Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates 🟌🟌🟌

Peter’s family are shepherds, and they have a flock of over 100 sheep. The book details how the lives of sheep and Shepards are intertwined. A young Peter with the help of his mother saves a lamb that is close to death. Over the years the boy and his lamb become best friends and learn to trust and help each other when taking care of the flock. 

“Mountain Born” is a heartwarming historical fiction book that most of today’s readers will find boring. It moves slowly, the dialogue is not that enthralling, and the action is almost non-existent. If your child has an interest in farming and living off the land this is the book for them. If not, they should skip this one.

Published In: 1943
Publisher: BJU Press
Age Level: 6-10 years
AR Level: 5.6
Pages: 112
Stars: 3
Award: 1944 Newbery Honor

The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths - 5 Stars

 “The 13-Story Treehouse” is so ridiculous that every chapter makes you belly-laugh. It has just the right kind of humor for 7–12-year-old boys. Andy and Terry live in the 13-story treehouse which has many cool rooms and gadgets. They are constantly experimenting or building something, flying cats, giant bananas, sea monsters or enormous gorillas. They also write funny books and are working under a deadline to get one completed. Will they get their next book written on time or will they have to save the world? All three of my grandsons enjoyed the antics of Andy and Terry. Not only is the story wacky but the illustration back up all the shenanigans.

 

Published In: 2013

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Age Level: 7-12 years                                                         

AR Level: 3.8

Pages: 239                                                 

Stars: 5

Series: 13 Books

Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

Simon is a seventh grader whose family has moved to Grin and Bear It, Nebraska. They came from Omaha where Simon was the only survivor of a school shooting. His new hometown not only has a quirky name but it’s a “National Quiet Zone”, with not internet or cell phones. As Simon settles into his new life nobody in town knows about his past. He is making friends, has less anxiety and he is back in the classroom. When one of his friends finds out about his past, how will the town and Simon react?

School gun violence is a scary and disturbing topic for today’s school children. The book addresses the subject with seriousness but it’s not heavy handed. The delightful humor in the novel keeps the reader laughing despite Simon’s struggles with PTSD. A great book for any middle schooler.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2023	Profanity: No
Publisher: Disney Hyperion	Violence: Yes
Age Level: 10-14 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 5.2	Mature Themes: School Shooting
Pages: 320
Stars: 5 Awards: 2024 Newbery Honor

Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

“Belle Prater’s Boy” is a historical fiction novel set in the 1950’s. The story takes place in the Appalachian Mountains in the heart of coal county. Woodrow’s mother is missing, and his father can no longer take care of him, so he’s sent to town to live with his Grandparents. Gypsy, his cousin lives next door, and both sixth graders are keeping secrets. Woodrow secret is about his mother disappearance and Gypsy’s is about her father’s death. These two characters are well developed, and they draw the reader into the story. The book has enough humor that the very serious topics don’t overwhelm the reader. A wonderful book for any middle schooler.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 1996	Profanity: No
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.	Violence: Yes
Age Level: 10-14 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 4.4	Mature Themes: Domestic Abuse
Pages: 196	Suicide, Abandonment, Alcoholism
Stars: 5                                                        Series: 2 Books Awards: 1997 Newbery Honor

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

Miranda is in sixth grade living in NYC and the year is 1978. Sal, Miranda’s best friend, has stopped talking to her and she doesn’t know why. When she starts to receive strange notes, her life gets even more complicated. These notes predict the future with accuracy and one of them has an alarming prediction that someone is going to die. This middle-school novel is a combination of genres, historical fiction, mystery, time travel and friendship. The mystery keeps your reading, the historical portrayal of the 1970’s is informative and the friendship among the characters is heartwarming. I will be recommending the book to my grandchildren.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2009	Profanity: No
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books	Violence: Mild
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 4.5	Mature Themes: Homelessness,
Pages: 199	Bullying
Stars: 5 Awards: 2010 Newbery Medal

Paperboy by Vince Vawter 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

The year is 1959 and an eleven-year-old boy called Little Man is living in segregated Memphis. His best friend has asked him to take over his paper route for the month of July. Little Man agrees to the job but is worried about having to talk to the customers, when he collects the weekly payment. He has a stutter that makes it difficult to communicate with people. Little Man not only has to interact with the customers on the route but the adult bully in the neighborhood is stealing from him.

There are a lot of serious and complicated concepts in the book, domestic violence, bullying, segregation, and brutality. Even with all these difficulties the book is heartwarming, and the drama keeps the reader engaged. For those readers who want to know what it was like for their grandparents growing up in the 50’s this book is a great snapshot of that time in America.

 

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2013	Profanity: No
Publisher: Delacorte	Violence: Knife Fight
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual Content: Mild
AR Level: 5.1	Mature Themes: Racism,
Pages: 224	Domestic Violence, Bullying
Stars: 5 Awards: 2014 Newbery Honor Series: 3 Books

Elf Dog and Owl Head by M.T. Anderson 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

It is summer and the whole world is locked down because of a deadly virus. A young boy, Clay, spends his days in the woods behind his house. Away from his pesky sisters and his parents worries. The woods are the same place that the Under the Mountain people go hunting with their dogs. When one of the dogs is separated from the pack Clay finds her and of course takes her home. The dog becomes part of the family after they try to find its owner. The dog has a very ornate collar with its name on it, Elphinore. Elphinore takes Clay to magical places in the woods that Clay never knew existed or could have found without her. But as with all magic, danger is right around the corner. 

The adventures that Clay and Elphinore go on are thrilling and captivating. I was enthralled with the book from the beginning. This fantasy story is perfect for middle-schoolers. The book has similarities to other fantasy stories, but its updated version will be more relatable to today’s readers. This is one I will be getting for the Grandchildren.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2023	Profanity: No
Publisher: Candlewick Press	Violence: Mild
Age Level: 8-12 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 4.8	Mature Themes: Animal
Pages: 229	Cruelty
Stars: 5 Awards: 2024 Newbery Honor

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

Jude and her mother have left their turbulent country of Syria for America. They leave behind her father and beloved brother. Jude’s Uncle has taken them in, to live in his very American home in Cincinnati. Warga does a beautiful job of expressing the difficulties of being a new immigrant in America. She not only expresses the cultural differences but also the racial prejudice that many immigrants experience. The book is written in verse and flows seamlessly. A great book to expose middle-school students to the realities of being an immigrant in this county.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2019	Profanity: No
Publisher: Balzer & Bray	Violence: War
Age Level: 9-12 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 5.3	Mature Themes: Hatred to
Pages: 342	Immigrants
Stars: 5 Awards: 2020 Newbery Honor

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuers 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

A comet is coming to destroy Earth and a few hundred scientists with their children are going to travel to a new planet. Petra and her family are among the lucky ones chosen for the journey. The space voyage will take hundreds of years, so the passengers are put in pods to sleep. This will allow them to retain their current age and teach them new skills. When the ship reaches its destination the only remaining passengers of those that were put to sleep years ago are children and they find a very different society than when they left Earth. Petra the storyteller knows she and the other children must escape the menacing Collective and try to find any remaining people from Earth.

Sci-Fi is not my favorite genre of literature but I totally enjoyed “The Last Cuentista”. The mixture of old stories that Petra tells with the reality of the futuristic society that exists on the ship mesh beautifully together. The story is a pager turner keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. Buy this book for your home library, both adults and children will not be able to put it down.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2022	Profanity: No
Publisher: Levine Querido	Violence: No
Age Level: 10-15 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 5.0	Mature Themes: No
Pages: 320
Stars: 5 Awards: 2022 Newbery Medal

The Wheel On The School by Meindert DeJong 🟊🟊🟊

I tried so hard to read all of this children’s classic but after 100 pages I was done with it. Six schoolchildren are on a quest to bring back storks to their small Dutch fishing village. They are looking for a wagon wheel which supposedly is where storks like to build their nests. The story moves very slowly, and it was not that interesting. Maybe in 1955 it appealed to elementary school students, but it will not engage today’s children.


Published In: 1954
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.
Age Level: 8-12 years
AR Level: 4.7
Pages: 298
Stars: 3
Awards: 1955 Newbery Medal

Jake the Fake Keeps it Real by Craig Robinson and Adam Mansbach 🟊🟊🟊🟊

Jake will attend a new school starting in 6th grade, the Music and Art Academy. This is the same school that Jake’s very talented and gifted sister goes to. Jake is not sure how he managed to get into the school but now that he is there can he convince his teachers that he is talented and gifted like his siter? Jake attempts several projects to find his true talent with no results. Finally on the night of the big talent show Jake finds his true calling. The book is funny and middle school boys will enjoy Jake’s antics. The book is not a classic but great for reluctant readers.

 

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2017	Profanity: No
Publisher: Crown Books	Violence: No
Age Level: 8-12 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 5.4	Mature Themes: No
Pages: 135
Stars: 4 Series: 3 Books

Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm 🟊🟊🟊🟊

The year is 1899 and 12-year-old May Amelia has a rough life. She is the only girl in a family of 8 children, in fact she is the only girl in the community of Nasel. Her Pappa is always telling her “Don’t Get Into Mischief May Ameila” and to be a “Proper Young Lady”. All she wants is to go fishing and run around the logging camp with her brothers. May Amelia might get some help from her mother who is pregnant, and May Amelia is hopeful that it will be a baby girl.

The book is written without quotation marks when the character is talking, making it sometimes hard to follow the dialogue. I like May Amelia, she is both tough and compassionate. Her character develops over the book which makes her endearing to the reader. This historical fiction is a wonderful insight into Pioneer Life at the turn of the century. If your child likes historical fiction this is a great addition to your home library.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 1999	Profanity: None
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.	Violence: Murder
Age Level: 10-13 years	Sexual: None
AR Level: 4.8	Mature Themes: Death of a Baby,
Pages: 253	Aging, Prejudice
Awards: 2000 Newbery Honor Stars: 4

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller 🟊🟊🟊

 

Lily and her family move in with her dying grandmother. Lily is desperate to find a way to save her. Lily encounters a magical tiger on the journey to her grandmother’s house. The tiger offers her a deal that will save her grandmother, will Lily take it?

The intermingling of a Korean folktale and a young girl’s struggle with life is wonderfully presented in this novel. Not only is Lily dealing with her dying grandmother, but she wants to be heard. By the end of the book Lily finds her voice and learns to accept the death of her grandmother. Parents be aware the older sister is in a same sex relationship, which is something I don’t want my 10-year-old grandson to read about. So, I will pass on this book. 

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2020	Profanity: None
Publisher: Random House	Violence: None
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual: LGBTQ Characters
AR Level: 4.1	Mature Themes: Death
Pages: 297
Stars: 3
Award: 2021 Newbery Medal

Moon Over Manifest by Clara Vanderpool 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

The year is 1936 and Abilene Tucker’s father has decided to send her to the town of Manifest, where he spent some time in his youth. Abilene and her father have been riding the rails but after an accident that put Abilene’s life in danger her father knows that this way of life is too dangerous for a 12-year-old girl. When she arrives in Manifest, she finds a run-down town not the idyllic place her father told her about in his stories.

Abilene makes it a quest to find out more about her father and his life in Manifest. She never finds out much about him till the end of the book but does discover a town with a lot of secrets. “Moon Over Manifest” is not an easy read. There are a multitude of characters and lots of threads to follow. It is a good mystery, and the author keeps you guessing on which character is Abilene father. This is a book for the serious reader, there is not much humor, and its themes are more adult in nature than kid friendly.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2010	Profanity: None
Publisher: Delacorte Press	Violence: Murder
Age Level: 10-14 years	Sexual: None
AR Level: 5.3	Mature Themes:Betrayal, War, Alcohol
Pages: 351
Stars: 4 Award: 2011Newbery Medal

 

It Rained Warm Bread by Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

“It Rained Warm Bread” is a holocaust story as experienced by a 13-year-old boy, Moishe. He is a Jew living with his family in the city of Kielce when the Nazis marched into Poland. When the Nazis first came to Kielce the family hides in a family friends barn. When that becomes too dangerous for the famer, they go to the Jewish Ghetto and from there they are separated into different concentration camps. Moishe is moved from camp to camp where he is always hungry, cold, and tired. At the end of the war, he is placed on a Nazi death march and survives by playing dead.

The story is told in verse and is a true account from a holocaust survivor. It is horrific and at the same time hopeful. Moishe never gives up hope. So many of the historical fiction books about the holocaust are from a girl’s perspective. It was refreshing to find a book on this topic that could resonate with my 10-year-old grandson. The books depiction of the Nazis cruelty and atrocities left him asking how people could treat each other that way. This is a must read for middle school students.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2019	Profanity: None
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.	Violence: Holocaust
Age Level: 9-13 years	Sexual: None
AR Level: 3.7	Mature Themes: War, Prison, Cruelty
Pages: 148
Stars: 5

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

“The Wednesday Wars” is a historical fiction novel set in 1967. The Vietnam War is raging, all the youth want to be “flower children” and appearances are everything in a small town. Holling, a 7th grade student, thinks that his teacher Mrs. Baker hates him. On Wednesdays all the students go to either Hebrew School or Catechism. Holling the only Presbyterian in the class is left alone with the teacher that hates him. Over the course of the year a relationship between student and teacher and friendship becomes a possibility.

This book has it all humor, tragedy, historical references, and a happy ending. Both adults and students will enjoy Holling’s exploits. I remember the 1960’s and the book is spot on. I recommend it to all middle school students.

Published In: 2007
Publisher: Clarion Books
Age Level: 10-14 years
AR Level: 5.9
Pages: 264
Stars: 5
Award: 2008 Newbery Honor

Roald Dahl,s Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

This book of rhymes spoofs fairytales. It is both funny and amusing but it’s not for young children. Dahl puts a very dark and hilarious twist on well-known childhood stories. Parents beware there is a lot of inappropriate language and outcomes. The Prince in Cinderella calls one of the “Ugly Sisters” a “dirty slut” and then proceeds to chop off her head. In the Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood has a pistol and shoots the wolf in the head. She then makes a coat out of his fur. This kind of behavior will be hard for parents to explain to elementary school children.

The illustrations are spot on and complement the text perfectly. I laughed out loud at each of the fairytales. I would recommend the book for at least middle school students and older. For adults with a dark sense of humor get this book from the library.

Published In: 2002
Publisher: Knopf
Age Level: 10-14 years
AR Level: 4.4
Pages: 43
Stars: 5

Hello, Universe by Drin Entrada Kelly 🟌🟌🟌🟌

Four middle school children’s lives intersect when one of them, a bully plays a prank. The book takes place all in one day. The four kids are unique and very different. One is a deaf girl who loves nature. Another is a self-proclaimed psychic. Third is a boy who is the bully. Finally, a shy boy who is on the receiving end of the prank and gets trapped in a well. As a heroic rescue is performed to rescue him a friendship develops.

I am the mother of 3 boys and all of them loved playing sports as children. As adults they have become caring husbands and fathers. I am continually disappointed when authors make the bully character a boy and a child that likes sports. Overall, the book is engaging but please stop stereotyping sport-loving boys as bullies.

Published In: 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow
Age Level: 9-11 years
AR Level: 4.7
Pages: 313
Stars: 4
Awards: 2018 Newberry Medal

Greenglass House by Kate Milford 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

The Greenglass House aka the smuggler’s inn is usually quiet during the Christmas season. The innkeeper’s family takes time to relax and celebrate the holiday. However, this year the guest bell is ringing again and again. As the guests arrive, they all have secrets that revolve around the history of the house. When items go missing from the guests’ rooms Milo the innkeeper’s son and Meddy the cook’s daughter set out to find the culprit. The two sleuths soon find themselves immersed in mystery.

“Greenglass House” is the first in a series of five books. If your child likes books with mystery in the style of “who dunit” this is the book for them. It was very enjoyable to read with lots of surprises, twists, and turns.

Published In: 2014
Publisher: Clarion Books
Age Level: 10-12 years
AR Level: 5.4
Pages: 376
Stars: 5