Fearless
Fearless is a fun middle grades read for any kid with Broadway dreams: 12-year-old Monica Garcia has scored the opportunity every theater kid dreams of — an understudy gig in a new Broadway musical at the historic Ethel Merman Theater. With her abuela as her chaperone and a NYC hotel as her new home base, Monica quickly befriends her fellow kid cast-mates and can’t wait for opening night. But there’s a curse on the Ethel Merman Theater, and if Monica and her new friends can’t figure out how to break it, their theater dreams may crash before they have a chance to start.
by Mandy Gonzalez
Fearless is a fun middle grades read for any kid with Broadway dreams: 12-year-old Monica Garcia has scored the opportunity every theater kid dreams of — an understudy gig in a new Broadway musical at the historic Ethel Merman Theater. With her abuela as her chaperone and a NYC hotel as her new home base, Monica quickly befriends her fellow kid cast-mates and can’t wait for opening night. But there’s a curse on the Ethel Merman Theater, and if Monica and her new friends can’t figure out how to break it, their theater dreams may crash before they have a chance to start.
This isn’t the best middle grades book you’ll ever read, but it’s a lot of fun, especially for kids with a passion for theater. It’s a little bit ghost story, a little bit magical realism, and a little bit drama kid, which is a weird combo that works if you’re into those things. Monica is a fun heroine to hang out with — I love her confidence and her close connection to her family — and there’s a lot of fun Broadway backstory, especially around backstage traditions. If all this sounds up your alley, you’ll probably find it an enjoyable read — maybe get it from the library instead of buying your own copy.
Down to Earth
Down to Earth is a quirky middle grades gem. Homeschooler Henry is obsessed with rocks, so of course he’s excited when a meteorite lands in his family’s field. He’s practically memorized all the rocks in his R volume of the encyclopedia, but he’s not prepared for this rock’s mysterious powers: It’s got some weird connection to the local water that causes floods and droughts to happen. So Henry does what any good homeschooler does when confronted with a Big Question: He does research, and he connects with experts in the field.
by Betty Culley
Down to Earth is a quirky middle grades gem. Homeschooler Henry is obsessed with rocks, so of course he’s excited when a meteorite lands in his family’s field. He’s practically memorized all the rocks in his R volume of the encyclopedia, but he’s not prepared for this rock’s mysterious powers: It’s got some weird connection to the local water that causes floods and droughts to happen. So Henry does what any good homeschooler does when confronted with a Big Question: He does research, and he connects with experts in the field.
I’m always looking for good books with homeschooled main characters, so I was happy to discover this one, and I really loved that Henry’s curiosity feels authentic — he’s a bright kid with a deep interest in geology, and his homeschool experience felt totally relatable. I always have a soft spot for magical realism, and I liked how gently this book nudges the edges of the scientifically possible, reminding readers that science and magic have been tangled together throughout history. It’s also nice to have a male tween-age character who is intelligent, emotionally adjusted, and has healthy family and social connections — and I loved the scientist (tracking the meteor) who befriends him.
I think this book is just delightful. Recommended for middle grades readers, kids who love science (especially geology), homeschoolers in search of a book with a character who learns like them, and anyone looking for a genre-bending story that blends science and magic.
Watch the Sky
It’s hard, sometimes, to capture the experience of growing up in a post-9/11 world, that feeling of not being safe in our own skin, much less in our own houses. I really liked the way that this book dealt with those kinds of fears, in the character of Caleb, obviously, but also with Jory. In the end, Caleb may be right — the world may be on the brink of disaster at any given moment. But living — fully and richly — in spite of that fear may prepare us for whatever lies ahead at least as well as bomb shelters and combat boots.
by Kirsten Hubbard
Jory’s stepfather Caleb is waiting for the end of the world, and everything — from the color of leaves in spring to the direction fish swim in an aquarium — is a sign, telling him that end is coming soon.
I love the way that this middle school-ish book turns the whole post-apocalyptic/dystopian genre on its head. Because the terrifying collapse of civilization is only in Caleb’s head, but that doesn’t make it any less scary or less real — for Caleb or his adopted family, which includes Kit, a runaway they found in the pumpkin patch, and Jory’s little half-brother Ansel. When Caleb decides that his family has to spend their nights digging the equivalent of a bomb shelter in the canyon in their backyard, he’s obviously doing it to protect them. Jory’s been living with Caleb’s fears since his anxiety-ridden mom married Caleb when Jory was just a kid — he can’t remember life when he wasn’t watching for signs and waiting for the end, trying to stay off the grid and avoid any attention from the authorities.
All that changes when Jory goes to school, which Caleb thinks will distract the Officials from the family’s plans while they’re preparing for the coming crisis. At school, Jory meets kids who play computer games instead of digging tunnels, and parents who worry about what to put on hamburgers rather than about the end of days. The more time Jory spends in the outside world, the more he starts to question Caleb’s plans for their family.
What works so well about this book is how matter-of-fact it is about Caleb’s paranoia. Jory doesn’t totally buy into Caleb’s fear mongering — and he’s more and more skeptical of it as the book progresses — but it never occurs to him (or to anyone in the family) to question Caleb’s plans. Indeed, Caleb’s paranoia is on the extreme side, but it doesn’t feel that far away from the kind of worry that just watching the news or reading the paper can create. Jory doesn’t have a single brilliant moment of realization; instead, his time in the outside world slowly opens him up to the possibility that Caleb’s way isn’t the only way. There’s a lot in the book that hinges on Jory’s “sister” Kit, the little girl they found in the family pumpkin patch and “adopted.” Kit doesn’t speak, and Jory has developed a system of signs and expressions to communicate with her. Their relationship is really sweet.
It’s hard, sometimes, to capture the experience of growing up in a post-9/11 world, that feeling of not being safe in our own skin, much less in our own houses. I really liked the way that this book dealt with those kinds of fears, in the character of Caleb, obviously, but also with Jory. In the end, Caleb may be right — the world may be on the brink of disaster at any given moment. But living — fully and richly — in spite of that fear may prepare us for whatever lies ahead at least as well as bomb shelters and combat boots.