Middle school | Daddy Mojo

Double Crossed, the kind of can’t-miss, non-fiction that kids want to read

Double agent: an agent who pretends to be a spy for one country or organization while in fact acting on behalf of an enemy. The concept of a double agent makes my head spin. I understand who a spy is and what they do. A double agent gets a little tricky when it comes to fully comprehending who or what they’re spying on. They have to report to their handler in their home country, as well as their contact in the country they’re spying on. Additionally, they have liaisons in both countries and need to keep their cover identity intact. Failure to do so is almost certainly torture and death, plus all manner of pain their families and loved ones would be subject to. Longest prologue ever. Double Crossed: The WWII Spies Who Saved D-Day is the amazing, non-fiction account of D-Day and the duplicity that was needed in order for it to succeed.

Double Crossed aptly tells the story of Operation Fortitude and how D-Day’s success hinged on four double agents.

Operation Fortitude: for mglit, and it works

Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is why kids read

There’s a 1 on the spine of Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him. Jake Spooky is a punk rock ghost. He’s got the surly soul of today’s teens and throws up wolves, at least in this first book does that. Jake lives with Brand-O, a cool, flip-flop-wearing human with an old-school television as his head and an upright walking cat who doesn’t speak much, named Quincy. Elementary school graphic novel readers-Are you not entertained? If a graphic novel were a character in a movie, then Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is Maximus Decimus. Its absurd, playful content gleefully runs circles around other early reader, graphic novels. Amidst all of this running, it still has the bandwidth to ask an obvious question, and yes, we are.

Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him has the gross-out, absurd, LOL goods that can turn reluctant elementary school readers re-think their ways.

Yes, yes we are, part deux

Relic of Thieves pivots the focus, but stays true to its world

Remember in college when you heard that song from Gypsy Kings? Maybe it was later in life when you discovered that 99 Luftballons was just the tip of Nena’s catchy rock/pop German catalogue. Your kids are into KPOP or J-rock and you probably don’t understand any of those lyrics. The comprehension is low to none, but you can enjoy it just the same. The Underwild: Relic of Thieves has something in common with all of that music for the uninitiated reader.

Relic of Thieves is a very enjoyable book by itself, but is even more so because it builds an established world set against Greeks Gods.

Great for new readers, perfect for existing fans

The Spider Strikes will make young readers become book lovers

There’s an almost impossible point of believability to accomplish between Scooby-Doo, The Hardy Boys, the authentic enthusiasm of teens and realistic fiction. But wait, you want to successfully thread that needle through an opening further complicated by setting the book in 1930’s Germany? Somehow, The Spider Strikes, the third book in The Web of the Spider book series, navigates that 1%. It deftly tells an age-appropriate story about teenagers in 1931 Germany. I was skeptical too. However, during the book I was enthralled at the way it balanced everything. I was also bummed that the first two books in the series had slipped past my radar.

The Spider Strikes is realistic fiction with adventure that makes the story plausible and enjoyable, without being too real.

Young readers unite in their love of this book series

Burn the Water, mglit/YA that sets a higher water mark for the genre

Oh dystopian mglit and YA, you vex me so. Burn the Water is by Billy Ray. He’s the Oscar-nominated writer of the screenplay for Captain Phillips. Ray has also had his screenwriter or writing fingerprints all over The Hunger Games, Richard Jewell, and The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Text is not a stranger to him. Ironically, Burn the Water is his first novel, but he’s obviously cut his teeth on tense projects that have a taut narrative. Even if you didn’t know his pedigree, you’d suspect that something was higher than usual within the first couple of pages of Burn the Water.

Burn the Water is YA/mglit that blazes a unique path through a world that you think you know, but will certainly want to read more about.

YA/mglit/book people, c’mon in, the water’s fine

The Six Queens of Henry VIII, non-fiction content that sticks in your head

Herman’s Hermits did more for Henry VIII than most North American schools. I just asked a group of 25 high school juniors if they knew who Henry VII was, and two students raised their hands. They knew that he had many wives, but incorrectly said that he killed all of them. To be fair, when I was a child, if a teacher had said Henry VIII we would’ve echoed it with, Herery the eighth I am, I am. Set against this backdrop is what makes The Six Queens of Henry VIII all the more remarkable. It’s an illustrated book with graphic novel element that manages to entertain audiences in equal measure to its education.

The Six Queens of Henry VIII uses varied art and succinct text to make a non-fiction book on British royalty that’s effortless to enjoy.

hIS WIVES AND hENRY vii MEET STORYTELLING TARGETED AT MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP

The Aftermyth is mglit you didn’t think you’d like, but end up absolutely loving

I never considered myself the type who would enjoy a young adult vampire romance book. The Aftermyth is by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Tracy Wolff. Wolff has written dozens of books and has a very extensive categorical list on her website. There are dark and sexy romances in Ethan Frost, sexy dragons in the Dragon’s Heat Trilogy, adult romance in Extreme Risk, sexy and heartwarming in San Diego Lightning and the aforementioned vampires in the massive Crave series. She’s also written some books for the Harlequin Superromance imprint. This is a series of books that my wife is wishing I’d take inspiration from; either for my abdomen workouts or romantic wooing. Out of the five sub-genres that Ms. Wolff writes books for, The Aftermath is the first one in the middle grade line up and it runs like a refrigerator.

The Aftermyth uses its wit, action, creativity and manic pacing to create an mglit release that’s hard to put down.

So good it’ll make you forget something something…

Brain Quest Presidents Smart Cards, the go-to car trip friend is updated

The United States of America is 250? I vaguely remember the 200^th anniversary and the Bi-centennial train that made its way across the country.Brain Quest Presidents Smart Cards is released the same year as its 250^th and is a surprisingly fun and engaging way to test your knowledge about the U. S. Presidents. I say ‘surprising’ because presidential facts doesn’t take up much, if any space in my wheelhouse. It’s an area that I’ve never purposely sought out information on, despite many U.S. history classes that certainly put a couple of facts in my hippocampus.

Brain Quest Presidents Smart Cards has the same format, great questions, durable cards, and engaging content, but is updated for America250 or its Bisequicentennial.

Presidents and trivia to make a road-trip fly by?