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Tag: middle grade historical fiction

February 10, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri, ill. Daniel Miyares

Nothing about this novel is wholly ideal except possibly its intentions and its ability to charm some readers into a general state of submission. The question now is: Are you such a reader?

November 10, 2022 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Three Strike Summer by Skyler Schrempp

“Three Strike Summer” is the sports book/ escape narrative / union organizing novel you wish every kid had the chance to read. Good news. Now they can.

October 7, 2022 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The Prince of Steel Pier by Stacy Nockowitz

Today I’m talking about a book with gangsters, Monopoly, a misunderstood hero, young love, boardwalks, and creaming someone in the face with a pack of coins.

More Recent Posts

Review of the Day: Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz, ill. Julia Iredale

January 27, 2021 by Betsy Bird

This is a book positioned to impress, that then sneaks over and steals your heart. Hermes would be proud.

31 Days, 31 Lists: Great Middle Grade Novels of 2020

December 30, 2020 by Betsy Bird

The penultimate list. Maybe, with lists like this one, we can all try to end 2020 on a slightly less terrible note.

Review of the Day: Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte

July 1, 2020 by Betsy Bird

May casual cruelties fall by the wayside in the presence of such books as this ione. May our children find it and love it and read it repeatedly. And may we see more such books from Ann Clare LeZotte and authors like her, that put work and care into the very folds of their stories.

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Review of the Day: Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

January 31, 2020 by Betsy Bird

Hand this to the kid that yearns for that freedom. For wide-open spaces and mysterious figures hiding in the shadows and snot nosed brothers and lots and lots of puppies. Hand it to someone who needs their own mountain. Even if it’s just a literary one.

Review of the Day: Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis

July 12, 2019 by Betsy Bird

There are kids out there that like comics and like realism and have long been starved for illustrated stories of the past. Hand them this book, and then hand it to all the science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts too, because this is a book for everyone. Impossible to forget, undeniable in its delights.

Review of the Day: The Line Tender by Kate Allen

April 10, 2019 by Betsy Bird

There are books for kids that dare to be more thoughtful than pulse pounding. If chosen freely by a child, they can unlock something inside. Something that means more to the person reading than anyone else. The Line Tender carries this promise in its pages. It's the right book for the right reader.

Review of the Day: Spy Runner by Eugene Yelchin (bonus interview included)

March 21, 2019 by Betsy Bird

Here’s an idea: Why not take the idea of a world gone mad and give it a jolt of lightning to the veins? Set your book in another era when America went a little crazy, then liven things up with spies, car chases, murder attempts, gunshots, traitors, double agents, and that’s just the first few chapters! A book for the kids that want to read a response to our age that will thrill them to the core, and maybe plant a couple of seeds of rebellion in their craniums at the same time.

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