mglit | Page 4 of 8 | Daddy Mojo

How Do You Live?, the timeless Japanese classic translates effortlessly

After reading How Do You Live? you understand the book’s title on a much deeper level. On the surface one could surmise that How Do You Live? is a reflective book encouraging readers to take stock in their lives. It does have elements of that, but it’s not a personality Rorschach Test. Instead, How Do You Live? is one of the most popular Japanese books ever and has been a children’s book staple for generations. It’s scheduled to be the final anime film from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli and was initially published in Japan in 1937. It’s also a very intelligent book that encourages thinking, introspection, and observations on various aspects of world culture. From an American teacher’s perspective, How Do You Live? is the book that you want your middle and high school students to read, but you know that less than 5% of them dig into the book for leisure reading, but more on that in a moment.

How Do You Live?, wow-it’s mglit that’s smart, timeless, inspiring and makes you a better person for reading it. It’s also challenging to describe and potentially frustrating for middle school readers.

For the smart kids, or those that want to be

Outside Nowhere is something great for mglit readers

The adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” exists for a reason. Outside Nowhere is another book that exemplifies why it’s important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Now that I’ve got two potentially outdated metaphors out of my system, let’s get on with the process of talking about a book that grades six and up will love, if they give it a chance. The book’s cover throws up a potential roadblock to mglit readers in that it shows a teenage kid, wearing a suit, with his back to the reader, looking at a farm. Every young reader knows that nothing fun ever happens on a farm so what’s the point in reading Outside Nowhere anyway? But gird your loins mglit readers, hold on because once you dig into Outside Nowhere you’ll discover a novel that brims with comedy, has snappy dialogue with jokes and one-liners that you wish you could say in real time, and a surprising science-fiction twist that reveals the heart of the book.

Outside Nowhere uses snappy, funny dialogue, a sense of wonder, mystery and ultimately redemption in this mglit home run.

don’t judge a something by its something something…..

The Tale of Despereaux has a reason to celebrate its 20th Anniversary

Why should books celebrate their anniversary? Every book is not worthy of celebrating its initial publishing date. The mere passage of time doesn’t make most books better; however, in some cases, it can celebrate their timelessness. Originally published in 2003 The Tale of Despereaux has a newly available Deluxe Anniversary Edition available now. There’s nothing magical that makes twenty years special, it’s the fact that The Tale of Despereaux crackles as kidlit. Moreover, it’s written and presented in a manner that makes those mid-elementary school students want to read it.

The Tale of Despereaux turns 20 and celebrates with a new short story and a chance to introduce this modern classic to kids who didn’t know.

Don’t call it a comeback, this book has always been a classic

Fear Street, True Evil is cutting-edge horror for ages 14 and up

Let your freak flag fly, that’s what I say. I said something like that to a student today, except it was the more school-appropriate version of “you do you, don’t worry about others.” We read our first R.L. Stine book last year and were exceedingly surprised by Stinetinglers. It’s obvious from that book that Stine has a knack, a hook at digging into the mglit psyche and dredging their fears and unsaid scares. Fear Street takes his angle, ups the demographic, increases the horror, and proves that he knows his role-and its capable of expanding. Specifically, True Evil: The First Evil, The Second Evil, The Third Evil is a book that’s in the Fear Street series of books that Stine creates.

True Evil is a book in the Fear Street series that oozes slow-boil dread and horror, that easily picks up the speed when it’s called for.

Much more than Goosbumps

The Changing Man, teen-age horror that hits the nail on the head

If I was in middle or high school then The Changing Man is the sort of book that I would’ve loved. It operates on a more mature level than Goosebumps. It oozes teen paranoia and angst on the pore of every greasy page. The characters are typical teens who don’t trust anyone over 20, but know that they have to acknowledge them and sometimes seek guidance when long-dormant problems rear their heads. More than anything, my teenage soul (and the erstwhile reader) would crave the horror, the monsters and the creatures that I know exist in the book, if only they can reveal themselves at the right time.

The Changing Man is a horror book that’s custom-built for teens. It lives in the soul of their world and paces the ick, life and monsters at a pace perfect for them.

Teens 14-18, this is your jam

The Afterlife of the Party, a sequel stuck in purgatory

Maybe I need a vacation, maybe. I ask myself that when an mglit book that I’m reading is challenging to get through. It’s a saying that I echo even more so when it’s the second book in a series to which I really enjoyed the first one. The Afterlife of the Party is an mglit book that I should have loved. Grounded For All Eternity is an mglit book that we really enjoyed. In theory, a sequel would’ve been one that resonated as quickly with us, but that wasn’t the case, and I’m not sure why.

The Afterlife of the Party is the sequel to a great mglit book. This one though has its devil wings clipped and doesn’t fly like its sibling.

Great illustration, book doesn’t measure up

Infested is age-appropriate horror for the reluctant teen reader soul

Stop me if you’ve heard this, but when I was a youth I was a reluctant reader. Throughout my life I’ve always read comic books, however, it wasn’t until I started reading horror that I truly enjoyed reading. Back then it was Clive Barker, Stephen King, and any horror movie adaptations that I could get my hands on. Infested is mglit that is cut from a similar cloth and directed at the same 13-17-year-old readers who don’t want to. Older readers or educators will immediately be skeptical because Infested is from MTV Entertainment Books. If you’re old enough to say Martha Quinn let’s all get “but they don’t play music videos” out of our system now so that we can move on with the order of talking about the book.

Infested is the teen horror book that will make reluctant readers jump into the book pool and declare that everything is fine, with millions of roaches.

Scary things for the middle and high school soul

Molly and the Mutants lays glorious 80’s waste to the sophomore curse

Molly and the Mutants, it sounds like a bubblegum band from the 60’s, doesn’t it? Assuming that you’re reading for non-classroom purposes, reading should be fun. It’s an experience that can transport you to a different world, relax your brain, make you think, and perhaps even make you cry, but it should be fun. And wow, did Moll and the Mutants ever get the fun memo and is running with it down the halls of upper elementary school and mglit fiefdoms across the land.

Molly and the Mutants is the second in the Far Flung Falls book series and cements itself as a go-to destination for mglit leisure reading.

MGLit in a festive, sci-fi, ’80s wrapper for ages 8 and up