It was a dark and stormy night. I was 12, recently moved 1200 miles from home, lonely, having a hard time making friends at my new junior high school. I was sick a lot that year and my mother, knowing what a hard time I was having, was patient with me, letting me stay home…
Category Archives: ages 9 – 12
Issues-driven Historical Fiction for Kids
I learn history best through fiction. I love experiencing the effects of history on people’s lives through fictional characters’ lives. Any time I read something or watch something that deals with Civil Rights (or the lack thereof during our nation’s history), I’m changed. I am grateful for how far we’ve come, but I also am…
Cybils shortlists and worthy “also-rans”
The Cybils finalist lists are out! Check out the site for the top picks in categories from young adult, to picture books, to poetry and more. Dawn and I were thrilled to be invited back to serve as Cybils round I judges this year, her in fiction picture books and me in middle grade fiction….
Promise the Night
Everyone knows the name Amelia Earhart, but what about Beryl Markham? She was one of the first women to get a commercial pilot’s license, and one of the first to successfully make a solo flight from Europe to North America. Promise the Night by Michaela McColl is a middle grade novel that looks at her…
Glory Be
Gloriana June Hemphill, better known as Glory, is about turn twelve during the summer of 1964, on the fourth of July, in fact. She can’t stop thinking about the fun she will have at the town pool to celebrate like she has in past years, but this particular summer, it seems as if nothing is…
School Stories
Kids and adults like to read what’s real to them. All of these middle grade fiction novels have a strong school setting. However, they are so different — from a wide range of appeal (on for 7 – 8 year olds and another for 12+), the themes, and the writing style. Warp Speed Middle-schooler Marley…
Did you get an ereader for Christmas? (A Mr. Poppers Penguins ebook giveaway)
Did you get an ereader for Christmas? Or did your child or teen? I predict that’s one of the hot gifts of the year. If you did get or give one, I’d love to know which ereader and from whom it came (or was received). Once you get that ereader, you need to stock it…
The 39 Clues: Rapid Fire, with Box Set Giveaway
The 39 Clues is a series that just won’t quit. As a parent, I love series books, because when my child finds one he likes, he knows exactly where to go to find his next book. A series like 39 Clues that is suspenseful and action-packed is even better. The Rapid Fire stories are seven…
-
Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor
MEET OUR TEAM
-
-
-
-
-
Find out about our relationships with publishers and affiliate networks in our full disclosure statement.
