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Tag: 2012 middle grade realistic fiction

December 31, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Pickle by Kim Baker

Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School By Kim Baker Illustrated by Tim Probert Roaring Brook Press (a division of Macmillan) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-765-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now When I was in college I took a course in journalism to fulfill an English credit. I had no real desire to […]

August 30, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Liar & Spy By Rebecca Stead $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-385-73743-2 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Rebecca Stead is the M. Night Shyamalan of children’s literature, and I mean that in a good Sixth Sense way, not a lame The Happening one. It’s funny, but when I try to compare her other authors I find myself tongue-tied. […]

August 7, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Freaky Fast Frankie Joe by Lutricia Clifton

Freaky Fast Frankie Joe By Lutricia Clifton Holiday House $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-8234-2367-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Realistic fiction for kids has more baggage than other fictional genres for that age group. Fantasies and comedies and science fiction get to rely on the extraordinary to weave their tales. Historical fiction, meanwhile, has the nice veil […]

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Review of the Day: Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed

July 25, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Twelve Kinds of Ice By Ellen Bryan Obed Illustrated by Barbara McClintock Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-618-89129-0 Ages 6-10 On shelves November 6th Every year the children’s librarians of the New York Public Library system come together and create a list of 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. The list, now entering its 101st […]

Review of the Day: Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

July 11, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Summer of the Gypsy Moths By Sara Pennypacker Balzer & Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins) $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-196420-6 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Spoiler Alert – I am giving away every little detail about this book in this review. You have been warned. As a librarian I’m always on the lookout for good middle […]

Review of the Day: Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

May 3, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Three Times Lucky By Sheila Turnage Dial (an imprint of Penguin) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3670-2 Ages 9-12 On shelves May 10th The Southern Girl Novel. It’s pretty much a genre in and of itself in the children’s literary world. Some years produce more of them than others but they all tend to follow the same format. […]

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Review of the Day: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

February 21, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Wonder By R.J. Palacio Alfred A. Knopf $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-86902-0 Ages 9-12 On shelves now They say if you want to win an Oscar you need to play somebody with an extreme personal difficulty (terminal illness, disease, etc.). They do not, for the record, say that about award winning children’s books. There isn’t this general […]

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