I have such a huge pile of middle grade books to read over the coming weeks. Some are new, some are old, some are books I am re-reading, and some are just about to be published!
Indigo Wilde and the creatures of Jellybean Crescent by Pippa Curnick (2021)
I spied this series in the wonderful school library I visit each week. This is the first book in a series. Book 2 is entitled Indigo Wilde and the Unknown Wilderness. I am always on the look out for early chapter books and this one is in full colour which is a bonus.
Publisher blurb: Home for Indigo and her little brother, Quigley, is 47 Jellybean Crescent, a crazy and colourful house full of magical creatures that her parents have taken in over the years. There's Fishkins, a purrmaid - half-cat, half-fish, and ALWAYS grumpy; Graham, a llama-corn with a particular taste for tinsel; Olli and Umpf - bright pink and blue yetis who can't blend in to the snow, and that's to name just a few of the creatures. And now Indigo's parents have sent another Monster Mail delivery to Indigo and Quigley. But this time, the box is empty, and the escaped creature is running rampage around the house. The race is on to catch the creature before it's too late ...
Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna (2022)
I borrowed this from another school library and luckily they won't need it back before Christmas because this book has over 400 pages of fairly small print. Hedgewitch is the first in a 5-book middle grade series.
Author site blurb: Cassie Morgan has run away. After seven years spent waiting for her mother to return, she flees her dreary boarding school and sets out to find her. But the world outside her school is full of hidden magic and children have been going missing. With the help of a talking cat and a flying broom, Cassie escapes to the enchanted village of Hedgely. There she will begin her training in the practical skills of witchcraft with the Hedgewitch, who watches over the Hedge, the vast forest that marks the border between England and Faerie.
The Way of the Dog by Zana Fraillon (2022)
I have mentioned this on a previous list but I still haven't begun to read this Australian verse novel.
Blurb: Scruffity is born into the harsh, grey world of a puppy farm. Taken from his mamma and locked in a concrete cage, what he yearns for most is Family. To belong is The Way of Dog. But no one wants him.Just as his chances of adoption grow dangerously thin, Scruffity is set free by a boy as unwanted and lonely as he is. Outside, Scruffity learns all about The Way of Dog – it is to run, to dig, to howl and, biggest of all, to love. But when tragedy strikes, Scruffity is suddenly all alone. How does a dog find his way home when he never had one to begin with?
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (2008)
I have already read this one and talked about it here on my blog but the library where I volunteer at Westmead Children's Hospital weeded this title and I remembered I previously loved it. I hope to read it again but in the meanwhile here is my post.
Waiting for the Storks by Katrina Nannestad (2022)
This will probably be the first book I read from my pile because I am a huge fan of Katrina Nannestad. And I adore the cover! I loved Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief; We are Wolves; The girl who bought mischief; and The Travelling Bookshop: Mim and the Baffling Bully.
Publisher blurb: It's the Second World War and Himmler's Lebensborn Program is in full flight when eight-year-old Zofia Ulinski is kidnapped by the Germans. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, just like the other Polish children taken from their families and robbed of their names, their language, their heritage. But when Zofia is adopted into a wealthy and loving German family, it is easier, it is safer to bury her past, deep down, so everything is forgotten. Until the Polish boy arrives. And the past comes back to haunt her.
Mary Underwater by Shanon Doleski (2022)
One of our big city bookstores had a 20% sale and so I picked out this one. I liked the sound of the blurb and the cover but I actually know nothing about this book or author.
Publisher blurb: Mary Murphy feels like she’s drowning. Her violent father is home from prison, and the social worker is suspicious of her new bruises. An aunt she’s never met keeps calling. And if she can’t get a good grade on her science project, she’ll fail her favorite class. But Mary doesn’t want to be a victim anymore. She has a plan: build a real submarine, like the model she’s been making with Kip Dwyer, the secretly sweet class clown. Gaining courage from her heroine, Joan of Arc, Mary vows to pilot a sub across the Chesapeake Bay, risking her life in a modern crusade to save herself.
When the war came home by Lesley Parr (2022)
I have a plan to make a Pinterest collection of middle grade books set during WWI ad WWII. I am often quite distressed when people ask for suggestions of books on this topic and the forum responses are, in my view, either unsuitable or intended for a much older group.
Publisher blurb: The First World War has ended, but it hasn't gone away. When Natty has to move to a new village, she meets two young soldiers who are still battling the effects of war. Huw can't forget the terrible things he's seen, but Johnny doesn't even remember who he is. As Natty tries to keep a secret and unravel a mystery, she finds her own way to fight for what she believes in – and learns that some things should never be forgotten …
Storm Horse by Jane Elson (2021)
I've had this on my book buying wish list for a long time. The blurb made me think of The Little White horse by Elizabeth Gouge.
Blurb: For Daniel Margate, life is muddled because everything moves: letters, numbers, even classrooms sometimes. Daniel is dyslexic and most of the time, school just doesn't make sense. He's in the bottom reading group at school with other kids who are trying to make sense of it all. There's Akin who can't sit still for more than two minutes and is almost always getting into trouble, sports star Ste is recovering from a car accident that left him learning how to walk again and Molly-May's school uniform never fits and is a regular at the local foodbank. But when a mystery horse gallops into their lives one stormy evening, it changes everything. Desperate to keep him safe they form the Secret Horse Society and vow to protect this amazing creature. Inspired by stories of the great racehorse Seabiscuit, they name him Jammie Dodger and find they when they work together, nothing seems impossible. Even the Big Read Off at school. They just need to keep their new horse friend a secret. How hard can it be to hide a horse, anyway?
Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood and Tom de Freston (2022)
This is a new book just published in September this year. My copy is an advance reader one from Beachside Books.
Blurb: Fox wakes, and begins to walk. She crosses ice and snow, over mountains and across frozen oceans, encountering bears and birds beneath the endless daylight of an Arctic summer, navigating a world that is vast, wild and wondrous. Meanwhile, Leila embarks on a journey of her own - finding her way to the mother who left her. On a breathtaking journey across the sea, Leila rediscovers herself and the mother she thought she'd lost, with help from a determined little fox. Based on the true story of an Arctic fox who walked from Norway to Canada in seventy-six days, a distance of two thousand miles.
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