“This better not end in a cliffhanger”, I told my wife as I was finishing Mission Multiverse. It’s not that I don’t like cliffhanger endings, it’s just that sometimes when they end that way I feel cheated. Mission Multiverse is a great book. It sounds like I’m setting it up for some form of a backhanded compliment, but I’m not. It’s a very satisfying middle-grade book that exceeded my expectations. The reason that the words are coming out wonky is that it initially didn’t seem like it would be an entertaining book.
It goes without saying that books should be entertaining. But, I just said it, so sometimes we need to be reminded of the fact that some books are better than others. The Last Fallen Star is an entertaining, complete book that also opens it up to a larger world. The book is in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint from Disney Books and rewards readers more thoroughly than some of its contemporaries.
It can also be said that there is no bad pizza. There is simply pizza that is better than other pizza. The Last Fallen Star is literary pizza that is better than others. The book is part of the Gifted Clans Novel series by Graci Kim. It’s important not to cringe when you see that the first book in a series is already part of a planned series, much less one that has Rick Riordan Presents, before the title. I am all for letting a series or franchise prove its worth, let the one book be successful, and then deliver more. However, I can also see from the creator’s perspective that a greater story roadmap needs to be laid out so that they, as well as the reader, can let their imagination wander about what could happen to the characters.
I’m at the beach, reading a book for mid- elementary-aged and up students about unicorns. Shouldn’t I be putting my feet in the sand, walking, and looking for shells or something? Instead, I’m under an umbrella, willingly reading Unicorn Island, and enjoying it immensely. I could speed read it, but I’m taking my time reading the book, digging into the vivid descriptions and adventure that Sam is experiencing in Foggy Harbor.
My knowledge of Bollywood is limited. I know that they’re very popular and loaded with catchy songs. You do not need to know anything about Bollywood or Indian culture to enjoy That Thing About Bollywood. The local college radio station we listen to has an Indian program on and we’ll listen to it as a palette cleanser. Similar to the book, you don’t need to know the songs or understand the language to tap your toes when you hear the music. Sonali is a typical 11-year-old girl whose family is going through challenging times. She’s a little shy and realizes that things are even more unusual when she starts singing and dancing during a school trip. Moreover, even the background colors are changing with colors that pop and contrast more than they do in real life.
Slamdown Town: Ragtag Team is the second book in the series by Maxwell Nicoll and Matthew Smith. The first book, Slamdown Town was a slice of Tom Hank’s Big, The Main Event on Netflix, as well as a fantasy that most kids have. What if something you did magically gave you powers? In the case of Ollie, a young teenage boy, it’s a piece of gum that transforms him into a massive, hulk of a man who can wrestle like Kurt Angle. Whenever he chews it he’s Big Chew, an adult who throws elbows in the ring and when he doesn’t he’s just Hollis’ little brother, in addition to being a best friend to Tamiko.
On its surface, Wilderlore, The Accidental Apprentice seems like a book that you’ve read before. For me, it’s because I recently read Fartquest, a book whose tone is quite different but does share an overarching theme in common with it. Those older readers might even find threads of How to Train your Dragon, Nevermoor, or LOTR in the book. As you might have guessed, The Accidental Apprentice involves a quest that has monsters, beasts, and kingdoms. The mglit angle is firmly hit by the book because it’s one that middle school readers will enjoy due to the fact that it’s fun, has a very quick pace, and a pair of teen characters who will ride their imagination.
When I was a kid I had fringe pets. These were animals that didn’t qualify under the domesticated category that most people associate pets with. For example, I had a rabbit, granted lots of people have rabbits as pets but these rabbits were outside, never came inside, and rarely graced the touch of a human hand. We also had a crow, who ironically had the same home the rabbit did, albeit a couple of years later. Saucy is a book that’s aimed at upper elementary through Middle School readers and is all about those fringe pets. The cover has a pig who is running with glee, possibly running away from or towards something as the back jacket as a small family who is chasing him for some reason. That illustration gives you a great feeling for how the book reads.
That headline sounds likes like a backhanded compliment. It isn’t meant to be but does require a little history. The Darkdeep, the first book in the series was a perfect example of mglit escapism. It set up a world where the kids felt real and the dangers they eventually discovered were equally as scary. The Beast was good but was muddled at times. There was so much happening that the broader world that the kids and the Darkdeep created was confusing and felt like too much. Ironically, in The Torchbearers, authors Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs say hold my drink; amp up the action, widen the book’s scope and end the series in a way that’s fun to read for ages eleven and up.
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