mglit | Page 4 of 9 | Daddy Mojo

Dead Flip, retro teen scary vibes with a friendship backbeat

The 80s were chaotic, riddled with bad fashion that people thought was cool, produced some fabulous music, and is entertaining legions of teens nowadays. For the record ‘nowadays’ is possibly the oldest sounding word in the English language and is usually followed up with ‘back in my day’. Dead Flip is mglit that is all but served up with a heaping serving of Raisin Bran, featuring the iconic dancing raisins from 1989. It’s a fun book that today’s tweens and lower teens will enjoy because of the accurate 80s and 90’s shoutouts, as well as, the age-appropriate scares and drama.

Dead Flip is tween-aimed, mglit about a haunted pinball machine that has enough creeps mixed in with the retro teen ways of the 80s and 90s.

10 years and up who want spooky vibes will dig this

Coming Up Short is catch-all realistic fiction for the mglit set

One reason why mglit realistic fiction is challenging for some middle school readers is that life is not always 100% happy. There are sad, chaotic, confusing, and disappointing moments that everyone lives through. On the surface, those feelings don’t exactly roll out the reading red carpet to those 12-year-olds who are juggling their own personal issues, locker combinations, family issues, school work or sports. However, dig just a bit past the surface and those readers will discover that their issues, despite how unique and utterly end-of-world they might seem, actually have commonalities with realistic fiction characters. Coming Up Short easily falls into that category. It’s mglit that seems unique, end-of-world, and happens in a place where it could never really happen, but again, dig just a bit past the surface.

Coming Up Short is mglit that middle school readers will reach for, combining sports, family, competition, stress and poor decisions.

Mglit realistic fiction that stretches past the usual suspects

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is Potter Wakanda-tastic

A book series doesn’t exist unless the first book is any good and merits a sequel. Gone are the days when that was the modus operandi for books, not to mention those manuscripts that were lucky enough to become film. Now umpteen streaming services need content and that content must come from somewhere. Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is the first in a series of books by Tola Okogwu that was optioned for Netflix before the book was even released. Its story is perfectly summarized by the publisher’s blurb ‘Black Panther meets X-Men’, as a book that is 100% and this is mglit that knows its target.

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is a book series that’s tailor-made for Black girls in upper elementary, Potterheads and superhero people.

Fans of Potter, Wakanda and MGlit will dig this

Molly and the Machine, mglit that works well for ages 8 and (way) up

Mglit does not have to be based in the 80s to be entertaining. I say that because it seems that a couple of the books that we’ve read recently have had ties to that fabulous decade. Certainly, a major reason for that is the absence of screens. There’s no device that kids have to occupy them, solve their problems, do their research or look at pictures of giant robot footprints. That’s what Molly from Molly and the Machine might’ve done when she first started her adventures. It’s an mglit book that takes off its shoes and wades knee-deep in the river of fun reading. This is also an example of mglit that skews younger, allowing ages eight and up the chance to enjoy the adventure.

Molly and the Machine is a true mglit book that those mid-elementary readers are able to read, yet hold interest for middle school students also.

A book that’s friends with Spy SChool

Spy School Project X, marks the spot on go-to, mglit

Mglit is an abbreviation for middle-grade fiction. However, there are many instances where an mglit book can also be perfect for upper-elementary school readers. It’s kind of like the colloquial definition of art, it varies and can depend on who is viewing it. By any definition, Spy School is one of the go-to, must-read book series for the aforementioned groups. Spy School Project X is the tenth book in that series and, while it does show signs of maturity, it doesn’t show signs of decreasing quality or tired characters.

Spy School Project X is the tenth book in this fabulous mglit series, yet is as spry, fast and fun as it started. They are go-to books for ages eight and up.

To change, evolve and still maintain excellence-this does that

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

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

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