It’s as if Erin
Estrada Kelly possesses a window into my 8-year-old soul! In each Marisol
Rainey book for younger middle-grade readers, Marisol faces a different fear,
and like Marisol in this book, I, too, dreaded the prospect of playing kickball in the gym.
Kelly perfectly captures
how the "Brain Train," as Marisol calls her anxious mind, can take over and make
a fear bigger. Marisol’s supportive best friend is on hand to encourage her,
and even her annoying older brother helps her practice the game. Still, it is ultimately
Marisol’s quiet tenacity that allows her to face her fear.
I wish I had had the
Marisol books to read when I was her age, but reading them as an adult is
pretty great, too.
“Anyone who has ever had trouble feeling brave will be empowered by Marisol.”—NBC News
“Lively, realistic, and emotionally honest.”—The Horn Book (starred review)
“Engaging.”—Booklist
Everyone loves sports . . . except Marisol! The stand-alone companion to Newbery Medal winner and New York Times–bestselling Erin Entrada Kelly’s Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey is an irresistible and humorous story about friendship, family, and fitting in. Fans of Clementine, Billy Miller Makes a Wish, and Ramona the Pest will find a new friend in Marisol.
Marisol Rainey’s two least-favorite things are radishes and gym class. She avoids radishes with very little trouble, but gym…
“Every
story has a villain, and the one in this story is me.” With this fantastic
opening line, Kate introduces herself.
Changing friendships is a classic theme
of middle-grade fiction, but I love this unique point of view of the narrator
as the person who abandons her longtime best friend instead of the other way
around.
Kate is every bit the villain she claims to be, but I still rooted for her. My writer's brain loved the way Claire
Swinarski made that happen, and it got me thinking about how I might make my main
characters likable even when they make bad choices.
Blogger Adoma Adeniyi
turned me on to Swinarski, and now I’m a fan for life.
In this timely, call-to-action contemporary middle grade novel from Claire Swinarski, author of What Happens Next, a twelve-year-old girl must face herself, and the truth, after her participation in a bullying incident goes viral.
Kate McAllister is desperate for a change. Something to hit refresh and erase the pain of her mother leaving town without her. So when a group of popular girls folds Kate into their clique, it feels like the answer to all her problems—even if it means ditching Haddie, her childhood bestie.
But when Kate’s new friends decide that Haddie is their next target, Kate becomes a…
After I read
Soontornvat’s brilliant nonfiction, I knew
it was time to explore her fiction. As a writer, I was blown away by so many
aspects of this book.
Soontornvat took the basic storyline of Les Miserables and turned it into a
middle-grade fantasy, creating a world influenced by Thai culture but with its
own fully realized magical system that never bogs down with clunky info
dumping.
But as a reader, I simply fell in love with her characters and enjoyed
devouring the book in one sitting.
A boy on the run. A girl determined to find him. A compelling fantasy looks at issues of privilege, protest, and justice.
All light in Chattana is created by one man — the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to bring peace and order to the city. For Pong, who was born in Namwon Prison, the magical lights represent freedom, and he dreams of the day he will be able to walk among them. But when Pong escapes from prison, he realizes that the world outside is no fairer than the one behind bars.…
Daphne doesn't want to be stuck in Oakland with her dad. She wants to take the first plane to Prague, where her mom is shooting a movie.
Armed with her grandparents' phone number and strict instructions from her mom to call them if her dad starts drinking again, Daphne has no problem being cold to him. But there's one thing Daphne can't keep herself from doing: joining her dad and her new friend Arlo at a weekly skate session.
When her dad promises to teach her how to ollie, and she lands the trick, Daphne starts to believe in him again. He starts to show up for her, and Daphne learns things are not as black and white with her dad as she used to think.
