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Tag: #middlegrade

  • Bold, Brilliant, and Latine & Leyendas

    Bold, Brilliant, and Latine by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris and illustrated by Sol Cotti For the lower school set as it gives one page biographies of each Latino with emphasis on how they were a role model, and that kids can be like them too.  It has several well-known figures like Lin Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, Gabriel…

  • American Quilt

    This quartet by Susan Kirby is perfect for fans of Little House on the Prairie or Ann Martin’s Family Tree quartet. 12 year old Lacey is dealing with a new stepmom and stepsisters and each story her great-grandmother weaves out of special family quilts imparts lessons that relate and help her in life. As one…

  • Secrets of the Manor

    For fans of Downtown Abbey, this historical fiction series follows the three generations of Chatswood and Vandermeer girls from 1848 to 1934. But it is not a linear journey which I believe adds to the fun. While I figured out the answer to the overlying mystery in the first book (and was thus impatient for…

  • Three Girls in the City

    Horse girls may be more familiar with Jeanne Betancourt for her popular Pony Pals series, here she takes a different slice of life approach with, as the title says, Three Girls in the City. The premise is as follows: NYC, 2002. Three 13 year-old girls meet at a summer photo Carolyn, fresh from Wyoming, motherless…

  • My Sister the Vampire

    Yes, I return to the world of early 2000s nostalgia with this series-My Sister the Vampire. This time I read all eighteen books. Here’s the initial premise. When Olivia Abbott moves to town, she’s excited to join the cheerleading team and make new friends. Then she meets Ivy Vega. At first, Ivy, pale and dressed…

  • Beacon Street Girls

    As I hit my quarter life crisis or point, whatever you want to call it, I decided that I should finally read the book series I have at this point always skimmed-the Beacon Street Girls! Just as the tagline says “They’re real, they’re fun, they’re just like you.” Each book presents a slice of life…

  • Sarah Masters Buckey Interview

    Sarah Masters Buckey is the author of several mysteries in the American Girl historical line, and the stand-alone History Mystery series. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about the historic fiction genre, working with the American Girl brand and what’s coming next. Enjoy! 1. What first drew you to writing? More specifically,…

  • Book Highlight: Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate

    Friend suggested I read this, and wow, what a ride. If you’re a fan of Percy Jackson or want to learn a new mythology, this is the book for you. Farrah sees her father just one day every year—her birthday. But this year, her wish to bring them closer goes wildly awry when Farrah discovers…

  • Kathryn Lasky Interview

    Kathryn Lasky is the prolific NYT-bestselling author of Guardians of Ga’hoole, Tangled in Time, Georgia O’Keefe mysteries and many other books in various genres. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about inspiration, world-building and more. Enjoy! It’s sort  of six in one half dozen of the other, but by and large, I…

  • High School AUs

    What is it about them that draws people in? Is it that there is a enclosed space where you have your friends, enemies, and frenemies all in one place making it a perfect breeding ground for conflict and hijinks? Is it because it harkens to the author and readers’ nostalgia of the glory days? Is…