The Boy At the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf, illustrated by Pippa Curnick

It's three weeks after the beginning of a new school year and suddenly there's a new boy named Ahmet sitting in what had up until then been an empty seat. But while he may be a student in Mrs. Khan's class, he doesn't ever participate, nor does he go to lunch or out into the schoolyard with the other kids. No one knows where he goes during lunch break, so naturally all kinds of wild rumors abound. And although the narrator Alexa, age 9, keeps making friendly overtures to Ahmet, it is to no avail. But when Alexa and her friends Josie, Tom, and Michael overhear teachers talking about Ahmet, they learn he is a refugee kid and that no one speaks his language.

The school finally brings in a class assistant to work with Ahmet. Meanwhile, Alexa and her friends keep trying to be friends with him, until finally Ahmet is allowed to go out and play in the schoolyard with the other kids. And imagine their delight when they discover he can kick a mean football/soccer ball - well, everyone except Brandon the class bully who hates everyone who's different.

Little by little, Ahmet's story comes out and the kids learn that his family had had to escape Syria when the fighting there began, and that his baby sister had drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and that he had somehow become separated from his parents and doesn't know where they are.

Alexa's father had passed away when she was little, and now her mother has to work long hours, so she has some idea of how Ahmet must be missing his parents. She also learns that her Austrian grandmother had had to escape the Nazis in WWII and that she had then worked to help other escape, too. All of which is why, when she overhears that the border is closing in a week and the United Kingdom won't be accepting any more refugees, she and her friends decide to do something about reuniting Ahmet with his parents.

When the first plan Alexa, Tom, Josie, and Michael come up doesn't produce results, Alexa come up with "the Greatest Idea in the World." This plan consists of getting a letter to the Queen explaining Ahmet's situation, the urgency of reuniting him with his parents before it's too late, and asking for her help. After putting the plan into action, the kids end up becoming front page news in the newspapers and on television. All of this bring the plight of refugees to the fore, which is good, and it also brings out people's true feelings - both positive and negative - about the refugee crisis.

Narrated in the first person by a very empathic Alexa, this is a book that looks at the refugee crisis with humor but does not skirt the serious problems faced by refugees. From learning a new language, to making friends, fighting off bullies, dealing with those who dislike and resent all refugees, to mourning the loss of his sister, missing and worrying about his parents and homesickness, Raúf has written a moving middle grade story that highlights the kinds of things Ahmet, and all refugees, must deal with.

Some may feel that this book is too British for American readers, but I don't think that should be a problem for today's readers, and that's not what's important. What is important is Ahmet's story shows what a difference friends can make in the life of a scared child. This is a warmhearted, feel good story that ends on a very hopeful note, but in case you are afraid it is just another "white savior" story, check page 231 first.

I should say that when I read The Boy At the Back of the Class, I had no idea what the narrator's gender is. Her name doesn't appear until the end of the book. And it was kind of fun not knowing, but unfortunately, it has been used in reviews and I followed suit. I feel like this is a spoiler, but I hope I can be forgiven.

Raúl has included some important back matter to help you readers learn and understand more about refugees. Among other things, there are questions to think about and an interesting chart to fill out. Do read the Author's Note for some important background that lead to the creation of The Boy At the Back of the Class.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was bought for my personal library

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle. 

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

This review of The War That Saved My Life was originally published on The Children's War in 2015. On October 11, 2017, the sequel The War I Finally Won will be available. I highly recommend both.

Born with a severely clubbed foot, Ada Smith, 10, has been kept imprisoned and abused by her Mam in a one room flat her whole life.  Mam sees her foot as a mark of shame and humiliation, and so Ada never learned to walk, scooting around on her bum as she waits on Mam and younger brother Jamie, 6.  Then one day, Ada decides to learn to walk, keeping at it despite all the pain and blood.

In 1939, when war comes to England, Ada is told that Jamie will be evacuated to the safety of the countryside, and she will remain in the flat - bombs or no.  But Mam doesn't know Ada's secret and when evacuation day arrives, she and Jamie take off for the train station together.  Eventually arriving at a small countryside village, all the children are selected by residents except Ada and Jamie, who are taken to the home of Susan Smith (no relation) and left in her care.

But Susan is depressed, mourning the death of her friend (though clearly more than friend), Becky.  The two women had lived there together for years and Susan had inherited the property.  The last thing she wanted now were two children to take care of.  And yet, she does.  She feeds Ada and Jamie, buys them new clothes and shoes to replace the dirty, raggy things they arrived in, and allows them to find their own way through a certain amount of benign neglect.

And Susan has a pony named Butter that Ada determines to learn how to ride and care for.  Soon, she is riding all over the village and surrounding area.  Susan has also taken Ada to a doctor about her foot, and she has been given crutches to help her walk.  But when Jamie begins school, Ada refuses to go not wanting to admit she can't read or do simple math.  Eventually Susan, who has a degree in math, figures it out and offers to teach her at home - an offer not very welcomed by Ada.  But why not?

Ada and Susan are two people carrying around a lot of physical and emotional baggage, thrown together by a war they don't really feel connected to and which at first doesn't feel quite as real as the personal war they are waging with themselves.  But gradually, they forge a relationship with each other and begin to feel like a family.  And then Mam shows up and takes the Ada and Jamie back to London, despite the bombing and Ada is forced to scoot around on her bum once again.

Now that they have seen another side of life, is it over for Ada, Jamie and even Susan?

What a powerful story The War That Saved My Life is.  It is everything that makes historical fiction so wonderfully satisfying.  There is lots of historical detail about London and the countryside in those early war days, including the rescue of British soldiers from Dunkirk (Susan's house is on coastal Kent, the closest point in England to Dunkirk). 

I thought that Susan and Ada were drawn well, with lots of depth to their personalities, but not Jamie so much.  He really felt like just a secondary character, mostly there for contrast and to move the story along in a believable way.  The shame Mam felt over Ada's foot is quite palpable, but also seemed to empower her with the ability to abuse her daughter, making her plain scary, though a rather one dimensional character at the same time.

One of the things I found interesting is that in the beginning Ada, the child, is such a strong, determined character, while Susan, the adult, was kind of weak and irresolute.  And yet, they have things to teach each other.  And to her credit, Bradley doesn't actually come out and directly let the reader know that Susan and Becky were partners, but its clearly there.

If your young readers loved Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian, they are sure to love The War That Saved My Life.  If they haven't discovered Good Night, Mr. Tom yet, perhaps it's time to introduce them to both of these fine books.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an ARC received from the publisher

The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts by Avi

One of the things I like about reading a novel by Avi is that I can (almost) always count on it being an interesting work of historical fiction and his latest novel is no exception.

The story begins on the morning of November 12, 1724. Oliver, 12, wakes up to discover that not only has a violent storm flooded his home and his town of Melcombe Regis on the Dorset coast, but his father is also missing, and Oliver has no idea where he might be. His father left a note telling him where he went, but it is too waterlogged to read.

Left with no money and no food, Oliver heads outside, and discovers a shipwreck on the beach. He decides to explore a little even though he knows that taking anything at all from a shipwreck is a death-by-hanging offense. Still, when he discovers 30 shillings, he decides to “borrow” 23 shillings, which he figures is more than enough money to live on until his father returns.

Unfortunately for Oliver, his lawyer father has managed to offend pretty much everyone in Melcombe Regis, so when those in authority discover that he is alone and his father missing, they decide the best place for Oliver is in the poorhouse.

After hiding his ill-gotten shillings, and figuring the poorhouse is at least good for food and shelter, Oliver lets himself be taken to there with plans on remaining for only two weeks. But escaping it takes longer and is harder than he had anticipated. But escape he does, and decides to travel to London, where his older sister Charity lives and works and who may know something about what happened to their father.

The road to London, however, is paved with one setback after another for Oliver, including a gang of ruthless highway robbers, led by one notorious Captain Hawkes. Kidnapping Oliver, Hawkes already knows about the shillings he stole from the shipwreck, and decides that since Oliver is already a thief, he can be used for more highway robberies.

Just when you think that Oliver couldn’t possibly have more adventures and misadventures, Hawkes takes him to London, and next thing Oliver knows, he is reluctantly involved with the (real life) criminal Jonathan Wild. But will he ever find Charity and his father and get out of this mess?

The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts is a very exciting story. Each chapter ends with such a strong cliffhanger, that I couldn’t help but turn the page and keep reading. And I did finish the book in one sitting because of that. 

Avi is really a master at placing his characters in difficult situations, and then following them step-by-step as their story plays out. In this way, it makes it so easy and rather understandable as we watch Oliver’s life spiral into crime.

Oliver narrates this engaging tale in language that authentically reflects the time in which he lives, but not so much so that it will put young readers off. Besides, Oliver is just too appealing to leave him to his fate without taking the journey with him.

I also feel that some of the novel's real strength lies in the vivid descriptions of life in early 18th century England. The abusive treatment of even very young children is part of Oliver’s experience in the poorhouse, where cold, underfed regimented children are forced to do hard, menial work for long hours and faced cruel punishment for any act of disobedience. 

    

In Melcombe Regis and in London, there are depictions of the farce of 18th century "justice" as practiced in the Old Bailey and the prisons of the period (where prisoners are charged for the privilege of being incarcerated).

All in all, The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts is an exciting adventure. It is the first book in a series and I personally can’t wait to read Book 2 and see what else life holds for Oliver Cromwell Pitts.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Algonquin Young Readers

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is a weekly event hosted by Shannon Messenger at Book Ramblings, and Plenty of Shenanigans

Anne of the Fens by Gretchen Gibbs

If you google the name Baugh and Madison County, Kentucky, you will easily discover the history of my family.  We can trace the Baughs back as far as the 1500s.  I've often looked at my family tree and, thought about the stories they could each tell over the course of all that time.

Well, Gretchen Gibbs must have had a similar thought because she has begun writing fiction histories about the women she descends from in her Bradford Chronicles.

The first of her books, The Book of Maggie Bradstreet took place in 1692 during the witch trials in Salem and in the Puritan settlement of Andover, Massachusetts, where Maggie lived.  I found it to be a compelling story, so when I saw that Gibbs had written the second volume, I couldn't wait to read it.

Anne of the Fens takes place much earlier, beginning in May 1627 in the town of Boston, Lincolnshire, England.  Anne Dudley may be a Puritan, but she is also a curious 15 year old who is beginning to feel strong feelings towards the opposite sex.  As fugitives for refusing to pay the tax King Charles I is demanding to finance his war with Spain, Anne and her family have been living in Tattershall Castle, where her father is a Steward for the Earl there, and away from their own home.  It's an arrangement Anne rather likes.

One Sunday morning, on the way to church, Anne inadvertently catches a bit of a May Fair production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and decides she must find out how their story ends.  When she questions her tutor, Simon Bradstreet, first about Catholicism and then Shakespeare, Anne is surprised by his responses, giving her a broad hint as to where Shakespeare's work is kept in the castle.

Unable to resist, Anne goes in search of it and discovers a secret room, with shelf after shelf of decidedly unpuritanical books, not just Shakespeare.  On a return visit, she senses someone has been in the room recently, and discovers who it is when her father asks her to take food to a fugitive hidden there.  The fugitive, John Holland, is a Puritan hiding from the Sheriff for writing and posting a tract about not paying the King's new tax. Anne finds herself more attracted to him now than she had been to Simon and looks forward to her nightly visits.

Trouble soon erupts, though, when Anne's spiteful younger sister Sarah posts a paper Simon had written to Anne about religious tolerance on the back of one of John Holland's tracts.  Soon the Sheriff shows up with warrants, and Anne decides she must help John Holland escape.  This is a decision that could ruin not just her reputation, but that of her family as well.  On the run, Anne soon begins to suspect that John may not be the kind of man she thinks he is when he leaves her in the fens in the middle of the night to make her way back to the castle alone.

Anne certainly learns some harsh lessons about human behavior in this novel, but one of the underlying storylines shows her budding interest in reading and writing poetry.  It is an interest she takes very seriously, eventually becoming the first woman poet in the United States.

I really enjoyed reading The Book of Maggie Bradstreet, so I was looking forward to Anne of the Fens and I wasn't disappointed.  It was a little disjunctive in the beginning since Maggie Bradstreet was Anne Dudley Bradstreet's great granddaughter, so the two books weren't read in a linear way, but I quickly got past that since both books stand on their own.

Anne of the Fens is an engaging story that follows Anne's journey from a young romantic to a mature woman in the midst of trying times.  The story is well written and well researched.  I found the descriptions of life in the early 1600s to be believable and, in fact, if you ever wondered what it was like to live in a castle back then, they are quite informative, and I can guarantee that some descriptions will certainly tickle your sense of smell.

But Anne's story is also relevant for today's reader.  As she becomes more and more aware of her awakening sexual feelings and makes decisions based on romantic notions, Anne inevitable makes the mistakes of youth that can sometimes have disastrous results.

Be sure to read the "Afterword" in which Gibbs relates what happened to the people included in her story and what their lives were like. The setting, England in the early part of the 17th century was a time of turmoil and religious intolerance.  Most of what was happening isn't really included in Anne's story, but there is enough for the reader to understand the contentious nature of the relationship between the Puritans and the government.  Be sure to read this as well as a brief History of the Times that Gibbs includes for more information.  There is also a poem by Anne, one that is begun in the story and finished later.  The language may sound a little old fashioned, but the meaning is still easily grasped.

Anyone who enjoys a love story surrounded by history will enjoy reading Anne of the Fens.  Who know, it might even inspire some of you to look into your own family history.

This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

After Iris by Natasha Farrant

It has been three years since Iris Gadsby's death and no one in the Gadsby family has really been able to come to grips with it.  Living in an old house in London, dad is away most of the time, teaching medieval courses at a distant university; mum has taken a job with a beauty products company and must fly all over the world; older sister Flora, 16, is totally involved with her boyfriend and continuously changing the color of her hair; younger siblings Jasmine and Twig, AKA the Babes, are obsessed with their pet rats, and Iris's twin Bluebelle, now 13, hides behind her lens of her new video camera.

Now, the Gadsby parents have hired a dissertating student named Zoran to look after the kids while they are gone, who takes his job very seriously, even if he doesn't always get the cooperation he wants.  Then, along comes Joss, who has been sent to live with his grandparents next door, and things really get crazy in the Gadsby household.  Joss may be Blue's crush, but he is Flora boyfriend obsession.

Communicating with their mother mostly on Skype, and seeing their dad only on weekends, and now only sometimes if then, the kids conclude that their parents are perhaps growing apart and thinking of divorce.  And then the Babes run away.

After Iris is one of the best contemporary novels I have read in a long time, and I have read a lot of really great novels lately.  The Gadsby children are great characters, all different, but all well fleshed out.  Flora is cool and has lots of friends, with the exception of Joss's friends who continually write terrible Facebook comments about her;  Blue is geeky and awkward and no longer has any friends as they have moved on to inhabit the junior version of Flora's world and Blue has chosen to become invisible; the Babes have each other and their rats.  At first, I thought they were twins as well, but Twig (the only boy) is the younger of the two.

Despite the seriousness of coming to terms with and beginning the real healing work that the death of a child/sibling involves, After Iris is not the morbid story it sounds like it should be.  Certainly not when the Babes rats drive into Blue's classroom, dressed and sitting in remote controlled cars.  Nor when they are sent off to visit Grandma's in Dorset, who has some wacky ideas of her own about children.  And there is a softer side of friend and enemy relationships that are more true to life than usually depicted in novels for middle graders.

The whole thing is narrated in the first person by Blue.  Some of the chapters begin with movie transcripts that describe what she is filming followed by diary entries that continue the filmed episode.  The transcripts move the story along more quickly that straight narrative.  And there is lots of humor and funny bits that keep you going in this well written novel, even as we watch compassionately when the family's coping strategies begin to fall away.

After Iris is definitely a novel about coming to terms with death, but it is also a novel about Blue's own personal process of coming of age, which involves but is not limited to learning to accept the death of her twin sister.

After Iris is a novel not to be missed.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was borrowed from a friend

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, illustrated by Julian Crouch

I took Maggot Moon with me to read on a long boring trip and I don't think the time ever flew by like it did this time.  To say that I was pulled into this 1950s dystopian England and the story of the severely dyslexic Standish Treadwell, 15, is an understatement.  I was mesmerized.

England is ruled by the cruel, totalitarian Nazi-like regime called the Motherland.  The country is zoned and Zone Seven is pretty much the end of the line, a place to put those who need to be punished.  Standish lives there with his grandfather now that his parents have simply disappeared, gone to the 'maggot farm' (killed) as far as Standish is concerned.  His father was headmaster at his school and was against Motherland's rule but basically tried to maintain a neutral stance.  His mother, a teacher at his school, was more rebellious and refused to toe the Motherland's line.

The school in Zone Seven is not a place you want to draw attention to yourself.  But Standish does, he can't help it: he was born with one blue eye and one brown eye and is extremely dyslexic, and since he can't read or write, he is the brunt of cruel, violent bullying by students and teachers at school.  His only escape from all this is his imagination.

But all that changes for Standish when Hector Lush and his parents arrive in Zone Seven and start living in Standish's parent's old house.  The two boys soon become best friends, and when Hector stands up to the teachers who delighted in bullying Standish, Standish is finally left alone by everyone.

After Standish tells Hector about his imaginary planet Juniper, the boys make plans for a space trip there, even building a papier-maché spacecraft for this mission.  At the same time, Motherland is making plans to send a spaceship to the moon with three astronauts, to declare the moon a Motherland territory and solidify its place as the military leader of the world.

Things are going as well as they can in Zone Seven until one day, Hector and his family disappear.  Of course, life at school goes back to being pretty lousy for Standish.  And soon he discovers that his Gramps isn't who he thought he was - Gramps has some important secrets.  But Standish has a few secrets of his own, as well - and one of them is that he know something about the Motherland's moon landing that could bring the whole regime down in front of the entire world.

So Standish makes a plan...

Maggot Moon is quite simply an edgy, dystopian novel but one of the best I have read in a long time.  It is narrated in the first person by Standish, who has a refreshingly powerful, honest voice.  In a short novel with short chapters, Standish's is a compelling story about repression, friendship, rebellion and conspiracy.  Being deemed stupid at school because of dyslexia does give Standish a certain kind of freedom to experience and explore his inner and outer world, which a actually how his discovers the secret of the moon landing.

The rule of the Motherland has been compared to that of the Nazis.  And it does indeed have similarities.  The wall surrounding Zone Seven is very much like the ghettos the Nazis built to contain Jews before they too disappeared and were never heard from again.  The Soldier/police, called Greenflies, resemble the SS and the man in the trench coat who tails Standish throughout is very much like a Gestapo agent.  And of course, the desire of the Motherland for world supremacy resembles Hitler's wish for his Fatherland to dominate the world.  And yet, despite these similarities, Maggot Mood has a fresh, inventive feel all its own.

The black and white illustrations of maggots, rats and other vermin in the corners of the pages throughout the book, all done by Julian Crouch add to the bleak starkness of Standish's world.

This book is recommended for readers 14+
This book was borrowed from a friend

A downloadable discussion guide for Maggot Moon is available from Candlewick Press

This is book 3 of my 2013 YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge hosted by The Book Cellar
This is book 1 of my 2013 2013 Dystopian Reading Challenge hosted by Book of Erisred