Fiction
Tim Wadham shares an eclectic mix of Spanish-language and Latino-starring novels for upper-elementary and middle school children.
The new year is filled with richly imagined new worlds YA readalikes for fans of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling, such as Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen and Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in Ashes. Readers of realistic fiction will delight in Lance Rubin’s unique Denton Little’s Deathdate and Juliana Romano’s romance-filled First There Was Forever.
This week’s column features books with kids who are struggling in school. From a young girl who lost her hearing to a boy who is having trouble remembering his spelling words, the protagonists in these heartwarming middle grade novels selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild will inspire empathy in young readers.
The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone, Adele Griffin Soho Teen, August 2014 Reviewed from final copy A few weeks ago, I reviewed How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon. It’s not immediately obvious, but that title shares remarkable similarities with Adele Griffin’s faux-nonfiction novel, The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone. Both books focus on dead teens, [...]
Egg & Spoon, Gregory Maguire Candlewick Press, September 2014 Reviewed from final copy What an ingenious little (okay, big) book this is. Maguire is at his best when he’s being sly and subverting tropes and expectations; he did it to genius effect in Wicked, which remains one of my favorite novels, and while his overall [...]
Ninako Kinoshita has no idea what love is. Her friends think they know, and they try to tell her it’s her feelings for Daiki, a boy she’s known since middle school. But it’s not until she talks to Ren Ichinose, the handsome, enigmatic guy that all the girls worship, that she starts to understand. Ren [...]
She Is Not Invisible, Marcus Sedgwick Roaring Brook Press, April 2014 Reviewed from ARC Marcus Sedgwick has literary chops. Here’s an author who knows his way around a sentence. Last year, Karyn and I predicted that Sedgwick’s Midwinterblood would get a shiny sticker, despite our reservations about the novel’s ability to hold up under close scrutiny. [...]
Althea and Oliver by Cristina Moracho Viking, October 2014 Reviewed from final copy This book really amazed me by being a story that is bigger and harder and rougher and rawer than I thought it would be. It’s been named for two year’s best lists, and garnered three starred reviews, so it’s not just me [...]
How It Went Down, Kekla Magoon Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), October 2014 Reviewed from final copy For many, the second half of 2014 will be remembered as the time when police violence against black communities sparked outrage, protest, and calls for change. This is a timely and sorrowful moment for How It Went Down to arrive [...]
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