MMGM: A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Joy McCullough

The thing about robotics and coding that nine-year-old homeschooled Sutton Jensen likes is that is it always black and white - if you code correctly, your program responded as expected. Not like a mom and dad who marry and then get divorced, or a mom who's always off studying emperor penguins in Antartica and who sometimes misses big events in Sutton's life. Hopefully, she'll make it home for Sutton's upcoming 10th birthday. And now her dad Martin is dating a woman named Elizabeth and it's starting to get serious. He's finally taking her out for a fancy dinner. To ask her something?

Elizabeth's son Luis is also a bit uncertain about his mom dating Martin. But their first big dinner date does mean he gets to go on his first ever sleepover. Luis, who lost his dad to cancer when he was two, has serious, very serious food allergies and ends up in the hospital in the middle of his sleepover, ending his mom's date thanks to some guinea pig food. Luis is a regular at the hospital, and everyone knows him. Back home, his mom suggests a visit to the Museum of Pop Culture, one of Luis' favorite places. And Luis suggests they invite Martin and Sutton. But as much as Luis enjoys the MoPOP, Sutton is totally disinterested, after all, Luis' favorite Star Wars exhibit is science fiction, not real science. 

Clearly, Sutton and Luis have nothing in common, but Martin, who was very unhappy with Sutton's behavior at the museum, and Elizabeth decide to try getting the kids together again, and take them on an outing hiking in the woods at Discovery Park. Not really wanting to go, both kids nevertheless try a little harder to make the outing less disastrous than the first one. Then Luis spots a "narrow opening in a dense thicket of bushes," and imagines it's a secret passageway to another world. The opening is too small for adults, but the parents encourage the kids to explore it, and head to what they think will be the other side to meet them.

But when Luis and Sutton take a wrong turn at a dead end and get lost, will they be able to join forces to find their way out and back to their parents?  

A Field Guide to Getting Lost is narrated by both Sutton and Luis in alternating chapters, so that readers know each child's thoughts and reactions to their parents increasingly serious relationship, and to each other. And they couldn't be more different. Sutton is logical, all science and robotics, and a Ravenclaw. Luis has a great imagination which he turns into stories, and, like Martin, is a Hufflepuff. Despite also being a Ravenclaw, I didn't really like Sutton at first, but as she grew, she also grew on me and I began to see that change is hard for her, and she retreats into science as a way of dealing with disappointment. Sutton is apparently white, but lives in a diverse neighborhood, including Muslim, Chinese, and Indian neighbors. And I would love to try some of Mrs. Banerjee's golden milk when things get rough. 

I did like Luis right off the bat. Despite his life-threatening allergies that really limit what he can do, Luis is not homeschooled as you might expect for a person with his health problems, but he does carry an epipen. Luis also has a great attitude and I liked how he used his imagination to take him to places he couldn't otherwise visit through his character Penelope Bell. Luis is part Guatemalan on his dad's side, and part white on his mom's side. And even though he doesn't speak Spanish anymore, he keeps in touch with his abuelos who live there. 

On the whole, I thought Sutton and Luis' story was delightful to read, and even when they were lost, they weren't in real danger, just enough to let them get to know each other better and learn to appreciate and respect their differences. This very relatable book will definitely appeal to the younger age middle graders.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+

This book was gratefully received from the publisher Simon & Schuster 

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

now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.

MMGM: Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

It's 1946, and 11-year-old Langston and his Daddy have moved from Alabama to Chicago as part of the great migration. Langston's mother has recently passed away and he is having difficulty coming to terms with his loss, and with living in a city he hates. Langston misses his Mama, Alabama and his family, and his loneliness is only magnified by all the noise and people around him. To top that off, at Haines Junior High School, Langston is the target of schoolyard bully Lymon and his two sidekicks, Errol and Clem, who delight in making fun of him for being a "country boy."

One day, to avoid a confrontation with Lymon, Langston heads out of school in a different direction and finds himself standing in front of the George Cleveland Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library. Going inside, Langston is awed by its beauty but more, noticing the portraits hanging on the walls, by the fact that it is a library devoted to African American artists, and that it is open to any Chicago resident. As he walks along the shelves of books, Langston discovers one with his name. Reading his first Langston Hughes poem, Langston feels as though he is reading the words in his own heart. And imagine his surprise when he discovers that Langston Hughes is his namesake, chosen by his Mama.

Langston returns to the library again and again, even lying to his father about where he is going, knowing he would disapprove. But when Langston is left in the care of a neighbor, Mrs. Fulton, while his father returns to Alabama for a week, he learns she is a high school teacher who also loves poetry. Will she be an ally now or an enemy?

Langston may have found sanctuary in the library and the books he reads there, but it doesn't mean that he is being left alone by Lymon. No, indeed, but will a confrontation with this bully finally open up some honest communication between Langston and his Daddy?

Finding Langston is Lesa Cline-Ransome's debut middle grade novel. I've always enjoyed her picture books, so naturally I was looking forward to reading this. And I loved it. It is historical fiction, set in the south side of a post-war Chicago, and is narrated in the first person by Langston. He tells his story plainly and simply, and despite missing his Mama and home, and his intense feelings of loneliness and alienation, he narrates without self-pity or anger, two emotions that would certainly feel understandable. Langston has keen awareness of his surroundings, both in Alabama and Chicago, providing the reader with multilayered and textured imagery appealing to their sense of touch, smell, and hearing as he experiences the world around him.

As Langston explores the poetry of Langston Hughes and others, he discovers the power of words to help him express himself and lessen his feelings of loneliness and loss knowing that others have felt the same way.

Finding Langston includes many details about life for African Americans, from the whites-only libraries in Alabama to the kind, welcoming librarians in the Chicago library. There is mention of the Port Chicago disaster, and the Harlem Renaissance, inviting readers to explore these topics more.

This is a short but powerful and beautifully written novel exploring themes of bullying, death, grief, and discrimination through the life of an 11-year-old African American boy. You can find a very useful Educator's Guide for Finding Langston from the publisher, Holiday House, HERE

Last Poetry Friday, I posted my personal favorite Langston Hughes poem and the one I used in school to introduce my students to Langston Hughes. It is called "I Dream A World," and as they always pointed out it still resonates in today's world.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was an ARC gratefully received from the publisher.

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