Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

It's that time again! Look over your past month's reading and highlight some middle grade reads. What were your favorites? Maybe even tell us why, so we can add them to our own To Read piles.

February had me catching up with books that I'd heard good things about ... but didn't get around to because (silly me) I was reading books for the A to Z Challenge in alphabetical order last year. When You Trap a Tiger is a family story that sets life's realities (being different, fitting in, trusting friends, aging grandparents) alongside Korean folk lore. Lovely tension. Then there was The Verdigris Pawn, which is good if you like political maneuvering in a pseudo-historical setting. The heir must find his mage and his ace in order to overthrow his own father and put the Land to rights. I really (really) enjoyed The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, which is about a girl who becomes a mathematical savant after being struck by lightning. She's tested out of high school, but her grandmother won't let her go to college until she spends a year learning how to be a middle schooler. Aaand, Orson Scott Card gets a mention because Duplex was really good. It's his second book in the micropowers universe, and there are references to characters from the first, so start with Lost and Found.

With as busy as my February was, I didn't get as much reading done as I normally would have. Despite that, I did manage to read 10 different middle-grade books. Of those, there were 2 that really stuck out to me:

First was The Horrible Chocolate by Jacob M. Ronsen, which was a book about Bobby's revenge. Written in a style similar to Roald Dahl, I found myself giggling many times while readying it.

Second was The Superteacher Project by Gordon Korman. I have loved every book by Korman that I have read, and I think this one is my favorite so far. Told from multiple POVs, this story looks at what might happen if a self-learning AI-driven android were to teach middle school. It was funny, poignant, and realistic - self-learning AI-driven android aside. I definitely recommend it.

I managed a couple in Feb. Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society is a historical fiction set in WW2, giving insight into an event involving China, USA and Japan. The one thing that struck me was that the main characters were biracial. Whilst I notice that recent books with these characters have sprung up, I don't recall coming across them 20 years ago, when this book was published.

The other book is Escape Room. I previously enjoyed Christopher Edge's scifi books. This isn't anything scifi at all. It is reminiscent of The Gollywhopper Games , Walls Within Walls and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Cannot make up my mind but the best recently published (2021 and 2022) books for me in February have been

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (winner of the 2021 Carnegie Medal)

Alte Zachen / Old Things (a brilliant graphic novel currently on the short list for the 2023 Kate Greenaway Medal).

I have also really adored two older Carnegie Medal winners by Jan Mark, her Thunder and Lightnings and Handles but both of these are sadly no longer in print.

I've been listening to audible books...and recently caught up on some early Gary Paulsen books - the familiar ones like "Hatchet" and "Brian's Island" - but ones I've missed before but enjoyed during February: "Mr. Tucker" and "Harris and Me"and thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace in these. I've begun "The Island", a more unusual approach. As an author, I find I'm learning a great deal from these books, as well as enjoyment.