Category Archives: Middle Grade 8-12

Review: Everywhere Blue by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz

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Everywhere Blue by Joanne Rossmassler-Fritz

Everywhere Blue
Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
Holiday House
Published June 1, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Everywhere Blue

After twelve-year-old Maddie’s older brother vanishes from his college campus, her carefully ordered world falls apart. Nothing will fill the void of her beloved oldest sibling. When her parents fly out to Strum’s college to search for answers, Maddie is left in the care of her sixteen-year-old sister, who seeks solace in rebellion and ignores Maddie. Drowning in grief and confusion, the family’s musical household falls silent.

Though Maddie is the youngest, she knows Strum better than anyone. He used to confide in her, sharing his fears about the climate crisis and their planet’s future. So, Maddie starts looking for clues: Was Strum unhappy? Were the arguments with their dad getting worse? Or could his disappearance have something to do with those endangered butterflies he loved . . .

Scared and on her own, Maddie picks up the pieces of her family’s fractured lives. Maybe her parents aren’t who she thought they were. Maybe her nervous thoughts and compulsive counting mean she needs help. And maybe finding Strum won’t solve everything–but she knows he’s out there, and she has to try.

A brother’s disappearance turns one family upside down, revealing painful secrets that threaten the life they’ve always known.

My Review

When I started reading this book, I was super excited to learn that Maddie plays the oboe! You might remember from my review of AS FAR AS YOU’LL TAKE ME (another book featuring an oboist) that I’m pretty much surrounded by oboe players. I feel like it’s an unusual instrument to play, so I’m really excited that I’ve found two books that include the oboe.

EVERYWHERE BLUE is a novel in verse from Maddie’s point of view. She’s a hard working, super anxious girl who doubts her musical ability but also sees her life in musical terms. I loved her from the first page. Her family relationships are complicated. The person she’s closest to, Strum, her brother, has gone off to college. Her sister is angry and isolates herself from the family. Her father is angry and uses rules to control the household. Maddie often looks to her mother to comfort her and bring the family together.

I think I imagined from the cover summary that the story would be focused on Maddie finding the trail of breadcrumbs to learn what happened to her brother. And she does look for clues and wonder. But the bulk of the story focuses on Maddie and her processing what has happened to her family and her attempts to keep them together. I still enjoyed that a lot– this is a really rich emotional story. Maddie also processes a lot through her music, so I loved all the scenes that showed her practicing or listening to a piece of music that moved her. It made me want to find recordings of the music from the story to listen to.

I think readers who enjoy novels in verse, like ALONE by Megan E. Freeman, or stories about an emotional journey within a fractured family, like GLITTER GETS EVERYWHERE by Yvette Clark will want to add this one to their shelves.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Maddie has a counting ritual that she uses to cope with anxiety. She’s not labeled/diagnosed in the story. Maddie’s best friend is Asian-American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
In one scene, Maddie sees a girl sitting on a boy’s lap.

Spiritual Content
At one point Maddie says something like, if there’s a god, she hopes he’ll keep her brother safe.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Maddie’s older sister comes home smelling like pot. (Maddie doesn’t specifically identify the smell.) Later, Maddie sees her sister and her sister’s friends drinking beer.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of EVERYWHERE BLUE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

The Thief (Queen’s Thief #1)
Megan Whalen Turner
Greenwillow Books
Published February 28, 2017 (orig. 1996)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Thief

The king’s scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king’s prison. The magus is interested only in the thief’s abilities.

What Gen is interested in is anyone’s guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

My Review

So, I’ve had a copy of THE THIEF for a while, but after reading this review of RETURN OF THE THIEF, which is the grand finale of the series (no spoilers, so feel free to peek), I finally decided to give it a go via the audiobook performed by the incredible Steve West.

I could probably listen to Steve West read the phone book, so I felt like this was a pretty sure win. It took me a bit to get into the story, I think because it begins in what struck me as a strange place. Gen is in prison and at first looking to escape before ending up being roped into a journey. It also takes some time to really get introduced to his companions and took me some time to get interested in them.

Once I got into the story, though, I enjoyed reading it. Turner is pretty much a master at the timing of revealing secrets. All the way along, there are things that I wondered about and then later, at just the right moment, I’d learn new information that changed how I thought about those earlier scenes.

I haven’t read any further in the series at this point, but I’ve seen lots of reviews basically saying this book largely just sets up many things to come, and that the subsequent books are super fantastic. All the audiobooks in the series are performed by Steve West, so, bonus!

My only complaint about THE THIEF is that there are very few female characters in the story at all, and all of them are extremely minor characters. I wish there had been more female characters.

Some things about the book reminded me of THE FALSE PRINCE by Jennifer Nielsen, so I think readers who enjoyed that one might also like THE THIEF. I’m excited to read the rest of the series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some references to cursing but not explicitly shown.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Gen and the Magus tell stories about the “old gods” and their exploits. Gen meets a spiritual guide in a dream.

Violent Content
Some bullying and battle violence. Some reference to cruel treatment in the prison.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: Six Feet Below Zero by Ena Jones

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Six Feet Below Zero
Ena Jones
Holiday House
Published April 20, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Six Feet Below Zero

A dead body. A missing will. An evil relative. The good news is, Great Grammy has a plan. The bad news is, she’s the dead body.

Caught in a one-of-a-kind predicament, 12-year-old Rosie and her younger brother, Baker, must honor their great-grandmother’s final wishes by pretending she’s still alive until they can find her will and locate their dear Aunt Tilly. Rosie and Baker do their best to follow Great-Grammy’s plan and act as if everything is completely normal, but as their lies get bigger and bigger, so do their problems. And the biggest problem of all? Their wicked grandmother, the horrible Grim Hesper! 

My Review

Holy smokes, this book was so good. Like, it’s every bit as good as that first paragraph of the summary promises. I loved the zaniness of it. It’s all my favorite things about those comedies where everything goes wrong, and it’s hilarious, but you can’t stop rooting for the good guys to get to the other side in the end, even if you can’t see how that could be possible sometimes.

SIX FEET BELOW ZERO is absolutely a book to make you laugh and cry. Possibly at the same time. The grief that Rosie and her brother experience over Great Grammy’s death and the weight of keeping it a secret felt real and heartbreaking. But so many ridiculous things happen! It’s fantastic. Honestly. It’s part Arsenic and Old Lace and part From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Also, there are recipes in the back of the book. They’re things referenced in the book, which was a totally charming touch. I absolutely have to try the cookies!

If you liked DOUBLE THE DANGER AND ZERO ZUCCHINI by Betsy Uhrig or THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage, definitely check out SIX FEET BELOW ZERO.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
I think the major characters are white. Rosie’s friend and neighbor is Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Rosie and her brother hide their great grandmother’s body in a freezer in the basement.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of SIX FEET BELOW ZERO in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Best Worst Summer by Elizabeth Eulberg

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

The Best Worst Summer
Elizabeth Eulberg
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published May 4, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Best Worst Summer

This is going to be the worst summer ever for Peyton. Her family just moved, and she had to leave her best friend behind. She’s lonely. She’s bored. Until . . . she comes across a box buried in her backyard, with a message: I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Things are about to get interesting.

Back in 1989, it’s going to be the best summer ever for Melissa and Jessica. They have two whole months to goof around and explore, and they’re even going to bury a time capsule! But when one girl’s family secret starts to unravel, it’s clear things may not go exactly as planned.

In alternating chapters, from Peyton in present day to Melissa three decades earlier (a time with no cell phones, no social media, and camera film that took days to develop, but also a whole lot of freedom), a story of a mystery that two sets of characters will never forget.

My Review

I was a little nervous at first that this book would come off as shallow and cheesy. I wasn’t immediately drawn into Peyton or Melissa’s voices, but as I read and got to know them better, I feel like I appreciated their goofiness a lot more. I really enjoyed watching the friendship between Peyton and Lucas develop. I liked that they both struggled for more autonomy from their parents but for different reasons. With Jessica and Melissa, I felt sad for the fractures in their friendship and the times they seemed to just miss really seeing each other. It made me remember some things, too, that I wished I’d done differently with a friend.

On the whole, I read the book pretty quickly, and I loved the way the past and present tied together over the mystery of the box. I thought the pacing of that reveal was nicely done and the way everything connected together was also great.

I think readers who enjoyed the celebration of friendship in THE GIRLS OF FIREFLY CABIN by Cynthia Ellingsen will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Both point-of-view characters are white. Jessica, Melissa’s best friend is Korean, adopted by white parents. Lucas, Peyton’s friend is in a wheelchair. One scene shows two women who are married.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One scene shows two women who are married. I think one kisses the other on the cheek.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Melissa’s father is an angry, domineering person. He’s described as abusive, but his behavior is mostly referenced and not shown on scene. Melissa mostly steers clear of him when she can.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE BEST WORST SUMMER in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Glitter Gets Everywhere by Yvette Clark

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Glitter Gets Everywhere
Yvette Clark
HarperCollins
Published May 4, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Glitter Gets Everywhere

Kitty’s mother died on an inappropriately sunny Tuesday. So much has changed in Kitty’s life over the last few months, and she needs the world to stop spinning around her. She needs things to return to normal — or as normal as they’ll ever be.

Normal definitely does not include her family moving from their home in a cozy corner of London all the way to New York City. Moving means leaving behind her friends and neighbors, her grandmother, and all the places and people that help Kitty keep her mother’s memory alive.

New York City is bright and bustling and completely different from everything Kitty has known. As she adjusts to her new school, explores her new city, and befriends a blue-haired boy, Kitty wonders if her memories of her mother don’t need to stay in one place — if there’s a way for them to be with Kitty every day, everywhere.

With her wry, poignant wit, Kitty tells a universal story about the grief of losing a beloved family member, the fears of starting over, and the challenges of how to remake a family in this powerful, heartfelt debut novel.

My Review

When I agreed to review this book, I had no idea what I’d be going through when it came out. Reading a book centered around grief while grieving has been an interesting journey. A lot of things Kitty experienced really resonated with me. I loved the way the story shows different characters responding to grief in different ways, too. It’s really Kitty’s story, but around the edges of her own experience, we get to see other people wrestling with grief in their own ways.

This book is packed with a fantastic cast of characters. There’s Kitty’s older and often antagonistic sister Imogen, who knows all the things the cool kids know. There’s Kitty’s dad, treading water, trying to keep the family afloat and both be available to his girls but also shelter them from some of his own grief and fears about the future. So relatable. I loved Kitty’s spunky grandmother, with her strong opinions and fierce insights. And the wacky Mrs. Allison, the British baking star with her lovable dog, mothering everyone and fussing over them all with cookies and cakes. Something about all those people in a room together made those scenes really sparkle.

Kitty’s grief is real and raw and very relatable. I found myself nodding along to some of her observations and taking comfort in her refuge of colors. I loved the relationship between her and Imogen, with its sparks of tension and tenderness underneath. GLITTER GETS EVERYWHERE is a therapy-positive story, but it’s also real about some of the struggles of therapy. Sometimes things don’t make sense the first time you hear them. Sometimes things a therapist says don’t connect with you at the time or ever. But other times, it provides a vehicle for you to say things you didn’t know you needed to say or to hear healthy things you didn’t know would challenge what you believe.

All in all, I’m so happy I read this book. I love its tenderness and sadness and its surprising joy. I think readers who enjoyed CHIRP by Kate Messner or CATERPILLAR SUMMER by Gillian McDunn will love this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Kitty and her family are white and British.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity appears a few times. Strong British profanity appears a few times.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss on the cheek between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Kitty wonders what happens after someone dies and talks about sometimes feeling her mom present with her really strongly.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
One of Kitty’s friends mentions that his mom has a drinking problem.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of GLITTER GETS EVERYWHERE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Firebird Song by Arnée Flores

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The Firebird Song
Arnée Flores
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published June 8, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Firebird Song

The Kingdom of Lyrica was once warm and thriving, kept safe by the Firebird, whose feather and song was a blessing of peace and prosperity. But the Firebird disappeared, and Lyrica is now terrorized by the evil Spectress who wields her powers from within a volcano. All that remains is a mysterious message scrawled on the castle wall in the Queen’s own hand: Wind. Woman. Thief.

Young Prewitt has only known time without the Firebird, a life of constant cold, as his village is afraid to tempt the volcano monsters with even the feeblest fire. But he has heard whispers that the kingdom’s princess survived the attack . . . and he is certain that if he can find her, together they can save Lyrica.

Princess Calliope has no memories beyond living on her barge on the underground lake. But as she nears her twelfth birthday, she is certain there is more to life than the walls of a cave. When Prewitt finds her, he realizes that she is the missing princess: the only hope for Lyrica. Determined to decipher the meaning of her mother’s strange message and find the Firebird, Calliope and Prewitt set off on a quest that puts them in more danger than either of them ever anticipated.

My Review

I love this book. The cover reminds me of the series by THE UNICORN QUEST by Kamilla Benko, and I think readers who liked that series will definitely like this book. I expected to find an imaginative fantasy story with bright, young heroes, and I did find that. But this book has so much more than that.

The story centers around the opposing forces the Firebird and the Demon. The Demon feeds on fear, so keeping people hopeless and afraid strengthens it. But the Firebird can be summoned by a queen full of hope, and it can drive out fear and defeat the Demon. I love this. It possibly sounds a little cheesy the way I’ve explained it, but in the story it felt really raw and beautifully done.

The main characters are both twelve, and they both wrestle with these mixed messages of coming of age at twelve– Calliope is told she’s reached the age of hope, and Prewitt learns he’s ready to take up his place learning to be the Bargemaster like his father– and being told they’re still children and can’t do anything important. You’re just a girl, someone tells Calliope at one point.

But it’s these two twelve-year-olds who take on the Demon in the quest to change their world. They find their own courage, and they inspire others. Their hope becomes contagious. I love that so much. I got all weepy at all these different points in the story when characters were brave and hopeful in the face of pretty steep odds. It really made me think about how powerful hope is. How it is the catalyst that can lead to real change.

This is one of those books I feel like I’ll be talking about for a long time and sneaking into Christmas stockings and reading lists. It’s so good. So worth reading, especially if you’re feeling discouraged.

Readers who enjoyed THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND by Catherine Doyle or SEEKER OF THE CROWN by Ruth Laurin need to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
I didn’t pick up on any clear specific representation. Some characters are described as having bronze skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Two supernatural creatures, a Firebird and a Demon have the ability to appear in the world. The Demon feeds on fear. The Firebird is summoned by a queen full of hope and can break the Demon’s hold on the world.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of battle and references to people being killed by monsters.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE FIREBIRD SONG in exchange for my honest review.