Macmillan Publishing

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

The Book of Stolen Time, breezy mglit summer reading anytime

After reading The Book of Stolen Time, which is one of the best titles of a book in recent memory BTW, you’ll see many Easter eggs just by looking at its cover. At first glance, a leopard, a snake eating itself, a male teen with a fairy on his arm, a girl holding a goose, and the two of them walking through a lake that they’re parting its waters is the stuff of a middle Earth-esque fairy tale. The Book of Stolen Time is the second book in the Feylawn Chronicles series. The first entry was the equally awesome titled, The Book of Fatal Errors!, and its sequel continues the world that was established in that book. Not having read that book, but jumping into The Book of Stolen Time is OK.

The Book of Stolen Time is just the engaging, taut, fantasy read that upper elementary and middle schoolers will dig.

Summer time and the reading’s easy

The Monsters of Rookhaven, odd, a little evil and great for ages 9 and up

A great heel makes the difference in stories that entertain, vs. those that flounder. It’s especially true in wrestling, as well as, literature. If the heel isn’t a strong one then the audience can be hopeful that it moves along quickly; with the vestiges of said plot point withering away due to its lack of spandex or words. The Monsters of Rookhaven is mglit that runs from the first page. It’s brilliantly weird, fun to read and feels familiar enough to bring in reluctant readers, while being different enough to satisfy those who need something new.

The Monsters of Brookhaven is mglit with an excellent villain, beautiful mystery and monsters that do exactly what a 9-year-old wants them to do.

upper elementary spooks, monsters and dread-with a side order of feelings

Elementary readers will be forever Bad Kitty, #FurEverBadKitty

For us, Bad Kitty is the best kind of retiring cop buddy-movie. They always manage to pull us back in. Our 11-year-old went through a huge Bad Kitty phase when he was in third grade. He would howl with laughter when we’d leave him alone so that he could dig in with Uncle Murray, kitty, and the other animals that make up Nick Brule’s world. That was a couple of years ago. His brother was casually interested in Bad Kitty, and then not at all. However, now, just like the venerable Sergeant Murtaugh who’s about to retire, our nine-year-old has rediscovered a certain skittish black kitty.

Bad Kitty, even the upper elementary kids dig it

They Threw Us Away blazes a must-read trail of action and friendship

The title and image on the cover of They Threw Us Away immediately activates the dark places that your imagination can wander. It inspires curiosity, thoughts of friendship, and an unknown hint of what could be malevolence or something more apocalyptic. We see four teddy bears, each with a distinct personality. One is protective, a pink one is dancing, one looks quite aloof, and one who’s a bit of a wildcard. On the back we see a quote from the first chapter of the book that ominously states, “Is anyone there? I think….I’m lost”. Forget any preconceptions you have about They Threw Us Away. This book could easily be more inspired by any number of characters, depending on what you identify with the most. However,in reality, it’s an original story that crackles like very few books you’ll read this year.

This is one of the best books of the year for mglit