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MMGM: Will Sparrow’s Road

May 6, 2013 | , , , , , ,

As a reader, I have a strong pull toward girl heroines–if I were to break down the kid lit I read, probably 92% has a female MC or narrator. Also as a writer, I generally find inspiration in girl POVs. So I’ve been meaning to pick up more books that have boy voices. I’ve always loved reading Karen Cushman’s strong and interesting girl
protagonists, as well as her intricately researched historical fiction, so I was excited to read her first book with a male main
character: Will Sparrow’s Road.

“I care for no one but myself, and nothing but my belly,” says Will
Sparrow, the itinerant hero. He’s a tween boy making his way, alone, along a road and through the vibrant and sometimes dangerous world of 16th-century England. Will has good reason to care for his belly–he’s hungry and has to rely on cleverness and the occasional thievery for food. A plot summary from the Goodreads page:

In his thirteenth year, Will Sparrow, liar and thief, becomes a runaway. On the road, he encounters a series of con artists—a pickpocket, a tooth puller, a pig trainer, a conjurer—and learns that others are more adept than he at lying and thieving. Then he reluctantly joins a traveling troupe of “oddities,” including a dwarf and a cat-faced girl, holding himself apart from the “monsters” and resolving to be on guard against further deceptions. At last Will is forced to understand that appearances are misleading and that  he has been his own worst deceiver. The rowdy world of market fairs in Elizabethan England is the colorful backdrop for Newbery medalist Cushman’s new comic masterpiece.

I really loved how this book worked as a classic picaresque (Comp Lit Nerd Alert, I know), in that Will had to live by his wits to survive in a somewhat harsh world–sometimes to comic effect. The plot had a great balance of being episodic (neat little scenes in which Will has a struggle, or does something clever; characters who flow in and out in a way consistent with Will’s chaotic life and the time period) and having a rewarding character arc. I also loved how, in true picaresque style, Cushman didn’t pull her punches in terms of the difficulties all people–including children–experienced during that time. The stakes were high for Will, and it made his successes that much more rewarding.

To see what other marvelous middle-grade books readers and writers are blogging about today, check out Shannon Whitney Messenger’s blog for the MMGM links!

Mira’s Diary: Home Sweet Rome (MMGM!)

Apr 22, 2013 | , , , , ,

I really love time-travel books, and one of the things I’ve enjoyed about reading lots of them is that different authors tend to focus on distinct aspects of time travel. The Time Traveler’s Wife focuses on how it affected relationships; Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is about the greater what-ifs and how a time traveler can affect the whole world. Before I Fall was time travel-ish (in a Groundhog Day kind of way), and in it the protagonist experienced significant (and heartbreaking) personal growth through repeating time. There are lots of other examples (and if you have suggestions of other good time-travel books, let me know! I already have a copy of Time & Again waiting on my shelf, and Time Between Us is on my list of books to be bought), of course.

In the Mira’s Diary MG series, author Marissa Moss uses time travel for adventure and to educate readers: about history, art, tolerance, and some big ideas. It’s really a genius blend. Even as a non-MG reader, I feel like I know so much more about lesser-known historical figures, iconic places, and art after reading each book. The first was set in Paris, and the latest is set in Rome. From the jacket:

As if traveling to a new country in search of her missing mother weren’t difficult enough, Mira has to do it dressed as a boy. In a different century.


A new postcard from her time-traveling mother points Mira to 16th century Rome. But before she can rescue her mom, she must follow the clues left around the city to find Giordano Bruno, a famous thinker and mathematician, who discovered something so shocking that important Italian officials don’t want it revealed. All the while avoiding the Watchers–time-traveling police who want Mira back in her own time.


It’s another whirlwind adventure for Mira, and this time she is determined to bring her mother out of the past.

Back to how Mira’s Diary uses time travel to introduce some pretty cool ideas to its readers. This is one of my favorite passages in the book, coming after Mira encounters Giordano Bruno while trapped in a Roman prison:

“What I grasped was an impression of the world full of glinting lights, a million futures, a zillion possibilities, an infinite number of ways forward and back. It was all so perfectly beautiful, so incredibly ingenuous, like the way you can find math in nature–from the swirls of seashells to the spines of pinecones. When dawn streamed in the high window, I hadn’t moved at all, but I felt like I’d time-traveled in a totally different way.” (p.126)

Beautiful and really cool, right? I love how ideas are a form of time travel in the Mira books, along with the actual jumps in time Mira and her mom take while on their adventures.

The Mira books are smart, engrossing, and relatable for MG readers–and they have great spot illustrations, too. I can’t wait to see where time takes Mira next.

To see what other marvelous middle-grade books readers and writers are blogging about today, check out Shannon Whitney Messenger’s blog for the MMGM links!

Disclaimer: I am a Sourcebooks author, and Sourcebooks did provide me with a copy of Mira’s Diary: Home Sweet Rome to read. But as always, my opinions are my own!

MMGM: Small Medium at Large

Feb 25, 2013 | , , , , ,

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday is hosted every Monday by Shannon Messenger. Today I want to talk about Joanne Levy’s great MG, Small Medium at Large.

From the publisher (Bloomsbury):
After she’s hit by
lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new
talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her
overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an
approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading
the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through
seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and
possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.

Possibly my favorite type of middle-grade book blends realistic characters, settings, and experiences with just a touch of something magical–an element beyond suspension of disbelief (like a main character who becomes world-famous for bird calls) but less than true magical realism or fantasy (like a main character who discovers she can fly). Ghosts and light paranormal often hit this imagination sweet spot–or in the case of Small Medium at Large, a lightning-strike-induced ability to hear dead people.

Small Medium at Large is sweetly funny and highly relatable (ghostly voices aside). Who wouldn’t want to imagine a world in which those who have passed surround and support us through–particularly through the trials and tribulations of the seventh grade? From the clever title to poignant interactions with a variety of ghosts to Lilah’s witty voice, this was an absolutely charming book. Now that I’m done with it, I kind of want to dust off my Ouija board. 🙂

What MG have you read lately? 

MMGM: Sway

Feb 4, 2013 | , , , , ,

I’m really excited to join in the Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday fun, hosted every Monday by Shannon Messenger. Today I want to talk about Amber McRee Turner’s fantastic debut, Sway.

From the publisher (Disney*Hyperion):

For four long months,
ten-year-old Cass has been dreaming of the day her mom, Toodi, will come
home. But when Toodi’s welcome back party takes a turn for the
disastrous, Cass finds herself stuck alone with her dull-as-dirt dad,
who insists that they set off for the summer on a mysterious
adventure—just the two of them.


It turns out Cass’s dad has some
big-time surprises up his sleeve. Once they hit the road in an old RV
named The Roast, he introduces her to the amazing power of “Sway,” a
seemingly magical force that can bring inspiration and joy to people in
major need of help.


Adorable cover!
Cass can think of one particular person who could really use some Sway. If only she could track down Toodi, Cass knows
she could convince her mom to come home. But with the help of a little
home-spun magic, Cass realizes that the things she needs most have
always been within her reach.

Way back when I was a middle-grader, I read Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons, and I think part of me has been trying to recapture that reading experience ever since. Reading Sway, I finally did. Like Walk Two Moons, Sway is about a journey, both emotional and literal, in search of a mom and in search of something to believe in.

But I don’t mean to simply gush about Sway in terms of some similarities to one of my favorite books from my childhood. I loved Amber McRee’s limber use of language (reading this book, you’ll want to stop and read lines aloud to fully appreciate the wordplay), her richly drawn characters, and the playful humor that compliments the occasionally heartstrings-tugging plot. As someone who loves to read and write historical fiction, I loved the tidbits about historical figures worked into the story, too.

I can’t pick up a sliver of soap now without smiling and thinking of Cass.

What I read in 2012

Jan 4, 2013 | , , , ,

State of Wonder ~ Revolution ~ The Fault in Our Stars ~ The
Disenchantments ~ The Handmaid’s Tale ~ True Grit ~ Love? Maybe ~ The
Future of Us ~ Rebecca ~ The Snow Child ~ All These Lives ~ The
Thirteenth Tale ~ Hemlock ~ Enchanted Ivy ~ A Young Wife ~ The Guernsey
Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society ~ Wanderlove ~ The Art of
Fielding ~ The Espressologist ~ Dear American Airlines ~ American Born
Chinese ~ The Book Thief ~ Promise the Night ~ Amelia Anne is Dead and
Gone ~ The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico ~ The Wilding ~ Jellicoe Road ~
Insurgent ~ The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer ~ How Should a Person Be? ~
Laura Rider’s Masterpiece ~ Audrey, Wait! ~ Skinny ~ So Much Closer ~
Monstrous Beauty ~ The Conscious Bride ~ Moloka’i ~ The Bungalow ~ MWF
Seeking BFF ~ Between Shades of Gray ~ Prairie Evers ~ Laura Lamont’s
Life in Pictures ~ Liar & Spy ~ Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony ~ Gone
Girl ~ Mark Twain in Hawaii: Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands ~
Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony ~ The Butterfly Clues ~
The Age of Miracles ~ Beautiful Ruins ~ Life As We Knew It ~ The Raven
Boys ~ The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy ~ Samantha Sutton and
the Labyrinth of Lies ~ Frost ~ Ask the Passengers ~ Rules of Civility ~
My Very UnFairytale Life ~ Catching Jordan ~ The Year We Left Home ~
Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings ~ Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris ~
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of Universe

That’s 62 books!
27 were YA, and 8 MG. I think 17 of those were 2012 releases.

How did I do on some of my reading goals?

1. Read more books than in 2011: Achieved! I read 52 books in 2011.

2. Catch up on classics: Not much progress here, although I did finally read Rebecca, and I read some obscure Mark Twain.

3. Read some YA Nonfiction: I did! I read The Pregnancy Project.

4. More genres: I read fewer scifi/fantasy books than in 2011, but more thrillers and more historical fiction.

5. Reread old favorites: Total fail. I didn’t reread anything. Can you blame me, though, when there are so many wonderful books to read?

This year, I want to keep up my book-a-week pace, read more debuts, and even out my MG-YA reading ratio.

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