Posts Tagged ‘middle-grade’

“The novel-in-verse structure is clever, engaging, and accessible. Macy’s deafness is skillfully woven into the story, adding depth and complexity to her characterization and relationships with others….With candor and angst, Macy shares her sorrow over an argument with her best friend, her desire to stop her mother from getting married, her determination not to like […]

“I love books about people who love books. In the words of Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables  by Lucy Maud Montgomery), the characters are kindred spirits, who understand the happiness books bring, and that the stories within its page give readers exactly what they need. Canadian author Shari Green must be a true book lover because her […]

“Macy, a deaf sixth-grader who attends a mainstream school with an interpreter, faces enormous challenges, as her mother will soon marry, necessitating a move to her new stepdad’s house. Macy and her mother have always been a team of just two; adding Alan and his twin daughters is scary and distressing….The verse trails down the […]

“Sarah Ellis is one of Canada’s most successful writer of children’s books (Back of Beyond, Ben Overnight, and several volumes in the “I, Canada” series). She is also a critic, a teacher and a librarian. Utilizing the trope of “new baby – concerned older brother – problem with new baby – happy ending”, Ellis begins her […]

“[Sarah Ellis] constantly writes strong stories that have lasting impact for her audience. Many remain on my ‘keepers’ shelf to now be shared with my granddaughters…. In this early chapter book, she introduces us to Liam and his family. Upon meeting him we learn that his parents have gone to the hospital in hopes that […]

With her parents’ marriage in need of repair, her friend and neighbour Daniel suffering with cystic fibrosis, a community divided and occasionally hostile, the compassionate Jasper being disgraced and driven out of town, and the church’s chalice missing, Bailey and Felicity Bay need a miracle or two. …Good and bad may ebb and flow like […]

Eleven-year-old Bailey keeps her eyes open for miracles. She and her younger brother, Kevin, are spending the summer with their grandmother while their parents are in a marriage counseling program. Bailey’s fear that her parents may separate along with concern about her new friend, Daniel, who has cystic fibrosis, leads her to look for magic […]

“…On the whole, I found Evie engaging and solidly voiced, while she worked through her grief she did find many intriguing and new things, and animals galore—from exotic (Iguanas and snapping turtles) to ordinary dogs and cats.  Well developed, you can see the city through Evie’s fresh eyes, and understand her needing to keep busy […]

“Although it opens with yet another dead mother, Evie Brooks Is Maroonedin Manhattan is a fresh take on the duck out of water trope. Evie finds herself living in Manhattan with her uncle, a veterinarian—about as far from her late mother’s bohemian life in Dublin as Evie can imagine. After a few funky days, Evie […]

“In 1912 Ireland, 12-year-old Will Alton has lost his mother and baby sister to disease. After immigrating to Canada, Will’s father gets a job in a stable, while Will goes to school. When a local newspaper claims that flies are the harbingers of disease and runs a contest with cash prizes for the most flies […]