Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

Those of you who loved the classic will want to read The Lost Track of Time .

A recent release by Scholastic, it's filled with wonderful wordplay and metaphors. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Might be my favorite middle grade read of the year.

Thanks - I've added that to my priority list to check out from the library!

I just reread, for the first time in probably 4 decades, By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the fifth book, when Laura approaches adolescence, and the family settles in De Smet. We even catch a glimpse of the Wilder 'boys' and their glorious team of horses. I must say, I was surprised by how well the story holds up. Interesting, exciting, beautifully written....

A few years ago I read most of the Little House series to my boys, and like you, Cheryl, I was quite taken with the beautiful writing.

It was also interesting to re-read some of the stories with adult eyes -- to understand what it must have meant from a parent's point of view to watch your family starving to death through a long, hungry winter, or to wonder if the Indians would come and massacre your family! Somehow I missed the seriousness of those situations when I read them at age eight.

And I think that's part of the reason they're so great - different readers, and readers of different ages, will definitely get different things out of them.

M.G. wrote: "Those of you who loved the classic will want to read The Lost Track of Time.

A recent release by Sc..."

Thank you! That looks fantastic!

I read Brown Girl Dreaming and found in moving. For those who like books in verse.

I recently read the Phantom Tollbooth for the first time, so I'll definitely check out this one, M.G. I loved the Tollbooth.

My other recent read which I enjoyed was The Canning Season.

Also going to check out The Canning Season. Looks great. Where does canning come in?

I'm reading Daphne's Book, a thrift store find and a book I owned as a kid. It was one of many that inspired my love of writing, so I'm curious to see if I still enjoy it.

V. wrote: "Also going to check out The Canning Season. Looks great. Where does canning come in?

I'm reading Daphne's Book, a thrift store find and a book I owned as a kid. It was one of many that inspired m..."

The book is set during the summer when the old ladies can blueberries. I loved the book.

I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan, and I finally got around to reading Stardust. It was excellent! I need to see the movie now. Who knew unicorns were so violent!

Hm. I thought that would be YA/Adult...

Anyway, I wish I was still assigning school reports to 5th-graders. I just loved One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin, which is entertaining enough for any readers age 7 up, but also informative enough for biography or science book or research reports. I do appreciate Kathryn Lasky.

In addotion to these great titles, A Handful of Stars is going to be a heart tug for readers -

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I reread Anne of Green Gables which was one of my very favorite books as a young reader. I cherished Anne, wanted to be one of her besties. This time around? I felt a little let down, which surprised me. I didn't have the same reaction when I reread the Little House series.

Writing styles have changed -- so much was told from the adult POV, lots of telling vs showing. Also, certain plot points didn't ring true -- the way Anne held a grudge against Gilbert for FIVE YEARS seems a little excessive, when she seemed so forgiving of everyone else's faults. (Being called "carrots" seems to pale in comparison to the cruel way Marilla let her wonder for a whole extra day if she was going back to the orphanage . . . . ) Think I'll have to crack open the next book of the series though, and see if the plot slows down enough for me to find the old magic . . .

Also, I've discovered that L.M. Montgomery wrote books for grownups. Since they are in the public domain and available on kindle, I'll have to at least give them a look.

MG, Montgomery wrote a lot of books, and the line between children's and adults is pretty unclear. But I like pretty much all of them :)

Best book I've read this month might be Stowaway. I think this would be a great book for kids who are a bit dubious about fiction--it is only just barely fiction, but does involve characters and relations, unlike a pure history.

Stowaway is incredible. Karen Hesse is a wonderful writer, even for ppl like me who don't particularly like historical fiction.

The best book I read in June was a new book, "Aschwood Academy" by M. B. Cohen. My daughter and I have been reading together for years and found this book to be a lot of fun and can't wait for the next book in the series. It's a great adventure/ fantasy book that reminded me a bit of Harry Potter.

This June, I read a book called The Secret Hum of a Daisy. It was a wonderful middle grade fiction read :)

The Secret Hum of a Daisy
Great title, Madeline, I'll investigate.