervades her life, especially in the form of harsh physical punishment doled out by her stepfather. Eventually, Carley's secret gets out and she is placed in the care of the seemingly idealistic Murphy family. Although Carley initially resists this transition – in part because she believes her punishment at home may be deserved – she gradually opens up to the Murphys and accepts the love they have to offer. When it comes time to leave the family she has grown to adore, Carley is the one who speaks up, finally giving voice to her own emotions.
The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall--Shortly after his father dies, middle schooler Arthur T. Owens sees the local “Junk Man” picking through the neighborhood garbage and wearing his father's hat. Hurt and angry, Arthur responds by hurling a brick at the man, hitting him in the arm. But despite the fact that the judge wants to send Arthur to juvenile detention, Arthur receives a reprieve—the Junk Man, whose real name is James Hampton, requests that Arthur serve 120 hours of community service instead, working for Hampton himself. This turns out to be no ordinary job—Hampton is scouring the trash looking for materials to construct an incredibly large, complex, and ethereal work of art in his garage.