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Jen’s Pick List: Middle Grade Contemporary to Read

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While Kelly has been covering YA Contemporary Lit this week, I thought I’d chime in with a list of my favorite middle-grade contemporary reads. Much like with YA lit, contemporary reads, quiet reads, and real-life reads often get pushed to the wayside in middle-grade fiction, with readers and publishers concentrating on and flocking to fantasy books. Even when I was brainstorming this post, I had to eliminate some of my favorite MG reads because they were either magical (or, in the opposite direction, historical). In the end, this is my list, which concentrates mainly on books published recently.

1. The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner
Perhaps one of my favorites ever. Messner, herself a middle-school teacher, perfectly captures the worries, fears, school and family life of Gianna Z., a seventh-grader struggling to complete her mandatory leaf collecting/identification project while juggling cross-country and her ailing grandmother. Plain warm-hearted fun. Messner’s Sugar and Ice is also highly recommended.

2. A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
All Zoe wants to do is learn to master the piano so she can play at Carnegie Hall one day. But when her Dad buys her an organ instead, she doesn’t know how to deal. Add this to the fact that her Dad is afraid to leave the house, her Mom is always at work, and a really, really weird boy is desperate to be her friend, and Zoe doesn’t know what to do! Can Zoe learn what perfect actually is? Poignant, heartfelt, and moving.

3. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall.
Already considered a modern classic, this tale of the four Penderwick sisters and their widowed father reminds me of classics of my youth, such as Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden. When the Penderwick family decides to take a vacation, the four girls become friends with a local boy, whose incredibly strict mother balks at the girls’ rambunctious nature. Rosaline, 12, Skye, 11, Jane, 10, and Batty, 4, are all unique personalities with their own individual storylines, storylines that weave together seamlessly to create a charming whole. Birdsall has also come out with two sequels, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, and (recently published), The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

4. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
I recently reviewed the audio production of this book, where I went into much more detail. When Kat and Ted’s cousin Salim comes to visit them, they are shocked when he climbs into the London Eye to take a solo ride…and never exits! What follows is an investigation featuring Ted’s unique way of seeing the world. While he is on the autism spectrum, Ted’s specific diagnosis is never mentioned, and he simply sees himself as having a “disorder.” Yet it is these unique insights of Ted’s that lead to Kat and Ted eventually discovering the truth behind their cousin’s disappearance in a fascinating mystery/character study.

5. Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder
I named this one of my Favorite Reads of 2010, and this book still lingers in my memory, as it is so magical and enchanting. Snyder creates a character to fall in love with in Penny, the young girl who can not help but wish it was magic that caused her family to move from a large, lonely house in the city to an inherited property in Tennessee when her father abruptly quits his job. As the family interacts with a large, quirky cast of characters, the reader is witness to the true power of friendship, love, and determination.

6. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
The first in Balliett’s trilogy of books featuring amateur sleuths Petra and Calder, who live in Chicago and get caught up in a mystery when a priceless Vermeer painting, The Lady Waiting, is stolen as it is being transported to Chicago’s Art Institute. Filled with codes, clues, facts, both current and historical, and tons of puzzle pieces that are somehow reassembed at the novel’s conclusion, this book is just plain smart. Reluctant readers will appreciate the illustrations, while mystery lovers will love figuring out clues with the twosome. Balliet’s follow-ups, The Wright 3 and The Calder Game, are also highly recommended.

7. Rules by Cynthia Lord
Twelve-year old Catherine’s life is filled with rules. Not for herself, but for her younger brother David, who has autism. All Catherine wants is to be normal. But that’s hard when dictates like “no toys in the fish tank” and “chew with your mouth closed” are necessary all the time. But one day, when at David’s occupational therapy appointment, Catherine meets Jason, a patient with cerebral palsy, who becomes a true friend, little by little. As they learn to communicate through drawings and pictures, she struggles with some awful thoughts she herself is having and discovers the true meaning of friendship. Touching, honest, and straight-forward.

8. Smile by Raina Telegemeier
When sixth-grade Raina trips and falls, in the process injuring her two front teeth, she doesn’t know the dental saga she’s in for. Based on the author’s own childhood, this graphic novel is sure to resonanate with anyone who’s suffered braces, headgear, or retainers. Mixed up with the dental work, however, is still the reality of junior high: boys, family, friends, even a natural disaster. The bright, vivid illustrations are eye-catching, and the story is both compelling and relatable.

10. Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
Oh, man, is this a tearjerker! But a good one! Audrey is only 11-years old, but a family tragedy has left her absolutely on her own. Her only option is to go live with her grandmother in Vermont, to try to understand what has happened to her, to heal, and to move on with her life. Along Audrey’s journey, as she makes a new friend and starts to become more comfortable with her grandmother, she absolutely endears herself to the reader, leaving the ending, and Audrey’s big decision, the exact definition of what a book’s climax should be. Aubrey absolutely works her way into your heart

11. Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis
Emma-Jean Lazarus, a seventh-grader at William Gladstone Middle School, is definitely smart. But she’s definitely odd, too. She doesn’t understand why the other middle-school girls behave the way they do, and they don’t understand why Emma-Jean can’t quite understand what the social scene is all about. But when she chooses to comfort Colleen Pomerantz, who is crying over a friend’s betrayal, Emma-Jean is suddenly thrust in the middle of things. Suddenly she has friends, and is no longer on the outskirts. But will her awkwardness ruin the first real friendship she’s ever had? This book perfectly captures the awkwardness of middle-school, the fear we have that our friends are deserting us, and with what it’s like to be different. I ached and rooted for Emma-Jean.

12. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Tommy and the other boys in school just think that Dwight is plain strange. But how to explain the origami finger puppet Dwight made, the one that looks just like Yoga and is strangely accurate at the predicting the truth about their classmates? Mixing text, notes, and hand drawings, in the style of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this book is hilarious and very accessible, especially for reluctant readers.

Do you have opinions on these books? I’d love to hear about them in the comments, along with any other suggestions for fantastic middle-grade contemporary reads.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (audiobook)

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When Ted and Kat’s cousin Salim comes to visit them in London, Ted immediately wants to take Salim on his favorite London attraction, the London Eye, a large bicycle wheel-like contraption with tiny pods for people to ride in, towering high over the city of London. Salim and his mother, Ted and Kat’s Aunt Gloria, are visiting briefly, stopping over before their move from Manchester, England, to New York City. Ted, who struggles with a disorder on the autism spectrum (which is never labeled outright but is most likely Asperger’s Syndrome), is excited to share the experience of The London Eye with Salim, as Salim’s interest in him has immediately shot his cousin onto his list of friends, after his mom, dad, and his teacher. However, as the children are waiting in an excruciatingly long line to buy tickets, a man approaches them, claiming a case of claustrophobia and offering Salim his ticket for free. As Ted and Kat watch their cousin enter the London Eye and then track his pod throughout the precise thirty-minute ride, they are flummoxed when Salim doesn’t exit the ride. As the adults contact the police, Ted and Kat team up to investigate what happened. Could their cousin have actually vanished into thin air? Since Ted’s brain works differently than everyone’s around him, he may just have an edge on figuring out the truth of his cousin’s disappearance.

While I’ve been eying The London Eye Mystery ever since it came out in 2007, I often resisted picking it up, due to the recent publishing trend of protagonists with autism and Asperger’s Disease, in which the plots often failed to distinguish themselves from each other for me. However, I am thrilled that I finally picked this book up on audio. Narrator Alex Kalajzic masterfully brings the voice of Ted to life. Ted is a well-rounded character, who is never solely defined by his “syndrome,” as he calls it. He is 100% aware that he is different than other people, and often remarks upon the adjustments and observations that his teacher has instructed him to do: what different facial expressions denote, and when to smile at others. Yet he is still entirely himself, entirely focused on what makes him happy. Ted has an obsessive love for meteorology, listens to the shipping and weather forecast late at night to help him sleep, and thinks of weather patterns when he becomes anxious. Dowd often remarks upon the flapping motion that Ted’s hand makes when he is feeling heavy emotion, a small detail that broke my heart while reading. Yet regardless of Ted’s difficulty with emotions and physical contact, you can tell he still loves his family. He is excited to finally become ‘friends’ with Kat throughout their investigation, and he instantly bonds with Salim.

Besides Ted and Kat’s evolving relationship, the family dynamics in The London Eye Mystery are also stellar, all of which Ted views with a detached eye. Ted’s mom and Kat constantly clash, Aunt Gloria and her ex-husband Rashid have a typically antagonistic yet supportive relationship, and Ted’s father is exasperated with Aunt Gloria. I also have to say that I never guessed exactly how Salim disappeared, although I did predict an aspect that would be involved (yes, I’m being quite vague here!). Dowd’s mystery is compelling and smart, and the resolution is satisfying. It’s incredibly sad that this talented author won’t get the opportunity to provide us with more books.

While I’m sure I would have enjoyed The London Eye Mystery in print, narrator Alex Kalajzic’s matter-of-fact yet warm tone truly drew me in to Ted’s inner life. A wonderful listen!

What I’ve Been Reading and Listening to, Twitter-Style

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Some mini-reviews, Twitter-style, of what I’ve been reading and listening to lately!


My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies by Allen Zadoff
In Adam’s high school, the theater department is split right down the middle: the arrogant actors on one side, the nerdy techies on the other. But when Adam, a techie with a love for lights, falls for Summer, a new actress, he is torn between his friends and his heart. A quick read that falls a bit short of Zadoff’s debut, Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have, this book is nevertheless a wonderful depiction of a teen boy: his insecurities, fears, struggles, and aspirations.

Bossypants by Tina Fey
A compilation of Tina Fey’s musings on balancing career and motherhood, being a boss, comedy, and being a woman, this book was absolutely hilarious. Fey’s true voice shone through, and her anecdotes were laugh out loud. Her comparisons of being a little bit skinny and a little bit fat were especially amusing–this woman is a great observer of society.

Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
A charming audiobook covering the courtship and marriage of Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, who clashed in their beliefs regarding natural selection and faith. Impeccably researched, Heiligman masterfully weaves together pertinent facts, quotations, and amusing anecdotes into a seamless narrative. Narrator Rosalyn Landor’s British accent is perfect for this production.


13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
I finally picked this up after hearing so much hype over the upcoming release of The Last Little Blue Envelope. Following Ginny on her quest throughout Europe as she opens up her aunt’s succession of notes to her is a blast, and Maureen Johnson’s writing is engaging and amusing. The cast of supporting characters is well-fleshed out and three-dimensional, and Ginny’s emotions are true-to-life. I started listening to this on audio during my commute and had to bring the print copy home on Friday so I wouldn’t have to wait until the next week to finish it up!

Aging Middle Grade Covers

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Last week, I talked about covers changing from their hardcover debut to their paperback. This week, I thought I’d talk about another trend that I’m still wrestling with, and that is the aging up of middle grade covers. Middle grade for me has always been about cover art: there’s been less reliance on stock photos — particularly of people — and more use of actual art. There’s also been a lot of straight forward stock image use with a striking color background.

However, I’ve noticed this is also changing, as more and more middle grade covers are growing up. They’re getting covers with models on them — people — and they look more teen than tween appropriate. I think this is both a good and a bad thing; for many readers this age, it’s a good thing. It makes them feel older and makes them feel like they’re reading an older book. But the reverse is true: it could be what makes many unready readers feel they can tackle a tougher teen book.

Let’s look through some recent examples:


This is one of the common covers for Zia by Scott O’Dell. I like it: I really think the colors and the artistically rendered (note: not stock photo) person really give this cover its feeling. But there’s been a change for this one, and it’s one I quite like.

Isn’t it gorgeous? I think this cover has mega appeal and has a real contemporary feel to it. The only qualm I have with it is that it’s definitely not a middle school girl on the cover. She’s certainly older. But for this particular book, I’m not sure that’s problematic. I think the appeal is still to the right audience.

Here’s another one from Scott O’Dell, and this one’s going to be a rerelease. The original cover (dated, obviously):


They did update this one a few years later to this cover, which I quite like (it has a very Face On the Milkcarton feel to it).


They’re re-releasing this title in April this year with another new cover. You can guess what made me want to talk about this one a little.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. The girl doesn’t work for me in this cover — too much attitude. I don’t know whether she’s appealing to readers; she’s a bit off putting. I do like what they’ve done with the newspaper ad as the background for the title and author, as it plays off the last cover.

Now, let’s take another well-known middle grade author and look at some of the cover make overs she’s had.

This is one of Bauer’s titles that leans a little more teen than middle grade, to be fair. But the cover is an artistic one. And it’s been remade.


There’s a couple other of her titles that have had such a makeover, too.

I don’t care much for this cover. It’s a little too technicolor for my tastes. I do like the makeover this one’s gotten, and I think it ups appeal too (but maybe for older readers more than middle grade readers):


Let’s look at another of Bauer’s cover make overs before talking about the last two books that have come out.

A little too much red for my taste. This one has gotten a mighty makeover, though:


This cover reminds me of a million others. I’m actually a little torn, though, since I think it increases appeal to the middle grade audience more than the prior cover. Part of that is, of course, simply because of the dating issue. But let’s look at the last two books released by Bauer. They’ve been released with stock photos first, and I think both make a real statement.


I love this cover. This is a book I’ve read, and I think it’s perfectly fitting. The story takes place in an area where apples are a big deal for the economy and tourism, and there’s also a big aspect of the story involving newspaper reporting. Definite middle school appeal on this one.


This is her latest book, and again, I consider it middle grade, but this cover reads older to me. I think that it will appeal to both the middle and high school readers. I’m also noticing a food trend on these books. Hmm…

Here’s another original release, and this one is quite recent.


I don’t think I care a lot for this cover. The girl definitely looks older than the target audience. And actually, the thing probably bothering me the most is the dumbest, and it’s the unbuttoned side of the overalls. I get what it’s trying to do but it doesn’t work for me. I’m curious about the appeal of this one — I think it will work for middle grade. I think the font and off-centeredness of the title and the girl are appealing and give this cover just enough difference to stand out on a shelf. But man, I wish she’d button the side of her pants!

A cover make over I really like this is one, and I think it will give this book an entirely new, fresh middle grade audience.


Dated, no? But original art, if nothing else. Fortunately, they’ve updated it. Sure, it’s a stock photo, but they’ve done enough manipulating to it to really jazz it up.


It’s got just enough creepiness to it, too. I think this is a fantastic middle grade cover, as it has loads of appeal to the target readership and it doesn’t try too hard to mimic covers of books meant for older readers.

One last one that stuck out to me for a while is this one:


This is the original cover of Erskine’s Mockingbird. It’s not bad and it’s not great. It’s quiet, which is what I understand of the book itself. This is the kind of cover that will let the reader find it; the right reader will know. I like it, since it doesn’t really age the book at all. It gives it a classicness but it does feel middle grade — I think that’s in the font use.

Naturally, the paperback gets a makeover, though.


Notice a few things with me. First, most middle grade novels do not have a blurb. They will include book subtitles or notes about the author’s prior works and awards. But this one? It gets the Publisher’s Weekly review blurbed on the front. Middle grade readers probably don’t care it’s “a moving and insightful masterpiece.” They want a good story.

They’ve kept the font for the cover, which I like, but they’ve ramped up the color a bit. I will say, though, I think the girl on the cover is the right age. But what’s she saying to the middle grade reader here? The cover is, no doubt, attractive and appealing, but this is where I want to talk a bit — for me, middle grade readers are less about the feelings conveyed by the cover than teen readers are. They want to know the story more. For me, this cover is almost off putting, since there is so much feeling conveyed in the way the girl is positioned, in how her back is to readers. She’s not inviting. It’s here where I begin questioning why books aimed at middle grade readers are looking more and more like teen books and almost more like they’re targeted at adults than the kids themselves.

For me, the clincher on this is the PW quote. There is nothing about the story in that comment, as it’s written to adults for adults. Why is it there?

I’m not sure this is a trend I like or dislike, as I’ve seen both sides. I know there are plenty of other covers that are doing this, so if you know of any particularly good ones, share them in the comments. I’m also interested in your take on this trend. Do you like it? Do you find it as a way to turn off readers or perhaps lead them into other books that they’re not ready for?

Illegal by Bettina Restrepo

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I read and book talked a book a couple years ago by Will Hobbs called Crossing the Wire which still sticks with me today — it’s one of those books where the story and the character just won’t leave. It’s about 15-year-old Victor who crosses the border from Mexico into the US illegally, in hopes of finding stable work to make money for his family back in Mexico. It’s not an easy story to read, and it’s one where you as a reader must set aside any of your political feelings in order to really grasp at the stakes.

When I heard about Bettina Restrepo’s Illegal — a story of a soon-to-be 15-year-old girl’s decision to cross the border from Mexico into Texas to find her father (and a way to make money to save their struggling farm), I was immediately intrigued. We need more stories like Hobbs’s, and while this story does compare nicely, I think it let me down a bit in execution and development. However — and this is a huge however — I think that Restrepo might be opening up a whole new world to readers and to writers. I think she’s offered up a ton of interesting fodder to work with, and that in and of itself is a huge accomplishment.

When Nora’s father left her family three years ago to find work in Houston, he promised to be back in time for her quincenera. This is a huge deal to Nora, who, along with her mother and grandmother, live in a remote area of Mexico, in a down that dies a little more each day with its poverty. Fortunately, her father’s been good about sending money regularly. That is, until just before her 15th birthday and suddenly, her world is turned upside down. Why did her father stop sending money? Is he coming back like he promised? Or did something much darker happen?

Nora decides she and her mother need to investigate, and she convinces her mom they should pay a coyote to get them across the border, into Houston. And this is where the story begins, as we see these two learn to navigate a new city, a new country, a new language, and a new way of doing things. Not only that, but they’re there to find Nora’s father, and it’s through the underground network of people in their neighborhood they are able to find him — and that’s about all I can say without spoiling the story.

Illegal didn’t really convince me. I thought that the story was good and I liked the plot of it, but the actual execution of the story never came together. There were a lot of elements going into the story, and there was a lot of really interesting fodder to pull from, but it didn’t seem to me a lot of the strings that could have been explored were. There wasn’t enough emotional thrust behind the story — despite knowing what Nora and her mother were doing was incredibly dangerous — to make me connect to them at all. When I read Hobbs’s book, I immediately connected with Victor. I wanted him to succeed and I really cared about what he was doing and why he was doing it. In Illegal, I didn’t. It seemed too convenient that the entire adventure would transpire immediately before her 15th birthday and no time sooner or later. I know why this birthday was so important to her, and I wanted her father to be there with her. But the fact he disappears at that time worked too well for me. Perhaps I would have appreciated it more had the birthday been an incidental, rather than a key plot point in the story. I also didn’t get enough trepidation when Nora and her mother snuck across the border. Rather, I got more of Nora’s anger with the coyote. I wanted to smell and feel the fear, but I couldn’t.

Nora as a character read really young to me, which might have been part of the challenge I had connecting with the story as a whole. She makes a lot of very adult decisions — something I appreciate — but her voice feels very young. In convincing her mother to follow her (much less let HER cross the border), I feel like she should sound older and wiser, but she doesn’t. When she comes to Houston, she again asserts her decisions and power via more fist force than voice. As a reader, I wanted more insider knowledge of Nora, but I’m not given the access. Even though the story’s told in her perspective, I still needed more. It makes sense to me why she is almost 15 in the story (she needs the maturity to rationalize and make these big decisions), but I wanted a voice to match. Part of this had to do with the writing, as well, as the sentences and descriptions came off choppy and uneasy in parts.

I was also a little frustrated by the appearance of another character in the story, as if by magic. As a reader, I was forced to believe in this happening without much back story, and I didn’t. I didn’t want to suspend my belief in this story once because it is based in so much reality and there is such an audience for these books, but I had to do it a little too much.

What worked for me though was the use of the underground system. Even though Nora and her mother are dropped off in the middle of Houston, a city where they do not speak the language or know a soul, they’re immediately accepted into a community. They’re given jobs and they’re given insider information for survival. Even though they’re foreign and everything should be horrifying to them (which it is, don’t get me wrong), there is a built-in support system for them in their neighborhood. This is reality, and I think it’s something that’s not explored a whole lot in fiction. In her author’s note, Restrepo thanks some of the people she met at Fiesta (a Texas grocery chain that caters to a Mexican patronage); I love this because it’s clear she’s done her researched and talked to people, and she’s worked to make this as honest and realistic as possible. It’s through this underground system, too, that Nora and her mother learn about her father. It’s also through here that Nora and her mother begin to meet people, and it’s here Nora can pursue some of the things she’s only heard about from the girls she’s met at the local pool, like school.

As I alluded to, though, something Restrepo does with her book is open the doors to future stories like this. She’s opened up a ton of interesting threads for books that I’d love to read — I want to know the immigrant experience that Nora has. I want to see a whole book of her navigating the school system. I want a whole book of her crossing the border. I want a whole book of her learning how to speak English and how she could possibly determine for herself if what she did was the right thing or wrong thing. I want a whole book, too, on what she does when she reaches 18 and realizes she has to figure out how to get a job. These are the stories that happen every single day and yet don’t get much attention. Politics aside, they’re incredibly rich with real emotion and real decision making, and there is a well of potential characters and stories waiting to emerge.

That said, while this book didn’t work for me, it will reach many readers. It’s one I’m glad we have out there, as Nora’s voice and story will resonate with people. I’d hand this to those who liked Hobbs’s story, but I’d also hand it to anyone looking for a good story about contemporary events. The book is appropriate for tweens through older teens, and I think it’s one that can be book talked exceedingly well, particularly to middle school students or early high schoolers. There’s not a lesson to be learned here, and readers will appreciate that they’re not being lectured to while reading the story.