The Midnight Children is realistic fiction that crackles with life

The trailer to a book or movie can be a great or horrible thing. If you give too much away then one might as well not see or read the project. The Midnight Children doesn’t have a trailer per se, but it’s a great example of not judging a book by its cover. If one were to do that then you might think that it’s about a teen who hangs out in the forest with lightning bugs while his reclusive friends hide behind the trees. What’s great about The Midnight Children is that even as readers get to the one-third mark of the book, they’re still discovering exactly who the characters are and what they’re trying to accomplish.

The Midnight Children is realistic fiction that’s wonderful enough to make reader’s imaginations stretch past what they’re accustomed to.
MGLit and realistic fiction that grabs readers by hand

Fandex Kids, carefree, curiosity-inviting stem content for 8-12

When elementary school students get into the third grade they’ll start writing reports on basic subjects. It’s more than likely that those reports will center on an animal that probably has an unusual name or disgusting characteristic. Unfortunately for the students, they all can’t do their report on the Rainbow Dung Vampire Beetle. While it might be for the teacher’s sanity, they’ll limit the number of students that can do reports on a certain thing. Fandex Kids, Facts That Fit in Your Hand covers 49 main examples of a subject on one sturdy piece of cardboard.

Fandex Kids has been redesigned with more colors and a more engaging look for younger audiences. Ocean, Bugs and Dinosaur are out to entertainingly educate kids 8-12.
It’s a thin line between education and entertainment

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, too focused on sequels to be enjoyable

I taught ESL to Chinese students for two years. This is important because it introduced me to more Chinese myths than the average middle-grade reader. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao has the goal of building a book series that’s aimed at middle school readers.  

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor has lots of potential, but puts too many cooks in the kitchen and fails to keep its eyes on the prize.
One great book, is better than trying to build a world

Consider the Octopus, silly nautical fun with an eco-twist  

Consider the Octopus was such a wonderful surprise to read. Having finished the book the clues to what adds up to make it fun are shown on the cover. A casual glance at Consider the Octopus has a teen girl and boy on the cover, while a mid-size ship is cruising through an area of the ocean that’s covered with plastic. The book has elements of all of those things, but its result is far more entertaining and fun, than you’re prepared for.

Consider the Octopus is an upper elementary book that puts the fun in fiction, as well as, a side of STEM, crushing and lots of laughs.
A message book that uses comedy and timing to deliver the (fun) punch

Bullet Train, a book so good that I went to the eye doctor

I picked up Bullet Train by Kotao Isaka intent on experiencing a taut, quickly paced page turner. Instead, I cursed the size of the font, gave the book to my wife, and cursed this book was almost exclusively intended for fighter pilots. However, she could easily read Bullet Train. Apparently, I just needed to see the eye doctor, who probably has eyesight like a falcon who’s out for prey. Actually, I knew that I needed to get the prescription updated, but the summertime malaise had started to take root. My new plastic optics were firmly in place and Bullet Train was firmly on my chest, as a lay down after a muggy summer’s day.

Bullet Train is a thriller that deftly dances between humor and action, with the characters being the thread that aligns them.
Please let the movie be as great as this book was….

Gabe in the After is mglit that welcomes reluctant readers

I love it when a book that I’m not anticipating anything from utterly blows away expectations. Gabe in the After by Shannon Doleski is a book like that. Books like this feel short and make readers wish that there was more to this particular story that would’ve been told. However, at the same time, you be grateful that the book leaves you wanting more, rather than wearing out its welcome. It’s a tricky line to navigate between the two, but Gabe in the After does it with ease and will entrance even the most reluctant of upper elementary through middle school readers.

Gabe in the After is approachable mglit that’s tailor-made for reluctant realistic fiction middle school reads.
Hopeful dystopia, for mglit and up

Tapwe and the Magic Hat, Indigenous fable fiction with a grin

Let’s tell a pop culture-savvy upper elementary school student that they’re going to read a book about the Kree and that it also involves a trickster. This trickster isn’t 100% evil and their acts of kindness are as unpredictable as their tricks. Based on that rough description they’re apt to think that they’re reading a mash-up between Marvel space aliens and Loki. However, Tapwe and the Magic Hat is a much more grounded fable about the Plains Cree indigenous people who made up a majority of the population of North America hundreds of years ago.

Tapwe and the Magic Hat, an elementary chapter book that threads the line between fable, magic, life lessons, tricky creatures and more.
Fear not the cultural tales that will entertain

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