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Middle Grade Book Spotlight--Tales That Inspire!!!

Our middle grade book spotlight this week is all about Tales That Inspire!!!  This is the final week for the 2021 Summer Reading Program and we are using this week as a launching point for you all to be inspired going into the new school year!  Inspiration means something different to everyone; some people will want to try new things while others may take on a challenge to better themselves and the world around them or maybe you just need some encouragement to get you through the day or even as you look down the road into the future.  These titles are ones that you can use to find inspiration to launch whatever dreams you may have.  We have a great selection this week of realistic fiction, story collections, biographies, and novels in verse. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthinspire as well as on Libby and Hoopla.  

The 2021 Summer Reading Program takes place from June 5th-August 11th with a new theme and badge activities every week.  Make sure to watch the Middle Grade Book Spotlight book talk video for this week as it counts towards your badge activities for the week; if you read one of the titles featured or on the tagged list, that counts as another activity as well!!!  Earn the weekly themed badges to get your virtual tickets which can be turned into opportunities to win prizes!  For more information--such as to sign up or to sign in to your account in order to track your books and activities--visit our Summer Reading page and click “LOG IN NOW”. 

Check back next week for a new middle grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson--This is a memoir of childhood written in verse by author Woodson. She was born in Ohio, but spent much of her young years in South Carolina and then New York. In the south, Woodson learned about Jim Crow laws which were just abolished in the 1960s and '70s. She also learned how to live like a Jehovah's Witness from her beloved grandmother. In South Carolina, Woodson had a loving family in the midst of beautiful scenery, so when she moved to New York she lamented: “Who could love / this place—where / no pine trees grow, no porch swings move / with the weight of / your grandmother on them.”

Rising Above by Gregory Zuckerman--Collects ten stories of female athletes who have overcome the odds and become superstar athletes and role models for young girls, including Serena and Venus Williams, Simone Biles, and Carli Lloyd.

The Hero Next Door by Olugbe Rhuday-Perkovich--Presents an anthology of short stories about everyday heroes, some who teach martial arts, some who are inventors, others who talk to ghosts, and some who are siblings, neighbors, and friends of all kinds of diverse backgrounds. Though they are all different, these heroes are shown to make the world a better place by who they are and what they do.

Me and Marvin Gardens by A.S. King--When a new development springs up on farmland that once belonged to 11-year-old Obe Delvin's family, he loses more than just the open space he cherished—he loses his best friend to the kids who've moved in. More alone than ever, Obe spends his days down by the creek where one day he spots an odd creature eating plastic. Obe names his new friend Marvin Gardens and vows to keep him a secret in order to protect him. But keeping one secret might require Obe to reveal others, and he'll have to take risks that force him to be braver than he ever knew he could be. 

Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French--In northern California, Julian Carter-Li and his friends old and new fight to save a grove of redwoods from an investment company that plans to cut them down.

365 Days of Wonder by R.J. Palacio--Collects maxims and proverbs on wonder and the wonderful things in life, culled from popular songs, poems, fortune cookies, and characters that appear in R.J. Palacio's book "Wonder."