Completely Full Bookshelf

For #IMWAYR, I am recommending Dear Haiti, Love Alaine  by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite. A word of caution to any young readers: this book is a YA (young adult) novel, not an MG (middle grade) novel and contains some mature content.           Alaine Beauparlant doesn't have an average family. Her mother, Celeste Beauparlant, is a journalist who hosts a widely-watched TV news program called Sunday Politicos  (and is an immigrant from Haiti), and Celeste's twin sister Estelle is the Minister of Tourism for Haiti and founder of PATRON PAL, an app that allows people to donate to help specific children in Haiti and see exactly how they benefit from the money. Alaine's outgoing, fiery nature (like that of her mother and aunt) will likely benefit her later in life, but as a teenager in private school, it is the catalyst for what my copy's front flap calls "the incident." "The incident" results in Alaine's school agreeing for her to spend t...

For MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am recommending The List of Things That Will Not Change  by Rebecca Stead.           Before I describe this book in particular, it seems like an appropriate time to mention that Rebecca Stead is one of my favorite authors ever . I loved her Newbery-winning book When You Reach Me  so much that it was the first book I ever reviewed (you can see the post here ), and I loved her last solo book Goodbye Stranger  so much that, since I thought my first review didn't do it justice, I reviewed it again . (Looking back at my first review, I apparently knew it didn't do the book justice since the moment I wrote it!) Rebecca Stead is such a truly amazing author that, when I heard The List of Things That Will Not Change  was coming out, I would have bought a copy without even reading what it's about. I suspect many of you feel the same way, since I've seen quite a few people who have read or are reading this book. Whether y...

For #IMWAYR, I am recommending the graphic novel Pumpkinheads  by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks. This book is a YA (young adult) novel, not an MG (middle grade) novel, but it doesn't contain any mature content and is probably safe for younger readers to read.           I realize that the middle of spring isn't the most reasonable time to be reading a book set on Halloween, but too late! For most of us, Halloween is a semi-fun holiday that comes once a year, but for Deja and Josiah (who also goes by Josie), Halloween is the last day they'll spend working together at the wonderful pumpkin patch where they've worked each year of high school (and probably the last time they'll ever see each other, since they aren't friends outside of the patch). Josiah is ready to spend this last day exactly as he always does: working at a booth with Deja, serving succotash and talking about Marcy (a girl who works there who he has a crush on but has never spoken...

As the coronavirus leaves us stuck at home, panicked and stir-crazy, I've gone through my past reviews to find the perfect MG books for you all to read right now! Below are descriptions of 6 books and explanations of why you should read them right now. Let's dive in! The Candymakers  by Wendy Mass See my review The Candymakers  is a perfect choice right now for a few reasons. First off, the book is about four kids (Logan, Miles, Daisy, and Philip) who are competing in a contest (held at a candy factory) to create the best candy—what could be more fun than that? But there's so much more to this book. You may be as tired of multiple-POV books as I am, but The Candymakers  is different. Instead of switching back-and-forth between perspectives, The Candymakers  goes through its story (up to a cliffhanger) from just one character's perspective before switching to the next. This scheme acts as the perfect vehicle to explore people's perceptions of others: each of t...