A Crooked Kind of Perfect
by Linda Urban
Harcourt
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"I teach middle school, and sometimes I find that I have more choices for my readers who like edgy YA stories than I do for those kids who read well but aren’t quite ready for teenager issues. A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a perfect kind of book for those readers."
Kate: Read her review
Cracker: The Best Dog In Vietnam
by Cynthia Kadohata
Atheneum
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"It’s a war story about a seventeen-year-old named Rick Hanski and his experiences as a dog handler toward the end of American involvement in Vietnam’s civil war. As he stumbles into the army, then into dog handling, then over to Vietnam, Rick grows into a man of integrity and purpose."
Sherry, Semicolon: Read her review
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
by Lauren Tarshis
Dial
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"This was a very refreshing book and one I really feel middle school students can and will enjoy. It is great to read books that are written about abnormal children or kids that simply do not blend in with everyone else, yet are perfectly fine with that fact. So many stories are written about wanting to fit in and needing to gain social acceptance, yet this, shows the reader that being different can be perfect."
Amanda, A Patchwork of Books
Leap of Faith
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Dial
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"The writing in Leap of Faith was good; the plot always moved along smoothly and compelled me to keep reading. I needed to know that Abby was going to pull through and be okay. Leap of Faith was a sweet, hopeful story that I’m very glad to have read."
Miss Erin: Read her review
Leepike Ridge
by Nathan D. Wilson
Random House
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"Leepike Ridge is a book for every kid (and every grown kid) who played in refrigerator boxes, caught critters in the woods, and floated down creeks on homemade rafts. It’s a fantastic story with a grand adventure, a heroic boy, bad guys that you love to hate, a loyal dog, and a hidden treasure. The fact that it’s beautifully written with magical, transporting descriptions is gravy."
Kate: Read her review
Louisiana’s Song
by Kerry Madden
Viking
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"In Gentle’s Holler, Kerry Madden introduced young readers to Olivia (better known as Livy Two) Weems, a twelve-year-old with a passion for books and music. Livy has eight siblings of various ages and temperaments, a sweet mama, and a starry-eyed daddy. Money’s tight — Daddy’s music fills the heart and ears more than it fills the pocketbook — but the Weems make do, and their household is always bursting with family, love, and music. Louisiana’s Song is a worthy sequel to Gentle’s Holler, and, unlike many middle books in trilogies, can stand on its own two feet. When Louise learns to do the same, Livy Two will cheer her on, and so will readers."
Little Willow: Read her review
Miss Spitfire
by Sarah Miller
Atheneum
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"This book is the story of Helen Keller’s teacher, Annie Sullivan, as she struggles to teach a girl who can neither hear, see, nor speak. She displays incredible strength and determination as she sacrifices herself completely for Helen. Almost everyone knows this story, but hearing it from the teacher’s point of view is a really unique insight. This delightful debut novel will keep you rooting for teacher and student right up until its triumphant ending."
Miss Erin: Read her review
Wild Girls
by Pat Murphy
Viking
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"Pat Murphy tells the story of two girls — the rule-following Joan (a.k.a. "Newt"), who just moved to California from Connecticut and has always written the kinds of stories she thought her teacher would like, and Sarah (a.k.a. "Fox"), who hangs out throwing rocks in the woods near the run-down house where she lives with her dad, a motorcycle-writer-guy who doesn’t fit the image of any dad Joan has ever known. Fox and Newt form the kind of bond that can only be forged in secret clearings and treehouses, and together, they weather the storms of family trauma and trying (or not) to fit in among their peers. More than anything, though, they learn about writing and about the power of story to help us see truth — especially when truth is different from the story that the grownups are dishing out."
Kate: Read her review