A Softball Star, a Friendship Slipping Away, and a Small Town with a Secret: 6 Fun New Coming-of-Age Middle Grade Stories
It’s that time of year where most parts of the country are saying goodbye to winter and hello to spring.…
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Oink! 11 of Our Favorite Pigs in Children’s Literature
From “This Little Piggy” to The Three Little Pigs to good ol’ Wilbur, children’s literature contains a long list of…
Click! 6 Books for the Budding Photographer
They say, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and for generations photographers have strived to capture the people, places,…
In Search of Role Models: 5 Middle Grade Books Featuring Strong Parental Figures
As both a parent and a teacher, I’ve always believed strongly in the philosophy of, “It takes a village.” Growing…
7 Middle Grade Books About Adoptive Families
During the holidays, we’re immersed with images and stories of food and family. But not every family is bound together…
5 Middle Grade Reads for Cold Winter Days
The two week school break is approaching. The word s-n-o-w has appeared in our local forecast for this weekend. There’s…
7 Middle Grade Mysteries for Dreary Winter Days (Or Anytime)
With late fall has come the cold, wind, and rain. The kind of weather that’s miserable to be out in,…
Darkness and Light in Tahereh Mafi’s Whichwood
Pulling Whichwood (the sequel to author Tahereh Mafi’s New York Times bestselling Furthermore) from its packaging, I was first struck by the contrast of the…
7 Middle Grade Reads for Fans of Magical Realism
Growing up, I was never a huge fan of fantasy. I just couldn’t get my mind wrapped around the fantasy…
7 Girl-Power Books For Young Readers
As someone raising both a son and a daughter, I’m always on the lookout for books that empower both of…
5 Series for Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
On November 7th, everybody’s favorite wimp, Greg Heffley, returns in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway. The Heffleys are…
5 Creepy Books Set in New England for Chilly Nights
It’s that time of year. The leaves are turning, the days are shorter, the mornings are colder. And that’s not…
5 Picture Books with a Focus on Compassion and Hope
These five picture books empower young children to make a difference in their world, in the simplest of ways. What…
The Half-True Lies of Cricket Cohen Is a Story About Memories (Both Real and Make-Believe)
Meet Cricket Cohen: Sixth grader. Manhattan resident. Future world-famous geologist. Liar. Okay, maybe liar is too strong a word, at least…
5 Sweet Chapter Book Series with New Releases in August
You know how it works: Your newly-independent reader finds a series he or she loves, and suddenly they’re tearing through…
Back to the Future: 7 Middle Grade Novels That Look Ahead
For as long as there have been storytellers, those storytellers have been imagining what it would be like to live…
The Summer When It All Comes Down to This
She was a woman who was not going to like me. So begins 12-year-old Sophie LaBranche’s summer, the summer the…
5 Picture Books to Read Under the Big Top
With the recent closing of The Ringling Brothers, it seems that the circus has become part of a bygone era.…
9 Books for Young Readers Who Are Almost Ready for YA
Middle grade: The in between years. Not quite a kid anymore, but not a teenager, either. This no-man’s land applies…
5 Books About (Nice!) Clowns
When we think of clowns, our minds often jump to clowns like Pennywise from Stephen King’s It. In recent years,…