Our Middle Grade book spotlight this week is focused on books that have recently been added to our collection meaning they are new!!!! New books are the best; they have a new book smell and there is just something about being one of the first people to read it. There is a great mix of realistic, nonfiction, historical, and humorous this week; there is literally something for everyone! These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #2022youthnewbooks 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!!
Bump by Matt Wallace--Twelve-year-old MJ is grieving the loss of her dad; the only thing that brings her joy is the world of professional wrestling, especially the art of lucha libre. When MJ learns that her neighbor Mr. Arellano operates Victory Academy, a wrestling school, she signs up and finally begins to heal her heart. However, when the State Athletic Commission threatens to shut the school down, MJ vows to fight back and save the community that saved her.
Cuba in My Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas--When Castro seizes power in Cuba, twelve-year-old Cumba is sent by his family to live with relatives in Florida. Cumba struggles to adjust to life without his mother and father and in the United States, where everyone, it seems, speaks English. As each day passes and life doesn't seem quite as strange as the day before, Cumba worries about forgetting his mother and father and their life in Cuba.
Defiant: Growing Up In the Jim Crow South by Wade Hudson--In this memoir of prominent black author Wade Hudson, the civil right activist and writer begins by chronicling his birth in 1946 in Mansfield, Louisiana and relating his coming of age in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. Hudson discusses how he found his voice and began to use his writing to fight for his African American family and community.
Maya and the Robot by Eve Ewing--Science-loving fifth grader Maya Robinson is feeling lonely at the start of school without her two best friends MJ and Jada, who are in a different class. Discovering a half-finished robot in the back room of Mr. Mac's neighborhood store, Maya channels her loneliness into getting the robot, Ralph, up and running and finds a newfound friend and source of pride.
Kaleidoscope by Brian Selznick--Presents several interconnected stories with mythological and magical themes that explore the relationship between two boys--the narrator and James--who travel to the moon on the narrator's thirteenth birthday. There, James defeats the Sun in a battle to preserve the night and dreams and is crowned King. James remains on the moon while the narrator returns to Earth. Together the pair experience other adventures together until they are separated for good and the narrator must ponder the meaning of his life without his friend.
Fifty Four Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Rogers by Caela Carter--After stealing a school report, fifth-grader Gwendolyn Rogers reads about all the negative things--fifty-four to be exact--that her teachers say is wrong with her, such as the fact that she's lazy, inattentive, and impulsive. Gwendolyn tries hard to be good, but constantly feels like she's getting into trouble, unlike her half-brother Tyler who doesn't get into trouble for his ADHD. As Gwendolyn struggles to correct her inadequacies, her mother tries to get her the help she needs and what they both learn from the experience changes them in surprising ways.