Our Middle Grade book spotlight this week is focused on books that take place in or on the ocean leading to some pretty epic adventures! When something takes place on the open water, it leads to scenarios that are filled with danger and choices which could lead to life or death given the limited options. We have a great selection of titles this week, ranging from historical, adventure, realistic, and nonfiction. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthseaadventure 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!!
The Dagger Quick by Briam Eames--Twelve-year-old Christopher "Kitto" Wheale, a clubfooted boy seemingly doomed to follow in the boring footsteps of his father as a cooper in seventeenth-century England, finds himself on a dangerous seafaring adventure with his newly discovered uncle, the infamous pirate William Quick.
Keeper by Kathi Applet--Ten-year-old Keeper is having a bad day and is certain she has ruined things for her guardian, Signe, and friends Dogie and Mr. Beauchamp. What Keeper really needs is her mother. Since her mother is a mermaid (or so she believes) and left when Keeper was three, Keeper hatches a plan to find her. Relying on the magic of the blue moon, which calls the mermaids to gather at the sandbar, Keeper sets out in a rowboat and attempts to navigate the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Mexico to reunite with her long-lost mother.
Victory by Susan Cooper--Combining history with time travel, this tale follows the mysterious connection between a homesick English girl living in present-day America and an 11-year-old boy serving in the British Royal Navy in 1803 aboard the H.M.S. Victory. When Molly finds a secret inscription and a remnant of the Victory's flag in a book, she forms a connection with Sam -- through dreams and waking visions aboard the Victory -- and is eventually able to come to terms with the loss of her childhood home and deceased father.
SOS Titanic by Eve Bunting--Fifteen-year-old Barry O'Neill, traveling from Ireland to America on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, finds his life endangered when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink.
Ghost Liners by Robert Ballard--Depicts five famous ships that have been lost at sea in modern times: the Empress of Ireland, the Lusitania, the Andrea Doria, the Brittanic, and the Titanic.
Pirates and Shipwrecks by Tom McCarthy--Collection of true historical tales involving the mysteries of shipwrecks and pirate crews.