Linked

Linked by Gordon Korman

After a swastika appears in a rural middle school, the school adopts special training classes. After more swastikas appear, the school attracts the notice of a popular vlogger. The talk of anti-semitism also is the opening for a popular boy (Link) to learn from his mother that grandma was an orphan in Europe because her family was killed in the holocaust. The family only found this Jewish ancestry recently. The boys talks to the one Jewish girl at school (who is there because her parents are working on a nearby dinosaur dig). After that discussion, he decides to work towards a Bar Mitzvah at a synagogue in a nearby town. He also attracts other students to a student council meeting where they decide to make a paper chain with a link representing every Jew that died in the holocaust. The project ends up attracting worldwide attention due to the vlogger who has now set up shop in town. They do complete the chain and eventually caught a girl who had done all but the first swastika. However, the vlogger then has one more bombshell. Link, the boy undergoing a bar mitzvah, was the one that painted the first swastika. He is suspended. He is very repentant and makes peace with the school and Jewish community and has all attend his ceremony. 

While Link is well-developed and undergoes realistic growth, other characters are caricatured. The swastika girl suddenly gets a bit of history only to be an unrepentant racist who happens to leave town after getting suspended. (She obviously had spent a lot of effort planning all of these - why is she such a throwaway.) The vlogger was needlessly demonized. Individual students were playing towards type (art club, jock, student government, etc.) rather than being more fully developed. Did the author intend to paint a color character with a black and white supporting cast?

Sweet Valley Twins: Teacher's Pet

Sweet Valley Twins: Teacher's Pet (Sweet Valley Twins Graphic Novels Book 2) by Francine Pascal, adapted by Nicole Andelfinger, illustrated by Claudia Aguirre, colors by Sara Hagstrom, letters by Warren Montgomery

Two twins are in a ballet class. One feels that the teacher never notices her, even though she is a good dancer. The other twin ends up getting the lead role in the performance of a play. The first twin gets jealous. She also skips out on things like helping out another girl. They go through many twin fights and eventually come to some sort of truce. At the day of the performance, the girl in the lead fakes a sprained ankle to let her sister take the lead. Then she is "miraculously healed" and can act in the minor role. They all end up happy together. There is some relatavle experiences with sibling jealousy, even if the final resolution is a little bit far fetched.

Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Winn-Dixie was a dog causing a ruckus in the Winn-Dixie grocery store that was adopted by the narrator of the book. The girl was living in a poor southern neighborhood with her father (who she usually refers to as "the Preacher".) Her mother had left the family earlier. She meets many people in the community and befriends many of the "oddballs". She learns many of their backstories and gains respect for them. Inspired by Gone with the Wind, they decide to hold a big outdoor party with everyone invited (even her "enemies"). It seems to go well, but then a thunderstorm hits. They go for cover, but lose track of the dog. After trying to find the dog, they find out the dog had never left. They all learn that nobody is perfect and understanding can go a long way.

Rebound

Rebound by Kwame Alexander

I did not realize this was a prequel to Crossover until reading the summary. I thought it was just an alternate tale about that kid. In this story, the dad of the Crossover protagonist has his Dad die. He struggles with it. He eventually goes to live with his grandparents for a summer. There he hangs out with his cousin and builds a love for basketball. It is short and sweet.

Drama: A Graphic Novel

Drama: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier

This graphic novel is set in middle school, but feels much more like high school. It centers around a drama production at the school. The protagonist, a seventh grade girl, is in charge of set design. She likes a baseball player, and kisses him when he says that he broke up with her girlfriend. But, then he doesn't want to have much to do with her. For the play, a set of twins come to try out for the play. They are both good singers. One is outgoing and willing to try out. The other is shy and ends up on crew. The outgoing boy is out gay, The girl gets a crush on both of them. She hopes the other will invite her to the 8th grade formal. The protagonist spends a while trying to get a cannon to work on stage. The performance seems to go well until the final show. The lead female broke up with her boyfriend and got tripped up on stage in the middle of the performance. The alternates are nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the shy twin ends up in drag in the leading lady role. (He had practiced the female parts with his brother when trying out.) He completes the part, even kissing the leading man at the end. Later at the formal, the girl goes with the boy, but he ends up ditching her to go with another boy. She later finds another drama boy that really likes her. It can be difficult keeping the characters apart. Some of them look and act quite similar. It does feel like way to much relationship drama for middle school.

We're Not from Here

We're Not from Here by Geoff Rodkey

Earth has been made uninhabitable. A few people have made it to Mars. However, the conditions are not great. They are down to eating some bland engineered chow and living in lower oxygen. Luckily, an inhabited planet with a viable atmosphere has been identified. The various sentient species living there invite humans to come life there. The humans take a 20 year trip in stasis. However, when they arrive the government has changed and humans are no longer welcome. After much debate, the aliens let one family come on a trial basis. They have everything stacked against. The aliens do not want the humans there and run anti-human propaganda. The humans gradually learn about the aliens (such as how they show emotions through scents and that one species had been exterminated due to their horrid singing.) After some challenges, the humans are able to share art (especially music and comedy) with the aliens, overthrow the reactionary government and live peaceable on the planet. It is a lighthearted book with a somewhat dark subject matter.

The Thing About Jellyfish

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

A girl has been struggling after the death of her best friend. She wishes she she would have better communicated her last words to her. Because of the this, the girl has decided to be almost totally silent. The story then proceeds in too part. It gradually moves forward in in the current time as well as moving forward from the time the girls first met. They became friends when they were young and were inseparable. They vowed to prevent each other from being "crazy" like boy crazy girls. However, in middle school, the friend goes boy crazy and the protagonist doesn't. Finally, on the last day of school, the protagonist puts frozen urine in the friend's locker, creating a big mess. They never speak again.

On the current timeline, the girl learns about dangerous jellyfish. She wants to talk to an expert in Australia, but freezes up on the phone. She does a report on jellyfish for school, thinking the friend may have died due to a jellyfish sting. The class doesn't get it. She later decides to go to Australia to talk to the scientist there. She buys a ticket and books things, but discovers she doesn't have a visa and can't travel to Australia alone. In this process, she talks to the friend's mom and learns the friend still respected her for being able to be herself. She also is "stuck" with the annoying boy as a lab partner in school. She learns he is managing his ADHD and they become friends. Finally she opens up and talks and goes to the school dance. She even learns that others she thought had it all together have struggles and insecurities too. She is a smart kid, but doesn't know everything, but struggles with the social issues at school.

Freewater

Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson

Some slaves escape the plantation and find "Freewater", a colony of free blacks. There are many others there, including those living in the trees. People enjoy their freedom. However, some want to return back to the plantation to find family members. One had promised to show where the escaped slaves were. Others tried alternative ways to get freedom. 

Meanwhile, back at the plantation, there is a big wedding celebration coming up. There is also a side story where a little girl follows a slave on an errand and sees how cruelly the whites treated the "darkies". A multitude of different events culminate in the wedding celebration, with the wedding tent burned down and many slaves escaping.

Slavery is viewed through very modern sensibilities. The term "darky" is used as the racial slur, rather than terms that would be more offensive today. Family is also viewed as extremely important. Would slaves really find it worth sacrificing freedom for many slaves just to be with one of their family members? The book implies that family binds are even more powerful than the whip in keeping slaves in order.  The slave community is portrayed as a bit of Utopia, with the plantation whites as primarily materialists. The ending destruction seems to be a set for a hollywood film. the book really bumps up the drama to tell the story. 

My So-Called Superpowers

My So-Called Superpowers by Heather Nuhfer

A girl is struggling to be noticed in middle school. Then she discovers she has "superpowers". Whenever she has strong emotional feelings, there is a physical component. Sometimes it may be that she shoots out fire when she is angry. Or she may turn green with envy.  She is struggling with this as she also tries to figure out what happened to her mom. She thinks she has a social break when she is accepted by the "cool kids". However, she ends up realizing that life was better when she wasn't noticed. After a final "incident" of her super powers, everybody forgets her - except for her friend that had been with her all along. This was an interesting take on middle school challenges. The reunion with "mom" was quite unexpected in how it played out.

The Benefits of Being an Octopus: A Novel

The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

Zoey is smart, but she has trouble putting much focus in school. Her family life is less than optimal. She has to take care of her younger siblings while her mom works. They have what seems to be a fairly nice lower-class life. They live in their step-dad's trailer home. However, her step dad appears to be abusive and controlling. Meanwhile her friend is also in a home with domestic violence issues. In the process, a gun is fired. It was by the friend's abusive step dad, but people like to blame it on a family that likes to hunt. The kids in school feel that it is almost unfair to debate gun control. Guns are so obviously bad. Zoey has more nuanced view. She also views the debate tactics her step dad is using to control her mom. Eventually she helps to get everyone out of the abusive relationships and tries to be a middle school kid again. The story helps bring alive the many challenges that are faced behind the scenes in lives of poverty and challenging relationships.

Free Lunch

Poverty is tough. Middle school is tough. Together they are a huge challenge. In this book, Rex Ogle describes the experiences as a sixth grader in Texas. It is written in the style of a middle grade book. (I initially assumed it was a work of fiction.) 

Rex's dad is out of the picture. His mom is now with a new boyfriend and Rex has a much younger half-brother. Rex's mom and step-dad are prone to violence. They are also both out of work at the time. Rex sees his mom pay with food stamps for the first time. She also complains to restaurants in order to get free vouchers. At school. Rex is signed up for the school lunch program for the first time. He is embarrassed to give the lunch lady his name to get free lunch. 

In spite of the poverty, his mother is prideful. She does not like to accept help from her mother. One time her mother visited with a lot of snacks and food for the family. Instead of accepting it, she threw it all away. (This seems like a problem with many assistance mechanisms. People want to be able to be independent, even if in their own way. Working to get fast food vouchers feels may feel ok, while receiving handouts from grandma does not. It is interesting how different feelings are.)

Rex does not have school supplies like others. His parents do not let him play football like his friends. His parents need to pawn the TV and other things to help ends meet. He must sleep in the car one night and then move to the other side of town for government housing. The experience of poverty is not pleasant.

He falls away from some of his elementary school friends. They are playing football. They also start to hang with people that are bad influences. Some of the Christian group try to befriend him. However, one of them comes on too strong with the religion and he doesn't go on. He tries to befriend a guy that also has free lunch, but he doesn't want to. He does become friends with a loner that likes comic books. This friend lives with his dad and step mom, but is much better off.

At the end of the book, his parents both have jobs. They get a Nintendo for Christmas. He gets to go visit his friend's house. It seemed like a happily ever after. But, you do get the feeling it is only temporary.

Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Sophie thinks she is a normal girl. Then she finds out she is really special. She is an Elf hidden among humans. Even within the Elf ranks, she has special powers. Her powers of reading minds is stronger and manifested earlier than most Elves. She has special things implanted in her brain. She discovers the Elf world and discovers more about herself and her people as she unintentionally becomes involved in a simmering contact.  Oh, and she happens to be a young teen battling with all that entails. There is plenty of non-stop action with many threads left open for future books.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Calpurnia Tate lives in central Texas around 1900. The society is very traditional southern. (All her brothers are named after Texas "heroes") She is expected to become a housewife when she grows up. Her grandpa is a scientist. Together, they discover a new plant species that they send it off to the Smithsonian to be cataloged. Then they ring in the new century with rare snow in Texas. It is a nice tale with today's values interspersed with those of the late 1800s.

Halfway Normal

A girl returns to middle school after being absent for a few years for cancer treatment. Her doctors wanted her to stay away for a little longer to complete her recovery. Her hair has still not grown back yet. Her body has not matured like that of many of her friends. However, she is ahead of her grade for a few classes due to tutoring that she had, and thus will be in 8th grade math and science. This is a perfect recipe for middle school drama.

Things get off to an interesting start. One long time friend has turned into a flirt and is hanging out with a lot of other kids. She starts to fall for a new boy that she meets in an 8th grade class. She feels the need to pretend to be an 8th grader for him. Her parents don't want her to do after school activities to protect her from germs. She eventually struggles through challenges with the help of Greek Mythology and pomegranates. 

Howl's Moving Castle

There are all sorts of your common fantasy bad guys and events. Things happen. The bad guys do some spells. But the spells are really not that bad. Or maybe they are. The person eventually ends up ok.

The Silver Mask (Magisterium #4): Book Four of Magisterium

The Silver Mask goes of the fantasy deep end. A previously killed protagonist gets raised from the dead. An army of zombies sets out to fight on the side of evil. There is a jailbreak and a recapture, along with plenty of violence. Meanwhile, the romance starts tipping up, with some kissing and breaking up. Though that all quickly comes to an end when the violence hits. The books does pretty well wrap up the story. But the afterward hints at something more coming on.

The Bronze Key: The Magisterium, Book 3

The Bronze Key is a an obvious middle book in a series. It ends on a big cliffhanger. In the process they discover that keeping secrets is not all that great. Call also learns that if he is not going to bother asking the girl out, somebody else will. The kids now become more comfortable with their school environment, but also realize there is more crazy stuff going on in the world. Like in Harry Potter, the "magic world" is "hidden in plain view" from the real world.

The Copper Gauntlet: Magisterium, Book 2

Lying to keep a secret never ends up well. In the second book in the series, conflict ramps up. It begins with the time between the first and second years of Mage school. Call's "dog" (a wolf) is missing. He is upset about this. However, he ends up finding the dog chained up in his dad's secret office, along with a place for him and instructions for some special magic. He does not like the look of it, and runs off to his rich friend's house in another town. He stays there until school starts.

They get to the school and more conflict breaks out. Eventually, Call tells his friends some of the experience with his dad. However, he does not tell the full story, and that makes things even worse. They end up on a big adventure. In the end, they find out more about who he and his father are and they decide not to keep secrets from each other.

The Iron Trial: Book One of The Magisterium

Iron Trial  is another spin on the Harry Potter school of fantasy. An outcast boy ends up at a magic school and bonds with another boy and a girl. It turns out they have some key powers that make them key in preventing a great collapse. They need to gradually learn their role.

Most everybody would love to pass for the "rewards" it entails. Callum Hunt has been told by his dad to stay away from magic, making him one of the rare people that want to fail the trial. Alas, a mage brings him in. He seems to have unbridled power. They want to help him control it. He can interact with other beings such as a "pet" he has. He is told that he may be much more than he thinks he is. 

The book ends with a "resolution" to a minor episode. It is pretty clear that there is much more to come in the future books. 

Masterminds: Payback

Project Osiris involved cloning criminal masterminds and bringing them up in a sheltered environment. This was intended to prove that nurture could overcome nature. A few kids escaped. They were on the run to try to understand themselves. They teamed up in various groups to meet their "original". They did see stuff in common with associated mastermind. Eventually the group meets with the original founder of the project who feels regret. They find the group has moved from New Mexico to the Bahamas and they attempt to break them free. There go through all sorts of adventures before the series reaches the conclusion in this book.