Middle Grade Madness! discussion

With thanks to Dee for the suggestion, here is our latest themed readathon: fairy-tale edition!!

How it works:
- Recommend as many fairy-tale related books/graphic novels for our list as you want (read more about that below) OR you can just take part.
- There's no need to sign up to take part, just join in the conversation below.
- This readathon starts in December 2021 (countdown below).

- Recommendations for our list closes on 22nd November.
- I will feed the books/graphic novels from our list into a random picker.
- Using the link below (not yet added), you can access the random picker, spin the wheel, and it’ll randomly pick a book/graphic novel from our lists for you to read.
- Read the book/graphic novel and let us know your thoughts on it below!
- Then spin the wheel of the random picker again and it’ll choose another book/graphic novel for you.
- Try to read what the random picker picks for you but if you don’t have access to that book/graphic novel yet or if it chooses something you’ve already read for the readathon or that you've already read before or that you don't want to read/have DNF'ed/aren't interested in, then spin it again and it’ll choose something different.
- Alternatively, you can just ignore the random picker and read anything on the list that you like, but the random picker makes it more fun and spontaneous!


IF YOU WANT TO RECOMMEND A BOOK/GRAPHIC NOVEL FOR THE LIST:
The Rules on Recommending:
- It can be a book or a graphic novel.
- It MUST be fairy-tale related! That means it can belong to any genre but must have a clear link to a fairy-tale somehow. Think fairy-tale retellings or fantasy books written in a fairy-tale style. It doesn't have to be a classic fairy tale, it can be new or modern, it just have to link to themes of fairy-tales like if it involves magic, prophecies, curses, fantastical creatures like fairies or witches, etc.
- The book or graphic novel must be in English or translated to English.
- They can be MG, YA, Adult or New Adult.
- If the book/graphic novel is part of a series please only recommend the first in the series.
- You can recommend as many books or graphic novels as you like to be added to our list but try to keep it to 3-4.

The Book List:
MG:
Flunked by Jen Calonita - Kadi
The Thirteenth Fairy by Melissa de la Cruz - Kadi
Half Upon a Time by James Riley - Kadi
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis - Kadi
The Child of Fire and Earth by Barry Ryerson - Barry Ryerson
Annabelle, the Reluctant Fart Fairy by M.T. Lott - Dr. Block
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani - Patronusgranger12
Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski - AurorainBookland
Wishful Thinking by Amanda Ashby - AurorainBookland
Zoe in Wonderland by Brenda Woods - AurorainBookland
Ugly: The Stepsister's Story by Mary Mecham - Mary Mecham
The Dungeoneers by John David Anderson - Lynn
Story Thieves by James Riley - Lynn
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - Grace
A Tale of Magic... by Chris Colfer - Grace
Frogkisser! by Garth Nix - Audrey
The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale - Audrey
Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe - Dalia
Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen - Cat Carstairs
Fairy Eyeglasses by Emily Martha Sorensen - Traci Ann
Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James - Haniya
Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff - Haniya
Changeling by William Ritter - Dalia
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill - Dalia

YA:
*The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang - Anita
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron - Arin
Cinder by Marissa Meyer - Aeriell
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer - Aeriell
Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes - Lynn
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen - Lynn
Heartless by Marissa Meyer - Grace
Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston - Critter
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George - Critter
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley - Audrey
Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn - Arin
Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn - Haniya
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - Critter
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George - Audrey
My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison - AurorainBookland
What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell - Grace
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman - Deborah
Straight On Till Morning by Liz Braswell - Dalia
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore - Ilsen
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - Ilsen
Geekerella by Ashley Poston - Ilsen
The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl - Ilsen
Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly - Annie
The Beast of Talesend by Kyle Robert Shultz - Kacie

Adult:
*Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham - Tanya Ball
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire - Arin

(* denotes graphic novels)
(Names in italics are recommenders)

Countdown: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...
Link to Random Picker: https://www.classtools.net/random-nam...

Will there be a poll for this one or are we recommending them here?

@Ilsen you're so quick😂 I just set up the poll here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
or you can recommend them here and I can add it to the poll for you, either way works fine!

Oh thank you!! I’m very excited because December I get out of school so hopefully I’ll be able to be more successful in this one!

Oh Ilsen I'm definitely the same! I'm really glad I didn't decide to host a readathon this month because I'm so busy and hardly have time to read. But in December it's my holiday so I'll have at least 2 weeks free for this readathon. And just from the books I've added I'm excited to read them😂 (Half Upon a Time looks so good!) Imagine how excited I'll be when everyone else recommends books!

Aaand the final book list and random picker for this event is officially up! See them in the comments above!

Oh no!!! I didn’t realize it closed!!! Can I please add some, if it’s not too late!

Hey Ilsen! I was wondering who I was missing from the list. I think Jessica never added any either, but then I figured you both might be busy.
Anyway, yeah I can still add it! Let me know your 1-4 books and I'll add it ASAP!

Ilsen wrote: "Oh no!!! I didn’t realize it closed!!! Can I please add some, if it’s not too late!"

Ilsen, add some good ones. 😉

Yea I’m sorry I’m delaying so much. I’m probably going to add some tomorrow because today I am cramming on homework! But I hope you’ll like my recommendations, Lynn!

Ilsen wrote: "Yea I’m sorry I’m delaying so much. I’m probably going to add some tomorrow because today I am cramming on homework! But I hope you’ll like my recommendations, Lynn!"

Looking forward to them. 🤗

I am so so so excited for this! Everyone put in such great recommendations! I’m definitely going to utilize the random picker for this readathon; there are so many good books on the list I just can’t decide what to read first!

@Grace same! For once I have my eye on all the YA romance recommendations😂 but the mg ones also look so good so I won’t be able to decide what to read and I’ll let the random picker do it for me.

I want to spin soon so if Ilsen shares her recommendations with me today or tomorrow then I can add them to the random picker and we can all start picking our first reads!

Ok I’m so sorry this took so long! This actually took a lot longer than I thought because a lot of people out the ones I was going to recommend but I’m excited for my choices too! So there are two that I have read and loved and two that I really want to read! (I know no one asked for descriptions but I really wanted to give context to the recommendations)

Blanca and Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
They are one of my favorite authors! This one is my absolute favorite out of the three I’ve read so far! I haven’t read her recent releases but those are also based on fairytales so I recommend those as well because they are one of those authors where every book is five stars for me! So please read this author!

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
This Little Mermaid retelling is so fun and so fast paced! I finished it so quick and I loved it so much. I found this take on Little Mermaid so fascinating and the romance is everything to me!

Geekerella by Ashley Poston
I’ve been wanting to read this one for ages! I know there is a book by this author on this list but this one is definitely more on the cuter side and I’ve been craving a really cute contemporary!

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl
So this one is a really great find because it’s a mix of fairytales and Pretty Little Liars. Now, Pretty Little Liars is one of my favorite shows because I basically watched the whole thing from start to finish so I love it when books are compared to Pretty Little Liars. Also the synopsis looks really intriguing on its own!

I hope everyone enjoys these recommendations! Super excited for this readathon and to finally read for fun again!

@Ilsen no worries! I've edited the random picker to include your recommendations and added it to the book list above too.

Also I added another recommendation from me: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart because I came across it a few days ago and now I really want to read it. It's not necessarily a fairytale but it has the right elements for this readathon.

Just spun the random picker, and my first book is going to be The Grimrose Girls! Can’t wait to start 😁

I also just spun the random picker! So my first pick ended up being my recommendation To Kill a Kingdom XD It’s ok because I’ve been wanting to reread it for a while so this is the perfect opportunity!

I still wanted to pick something else so I spun again and I got Kadi’s new recommendation The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart!! I didn’t even know I had it on my TBR and IT SOUNDS SO CUTE!! Definitely something I need!

Honestly I might read To Kill a Kingdom now because I’m on a beach vacation and is definitely a book that fits the vibe. Also I need to get out of this slump so I need something familiar. I hope you enjoy The Grimrose Girls, Grace!!

Oh Ilsen awesome! I’m going to be reading The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart first! So I’m looking forward to seeing your thoughts on it when you get round to it too.

I did spin the wheel but it kept giving me books I didn’t want😂 there are a few books on the list that don’t interest me and it just happened to be picking those books each time. So I’m just going to keep picking myself from the list and my second read will probably be Princess of the Midnight Ball! Can’t wait for some YA romance hehe

Ive the girl who drank the moon and the undercover princess at home atm so those will b my first 2 reads

Ooh Eden I hope you enjoy! I'm hoping to be able to get round to Undercover Princess too so we might be able to compare thoughts next month...

So I finished my book yesterday and had nothing I really wanted to read. I know it's not December yet but I started reading Princess of the Midnight Ball anyway! I'm almost 1/4 through and so far I'm very much enjoying it.

@Annie oh yeah Aurora recommended Fairest of All for our book list! It looks like a quick cute read so I might get myself a copy next month.
Also I’d say no, The Hobbit isn’t a fairy tale, it’s a fantasy adventure. But it certainly has some fairy tale elements to it.

Over halfway on the girl who drank the moon/ not rlly getting into it

Oh no Eden! That’s a shame, but you did manage to get through it super quickly wow! I know that book is really well loved but from the synopsis it doesn’t really appeal to me. At least you tried though! Are you going to DNF it or just finish it off now?

I read stepsister! I liked it

also the Beaumont and Beasley series is really good

@Annie share the link for the list you found of fairy tales and retellings! I'm curious to see what else they have!
Also would you like me to add Stepsister to our book list above as your recommendation?

@Kacie the 1st book in the Beaumont and Beasley series looks so good!! Would you like me to add it to our book list as your recommendation?

Kadi, that would be fantastic! thanks

@Annie @Kacie I've added your recommendations above and to our random picker too so it's all updated for anyone who wants to spin it right now.

I couldn't figure out if Beaumont and Beasley book 1 is MG or YA or adult so I just put it down as YA. It looks like so much fun and it has such fantastic reviews that I'm going to read it next after I finish Princess of the Midnight Ball!

I think it's more YA. and it's so much fun! such a mish mash of so many different fairy tales...the series has some really funny moments too. so much fun, very lighthearted read

Ditching it for now. Gonna finish off shadow and bone and then move onto undercover princess

@Kacie I just need to find a copy and I can’t wait to read it soon!

@Eden aah sometimes it’s just like that. I hope you enjoy Undercover Princess more when you get round to it!

This event technically hasn't even started and I've already finished my first read for it!

Book 1:
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, recommended by Audrey - 4 stars out of 5!
This was such a sweet and adorable read. It wasn't the most complex book but it really didn't need to be to succeed.
I'm not familiar enough with the original fairytale to say whether it was a good retelling or not, but what I can say is that even if you approach it without knowing it's a retelling you'll still enjoy it.
Read my review here if you're interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next I'll be reading The Beast of Talesend recommended by Kacie! Super excited, I just got myself a copy and will probably be starting tonight!

@Annie I read them as ebooks! Physical books are so expensive, right😭 I do have a library near me right now but I’m not always in the same place so borrowing from that library is a whole palaver and also I’ve noticed I kind of prefer ebooks now (I used to read them begrudgingly only because I didn’t have access to physical books and preferred physical books but now I’ve shifted). I seem to read them faster than physical books anyway! Plus my library here in England and the one I’m signed up to in America have digital library access through awesome platforms like hoopla (which I’m obsessed with, if you read comics or graphic novels it’s frikking amazing!!) and overdrive.

Does your high school have a library? I was really lucky my high school library was so good, they had a lot of books and I was friends with the librarian so whenever we’d have book fairs and she had a chance to buy books she would ask me specifically what I wanted her to buy😂 I loved that high school library, I really miss it!

Kadi wrote: "@Annie I read them as ebooks! Physical books are so expensive, right😭 I do have a library near me right now but I’m not always in the same place so borrowing from that library is a whole palaver an..."

Also, some high schools provide access to local public libraries.

@Lynn yeah the library I’ve signed up for in America does that in association with local high schools. America have far-reaching library systems, it’s very impressive! It probably depends on the country though, library systems differ so much around the world.

Kadi wrote: "@Lynn yeah the library I’ve signed up for in America does that in association with local high schools. America have far-reaching library systems, it’s very impressive! It probably depends on the co..."

Agreed

@Annie you can still access Hoopla even from outside the US! All you need is a US library card. And some US libraries offer non-resident cards to people even in another country. I paid I think $20 for my yearly non-resident library card from Huntsville-Madison County Library. The librarians there are so helpful and sweet! I contacted them all online and they were the only library I came across that had a great cheap price and were helpful (all the other libraries that offer it are very expensive). I get 5 monthly borrows from Hoopla and what with all the bonus borrows Hoopla gives (they don’t count towards monthly borrows) every 3 months, it’s well worth the price. I’m basically paying like $0.20 per comic I read! And if I borrow omnibuses it’s even cheaper because that’s like 2 or 3 comic volumes in one.

I also review ARCs! Do you do it via Netgalley or Edelweiss? Or both?😂 I only review comic ARCs through them both but I review middle grade ARCs from authors too every now and then.

@Annie no problem! Always happy to help😊 I wax lyrical about Hoopla, they should pay me I basically give them free advertising constantly😂

@Annie I’ll private message you about it with links and stuff!

Since a lot of people seem to be starting early, and since I just finished the book I was reading, I’m going to go ahead and start The Grimrose Girls. The synopsis of this one sounds like something I would love, so I’m hoping it doesn’t disappoint!

@Grace that was the random picker's second pick for me but I wasn't sure on it so I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it and maybe that'll convince me to give it a try!

Can't wait to start reading Sink or Swim later. Book 3 in the Whatever After series, I read the first 2 books in the series years ago.

@Aurora the cover for that book is so cute! Hope you enjoy it😊

the Whatever after series is very cute, I love them.

I love how short the first book is, it's really persuading me to read it. Let me see if I can find a copy!