Kids Contemporary Fiction
THE MOST PERFECT THING IN THE UNIVERSE by Tricia Springstubb
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Loah is a homebody. She loves her old house–especially the turret–and even takes the time to repair and care for it. After all, someone had to, and her mother is far too busy traveling to the Arctic Tundra, searching for rare birds and combating climate change. But Loah’s comfortable home is threatened when a building inspector arrives at her door, demanding to know why her mother hasn’t made the required repairs to bring the property up to code. Worse, the people who care for Loah when her mother is away have a medical emergency that takes them away from home, leaving Loah entirely on her own. When she meets a girl with a troubled home life of her own, Loah finally finds the courage to venture out of her shell. Maybe she doesn’t need to travel to the far reaches of the earth to save the world–or at least one person in it. And the longer her mother’s absence stretches, the more Loah suspects that the fierce, world-traveling, environmental heroine might need saving, too.
A sweet, quirky coming-of-age story about a girl realizing that who she is has always been enough. I loved the concept of “everyday adventures” that runs through this story, the contrast between the Arctic explorer mother and self-professed homebody daughter. The characters are all a bit odd (in a delightful way) and though the story moves at a leisurely pace, I was sufficiently invested in them that I read the book in a single sitting. I’d recommend it to middle grade readers (it felt young–4th-6th grade, maybe even 3rd) who enjoy realistic fiction with a bit of a quirky tone (like you’d find in THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY or the Lemony Snicket books).
ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE by Tanya Guerrero
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Alba’s mother has finally given up on her. Why it was now–not the first time she got detention, or the time she cut off all her hair–Alba doesn’t know. Maybe her father insisted. He gave up on Alba a long time ago, and her mother wouldn’t dare contradict him.
But whatever the reason, Alba’s mother puts her on a plane to Barcelona, to live with the grandmother she barely knows in a country where she doesn’t even speak the language. She expects to hate it, but when she arrives, she discovers that her grandmother is compassionate and loving–a complete difference from her cold and distant mother. And when she meets her mom’s former best friend, a baker, Alba discovers two things: first, baking bread is a great way to soothe her anxiety; and second, her mom might have been a completely different person before her dad came along. As Alba settles into her new life in Barcelona, she finally begins to come to terms with her father’s abuse and to rebuild the broken relationship with her mother.
Spousal abuse is a heavy, heartbreaking, and (unfortunately) necessary topic for children’s collections–for the many children who have witnessed such abuses and every child who needs to build empathy for people with those experiences. For her middle grade readers, Guerrero softens the potentially disturbing subject matter by removing Alba–and soon her mother–from the environment where the abuse occurred, limiting the scenes of abuse to memories and devoting the entire action of the plot to healing, rebuilding relationships, and forging a new life in a safe community. Highly recommend for older middle grade readers who enjoy character-driven realistic fiction in rich settings and don’t mind some heavier themes.
THE MANY MYSTERIES OF THE FINKEL FAMILY by Sarah Kapit
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Lara started FIASCCO (that’s Finkel Investigation Agency Solving Consequential Crimes Only) because she wanted something that was her thing. Everyone else in the family is good at something–or more than one thing in the case of her infuriatingly perfect cousin Aviva–and Lara just wants something that’s hers and hers alone. Why can’t her younger sister Caroline understand that?
But Caroline doesn’t understand. Why won’t Lara let her help with FIASCCO–especially considering that when they’re at school and Caroline desperately wants to be left alone, Lara won’t stop hovering? It’s Caroline’s first year of middle school–and her first year of attending school without an aide. She doesn’t need one; with her tablet, she can communicate just fine. She knows Lara is trying to help–and that since her sister has autism too she can predict some of the challenges Caroline might face–but how is she supposed to make friends when Lara keeps scaring them off?
When a blossoming friendship drags Caroline far out of her comfort zone, however, she might need her sister’s help after all. And when Lara’s detecting leads her to discover their dad has been fired, she realizes that some crimes are too “consequential” to be solved alone.
Though the premise may snag some mystery readers, at its heart, this novel is contemporary realistic fiction; rather than solving suspenseful mysteries, the girls “detecting” leads them to learn more about each other–and themselves. THE MANY MYSTERIES… is sweet, funny, and impactful, with family and friendship predicaments that will be immediately accessible to any 4-6th grade reader.
Both protagonists have autism, and the book features other neurodiverse characters, as well. All of the characters have realistic and well-developed personalities, giving readers in the Autistic community a chance to see their experiences reflected and normalized–and giving neurotypical readers the chance to “get to know” a diverse group of kids with autism and see a story unfold through their perspectives.
An excellent read and a must-buy for your MG fiction collection!
STAND ON THE SKY by Erin Bow
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When Serik’s attempt to capture a golden eagle goes wrong, Aisulu carries her injured brother down the mountain to their family for help. But as her uncle is preparing to set the broken leg, Aisulu decides to break a promise and tells her parents about the limp Serik has been concealing for months. And suddenly, her life changes completely. Her parents leave for the city to take Serik to the hospital, and Aisulu is left in the care of her uncle and his eccentric wife, unsure whether Serik will ever forgive her for her betrayal, even though she may have saved his life. And so, she decides she will save another life. Abandoning her responsibilities for milking the goats and carrying water, she heads back to the mountains and finds the dead eagle’s nest, rescuing its baby chick and bringing it home with her. At first she fears that her uncle will take the eagle from her, since she is a girl and eagle hunting is man’s work. But as she and the eagle bond, she sees a new side of her uncle as he encourages her to train the eagle as a hunter. As Aisulu and her eagle progress through their training, she sees the complexity of the attitudes about gender norms in her family and community and realizes that she may be in a unique position to save her brother–and the rest of her family–once again.
Set in the Kazakh region of modern Mongolia, this is the story of a girl finding her self-worth and realizing how much she is valued by her family, even though she is different. The uncertainty of Serik’s health and Aisulu’s eagle training drive the plot, but the real power of the story is in the transformation of Aisulu and her family. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to middle grade readers who enjoy character-driven novels and learning about other cultures.
THE TRAIN OF LOST THINGS by Ammi-Joan Paquette
Marty’s father is sick. The kind of sick with surprise hospital stays, weeks in bed, and not much talk of the future. When he first found out about the cancer, Marty’s dad got him a present: a jean jacket so that the two of them could collect buttons and pins to represent different memories during the time they had left together. It is Marty’s most prized possession. So when the jean jacket goes missing during one of Dad’s hospital stays, Marty is frantic. It can’t possibly be gone! That conviction that the jacket must be out there waiting for him somewhere reminds Marty of an old story his father used to tell him about the Train of Lost Things, a train that flies around the world at night collecting the lost precious possessions of children and holding onto them until they can find be returned to their owners. Desperate for his jacket, Marty sneaks out one night in search of the train and stumbles into an adventure beyond his wildest dreams.
In this touching coming of age story, a dose of fantasy helps Marty and the reader process the grief and loss of a loved one. About half of the book reads like realistic fiction, so this book will be most appealing to readers who enjoy both realistic fiction and fantasy, or fantasies that are heavily rooted in the real world, such as Savvy by Ingrid Law.
JUST LIKE JACKIE by Lindsey Stoddard
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Robbie’s temper is no secret. So if Alex Carter didn’t want to get punched in the face then he shouldn’t have made fun of her name. She is not named after some robin bird. She is named after Jackie Robinson, and everyone knows it. But not everyone knows that her grandfather’s memory is slipping, that he sometimes forgets where he is or where he’s going, or how to do simple things that he once did so well. And Jackie has to work hard to keep this a secret, because her grandfather is the only family she’s ever known, and she’s not about to let anyone tear them apart. But Robbie didn’t count on the Family Tree project at school that begins to bring all of the secrets in her life–and the lives of her classmates–to the surface.
This beautiful and engaging story was a fun read thanks to its vivacious narrator. The book deals with themes of race, identity, community, and what family means. Ultimately, Robbie will find a much larger family than she ever expected. I thoroughly enjoyed this new realistic fiction novel and would highly recommend it to middle grade readers.
RESTART by Gordon Korman
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When he wakes up, he is in the hospital, surrounded by strangers. A woman is crying and calling him Chase, but the name doesn’t seem right. He looks in a mirror and realizes he doesn’t know himself. After falling off the roof, Chase has lost all memory of the first thirteen years of his life. What’s even stranger than not knowing people is that people do seem to know him. And most of them don’t like him–even seem afraid of him. The more he learns about himself, the more Chase dislikes himself. But how could that be? Did the fall change who he was? Or is Chase the bully still inside him somewhere? As he grows closer to the people who once feared him, Chase must figure out who he really is or risk hurting the people he cares about most.
A wonderful coming of age story in which a boy is able to rebuild himself, piecing together those parts of him that he likes and discovering a new capacity for compassion. It gives inspiration to all of us who fall short of our ideal hopes for ourselves and strive to be better friends and citizens. I highly recommend it to middle grade fans of realistic fiction.
A BOY CALLED BAT by Elana K. Arnold
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Bat got his name because his initials are B. A. T. But it stuck because of the way Bat flaps his arms when he gets excited or overwhelmed. And because of his extra sensitive hearing, which sometimes requires him to wear earmuffs. It’s okay with him because a bat is an animal, and Bat loves animals. When he grows up, he is going to be a vet like his mom. When his mom brings home a newborn skunk kit, Bat is ecstatic. It will be a perfect pet! There are only two problems. First, Bat still has to spend Every Other Fridays at his dad’s house, which is bad both because it breaks up his normal routine and takes time away from the kit. And second, his mom says they have to turn the kit over to a skunk rescue in a month. Bat can’t change Every Other Fridays, but he embarks on a mission to change his mom’s mind about the skunk rescue. Step One: contact international skunk expert Dr. Jerry Dragoo.
A sweet story about a boy’s love for his pet and struggle to find a place in his community. This novel will be best for readers who have graduated from transitional to full-fledged chapter books (typically grades 3-4).
GARVEY’S CHOICE by Nikki Grimes
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Garvey wishes his father could accept him for who he is. He just doesn’t like sports. He likes reading. His father’s comments sting, and the only thing that seems to soften the blow is eating. And eating. The more weight he gains, the more he is tormented by his father and his classmates. Can Garvey find a way to connect with his father and love himself?
Told in a series of poems, Garvey’s story tackles the struggle to overcome the judgments of others and find a sense of self worth. Despite Garvey’s difficult relationship with his father, they do love one another and ultimately will gain a deeper understanding for each other as they grow closer. Short and full of beautiful language, this new novel from Nikki Grimes will appeal to middle grade realistic fiction readers, poetry lovers, and even reluctant readers who may be encouraged by the short chapters and abundant white space.
GHOSTS by Raina Telgemeier
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Cat is not happy about having to move from beautiful, sunny Southern California to cold, rainy, miserable Bahia de la Luna. But the weather will be better for her little sister Maya’s health. Despite her illness and difficulty breathing, Maya is always cheerful and doesn’t seem to mind leaving all her friends behind. In fact, she almost immediately makes a new friend: a boy Cat’s age who just happens to lead the town ghost tours. Cat is less than thrilled. She hates ghost stories. But things get far worse when the ghosts turn out to be real. Spirits of the dead hang around in Bahia de la Luna awaiting the Day of the Dead festival, and their presence will force Cat to confront her sister’s mortality.
With an infusion of folk fantasy, this graphic novel tackles the topic of a terminally ill sibling with a realistic range of emotions–from resentment to fear to sadness. This novel will appeal more to realistic fiction fans than ghost story aficionados, though it has elements of both genres.
Susan the Librarian 