Our middle grade book spotlight this week is all about books that have been nominated for the Virginia Reader’s Choice (VRC) Middle School award for the 2022-2023 school year!! The VRC award was started back in the 1980s with the goal being that students across the state choosing what they thought the best book of the year is instead of adults. Every year, there are 10 middle grade books nominated for the award by a committee; readers then have a few months to read as many of the 10 as they can and then they will cast their vote for which one they think is the best. The book with the most votes wins the award!! Every tween, as long as you live in Virginia, qualifies to participate in this amazing experience and you can vote right here at your local Handley Regional Library System library (if you are interested just stop by and see someone in Youth Services!). These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #vrcmiddle2022 as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new middle grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Free Lunch by Rex Ogle--The author reveals the humiliation that came with the daily outing of his family's hunger and poverty in sixth grade when he had to announce that he participated in his school's free lunch program. While constantly hungry, Ogle also recounts how much he craved the love of family in the face of his parents' abuse and brutality.
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz--On September 11, 2001, Brandon is visiting his dad at work in the World Trade Center when the first plane hits. He begins a harrowing journey to escape and survive. On September 11, 2019, Reshmina has grown up in Afghanistan surrounded by war, but she dreams of peace. When her village is attacked, she comes across a wounded American soldier named Taz, and she must make an impossible choice that could put her family in grave danger.
When the Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson--Based on the experiences of a Somalian refugee, this full-color graphic novel depicts the experiences of one orphan's life, living in a camp and resettling to America. Omar and his brother Hassan have been living in a Kenyon refugee camp since they fled their village in Somalia, where their father was killed and they were separated from their mother. Cared for by a widow who also lost her family, Omar describes the boredom of nothing to do and the joys of caring for Hassan, who is nonverbal. Omar agrees to attend school, which may increase his chances of resettling to another country, but worries over leaving his brother each day. When the pair finally arrive in America, Omar is eleven and must face another set of difficulties acclimating to a new culture. Includes an afterward explaining more details about Omar's life.
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender--After twelve-year-old Kingston "King" James's brother, Khalid, passes away, King thinks he comes back to visit him in the shape of a dragonfly. Before his death, Khalid warned his brother to stay away from King's friend Charles "Sandy" Sanders because he's gay. Then Sandy goes missing and King suspects Sandy's abusive, racist father is to blame. He then finds Sandy hiding in his backyard, and the two go on an adventure to carve out a life for themselves in the Louisiana bayou among the dragonflies. Through this experience, King is forced to confront his ideas on his own identity and the truth behind his brother's death.
To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan--Unhappy about being sent to the same summer camp after their fathers start dating, Bett and Avery, eleven, eventually begin scheming to get the couple back together after a break-up. Told entirely through emails.
It’s the End of the World as I Know It by Matthew Landis--Eighth grade is just around the corner but Derrick is more worried about the end of the world that he believes is coming September 21st when the Yellowstone supervolcano is going to erupt--which is right after the anniversary of Derrick's mom's death in Iraq. As he hurries to finish his fallout shelter, he allows his neighbor Misty to help. The clock ticks down and Derrick and Misty experience an end neither of them expected and they must work together if they want to survive it.