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Tag: middle grade mysteries

April 5, 2019 by Betsy Bird

Wait… That Book Was Good! Flashback 2006: Enola Holmes

Today we're going to try out a new series. Jump into the wayback machine with me, and let's revisit books that came out more than a decade ago, that were stellar at the time. Does anyone remember them today? Do kids still find them in libraries? Bookstores?

April 19, 2018 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Parker Inheritance By Varian Johnson Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-94617-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. The other day I was asked to come up with ten children’s book equivalents to Claudia Rankine’s book Citizen (which, should anybody ask you, is not for kids). To do this, I wanted […]

June 19, 2014 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Greenglass House By Kate Milford Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-544-05270-3 Ages 9-12 On shelves August 26th When I was a kid I had a real and abiding love of Agatha Christie. This would be around the time when I was ten or eleven. It wasn’t that I was rejecting […]

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Review of the Day: Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald

January 11, 2014 by Betsy Bird

Under the Egg By Laura Marx Fitzgerald Dial (an imprint of Penguin Group) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8037-4001-3 Ages 9-12 On shelves March 18th. Let me ask you a question. You seem like an intelligent individual. Have you ever read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? And, if your answer is yes, did you […]

Review of the Day – Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

August 12, 2013 by Betsy Bird

Lockwood & Company: The Screaming Staircase By Jonathan Stroud Hyperion Books for Children $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4231-6491-3 Ages 10 and up On shelves September 17th I’m sick of historical fiction. I’m sick of contemporary fiction. I’m sick of realism and science fiction. Fantasy I watch with a wary eye. I don’t always feel this way but […]

Review of the Day: A Girl Called Problem by Katie Quirk

May 2, 2013 by Betsy Bird

A Girl Called Problem By Katie Quirk Eerdmans Books for Young Readers $8.00 ISBN: 97800-8028-5404-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Who says that mystery novels for kids all have to include the same tropes and settings? I tell you, half the time when a kid comes up to a reference desk asking for a mystery […]

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Review of the Day – All the Wrong Questions: “Who Could That Be at This Hour?” by Lemony Snicket

September 24, 2012 by Betsy Bird

All the Wrong Questions: “Who Could That Be at This Hour?” By Lemony Snicket Illustrated by Seth Little, Brown and Company $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-316-12308-2 Ages 9-12 On shelves October 24th Last year I was running a bookgroup for kids, ages 9-12, when the subject of children’s books adapted into films came up. We talked about […]

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. […]

Review of the Day: The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone

November 8, 2011 by Betsy Bird

The Romeo and Juliet Code By Phoebe Stone Arthur A. Levine (an imprint of Scholastic) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-21511-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now It seems unfair that my attention was first drawn to The Romeo and Juliet Code because of its cover. No book deserves to be held responsible for its misleading jacket and Phoebe […]

Review of the Day: Icefall by Matthew Kirby

October 8, 2011 by Betsy Bird

Icefall By Matthew J. Kirby Scholastic $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-27424-1 Ages 9-14 On shelves now. There’s a certain breed of middle grade fiction novel for kids that defies easy categorization. Call them fantasies without fantasy. These strange little novels pop up from time to time encouraging readers to believe that they are reading about something fantastical […]

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