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 […]
I've reviewed lots of books and written 20 of my own.
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 […]
I’m back for the summer
It’s been a long time since I reviewed a book! Seven years, in fact. I miss being part of the online community of readers and writers, so I’m going to jump back in for the summer at least. Next fall, we’ll go from there. If you remember me from that far back, I’ll give you […]
Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate
I haven’t written much since Covid interrupted our family dynamics, but I recently found an exceptionally well-written and poignant book and have to share it. This one is excellent–historical fiction set against the infamous Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage. While the orphanage often did provide loving homes for needy kids, it’s also well established that […]
The Golden Goblet, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Book Review
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! Published in 1961 and receiving Newbery honors the next year, The Golden Goblet still rates high on any reading list decades later. Within, young Ranofer wants nothing more than to become a goldsmith in […]
The Mouse and the Motorcycle Trilogy, by Beverly Cleary, 1965
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! In honor of Beverly Cleary, who passed this year at the age of 104, I’ve chosen three of her works for this week’s MMGM. As a kid, I dearly loved Ramona, but my all-time […]
The Beast of Talesend: After Beauty and the Beast (Beaumont and Beasley, 1), by Kyle Robert Shultz, 2017
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 the first time I’ve participated in MMGM in a few years, and I picked a great book for my return. The premise grabbed me right away. I’ll post a […]