3 Awesome Middle School Books

Black Bird Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternack is a beautifully written book about a young woman who escapes with her brother from a family steeped in traditional fear. Ziva is that “that” age where her family is beginning to find her a suitable husband. The only thing is Ziva wants to be a judge, just…

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt If you’re looking for a charming story with portions written by an Octopus, then look no further. Remarkably Brilliant Creatures was the perfect read to banish the February Blues.Marcellus is a grumpy octopus who lives or instead is imprisoned in the Sowell Bay aquarium, where he judges his captors from behind…

Homecoming

by Kate Morton Homecoming by Kate Morton Kate Morton’s writing is easy to love. Engaging plots, an interesting collection of characters, and secrets of varying degrees begging to be uncovered. Homecoming is probably my favourite of Morton’s novels thus far. The story starts in 1959 with the death of a mother and all her children.…

If We Were Villains

by M. L. Ric I love Shakespeare and upon reading this novel it is apparent that M. L. Ric loves Shakespeare too!  The  characters are literally Shakesperian actors, or rather students studying to be Shakespearian actors. Our cast of characters range from a villain to an ingenue.Our main character, Oliver, is neither a villain or…

The Sleeping Car Porter

by Suzette Mayr “9: 45 P.M. Standing next to his step box, Baxter hovers: immobile and elastic, ready to spring forward to lift a suitcase, dissect a timetable, point to the conductor, nod, lift more suitcases, now hat boxes, answer more questions, and nod, nod, nod. Trouser cuffs drag in the dust, shiny boot heels…

Girl Out of Time

by Clyde Boyer  Anna Armstrong is a brilliant precocious girl who has always been fascinated by space. In fact, she has attempted to launch herself several times into space but unfortunately her homemade rocket ships did not have sufficient enough power to get her there. Tragically, on the day of one of her “launches”, she…

My Grandmother’s Kitchen Table

I remember the colour of my grandmother’s kitchen table. It was an institutional green with little gold stars and a splattering of tiny pin prick polka dots. The matching plastic chairs were cushiony and comfortable… unless you sat on them for a long period of time wearing shorts. Then getting up from the table was…

The Adult

by Bronwyn Fischer Bronwyn Fisher is a master of first-person narration. I cannot remember the last time I felt so connected to the thoughts and emotions of a character. I cared so much for Natalie! I could have very easily found her insecurities and naivety annoying, but instead, I found myself rooting for her in…

Museums, Memories and Murder

Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Christina Rivera Garza Long, planned letters or scribbled notes in the margins of her lecture notes. Poems transcribed cleanly and carefully, over and over again. Song lyrics. The last time she picked up her purple-ink ballpoint pen was on July 15, 1990, at 10:30 AM. Eighteen hours later, according to her…

Glass Shards

“Because even the smallest of words can be the ones to hurt you, or save you.” ― Natsuki Takaya Months ago I dropped a little glass desert bowl on my tiled kitchen floor and tiny glass shards shattered at an impressive radius around the drop site. I swept and vacuumed. Then swept some more. Then…