On my continuing read through the Newberry Medal winners and honor books, I picked up this one. It won the medal in 2018. I’m not sure why. I disliked it a great deal. Eleven-year-old Virgil Salinas is shy and reticent, a complete misfit in his Filipino family. This earns Virgil the nickname Turtle, which he […]
The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, 2015
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! This is yet another book that claimed 2016 Newberry honors. (Can you tell I’m catching up?) I loved it and listened to the entire 8 hours in one gulp! It’s all the things I […]
Pennyroyal Academy, by M.A. Larson, 2014
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! “The girl,” raised by a family of dragons, flees the forest with no name and no past. She knows only that she must find Pennyroyal Academy, where the bold and courageous train to […]
The Convention, by Lars D. H. Hedbor, 2021
I haven’t read a Tales of a Revolution book in several years and decided to check out Lars D. H. Hedbor’s latest. Turns out he’s completed THREE in that time. So I grabbed The Convention. In our fast-paced world with its fast-paced plots, I had to reacclimate to Hedbor’s style. His books are not blood-and-guts […]
Roller Girl, Veronica Jamieson, 2015
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! I first heard of this book when I looked up what year Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan, was written and learned that both books won 2016 Newberry Honors. So I grabbed the audiobook without […]
Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, 2015
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! I like Pam Muñoz Ryan’s books, and there’s a reason Echo claimed Newbery honors in 2016. Ryan is often lauded for her multicultural stories, but that’s not why I like them. I like them because […]