middle grade fiction

“Now raise your goblet of rock. It’s a toast to those who rock!”

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Bigelow

February 13, 2019 by cosbrarian Leave a Comment

Let’s just get this out of the way: THIS BOOK IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I want a movie of it that’s like School of Rock meets Camp. Come on! Working out your parents divorce and your sexual awakening through rock and roll?!?!?! Turning Taylor Swift into a metal jam?! I die. This story is about Melly, who is a quiet young lady that loves playing the drums. She and her best friend Olivia make up the perfect rhythm section, and they sign up together for Camp Rockaway, bass and sticks in hand. On the day they’re […]

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Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Bigelow

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2/13/2019 | cosbrarian's CBR11 Review No:12 |

In which I determine I don’t like “choose your own adventure” books

Detective Frankenstein: Book 17 (Twisted Journeys) by Alaya Johnson author, Yuko Ota illustrator

October 18, 2018 by Dome'Loki Leave a Comment

A friend was looking to make room on her bookshelf and asked if I was interested in this book. It seemed like the right age level for my 10 year old and she likes slightly creepy stuff so this seemed perfect. What I didn’t realize at the time was it is a choose your own adventure book. Yesterday I was looking for a quick read and as this had Frankenstein in the title it was seasonally appropriate. Opening it I realized the nature of the book and went, “Huh, I remember never getting into these types of books in middle […]

10/18/2018 Dome'Loki's CBR10 Review No:43 |

Two parents, a girl, a ghost, and a ticked-off cat

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

September 30, 2018 by Leedock 4 Comments

CBR10 BINGO: And So It Begins I added this to my hold list at the library months before the publication date and I STILL had to wait a month for it. Behold the power of Victoria Schwab! I loved her Shades of Magic series (as V.E. Schwab) and liked her YA Monsters of Verity series so it was a no brainer for me to snatch this one up. After a near death experience where she is “rescued” by a ghost, Cass is able to sense and see ghosts in the real world. Her ghost guardian angel, Jacob, sticks with her […]

9/30/2018 Leedock's CBR10 Review No:51 |

Run Toward Who You Want To Be

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

February 16, 2018 by Jenny S 1 Comment

Last month, Trevor Noah interviewed Jason Reynolds on the Daily Show and even before I had read any of his books, I became a fan. He talked about writing, reading, and young people in a powerful way and made a strong argument for the need to write books that would have spoken to him as a young teen growing up in the inner city. I’ve been a follower of the We Need Diverse Books organization and without mentioning the hashtag, Reynolds made their argument with heart and humor. In Ghost, Reynolds starts a four-book series about a group of middle […]

2/16/2018 Jenny S's CBR10 Review No:10 |

Revolutionary War Goonies

7th Grade Revolution by Liana Gardner

September 18, 2017 by melanir Leave a Comment

I have always enjoyed YA and Middle Grade novels, a good book is a good book regardless of its target audience. However, I keenly felt all through reading 7th Grade Revolution that I was most definitely not the target audience and that a younger person would have enjoyed the book a lot more then I did. That’s not to say that it’s a bad book, it’s not, it’s just not one that crosses the demographic from young reader to adult reader well. It’s a perfectly fine book for younger people, and I despite feeling like I was too old for […]

9/18/2017 melanir's CBR9 Review No:77 |

Goonies never say die!

7th Grade Revolution by Liane Gardner

September 12, 2017 by esme Leave a Comment

The 7th graders at Washington Academy Middle School “stage” a coup (read, are assigned to create a 7th grade experience after a bloodless revolution) and spend a chapter or so trying to determine what an optimal 7th grade experience would be (by committee). While voting on a proposal, the 7th graders discover that the FBI has, surreptitiously, evacuated the rest of the school and are preparing to search for a treasure of national importance. What ensues is a race against the clock as the 7th graders decipher historical clues and develop defensive strategies to keep the FBI off the trail. […]

9/12/2017 esme's CBR9 Review No:7 |

A Fly By Any Other Name

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

August 1, 2017 by melanir Leave a Comment

Fly by Night is Frances Hardinge’s first novel, but the third or fourth novel of hers that I’ve read. I liked it, and I definitely think that it’s one of the better middle grade novels out there, however it’s not my favorite of her books. Twelve year old Mosca, who is orphaned, lives with her uncle and is smarter than most of the people in her little town. Her best friend is the goose Saracen, because outcasts stick together. When the smooth talking con-man Eponymous Clent comes to her little village, she finds herself drawn to his big words and […]

8/1/2017 melanir's CBR9 Review No:69 |

Summer, Baba Yaga, and a were-house

Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher

February 16, 2017 by melanir 7 Comments

I love portal fantasies. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember, from Narnia to Oz to Wonderland to Amber and even for a brief moment Xanth, I have loved stories of someone from this mundane world transported to a world full of magic and wonder. Summer in Orcus is an offering in this category from T. Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon, and it is marvelous. The best I can describe it is a middlegrade fantasy for adults, and much like Catherynne Valente’s The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (which is a similarly […]

2/16/2017 melanir's CBR9 Review No:12 |

allisonata on I Could Make a Pun Here, But Just Read the BookAhhhh! I just read Less and love it more than mango sorbet. I couldn't see how his journey could resolve to my satisfaction-- but I...
allisonata on I Have Always Imagined that Paradise Will Be a Kind of Librarypage 4-5: "The company was very small and very new. It was founded by a pair of ex-Googlers who wrote software to design and bake...
BlackRaven on Finally embarking on this “space opera” journey thanks to you guysComing out in a few days is the first nine volumes https://www.amazon.com/Saga-Compendium-Brian-K-Vaughan/dp/153431346X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1I9TBNYP1S3LN&keywords=saga+collection&qid=1566417096&s=books&sprefix=saga+collection%2Caps%2C198&sr=1-2 Collects SAGA #1-54 I'm tempted to ask for it for an early Christmas...
faintingviolet on Finally embarking on this “space opera” journey thanks to you guysOne of my favorite factoids I picked up while reading this series is that Hazel's narration is in Fiona Staples' natural handwriting. I think it...
MrsLangdonAlger on A Worthy Followup to Bird BoxI didn't know he had a whole handful of books other than Bird Box! I'll have to check the rest out, too.

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