#IMWAYR November 4, 2019

Each week I try to join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. I am currently a first round Cybil judge for the middle grade fiction, so expect to see a lot of middle grade fiction for the next few weeks. A lot of middle grade fiction.

Here's what I read this week:

Middle Grade

Imagine if your whole life you thought your mother knew nothing about her Native American background, and then you find a box in your attic that proves otherwise. Edie has always wanted to know more about her family, especially since when people look at her they expect her to know her tribe and history but her mother was adopted so she's always assumed she didn't know either. Then Edie and her friends find a box in the attic with a picture of another Edie. This Edie has written letter after letter about her life on and off the reservation. The box is the beginning of Edie's self-discovery and family discovery.

Audra has always known her parents were doing something dangerous. She would hear her father, a famous magician talking with her mother about the danger, but her mother would always tell her father to wait another year before he told more to Audra. But some secrets cannot be kept hidden forever. When the Russian soldiers come to her tiny Lithuanian farm looking for her parents, Audra is given a package and told to save it and bring it to another town at all costs. Imagine Audra's surprise when the only thing in that package is a book. Swept into a time in history when the Lithuanian language and books were considered illegal, Audra must decide if her safety and freedom are worth hiding a few books. A wonderful story about a part of history most kids and adults may not know.

Told in a similar fashion to Refuge, Alan Gratz's Allies follows a number of men and women as they experience D Day from water, land, and air. The stories weave together and overlap and give a clear picture of the chaos, heartbreak, and triumph of the day from the point of view of all of the allies involved.

When the popular boys at school suddenly start paying attention to Mila, she doesn't know how to react. Some of her friends are even jealous. But as the boys start giving hugs, making comments, and getting too close, Audra starts being very uncomfortable and wants to do something. But how can she explain this away when no one else seems to mind?  This is a perfect book in the time of the #MeToo movement for girls to understand that there are some things that are simply not okay.

If you, or someone you know, likes kid spy books, then you will love Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation.

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Stacy Barnett Mozer is a teacher and a middle grade author. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below.