My Life Begins! by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrations by Daniel Miyares

 

My Life Begins! by Patricia MacLachlan,

illustrated by Daniel Miyares

Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, 2022, 128 pages

Jacob, 9, is an only child, and while he thinks his picture hanging on the living room wall by itself looks lonely, he's pretty sure that loneliness could be cured with a litter of puppies. Instead, he is reminded that soon there will be new babies in the house - three little ones named Charlotte called Char, Katherine called Kath, and Elizabeth called Lizzie, or the Trips as Jacob refers to them. 

At school, his teacher announces that Jacob's class will be learning to do research and that each student should choose something that interests them, which could even be "a subject that is surprising and new." Since the finished project isn't due until two weeks before school ends, Jacob decides his topic will be "A Litter of Trips - From Birth On," diligently observing and recording how the triplets change and grow over the school year. 

Seeing how tired caring for his sisters has made his parents, Jacob becomes not just an observer but a real helper, quickly learning how to change diapers, warm bottles, and can even pick up and comfort a crying Lizzie. Eventually, Jacob's parents hire a nanny, a French woman named Mimi who brings experience, peace and order to the chaos of having triplets. And it is Mimi who helps Jacob understand the importance of names, calling him dear Jacob, which he loves. The triplets calls their mother Mama, their father Da, but what will they call Jacob? What will be the forever name they give him, and what will be the forever name he calls them? This turns out to be the most important part of his research project and it is Lizzie who gives him the answer.

  

What is interesting about this small chapter book is not so much how the triplets change and grow, but how the experience of observing and recording their first year changes Jacob as he goes from being an only child to being a big brother. MacLachlan has poignantly captured the way Jacob's sibling relationships form and grow depending on the personality of each of his sister's, inviting readers into Jacobs thoughts and feelings to show how all this all unfolds. 

However, the first year of the triplets lives may feel somewhat unrealistic at times. The babies are unusually happy, Jacob has no sibling jealousy, although he continues to hope for at least one puppy, if not a litter, and those sweet little girls never get sick, throw up, or produce one of those unforgettable poopy diapers. But young readers won't care about these things. The story uses simple language age appropriate for Jacob, the chapters are short yet full of information told from Jacob's point of view, and it is all complemented with Daniel Miyares rough sketches in black and white ink.  

My Life Begins! is a very sweet, very tender story about family and sibling relationships and is sure to bring on more than one smile and perhaps a tear or two. It is an excellent choice for a read aloud, at school or as a family book, and will definitely appeal to fans of Kevin Henkes' Billy Miller series. 

 Sadly, Patricia MacLachlan passed away on March 31, 2022 at age 84 a few months before the release of My Life Begins!

The Noh Family by Grace K. Shim

 

All Chloe Chang, 18, knows about her father is that he died in a car accident before she was born, and her mother refuses to talk about him, and she just assumed there were no relatives on the Noh side of her family. So when her two best friends, Seb and Hazel, give her a DNA kit as a joke because of her resemblance to their local TV weatherman, Ted Takahashi, no one was surprised when the results showed Chloe to be 95% Korean. After all, both of her parents are from Korea.

Chloe, Seb and Hazel have just graduated from high school, and while Seb and Hazel are having elaborate family parties to celebrate, Chloe is home alone. Her mother is a nurse and often works double shifts. Money is tight in the Chang household and though Chloe's dream is to study at Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology, where she has been accepted,  she will be going to the local community college instead in her Oklahoma hometown. 

But when Chloe gets a message from Noh Jin Young through 23andme.com, everything changes. Jin Young claims they are first cousins. At first skeptical, Chloe realizes that DNA doesn't make mistakes and she must indeed be related to him. Not only that, but there is a large extended family in Korea and Chloe is related to them all AND they are the wealthy owners of a successful high end department store. 

Naturally, when the Noh family offers Chloe a trip to Korea to meet her, she jumps at the chance, but doesn't mention any of this to her mother until the last minute. Her mom isn't happy about all this, but can't stop Chloe and after all, it's only for a week. 

But what a week it is, beginning with a first class flight to Seoul, South Korea, Chloe is soon thrust into what feels like a fairytale life when she meets her Halmonie, and a bunch of cousins, she is even settled into a guest house with a personal chef. But as the week progresses, and despite the access to family, meeting Miso Dan, who turns out to be a good friend, having access to all kinds of lovely clothing she could only dream about before, and the promise of paid tuition to FIT, something dark begins to creep into Chloe's consciousness. She is not simply there to meet her long lost family, they want something from her which required taking a DNA test to find a match. Now, all she wants is to go home to her mom and get away from her controlling Halmonie and the rest of her newly found family.

The Noh Family is Grace Shim's debut novel and based on the Korea dramas (K-dramas) that she used to watch. I know that the long lost family trope is pretty much overdone, but the fact that Chloe is Korean and the story plays out in Seoul makes all the difference. Although the fashion part of the story didn't do much for me, I did love the descriptions of Korea, its people, culture and food. I gave the book to my Kiddo to read because she has been to Seoul and loves it. She is also into K-dramas, so I know that she enjoyed that aspect of the book a lot, especially the description of the Dramatic Pause. 

I did find the story a little slow in places, but not enough for me to put the book down. Chloe is a nice, but headstrong character, and I wondered how she could simply take off on an international adventure so quickly and with little thought that there could be danger ahead. On the other hand, having watched her friends enjoy some of life's luxuries that she has been deprived of, including family and having a more accessible mother, makes Chloe's impulsiveness feel appropriate for her age. 

This is a fun, if predictable coming-of-age story and one I had a particular interest in - I, too, had a surprise in my DNA.

Thank you, Layne Mandros at Books Forward for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes. 

Uncle John's City Garden by Bernette G. Ford, illustrated by Frank Morrison

 

Uncle John's City Garden by Bernette G. Ford,

illustrated by Frank Morrison

Holiday House, 2022, 40 pages

It used to be that if you traveled around NYC and I mean the outer boroughs as well as Manhattan, you would see lots of empty lots converted into city gardens, growing plants, flowers, and/or vegetables. You don't see them so much anymore because, well, developers have turned them into overpriced high rises. Which is one of the reasons I just love this last book by Bernette Ford, who sadly passed away in 2021. In her Author's Note, Ford explains that growing up in projects in Canarsie, Brooklyn, her Uncle John received permission from the city to convert an empty lot next to one of the buildings into a garden. And though she had often visited the garden, she never worked in it. Now, however, comes this lovely intergenerational family story about her Uncle John's garden that is based in part on her life and based in part on her imagination. Because sometimes, you can go home again, at least in fiction.

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The story is narrated by Li'l Sissy, the youngest of three siblings. Each one is allowed to pick their own packets of seeds to plant after Uncle John has finished doing the digging and raking. Li'l Sissy picks okra, Brother chooses corn and lima beans, and Sister picks tomatoes and onions. Their mother laughs and says they are growing succotash. 

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After carefully planting their seed packets, the kids are hot and sweaty, but pleased with what they have accomplished with Uncle John's help. Every day, they return to the garden to weed, pick off any bugs and water their crops. And sure enough, after a few weeks, their plants have thrived but still no vegetables, just stems and leaves. 

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But after a storm, the plants have really grown tall and sure enough, the vegetables begin to appear. Soon, it is time to start picking their crops. Each day, they fill their bags with more ripened vegetables. And at the end of summer vacation, Uncle John throws a big barbeque for all the relatives, complete with succotash made from their garden vegetables, just like Mama said. And because they have a bumper crop, each family gets to take home a big bag of their own vegetables.

This gentle story about a Black family making a big contribution that helps to transform their otherwise bleak neighborhood and ultimately bring people together makes for some wonderful summer reading (but works anytime). Part of what makes this story so special are the oil and spray paint illustrations/ They are bright, bold and energetic in the foreground, but with the unadorned and almost monochromatic projects in the background, Morrison has really captured the stark contrast. And if you read carefully and pay attention to the way Li'l Sissy describes everything, you find it is also a nice lesson about relative size and growth and it begins right on the first page with a description of size relative to each gardener- small, smallest , big, biggest:

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And it continues in this vein all the way through. The shovels the kids use are sized relative to their size, the plants are described relative to Li'l Sissy's size (see the illustration of Li'l Sissy and her Mama). And I love the way the illustrations reflect the relative sizes of everything. So there is a nice STEM component to the story and if you look at the bottom of the page with the Author's Note, you will notice that this book received support from TERC, a non-profit that develops math curricula.  

Extra Bonus: there is a delicious recipe for succotash at the end of the book (something I have eaten since I was a kid growing up in Flatbush, Brooklyn).

Thank you, Sara DiSalvo for providing me with a review copy of this book. 

Juana & Lucas Muchos Changes written and illustrated by Juana Medina

 

Juana & Lucas: Muchos Changes

written and illustrated by Juana Medina

Candlewick Press, 2021, 96 pages

I've read the previous two Juana & Lucas books, Juana & Lucas and Juana & Lucas: Big Problemas, a number of times to my young readers and they love the stories. So naturally, when I heard about Juana & Lucas: Muchos Changes, I knew it was time to revisit this favorite young South American girl and her faithful  dog. 

You may recall that Juana had a big surprise when her Mami told her that she and Luis were to be married. Juana wasn't very excited about it at first, but it has all worked out and now, she really likes living with him and Mami in there new apartment in Bogotá, Colombia. And now, Mami has another surprise for Juana - she and Luis are having a baby and Juana is going to be a big sister. Juana isn't very excited about the baby, but she is excited to be on her school break, weeks of reading, resting, exploring and playing with best furry friend Lucas, visiting her abuelos and her Tia Cris, maybe even some sleepovers. Or maybe not.

Mami and Luis have bought Juana a pair of skates and signed her up for skating camp and she is determined not to like it. But when Mami asks her to try skating camp at least five times, Juana agrees. At camp, she worries about not knowing anyone but after taking a bad spill, at break the other kids in the beginner group share their snacks with Juana and maybe, just maybe they will be her new amigos. 

But when Luis picks Juana up from camp instead of Mami, she learns that there is a complication in her mother's pregnancy and she must stay in bed until the baby is born. As her school break continues, Juana and her new amigos get better at skating and she gets to spend more time with her abuelos and Luis. Then one day, her abuelos pick her up and take Juana to the hospital, where her Mami has given birth to Juana's baby sister, born prematurely and in an incubator. Now, Juana has to wait patiently until baby María comes home and she can be a proper big sister. 

In fact, Juana's whole summer has been about learning to have patience. Patience learning to skate, patience becoming a hermana. And while there are lots of changes in Juana's life, she has lots of people who can help her adjust to them. Not only are Mami and Luis there for her, her abuelos are always willing to offer their support and guidance, and her new friends are willing to share their experiences of a new baby in the house, and Lucas is always there to lend a ear when Juana needs to talk about things. It's really nice seeing this supportive network of people who care about Juana and want to help her. I think that is one of the things my young readers have always like about the Juana & Lucas stories, plus so many of them have gone or are going through similar changes. Along those lines, I really like that Luis is such a great stepfather. So often, stepparents are stereotypically portrayed rejecting their new spouse's children.

As with all the Juana & Lucas books, there are the same lively, colorful cartoon-like watercolor illustrations and Spanish words sprinkled throughout. And there are more detailed digressions of important things in Juana's world. 

Juana is the same wonderfully appealing character she as in the earlier books. Consistency is important to young readers and it's disconcerting to them when a character changes too much from one book to the next, but my young readers still think that Juana and these books are "just about perfect." And so do I.

Thank you to Candlewick Press and Edelweiss+ for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review. 

Worser by Jennifer Ziegler

 

Life has not been easy for 12-year-old William Orser. A loner whose elderly father passed away when he was very young, nicknamed Worser (W. Orser) on the first day of second grade, and bullied by the other kids, Worser is now living with a mother who has had a severe stroke, and his Aunt Iris, who is taking care of them. Ironically, Worser's mother was a professor of rhetoric who can no longer speak, but who had imparted a love of words in her son when he was a child, a love that has continued. 

Worser has been working on a project he calls his Masterwork, a loose-leaf binder filled with lists of important observations about words, a project that enables him to work in the library at the end of the school day to avoid going home and dealing with his mother and aunt. But now, because of budget cuts, Worser finds that the library is closed after school but not before he meets Turk, who has his own unique (and cringe worthy to Worser) twist on words.  

No library forces Worser to find another place to work on his Masterwork and eventually he finds and strikes a deal with Mr. Murray, the owner of a secondhand bookstore called Re-Visions. When Worser finds out that his crush, Donya Khoury, has lost the school sponsor for her Literary Club and can not longer meet in school, Worser comes up with a plan to help her out using his space at the bookstore and ultimately becoming a member of the club. But when Mr. Murray's rent is increased, it looks like he will have to close Re-Visions. And again, Worser has a plan to save the store. But will it actually work?

I have to admit that for much of this novel, I really didn't like Worser very much. It was clear he had nothing good to say about most people, including his aunt, who was trying her best to care for him and his mom. Interestingly, she is the opposite of Worser, being very emotional where he seems to completely lack emotion. She is also rather eccentric, albeit in a very different way than Worser and apparently his mother was before her stroke. It's very clear that Worser has not come to terms with the drastic changes he sees in his mother now that she is unable to speak or do anything for herself, and, rather that dealing with this, he loses himself in working on his Masterwork and later getting involved with the Literary Club to get Donya's attention.

As I went along on Worser's coming-of-age story, he began to grow on me more and more, and I began to feel very empathic as I realized how traumatized he was by the things that have happened to him over time and his attempts to avoid facing the truths about his feelings. Channeling his emotions into words is exactly how he lost his ability to communicate with the world and it would take a catastrophic event for him to find his way back. And it is quite a journey. 

Thank you Edelweiss+ for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias, illustrated by Tracy Subisak

 

Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias,

illustrated by Tracy Subisak

Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2022, 40 pages

I love to read picture books about granddaughters and their grandmothers. I think it's because I never knew my grandmothers - one lived in Wales, the other lived in San Diego - but I knew that grandmothers were wonderful people to have in your life based on what I could see of friends who had nearby grandparents. 

Kylie, the young protagonist in Amah Faraway doesn't really know her grandmother, except through Saturday morning video chats because Kylie lives in San Francisco, Amah lived in Taipai. And when her mom announces that it is time to visit Amah, Kylie isn't too sure she wants to do that. Unlike Amah, who is really excited to see her daughter and granddaughter.

In Taipai, everything is unfamiliar: Amah's apartment, the language, the food and the relatives at the banquet they have for Kylie and her mom. Amah takes Kylie to all the places in Taipai that she loves, but none of it pleases her granddaughter: not the parks, not the night market, not even the Chinese donuts that Amah enjoys so much. 

But then, they visit the hot springs. The water is warm and Kylie loves splashing and playing in water, so she decides to give the hot springs (and Amah) a chance. And suddenly "it was a brand-new day" for Kylie and Amah as they splash around in the water together, laughing and having fun. But that's only half the story.

In the second half of the book, Kylie, her mom and her Amah revisit all the places they went to in the first half of the book - but now. everything is in reverse. And here's the interesting thing about the way it is done - the first half and the second half have almost the same wording but with different punctuation. And that change in punctuation is what reflects Kylie's change in attitude. Note the difference in these two images as Kylie, her mom, and her Amah visit the night market:

I read this book to my young readers, many of whom have grandparents living far away, and they loved the story, but they didn't see the change in text until we actually talked about it. The text is both gentle and lyrical, and the whimsical mixed media illustrations really reflect the sights and culture of Taipai. The text also includes speech bubbles written in both Mandarin characters and pinyin (phonetically written Chinese characters for pronunciation purposes). 

Be sure to check out the endpapers. The front endpapers have spot images of some of the things Kylie experiences in Taipai, labeled in English and the back endpapers have the same images labeled in Mandarin. Back matter includes A Note from the Author and the Illustrator, plus a description of the sights Kylie visited in Taipai and information about Taiwanese Food. 

You can download a Teacher's Guide, which I found very useful, for grades 1-3 HERE

You can also download a Teracher's Guide for grades 4-12 HERE

Pair Amah Faraway with When I Found Grandma by Saumiya Balasubramanian. Both are excellent stories about granddaughters and grandmothers, so different from each other, yet finding each other. 

This book was gratefully received from Faye Bi at Bloomsbury Publishing 

Blog Tour: Dancing with Daddy by Anitra Rowe Schulte, illustrated by Ziyue Chen

 

Dancing with Daddy written by Anitra Rowe Schulte,

illustrated by Ziyue Chen

Two Lions/Amazon, 2021, 40 pages

It's her first father-daughter dance and Elsie is just so excited, but first things first - picking out the perfect party dress to wear. Elsie is sure the red polka dot dress that matches daddy's soccer jersey is just right for dancing along and paired with the matching pretty red polka dot bow for her hair. 

Hopefully, the snow that began to fall just as Elsie and her mother left the store will stop in time for the dance. At home Elsie's sisters Daphne and Rosalie are just as excited about her dress and the dance as she is. By the next morning, though, there is even more snow but happily Elsie's mom says the dance is still a go. The three sisters spend the day practicing their dance moves for later that night.

Finally, it's time to go. Elsie's mom helps her get dressed and fixes her hair and off Elsie, Daphne, and Rosalie go with daddy to the dance. And what a dance it is - just like Elsie had dreamed it would be, except better. 

Dancing with Daddy could be the story of any young girl going to her first dance, and it is, but with one exception - Elsie has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) and must use a wheelchair to get around, a tablet using Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display (PODD) to communicate, and usually is fed using a plastic tube to push food into her stomach, although she can taste some blended food like applesauce and pudding. 

And even though she is in a wheelchair, after her father reads the story of the nutcracker to her, Elsie still dreams about dancing and doing pirouettes.

Anitra Rowe Schulte was inspired to write Dancing with Daddy by her own daughter who has WHS. And she has worked Elsie's disability into this story so seamlessly, showing readers that Elsie is part of a supportive Asian American family and telling her story in language that makes it easy for young readers to understand Elsie's disability. 

The illustrations are colorful and delightful and Ziyue Chen relies on facial expressions to indicate Elsie's feelings and moods, while Schulte relies on change to color of the text to red for Elsie's thoughts. 

Dancing with Daddy shows readers how one family has embraced a child's disability and that it isn't a reason for kids to miss out on many of life's pleasures. This is also a wonderful example of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop's windows and mirrors theory, in which some children will see their lives and experiences reflected back at them, while other will learn about those who are different from themselves. However, I would recommend reading the Author's Note at the beginning of the story to really understand Elsie and her life. Schulte provides a very accessible explanation of what WHS is. 

This book is recommended for readers age 6+

This book was gratefully received from Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media

Meet the Author:

Anitra Rowe Schulte has worked as a journalist for The Kansas City Star and the Sun-Times News Group, as a staff writer for Chicago Public Schools, and as a publicist. She is the mother of three beautiful girls, one of whom has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and is the inspiration for Elsie in this book. She lives in the Chicago area, and this is her first picture book. Learn more about her at www.anitraroweschulte.com and follow her at @anitraschulte on Twitter.

Meet the Artist: 

Ziyue Chen is the Deaf illustrator of a number of children’s books, including Mela and the Elephant by Dow Phumiruk, How Women Won the Vote by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and Rocket-Bye Baby: A Spaceflight Lullaby by Danna Smith. She lives with her loved ones in Singapore. Find out more at www.ziyuechen.com or follow her @ziyuechen on Instagram.

What the critics are saying:

★“Refreshingly, Elsie’s disability is seamlessly presented as simply another aspect of family life…As she swings and sways in her father’s arms, her forehead against his, their love is palpable; Chen’s illustrations fairly glow with affection…A heartwarming portrayal of a family embracing disability.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“[Anitra] Rowe Schulte uses accessible, rhythmic language…conveying Elsie’s thoughts in pink- and red-colored text. Light-filled digital illustrations by [Ziyue] Chen make use of differing angles and dynamic shots, emphasizing the love the family has for one another.” —Publishers Weekly

“This sweet story is a great addition to any diverse and inclusive library.” —TODAY

Partly Cloudy by Tanita S. Davis

 

Sixth grade was a pretty stormy year for Madalyn Thomas - her dog Lucy died, her best friend moved away, she found out she was lactose intolerant and, as it things couldn't be worse, her dad was laid off from his job. That meant moving and changing schools and Robinson Howard Middle School was a pretty grim place in which to learn, especially after the shooting that happened there. Now, her mom tells her that "Skies are clearing.... Your dad and I have a plan," which can only mean more changes in Madalyn's life.

Her dad will be working across the country in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her mom, as social worker, works long hours, so the plan is for Madalyn to live with her great uncle Papa Lobo four days a week and come home on the weekend. While this may not be the ideal situation Madalyn would like, the one advantage is that Kingsbridge Junior High is a more promising school that her old school and there's a great library in town.  

It doesn't take long for Madalyn and Papa Lobo to develop a comfortable routine, and except for Jean Duval, Papa Lobo's godson who helps him around the house, things would be pretty good. But Jean, who goes to the same school but in a higher grade, seems to only tolerate Madalyn. She also meets neighbor Mrs. Baylor, a older white woman with a cat and a beautiful garden, but also an on-going-long-running feud with Papa Lobo.

When school begins, Madalyn realizes she isn't just the new kid, she's also the only Black kid in her seventh grade class. First day, first class Madalyn meet Natalie, who seems like a fun, potential friend. It's Natalie who warns her about Carlin and Sydney, the class snobs/mean girls. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for the first microagression when Carlin says to Madalyn "...You're Addy, like that American Girl doll, right?"

Natalie and Madalyn get along well in school, but when Natalie sees Madalyn with Jean, it becomes clear that something is wrong. It turns out that Natalie had an unfortunate bullying experience with a Black boy, and now says her older sister Annica, with whom she lives, demands she not have anything to do by Black boys in general. Madalyn is faced with a dilemma - to continue being friends with Natalie or not - but one thing she is sure of is that she will have to have a tough conversation with Natalie about race. Madalyn spends a lot of time agonizing over when and how to have this difficult conversation. 

When wild fires break out around their California area, Madalyn is worried about her mom, trying to drive from home to be with her but not answering her phone. Then, Natalie calls, home alone and frightened because she can't get her sister on the phone. Papa Lobo insists they pick up Natalie and bring her to his house, leaving a note for Annica with the address, even though Madalyn is still mad at her. A little later, Mrs. Baylor collapses in her garden. She has difficulty breathing and Papa Lobo insists they bring her to his house. 

Partly Cloudy is an interesting novel with a lesson for all readers. It is essentially a slice-of-life story but by putting Madalyn in a basically white school, Davis really highlights the kind of covert and overt prejudice and the regular microaggressions that a person of color experiences on a regular basis. but that a white person seems totally oblivious to. For Natalie, it means seeing people as indivisibles and not stereotypes. For Madalyn, it's the opposite - learning the importance of standing up for herself and not letting other people define who she are based on their expectations or stereotypical ideas. 

Partly Cloudy explores themes of family, friendship, and race through the experience of a seventh grade Black girl living in the bay area in California. It is very much a story of today and one that many readers will relate to. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was gratefully received from Madison Ostrander formerly at Spark Point Studio

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, 

now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle

Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee

 

One morning in February, 11-year-old Ren wakes up and discovers her dad has left the house and she doesn't hear from him until he lands in NYC, assuming Ren's mom has explained that they were getting divorced. Ren's mom Kelly, an ER nurse, doesn't really want to talk about the divorce, and escapes accepting it by sleeping a lot. Ren copes with these changes in her life watching online extreme makeup videos, especially those of Cat FX, an expert in special effects makeup. 

It turns out Ren's father has met someone who lives in Brooklyn and they are planning to get married in the summer. He invites Ren out for a visit and as much as she doesn't want to like Vanessa, she does. Vanessa is also pregnant, and somewhat into makeup because of her upcoming wedding. and the two have fun shopping for different kinds of cosmetics.

That summer, attending her father's summer wedding (and doing Vanessa's makeup for it), Ren's mom decides they need to move and start over, and since she is going to be attending a new school, Ren decides she want's to be called Wren from now on. At school, she immediately makes a friend named Poppy, who is so impressed with Wren's makeup skill, she talks her into trying out to do the makeup for the school play Wicked. Poppy was hoping for the part of Elphaba, but it goes to Avery, a not very friendly mean girl. Avery has a crush on a boy named Kai, but it seems that Kai is more attracted to Wren. 

Meanwhile, Kelly is sleeping more and more, and blaming it on her long days in the ER and the aching back and knees that come with job. Perhaps that's why she is so short tempered with Wren. Then there are all the pain pills in the medicine cabinet, and the lock Kelly has put on her bedroom door, keeping it locked at all time so Wren can't go in. Wren thinks there might be something wrong with her mom, but doesn't know what. Luckily, Kelly has made a friend in the ER named Krystal, and it starts to become clear that something is indeed wrong when Krystal begins checking up on her and Wren. It all comes to a head when Kelly doesn't show up for opening night of Wicked. All of this leads up to a crisis which Wren is way too young to handle by herself, but thankfully has Krystal and her dad's help.

This is another tough topic book by Barbara Dee who tackled sexual harassment in Maybe He Just Likes You and mental illness in My Life in the Fish Tank. Parents who divorce is also tough enough topic, as is moving to another town and school and starting over, but here Dee takes things one step further and explores the reasons for the broken trust between Wren and her mother, a trust that may never be healed completely. 

I have to confess that at first Wren's extreme makeup interest didn't appeal much to me, but when I thought why, I realized that the extreme makeup was a great metaphor for the secrets Wren and her mother hide from each other throughout the book. Makeup, after all, is used to hide flaws and make us look better than we might without it, in a sense presenting a false face to the world. Wren's having to hide her feelings about her dad and his new life forces her into being secretive about what happens on her visits to Brooklyn (and there are many) and the cosmetics Vanessa sends her, hiding them from Kelly. Meanwhile, Kelly hiding a host of her own problems behind a locked door which is just so telling. 

On a positive note, it was very nice to see a stepmom getting along so well with her husband's daughter from a previous marriage, and Wren acceptance of her and the twin babies she gives birth to is equally good to see. You don't often see that in middle grade novels. Vanessa is so open and accepting of Wren and Wren really needs that.  

Violets are Blue is an emotionally charged novel, and one that I highly recommend. You can also find a useful Reading Group Guide courtesy of the publisher Aladdin/Simon & Schuster HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was an ARC gratefully received from Casey Blackwell at Media Masters Publicity

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, 

now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle

Robin Robin by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, illustrated by Briony May Smith

 

Robin Robin by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please,

illustrated by Briony May Smith

Red Comet Press, 2021, 32 pages     

When a robin egg falls out of its nest, landing in a garbage dump, the newly hatched bird is found by a family of mice who decide to adopt it, naming her Robin Robin and taking her back to their burrow. The burrow is warm and cozy and Robin quickly settles in, listening to the mice talk about crumbs - all kinds of crumbs, the crumbier the better. Crumbs are always a delicious treat, but in order to enjoy them, they have to sneak into the house where the Who-mans live, which would be easy except for one thing - a great big mean cat also lives there. Nevertheless, they all decide to sneak into the house and gets some crumbs to feast on. 

There is just one problem - it's not easy for a bird to be as quiet as a mouse. Naturally, she always attracts the cat's attention and has to quickly make a run for the back door to escape. One night, around Christmas time, Robin runs right into the wings of a Magpie while escaping the cat. Robin may think she is a mouse, but Magpie recognizes her as a fellow bird and takes her home to his tree house.

After Robin explains why she was in the house, Magpie tells her about the Chrim-Cross Star that the Who-mens put on top of a spikey old tree up once a year, and how, after making a wish, the Who-mens get anything they want the next morning. Maybe if Robin and her mouse family could get the Chrim-Cross Star, they could all get their wishes in the morning, too. Robin would be a real mouse, Magpie would get all kinds of treasures for his tree house, and the mice would have all the crumbs they could want. There's just one hitch - and it isn't the cat. 

This is such a heartwarming story about identity, inclusion, and family with plenty of humor but also a serious side to it. Robin is a jolly little bird, full of determination and pluck. She never gives up trying to be "as quiet as a mouse" despite being a bird. I loved how Robin discovers her true self, which is way better than the noisy, clumsy mouse she thought she was, and ultimately more useful for her mouse family and their crumb appetite. And I think she found a real mentor in Magpie. I'm sure young readers will love the illustrations, too. They are bright, bold, and colorful, with lots of detail to explore. 

Robin Robin is a wonderful holiday story, but one kids will want to read all year round. Don't be surprised if it becomes a family classic. 

Meet the Authors

Dan Ojari and Mikey Please are co-founders of the BAFTA® Award-winning Parabella animation studio which is based in East London. They co-directed Robin Robin, the first production in association with Aardman and produced exclusively for Netflix. Together they authored an adaptation of the script of the Robin Robin holiday special to create the book. They both live in London. Learn more about Mikey Please at mikeyplease.co.uk and Dan Ojari at www.danojari.com.

Meet the Illustrator

Briony May Smith is a British illustrator who has published titles in the US and the UK, including Stardust, written by Jeanne Willis (Nosy Crow, 2019). She also wrote and illustrated Imelda and the Goblin King (Flying Eye Books, 2015) and Margaret’s Unicorn (Schwartz and Wade, 2020), a Fall 2020 Indie Kids’ Next List selection. She lives in Devon, England. Learn more at brionymaysmith.com. 

   

Red Comet Press

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Thank you, Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for providing me with a review copy of Robin Robin.

And now for some really exciting news: 

Chirpy little Robin and her adopted family of mice can be seen in a new animation holiday musical special from Netflix and Aardman Animation beginning November 24, 2021. 

🎄A Christmas Too Big by Colleen Madden

 

A Christmas Too Big 

written and illustrated by Colleen Madden

Two Lions, 2021, 40 pages

The day after Thanksgiving has arrived and that means the Christmas season has begun, and Kerry's family is filled with the holiday spirit - maybe a little too much spirit as far as Kerry is concerned. 

Now, there are lights to be strung everywhere, music plays throughout the house all the time, lots and lots holiday cookies are being made, and of course, the family watches all the Christmas specials on television that were ever made, and little brother hides elves all over the house. But when her family buys the biggest Christmas tree they can find, Kerry has had enough of over zealous Christmasing. So she puts on her coat and heads outside.

While everyone outside is also doing Christmas too big, Kerry helps her neighbor Mrs. Flores get her  stuck shopping cart out of the deep snow and is invited in for un poco de cocao (a little cocoa). First thing Kerry notices is that Mrs. Flores does not do Christmas too big. Instead, she has a little table top Christmas tree, with a family picture by it. Mrs. Flores tells Kerry her family is in Mexico, so they light a candle for them.. Then, Mrs. Flores shows Kerry how to make beautiful tissue paper flowers with which to decorate the house.

Before going home, Kerry shows Mrs. Flores how to open the present she received from her family in Mexico - tablet so that they can see and talk to each other. It is, indeed, becoming a wonderful Christmas for Mrs. Flores and a different kind of Christmas for Kerry, who finally is feeling some holiday spirit. 

"Maybe I could find a way to have my own kind of Christmas in my own crazy Christmas house." Kerry thinks when she gets home and begins to make her own tissue paper flowers. But when she's finished, will her family embrace this new tradition?  

Told in the third person from Kerry's point of view,  A Christmas Too Big is a sweet, heartwarming story that reminds us that Christmas isn't really just about decorations, songs, cookies, and movies, it's also about peace and goodwill. Sometimes those two things can get lost or buried in the all the excitement of the Christmas season. But, peace and goodwill are exactly what Kerry brings home after her visit with Mrs. Flores. When Kerry lights her own candle for Mrs. Flores and her family, her mom suggests they invite her over for Christmas dinner.   

Madden uses plenty of humor mixed into this story, so it doesn't sound at all preachy, and most importantly, it isn't at all judgmental with regards to the way Kerry's family celebrates Christmas, instead it organically includes Kerry's contributions into their celebrations. Madden also includes lots of Spanish words into the story, all of which are easy to understand because she has seamlessly incorporated their meaning into the text and her colorful illustrations. 

The digitally produced illustrations are boldly colored and full of details just as they should be and that young readers will love to explore. When you only live a few miles and one river away from Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, known far and wide for their elaborate holiday decorations, you can really appreciate the wonderful, true to life illustrations in A Christmas Too Big. 

Dyker Heights, Brooklyn (click to enlarge)

Be sure to check out the end papers where you will find a variety of traditional Christmas objects. The front end papers has the names of each item in English, and the back end papers has the name of the same objects in Spanish. And there are simple instructions for making Mrs. Flores' tissue paper flores de Navidad that you can use to decorate your own home. It would also be a great class project after reading the book together. 

A Christmas Too Big is a wonderful, bilingual, intergeneration story to share with your young readers as a family read aloud and is sure to become a family favorite, read again and again. I can't wait to share it with my young readers next time we meet. 

This book is recommended for readers age 4+

This book was gratefully received from Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media

Meet the Author:

Colleen Madden grew up in a crazy Christmas house and, like Kerry, she found a break by spending time with her neighbor who was from another country. She has illustrated many children's books, including the bestselling What If Everybody? series, written by Ellen Javernick, and the picture book adaptation of All I Want for Christmas, by Mariah Carey. She recently published Monkey Walk, her debut as both author and illustrator, and is currently working on her first graphic novel. She lived in Philadelphia with her husband and two sons. 

Reviews:

“An intergenerational friendship and a busy holiday made meaningful set this title apart.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Madden’s bilingual tale strikes both humorous and poignant notes; the visual blend of comic-style panels, playful fonts, speech bubbles in both English and Spanish, and traditional spreads offers readers plenty to celebrate.” —Publishers Weekly

The Last Super Chef by Chris Negron

 

Anyone who knows me knows I love to watch cooking shows, especially shows in which kids produce such amazing, mouth-watering dishes. Naturally, novels about kids on cooking shows are also a favorite category of mine. So I was pretty excited to read The Last Super Chef by Chris Negron, especially since I enjoyed his other book Dan Unmasked so much.

Money problems have always plagued the Pith family - mom, Curtis, 11, and fourth grade sister, Paige. Curtis, who is the family cook and wants to be a chef when he grows up, creatively makes due with whatever food they can afford, but it just never seems to be enough. 

Naturally, Curtis' favorite TV show is Super Chef, starring world renowned chef Lucas Taylor. Not only is Chef Taylor an amazing cook, but Curtis is also convinced that he is his father, thanks to a causal remark his mother made when he was in 2nd grade and asked about his absent, unknown father. 

Now, Curtis' mom has been fired, their greedy landlord is after the rent money owed him and it is announced that once the new cooking champ is crowned that will be the end of Super Chef. BUT, a culinary contest called The Last Super Chef is announced and this show will feature only five kid competitors instead of adults. And the winner will receive $250,000 with which to do anything they want.

Curtis is determined to become a competitor, but how can he make the required video submission of himself demonstrating his unique cooking talents when the Pith family has so little in the way of food and a kitchen that leave much to be desired? There is only one thing to do - sneak into the landlord's super stocked, fully equipped kitchen and have his best friend Tre record him. 

But when Curtis finds himself one of the five kid competitors, he discovers that there is more to cooking and life than he ever expected to experience. Staying in a set up high above the television studio, the kid competitors - Kiko Tanaka from Japan, Pepper Carmichael from Boston, Joey Modestino from Chicago, and Bo Agosto from Mexico, and of course, Curtis- are isolated from family and the rest of the world. 

The Last Super Chef isn't a weekly elimination contest. Instead, the kids will accrue points and the one with the greatest number of points will be the winner, to be announced on Thanksgiving. Additionally, each week, one competitor meets with Chef Taylor, who takes them to various New York restaurants to get to know them better. Things don't go well for Curtis, who is upset and angry that Taylor won't acknowledge that he is his father, causing Curtis to have a hard time controlling his anxiety and his feeling of resentment that Chef Taylor had the means to help the Pith family out and just ignored them. Curtis, it turns out, has much to learn about himself, who he really is and what he really wants out of life. 

The Last Super Chef is kind of a fun book that tackles some serious issues. Curtis' yearning for a father who can help his family out is understandable, and so is his fixation of Chef Taylor to fill that spot. His anger at the chef may be misplaced, but is also understandable until the truth comes out. Yet, Curtis manages to grow emotionally despite the disappointments and setbacks he faces. His experiences aren't without their positive aspects, however. And, of course, there is the reason why Chef Taylor is retiring at the top of his game. Even though Chef Taylor is hero status is in flux for Curtis, can he help the Chef face his own future after learning the reason for the sudden retirement plans?

This novel has a nice premise to it and is perfect for kids who like cooking, cooking shows, and/or characters they can easily relate to. 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was gratefully received from the author.

#MMGM Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

 

Echo Mountain

by Lauren Wolk

Dutton BFYR/Penguin, 2020, 356 pages

When the depression causes her family to lose everything, and move from town to a more rustic life on Echo Mountain, Ellie, 11, finds herself quite at home in the forests surrounding the mountainside, as does her father. Her older sister Esther and mother don't feel quite as at home and would prefer to move back to town and the life they once had, where father was a tailor and mother was a music teacher. But when her father is severely injured in an accident while he is cutting down a tree that leaves him in a coma, Ellie feels that she is entirely to blame for it, and knows that Esther sees it as her fault as well. Ellie begins to take over many of her father's responsibilities and the only bright spots in her life are the little carved wooden forest creatures and plants she finds in different places and her dog, Quiet. It was thought that Quiet was dead when he was born, but instead of burying him like she was supposed to, Ellie thrust him into a bucket of cold water, which revised the puppy. Unfortunately, similar rash attempts at reviving her father do not end that successfully.  

Ellie also has noticed a dog without an owner a number of times in the forest. But when she is led to the cabin at the top of Echo Mountain by the dog, she finds not the hag everyone says to stay away from, but a rather seriously ill elderly woman named Cate whom Ellie helps nurse back to health. Impressed by Ellie's innate sense of what to do, Cate begins to share her own secrets for healing. But Cate, like Ellie, has some secrets and as the two get to know and trust each other, secrets are revealed.  

I originally read Echo Mountain for the Cybils award, but recently had the pleasure of rereading it for a summer program. I loved it, as did the kids I read it with. In fact, I couldn't put it down both times that I read it, even knowing what was going to happen. It is the kind of book that I would have read as an 11 or 12 year-old and hung on every word. The writing is lyrically beautiful and the characters are just eccentric enough to be really appealing. I loved seeing Ellie grow and change, becoming more and more comfortable in her surroundings and just absorbing everything about natural healing that Cate can teach her. Overall, I thought Ellie was a wonderfully strong, independent protagonist and her story will resonate with readers for a long long time, as it did with my readers this summer.

I said the writing is lyrically beautiful. How beautiful? Let me share my favorite passage and judge for yourself:

"What am I supposed to do?" I said aloud, though I was alone. But the sky was busy being the sky. And the trees were busy being trees. And the birds, likewise, were busy being exactly who they were. Which was, in itself, an answer. I made up my mind to listen to the flame in my chest, which sighed and roared  and sighed again like a long piece of music I knew by heart but still seemed to be hearing fresh." (pg. 169)

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, 

now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle