REAL FRIENDS

For every child that has experienced the aching uncertainty of loneliness and belonging, here is a story drawn from celebrated children’s book author Shannon Hale’s memory of finding, losing, and reimagining friendships.

Growing up as a middle child of five, young Shannon constantly finds herself the odd one out as her older and younger siblings pair off to play. Desperately lonely, Shannon is ecstatic to make one good friend on her first day of kindergarten. She and her new friend, Adrienne, are inseparable as they embark on imaginative adventures at school and home, and Shannon is confident that she has found all she needs in Adrienne.

But when Adrienne joins the popular girls’ group in third grade, things get complicated for Shannon. Where does she stand? Is she in the Group? Are these girls her friends? Why does one girl in the Group keep telling lies about her to the others? Does she still have a best friend?

Spanning the author’s elementary school years, Real Friends by Shannon Hale presents a story that is authentic, compelling, and relatable, with artwork by LeUyen Pham that is appealing and complementary. It’s a perfect fit for Raina Telgemeier fans.

For other great middle grade graphic novels about friendship check out Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl (reviewed by Meghan here), Svetlana Chmakova’s Awkward (previously reviewed here), and Cece Bell’s El Deafo (reviewed by Anush here).

Grades 3-7

BEFORE PARADISE

It’s 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression, and ten-year-old Beans Curry has had enough of working for close-fisted hoodwinkers. With an eye towards enterprise, he and his eight-year-old brother, Kermit, have been taking on odd jobs around town to help their unemployed parents make ends meet in a time when everyone is struggling.

Like everyone else in the close-knit community of Key West, Florida, Beans isn’t ready to trust the stranger in a shiny automobile from Washington D.C. with New Deal aspirations to turn the island into a tourist destination. Why would people want to travel across the country just to vacation in a town full of dilapidated homes, overflowing garbage, pot-holed dirt roads, and swarms of scraggly children? And besides, how can you trust a guy who walks around town in his underwear? Bermuda shorts, he says? — Beans doesn’t think so.

When a local bootlegger offers Beans a tidy sum to create a distraction, Beans seizes the opportunity to help his family. But after tragedy strikes as a consequence of his actions and the community mistakenly lauds him as a hero, Beans decides he will do anything to repay their trust. Saving Key West will be his biggest enterprise yet.

Jennifer Holm’s middle grade novel Full of Beans is a heartfelt and humorous prequel to her 2011 Newbery Honor Book Turtle in Paradise. The author’s note includes additional information on the background of Key West and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, which ultimately saved the bankrupt town and shaped its history as a present-day tourism hotspot.

Grades 4+

FRAZZLED

Abbie Wu is suffering from an extreme case of the middles.

Not only is Abbie a middle child (squarely between her amazingly good at everything older brother Peter and her annoyingly adorable younger sister Clara), she’s now starting middle school, and she’s currently in the middle of an identity crisis!

It seems like her best friends know exactly where their talents lie: Maxine is natural actress, while Logan is a young tech genius. Meanwhile, Abbie has tried plenty, but has yet to find her Thing. So when it comes time to choose the ever-important elective class, Abbie finds herself in dread study hall instead. But it’s once there that Abbie is drawn into a campus-wide underground lunch revolution that may reveal to everyone, including herself, just how much she has to offer.

With an air of dramatic doom and plenty of attractive cartoon illustrations on every page, Frazzled: Everyday Disasters and Impending Doom by Booki Vivat is a great read-alike to middle grade staples like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries. Perfect for the humorously hyperbolic and melodramatic middle grade reader in your life.

Grades 4-6

SUMMERLOST

It’s been one year since 12-year old Cedar Lee’s father and autistic younger brother Ben both died in a car accident. Now Cedar, her mother, and youngest brother are spending the summer in the small high desert town of Iron Creek where her mother grew up. It’s a summer where everything is the same, and nothing is the same.

Cedar soon befriends a boy associated with the Summerlost Festival, Iron Creek’s distinguished Shakespearean festival, and becomes preoccupied with the decades old, unexplained death of one of its star actresses. Meanwhile, random trinkets, things that would have caught Ben’s attention, mysteriously appear on Cedar’s windowsill at night. Cedar doesn’t believe in ghosts, but what if Ben is sending her a message?

Summerlost is a middle-grade story of friendship, mystery, grief and healing. Ally Condie beautifully and heartbreakingly captures the complexity of love and guilt experienced by a sibling to a special needs child.

Share with theater lovers and fans of Gary Schmidt, Richard Peck, Cynthia Lord, and Ingrid Law.

Grades 5-8

(LIFE IS) AWKWARD

On her first day as a new student, Middle schooler Penelope “Peppi” Torres will accidently catch the attention of mean-spirited students by tripping over her own feet. In a moment of panic, Peppi will push a quiet boy and scramble away, leaving him to endure the taunts of their classmates. This brief moment will be seared into Peppi’s memory as, even weeks later, she agonizes incessantly over how to apologize.

Peppi knows moving to a new town and school is rarely easy. That’s why she is horrified to break cardinal rule #1 for surviving school on her very first day: don’t get noticed by the mean kids. Luckily, there’s Art Club. There Peppi finds her place among young artists, sharing ideas, bemoaning artist’s block, and commiserating with them over their long-standing rivalry with the Science Club.

Peppi gradually develops an awkward friendship with the quiet boy, a “rival” from the science club, but finds it difficult to navigate between social groups. A highly publicized competition between the two clubs to earn a coveted spot at the annual school club fair ultimately tests her loyalties.

Though the rivalry between the two clubs can feel forced at times (I imagine there are plenty of kids who appreciate both art and science), Svetlana Chmakova’s graphic novel Awkward deftly explores themes of loyalty, friendship, and morality, while remaining true to its middle grade target audience. Give this to readers who are eagerly awaiting Raina Telgemeier's next book (Ghosts in September 2016).

Grades 4+

ONE BOOK AND JENNIFER HOLM

This is our One Book One Glendale... for Young Readers November 10, 2015 at 7p.m. We're very excited to have Ms. Holm come to Glendale to talk about her book.  Please join us on Tuesday at the ARC across the parking lot from the Central Library. Click on the book cover to read our review of her book.  

SECRET ORIGIN STORIES

By age 15 Jimmy Gownley had already written, illustrated, and self-published his first comic book. The Dumbest Idea Ever is the memoir and secret origin story of a real-life comic book artist who grew up in a small Pennsylvania town. It’s the tale of a lost championship game, chickenpox, pneumonia, friendships, first love, a sudden shift from straight-A student and star athlete to “the kid who used to be special,” and the “dumbest idea ever” that ultimately changed his life. 

Focusing on the author’s life between the ages of 13-15, the graphic novel captures the often difficult transition from middle to high school. The book is dedicated in part to Jimmy’s late friend Tony, who played a significant role in encouraging and inspiring him to write from personal experience. 

Jimmy Gownley’s heartwarming story is a welcome addition to the middle grade graphic novel memoir genre, lately popularized by Raina Telgemeier’s bestseller Smile. For another read alike, try Cece Bell’s El Deafo, which chronicles the author’s early to tween years after a childhood disease leaves her profoundly deaf. 

For grades 4 and up.

HAVE YOU READ THE MOCKINGBIRD BOOK?

When Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee included, but not everyone in their class share their enthusiasm so they hatch a plot to get the entire town talking about the this Harper Lee classic. They plan controversial ways to get people to read the book, including re-shelving copies of the book in bookstores so that people think they are missing and starting a website devoted to targeting "the mockingbird." At first their efforts have the intended buzz and people are hungry for the book, but soon things spin out of control and they unwittingly start a mini revolution in the name of book. 

In this slim novel, I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acompora will inspire middle grade readers to want to read this  American classic.  This is not a story for everyone, but for mature readers from 6th grade and up.