Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

> FAQ Home
> Tag: middle grade

Does what it says on the tin!

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang

by Leave a Comment

This was good and I liked it, but I didn’t expect it to be so young-skewing. It’s definitely a middle grade book. Older teenagers and adults can read and enjoy it, but it’s not really an all-ages read. Aside from that, it was really well done. I went into this with no background, and it was a fun read that way, but I wish I would have read the historical context/afterword from Yang at the back of the book first. Better yet, I wish they […]

Nancy Drew for the New Generation……and 2nd Bingo!

Pepper's Rules for Secret Sluething by Briana McDonald

by Leave a Comment

One of my MFA cohorts just published her debut novel, and of course, I had to buy it. Pepper’s Rules for Secret Sleuthing is a middle-grade story about our hero, Pepper, who’s gone with her father to help settle the estate of a late family relative. However, when they get there, Pepper notices some strange behavior from her own aunt and a few facts that don’t seem to add up. With the help of a neighborhood boy and unexpected assistance from her cousin, Pepper tries to […]

The kids are alright

Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

by Leave a Comment

I finished this lovely novel and immediately downloaded it to my tween’s Kindle so she could read it, too. (She did not. I regret every time I try to make her read something and she insists on choosing her own reading material. It’s the worst.) Dress Coded opens with Molly Frost interviewing her classmate Olivia for a podcast. Olivia is currently the most hated girl in 8th grade. See, Olivia was busted for a dress code violation and in doing so, lost the entire class […]

“Every Time Something Doesn’t Happen, It Means Something Else Can”

What If A Fish by Anika Fajardo

by 1 Comment

While I’m not usually a reader of middle-grade fiction, this debut novel came across my Facebook feed, as one of my cohorts from my MFA program was its editor! I bought it immediately and was so charmed by this adorable story. What if A Fish follows Little Eddie Aguado, an eleven-year-old Colombian American who feels neither Colombian or American. As he struggles to find his place in the world, he comes across a fishing medal owned by his late-father that sets him on an adventure […]

This book is going to be so good for so many kids. I wish it had been around when I was growing up.

Rick by Alex Gino

by Leave a Comment

This is a sweet book, but it’s not as good as its companion novel, the award-winning George. George does what all great books do, and transcends its genre. It was written for young middle grade readers, but because it was so well-written and so personal, and developed the character of Melissa so beautifully, it just felt like a good story, all the while it was also teaching kids about what it means to be trans, and emphasizing themes like empathy, friendship, and kindness. Rick has […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay