Middle School | Page 5 of 6

Fart Quest is a middle school modern classic that’s smarter than you think

Readers have to hand it Fart Quest. It clearly states what the book is about in its title. Granted, you have no idea what the quest entails, but are fairly certain that someone is on a journey and they’re probably gassy. Author Aaron Reynolds takes a simple premise and makes it so much more. Not content to simply make an upper elementary through middle school book; he’s written an adventure book about a mage in training that, at times, has more in common with Lord of the Rings than Captain Underpants.

Funny and more than the sum of its puns is Fart Quest

Ghoulia and the Ghost with No Name continues the undead love

Ghoulia is back in her third entry from Barbara Cantini. You Tim Burton-inspired, middle-school, well-crafted, graphic novel loving people know what I’m talking about. Ghoulia and the Ghost With No Name may sound like a person who’s got the lyrics to that song by America wrong. We do things like that all the time when we’re in the car by ourselves. This series is the incredibly detailed world of Ghoulia, a spooky little girls whose family is even spookier. Think a more gothic Addams Family, but with much more charm and drawn to minute observations put into every page.

Artistic, well thought out burton-esque dark fun awaits you

Backward Science bridges the past and present for ages 9 and up

Backward Science is reverse engineering’s brother, the two of them live at that house down the road with all of the car parts that are just outside of where you can see them. That way they can avoid the HOA penalties. That phrase also sound like something your parent might say after you create something. “That’s some backward science there”, dad would say as he’s trying to compliment you, but really wants the end product or creation thereof to be more polished. In this instance, Backward Science is the perfect name for a book that takes a look brief look back at how we lived, made stuff or got around before things were as modern as they are today.

Stealth learning and overt fun for upper elementary and up

Roll With It sneaks up on any middle school reader

For some reason the cover to the book and its title didn’t connect with me. The cover of Roll With It has a teenage girl in her wheel chair, balancing on her back wheels whilst holding a pie with finger like she’s spinning a basketball. The cover image and the title imply the vibe that the book puts forth perfectly. So much so that after reading it I realized I had brought my expectations to a book that I expected to be one that I couldn’t relate to and dour.

Trying to get middle schoolers to read something different? Try this

Beast Face-To-Face With The Florida Bigfoot review

Beast Face-To-Face With The Florida Bigfoot arrived on my desk without any advance knowledge on my part. Truth be told, my oldest son opened the package and said, “Dad, you’ve got a book about Bigfoot!” Mind you, it’s the Florida Bigfoot, a creature that I’ve never even heard of. I’m no Bigfoot aficionado; sure I’ve seen the Patterson-Gimlin film and saw Steven Austin get carried away by Andre the Giant in that tunnel in 1976. But a middle grade book on the Florida Bigfoot must sure be hokey, right?

Upper elementary and middle school dread doesn’t get better than this

Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw, upper elementary go-to fiction

The presentation is one of the first things that elementary aged readers will notice about Diary of a 5^th Grade Outlaw by Gina Loveless and Andrea Bell. It’s much more of a rectangular prism than other books. This allows smaller hands to easily grasp the hardback book and look at its cover. From there those readers will see the rough notebook like appearance to the book and might erroneously presume that it’s cut from the same cloth as Wimpy Kid. It’s not and once you open up the book you’ll see that Diary of a 5^th Grade Outlaw is exactly what some kids need in order to become better readers.

Its text, layout and subject are perfect for mid-elementary ages

Rise Up, Ordinary Kids with Extraordinary Stories review

Some parents will have their guard up given the title to this book, Rise Up, Ordinary Kids With Extraordinary Stories. The title might lead some parents to think that it’s just a book about Generation Z kids who are better at grabbing headlines than solving things or actually doing something worth mentioning. However, readers of any age will be pleased to know that this is a book that spans the globe and covers many generations of special things or accomplishments that those under 23 have achieved.

Short storytelling and sharp graphics make this book pop

Slamdown Town is middle grade reading gold

Take everything that a 10 year-old kid wants and put it into a middle-grade novel. It must have humor, heart, lots of jokes, parallels to school, the cliques that operate therein and have a side dash of science fiction. That’s a tall order but Slamdown Town encompasses all of those categories and another big one that will bring in some fans and that’s wrestling. Almost more impressively, the book weaves the wrestling into the book without alienating those that don’t like, or don’t know about the joys of a slightly pre-arranged body slam and victory.

Slamdown Town is a GREAT, go-to book for upper elementary through middle school readers