Monday, 30 September 2013

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, #Cybils and other things Middle Grade

It is another Marvelous Middle Grade Monday as inspired by Shannon Messenger. I am heading over there to grow my to read list and see what all of you think of recent middle grade reads. Right now I am reading The Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya by Jane Kelley.  Oh my. It is one of those books you put down and want to get right back to because of the characters. Love those two. They need each other and we need them to see the power of connections we can have even in passing. Anyhow, I am not done, but will be by end of today. Plan on making it my read to self book when hanging with the grade three's.

And it is the last MMGM of September AND I am thrilled that it is also the eve of Cybils Nominations.

I will be sitting on the panel with a group of fine first and second round judges for...you guessed it...middle grade fiction (realistic). Here we are:

Here is the description of our category, described on the Cybils site by Karen Yingling:

Middle Grade Fiction--Category Description

Middle grade fiction encompasses a wide range of stories that do not have magical elements and are geared toward the 8 to 12 year old age group. These stories could be mysteries, histories, humor, sports, adventure and other tales set in the real world. Books should containing mature content in regards to violence, sex or language are more appropriate for the Young Adult Fiction category.
Sometimes, they like to read about kids just like themselves in real life situations, whether they are kids who get good grades or constantly get into trouble. If these books are funny and action-packed, so much the better! On the other hand, since readers are expanding their world views, they often like to read about kids who are not like them—characters who have other interests, live in other places and times, have different kinds of families, and face struggles they may never have experienced.
The Cybils hopes to find realistic fiction books that are well-written and thought provoking but also make Middle Grade readers want to keep turning the pages. This is your chance to tell us what books you think middle grade readers will not only learn from but be excited about recommending to their friends.-Karen Yingling.

Here are my fellow judges:

First Round

Second Round

 
Start stopping by the cybils site beginning October 1 to make your nomination in this category and all the others.
 
Finally, Akoss and I are beginning to put together Middle Grade March 2014 (see last years event to experience what it is all about).  We are reaching out to editors, agents, authors, bloggers and writers who have been part of it in the past and want to take part again and hopefully picking up some people to join us along the way, including debut 2014 middle grade authors. We will keep you posted over the next few months.
 
Ta for now!
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Monday, 9 September 2013

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday and the Best of Summer KidLit Hop Winner



Greetings and Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday all. I am now one week in working in my new school library and let me tell you, may have already said this, I am LIVING THE DREAM. Lots of work, I have classes everyday with an hour at the end of four of those days that is my own time. Needless to say I have been going early and staying late to really get into the grove and also implement some changes. This week will be my first full week.

I did not get around on the Best of Summer Kid Lit Hop as much as I wanted to, but really appreciate everyone who hopped by here to check out a couple of my favourite summer reads. Did the Random Org "thing" and the number was 28 and that commenter was:

Katie from http://youthlitreviews.com/  ! Congrats to Katie and thanks again to all who stopped by.

Now on to a rather delayed post. This is one I have been thinking on since mid-august while I was still running the Summer Reading Club. For that club I had an average of 17 9-12 year olds who came twice a week for two hours. We shared books, crafted, played games, did creative drama-ate! One of those kids was a 12 year old boy who loves to read Gordon Korman, who loves Holes, who read and loved-Hoot and Chomp by Carl Hissan. It was recommendation heaven for me because as I named off other books...he had not yet read them! Some of the books he took from me and loved are:

Wednesday Wars (an all time favorite of mine) by Gary D. Schmidt

Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn’t like Holling—he’s sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation—the Big M—in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.

Scat by Carl Hissan (well, I was pretty sure he would like this one!)

Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved.
But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance.
And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture.



Adventures of Bean Boy by Lisa Harkrader (incredible blend of humour and issues many kids face)

Tucker McBean enters a contest to win a scholarship to college to enable his mother to quit her job so she can go to school. He has always loved to draw comics so when there is a contest to create a sidekick to a comic book hero, he is a natural to enter. He creates Beanboy who achieves power through the bean.







Al Capone Does My Shirts (what a concept, what characters, what voice!) Gennifer Choldenko

Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water. I'm not the only kid who lives here. There's my sister, Natalie, except she doesn't count. And there are twenty-three other kids who live on the island because their dads work as guards or cook's or doctors or electricians for the prison, like my dad does. Plus, there are a ton of murderers, rapists, hit men, con men, stickup men, embezzlers, connivers, burglars, kidnappers and maybe even an innocent man or two, though I doubt it. The convicts we have are the kind other prisons don't want. I never knew prisons could be picky, but I guess they can. You get to Alcatraz by being the worst of the worst. Unless you're me. I came here because my mother said I had to.

Plunked by Michael Northrop (the way to story unfolded to show the MC's growing fear was really well done)

When a young slugger gets hit by a pitch, he needs more than practice to get back his game.

Sixth grader Jack Mogens has it all figured out: He's got his batting routine down, and his outfielding earns him a starting spot alongside his best friend Andy on their Little League team, the Tall Pines Braves. He even manages to have a not-totally-embarrassing conversation with Katie, the team's killer shortstop. But in the first game of the season, a powerful stray pitch brings everything Jack's worked so hard for crashing down around his ears. How can he explain to his parents and friends why he WON'T be playing? Readers will root for Jack as he finds the courage to step back up to the plate.
I have more, many more to recommend to him, including Neil Armstrong Was My Uncle, The Fourth Stall...Okay for Now, Dead End in Norvelt, and Wonder and....well, the list goes on. If you have any you'd like me pass on do let me know!


That is it from me. Next week back into more full sharing and thoughts on some of the middle grade I have been reading, but really wanted to share what I've been sharing with one of my young patrons. Ta for now and do head back over to Shannon Messenger's for more MMGM love!

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