Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Favorite day of the week is here again. You guessed it, it is:

And naturally I give a shout out to the fabulous Shannon Messenger who has her own Marvelous Middle Grade, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, coming out in the fall.

Today I'm sharing the love of a few recent reads as a means of helping celebrate Jill's (The O.W.L.) month long celebration of middle grade called MARCH OF MIDDLE GRADE. Reading it, writing it, interviewing authors, guests posts and...giveaways! Lots of giveaway. Hope you have time to head on over and check. it. out. 

Let's begin shall we? And I am thinking I have something for everyone. All descriptions are from Indiebound.org.

CHOMP by Carl Hiaasen Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle. His father is the unpredictable one. When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called "Expedition Survival!", Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show's boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out. They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . . It's anyone's guess who will actually survive "Expedition Survival". . . .

I am here to say I think the author is a master at multiple pov storytelling in middle grade. Gives you this larger than life feel for the whole story and really builds tension as you see all the players and storylines on a collision course...and not in a way you expect. You have fun guessing as you read along, but being the great storyteller the author is, you never quite get it right. There was humour, real life scary situations and our young hero rose to the challenge, not only of taking care of his dad, but taking care of those around him--animals and humans included. Loved it, including loving to hate (okay, maybe I should say it was more a dislike) Derek Badger of the over bloated ego driven fake star of "Expedition Survival". Copy from the publisher via Net Galley

STORYBOUND by Marrissa Burt When Una Fairchild stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, she thinks nothing of opening the cover and diving in. But instead of paging through a regular novel, Una suddenly finds herself Written In to the land of Story--a world filled with Heroes and Villains and fairy-tale characters.

But not everything in Story is as magical as it seems. Una must figure out "why" she has been Written In--and fast--before anyone else discovers her secret. Together with her new friend Peter and a talking cat named Sam, Una digs deep into Story's shadowy past. She quickly realizes that she is tied to the world in ways she never could have imagined--and it might be up to her to save it.


Whoa on the premise behind this one. A land of story with a mysterious past filled with nasty Muses, Heroes, Villians. One lonely girl falls into that world from ours and becomes the key to unravelling the mystery and saving the world. I now await the arrival of book two. Patiently. Or, I might stalk the author's website and blog. You know, for my future book club kids.  Won the ARC (eek!) in a contest. It's signed and everything!

THE HOP by Sharelle Byars Moranville A small toad named Tad is in grave danger.  Rumbler, a monstrous earth-eating machine, is poised to destroy his home, Toadville-by-Tumbledown. The green grass, the blue pond—everything Tad knows might disappear.  It is foretold that one brave young toad can help—but at a terrible price. Only if a toad kisses a human girl will Toadville be saved. Tad is called to rise to the challenge, disgusting though it seems. In the company of his best friend Buuurk, he sets off into the unknown. Meanwhile, a girl named Taylor is determined to stop her grandmother’s pond from being turned into a strip mall. Perhaps, somewhere along the way, she will cross paths with a small, brave toad. Little does she know that his quest is the same as hers. ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

I cannot express how much I loved this one. Alternating points of view between, Tad (the toad) and Taylor (the girl). Both have a quest, one to save his family (Tad) and the other save the pond she loves (Taylor). The author weaves together both quests with magic, both real and figurative, and leaves you satisfied at the end. (and teary eyed--okay, I cried, not from sadness but from sad, happy and whoa...awesome end). I could totally see this as a movie...the larger than life heroes (Tad and Taylor) could carry it and the power of Mother Earth/Nature (aka, the magic) would make it a hit. Imo :)

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday check out the following:

Shannon Whitney Messenger (a.k.a. Fearless Leader)-Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe
Jennifer Rumberger-Children's Author
Joanne Fritz-My Brain on Books
Danika Dinsmore-The Accidental Novelist 
Shannon O'Donnell-Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster-The Night Writer
Natalie Aguirre-Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero-Somewhere in the Middle
Ally Beecher- Kid Lit Frenzy
Barbara Watson-Novel and Nouveau
Anita Laydon Miller-her middle grade blog
Michael G-G-Middle Grade Mafioso
Jessica Lei-her blog  
Pam Torres-So I'm Fifty
Akoss-Nye Louwon – My Spirit | a search for the writer in me
Gabrielle Prendergast-Angelhorn
Gina Carey
T.L. Conway
Laurisa White Reyes

Enjoy the day all!