Middle school | Page 3 of 7

The Things We Miss, a little time travel, a lot of life and a great book

There’s a new type of reluctant reader that I put my finger on, and I’m one of them- the dramatic reluctant reader. In the venn diagram of readers, this person crosses over into the realistic fiction persona with ease, but our new moniker avoids books that are overly dramatic. The Things We Miss is mglit that were it not for the inclusion of a tree house that’s developed a time porthole would’ve easily fallen into that category. The odds on it being read by even someone who loves to read, but doesn’t like drama would’ve shrunk at a more precipitous rate than the box office for recent Marvel films. However, include a time porthole, put it in a tree house and include all the middle school angst you can handle and you’ve got a winner.

The Things We Miss is mglit that brings in just enough science-fiction to the genre before they realize that it’s realistic fiction that they’ll enjoy as much.

Fear not the realistic fiction, with a touch of drama

Above the Trenches, a graphic novel that edutains with ease from all angles

Having taught a couple of classes to middle school grades about World War I, I know that the subject can be confusing. The time spent on WWI for most middle school classes is very brief, with more time allowed for the Treaty of Versailles, especially for those lower grades. Those ages know about the mythos of the flying ace, even if they get hazy on who were the Allied Forces and what were the causes that led to it. Above the Trenches is a graphic novel in the Nathan Tale’s Hazardous Tales series. This entry is specifically about the flying aces that took to the skies in WWI and how they came to shape this new form of combat. Ironically, the most famous WWI pilot, the Red Baron doesn’t factor into Above the Trenches that much. Instead, the graphic novel is about the Allied Powers and their build-up of the foreign legion and the men who jumped into this relatively new mode of transportation.

Above the Trenches is a graphic novel with dozens of characters, and country-spanning action, that manages to make people appreciate history.

a Graphic novel with brains, funs and airborne guns

Star Trek Prodigy Escape Route, original sci-fi fare that sets phasers to good

It would be easy to say that Star Trek Prodigy: Escape Route can only be enjoyed by Trekkies. While they will certainly latch on the book the easiest of those who could enjoy it, Escape Route will also entertain upper-elementary through middle school readers who want a straightforward science-fiction tale. You don’t need to know the Star Trek Prodigy characters in order to enjoy the book. If anything, the fact that it can be enjoyed by anyone, and not just fans of the legacy characters, exemplifies that space is a huge area that can enjoyed by anyone. It’s also that point that frustrates fans of other intellectual properties who seem to think that only one family has the ability to produce stories that people want to see.

Star Trek Prodigy Escape Route is mglit that affably moves within that sci-fi universe for ages 9-14.

Middle school and sci-fi people come hither

Mile Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man novel like no other-for the better

In a very simple overstatement in the world of books, there are books for the genre fans, books for the general audience, and those that target the niche. Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man novel, yet it’s unlike any web-slinger book, graphic novel or story that you’ve read before. “You” could be a Spider-Man fan who thinks that they’ve seen every vehicle that the character can entertain from. Miles Morales: Suspended is the most unlikely of superhero novels. We often point out to educators, parents or students the merits of reading graphic novels or comic book. This book takes that, turns it on its head, and literarily invites Spidey fans to go someplace that they’ve never been before.

Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man novel that combines prose and any conceivable narrative caffeine to entertain readers.

Spidey has many forms and this one is just as engaging

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

Kin: Rooted in Hope, novel in verse that’s more than the sum of its parts

In thinking of the many ways that author Carole Boston Weatherford could’ve told the story of Kin, the only possible way to effectively do it is poetry. Specifically, this is a novel in verse, basically a book full of poems that combine to tell a narrative. This is where things get hazy for Kin because it’s not a linear story. Instead, it spans hundreds of years, generations within a family and often shifts the focus of who is speaking. By the time you get to the end of Kin you realize that this is a strong, powerful book that examines slavery in the United States in a way that you haven’t seen before.

Kin: Rooted in Hope is poetry, a novel in verse experience that has non-fiction roots on various aspects of the human toll of slavery in America.

poetry, but derived from history and powerful

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

Ten-Word Tiny Tales to Inspire and Unsettle is curiously amazing

Start with a hook. If it’s a great hook then I won’t change the channel. If it’s a lame hook then you’re quickly going somewhere else. When I teach creative writing I use that analogy and the students completely understand it. Ten-Word Tiny Tales to Inspire and Unsettle is exactly what the title says it is. It’s a handful of stories, more accurately opening lines from stories that haven’t been told, that open up unlimited potential as to what they could become. Being that they are only ten words they have the capacity to be understood by children, yet some of the words and concepts are very dreamy, abstract, or nonsensical. It’s a very curious book indeed.

Ten-Word Tiny Tales: To Inspire and Unsettle is a children’s book that lays kindling at the base of imagination for any age.

For young kids to ponder over or older kids to inspire writing possibilities