Middle Grades
War Horse
By Janie Cheaney |
War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo. Scholastic, 2011 (originally published 1982), 192 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. Michael Morpurgo was already established in the UK ...
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The Word of God for Kids
By emily |
ESV Seek and Find Bible. Crossway Bibles, 2010. 1, 888 pps. Ages 5-up. The Action Bible. David C. Cook, New edition 2010. Illustrated by Sergio ...
Read More POW! The Comic-Book Surge
By Janie Cheaney |
The December 21 opening of The Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn, should focus attention not only on the boy from Belgium ...
Read More Books for Emerging Book-Lovers
By Janie Cheaney |
Picture books are traditional, and YA is new and glamorous, but the area of literature I consider to be “classic children’s” is that big glorious ...
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He’s Coming!
By Janie Cheaney |
In the fundamentalist church where I grew up, we never did advent. I never even understood what the word meant until well into my twenties, ...
Read More Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica
By Janie Cheaney |
Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica. Penguin, 2009, 244 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: Mike Lupika's young hero ...
Read More What’s on the Menu? Literary Cookbooks!
By Janie Cheaney |
Food occupies our minds a lot this time of year—to gather around, to give away, to serve to strangers at the Salvation Army, to stuff ...
Read More Thankful for Cheryl Harness
By Janie Cheaney |
The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish, by Cheryl Harness. National Geographic, 2006, 143 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. Thanksgiving means a raid on the ...
Read More Those Who Served–And Serve
By Janie Cheaney |
Veterans’ Day is one of those holidays that sneak up on me. I intend to write a note to a veteran, wear red, pray a ...
Read More *The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
By emily |
*The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, written by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Brian Selznick. Scholastic Press, 2001. 48 pps. Recommended for ages 7-up. When I ...
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The Story Behind the Confessions
By Janie Cheaney |
Faithfulness Under Fire: The Story of Guido de Bres (2010) and The Quest for Comfort: The Story of the Heidelberg Catechism (2011), by William Boekestein. ...
Read More Martin Luther: Guest Review by Shanna Gonzalez
By emily |
Today Janie and I have the opportunity to introduce you to two delightful resources: first, fellow Christian and kids' book blogger Shanna Gonzalez, whose own ...
Read More Hall of Heroes
By Janie Cheaney |
Reformation Heroes, by Diana Kleyn with Joel R. Beeke. Reformation Heritage Books, 2009, 250 pages. Age/interest level: 11-up. October 31, 2017 (only six years from ...
Read More How to Be Good
By Janie Cheaney |
Saint Training, by Elizabeth Fixmer. Zondervan, 2010, 233 pages. Age/interest level, 10-14. Mary Claire, sixth grader at St. Maria Goretti School in Wisconsin, has lofty ...
Read More Columbus and the Founding of our Nation
By emily |
COLUMBUS The first time I browsed through Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire's biography, Columbus, I purchased it for my kids on the spot based largely ...
Read More Living With Autism
By Janie Cheaney |
Nobody knows yet exactly what causes it, or why it occurs more in certain income levels, or even quite what defines it, but autism becomes ...
Read More The Strange Condition Called Middle School
By Janie Cheaney |
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger. Abrams, 2010, 141 pages. Age/interest level: 9-12. Sixth grade is the witching time for authors of ...
Read More Brixton Brothers: Ace Detective
By Janie Cheaney |
The Brixton Brothers, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex, published by Simon & Schuster. The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (2009), 179 ...
Read More One More Movie Post: The Lightning Thief
By Janie Cheaney |
In our continuing tradition of slopping over themes to the following week, I wanted to weigh in one more time on our book/movie emphasis. Partly ...
Read More Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
By Janie Cheaney |
Close to Famous, by Joan Bauer. Viking, 2011, 250 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: ages 11-13 Bottom Line: In this feel-good middle ...
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On Eagle’s Wings
By Janie Cheaney |
Book 2 of the epic adventures of the three children who are heirs to a kingdom, sought by the Fangs of Dang, and as normal ...
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Shakespeare R Us
By Janie Cheaney |
Dallas, 1970: Storm clouds gather over the Texas prairie, where the students of a small junior college are presenting A Midsummer Night's Dream in an ...
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In Front of God and Everybody by K. D. McCrite
By Janie Cheaney |
The Confessions of April Grace: In Front of God and Everybody, by K. D. McCrite. Thomas Nelson, 2011, 390 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages ...
Read More Small Town Summers
By Janie Cheaney |
The Luck of the Buttons, by Anne Ylvisaker. Candlewick, 2011, 224 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Bottom Line: The ...
Read More One More For the Road
By Janie Cheaney |
Around the World in 100 Days, by Gary Blackwood. Dutton, 2010, 358 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Bottom Line: ...
Read More The Living Past: An Interview With Cheryl Harness
By Janie Cheaney |
We end our extended history week with what some consider to be the purest form of history: biography. The old argument of whether great events, ...
Read More ‘Oh Say, I Can’t See’ Anyone Else But Me
By emily |
Boy Humor, and How I Came to Terms With It One of my earliest realizations of the strange, otherness of boy humor is embodied in ...
Read More Is Historical Fiction Dead?
By Janie Cheaney |
Short answer: no, but it's showing signs of dementia. Historical fiction has one of the longest roots of any literary form. You might say that ...
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Covenanters: Then and Now
By Janie Cheaney |
Duncan's War, by Douglas Bond (Crown and Covenant #1). P&R Publishing, 2002. 270 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 and up ...
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*The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers
By Janie Cheaney |
*The Charlatan's Boy, by Jonathan Rogers. WaterBrook Press, 2010, 305 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up Bottom Line: ...
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*Hereville by Barry Deutsch
By Janie Cheaney |
*Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (graphic novel), by Barry Deutsch. Abrams (Amulet), 2010, 139 pp. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 8-10 ...
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The Airborn trilogy by Kenneth Oppel
By Janie Cheaney |
Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel. HarperCollins, 2004, 355 pp. Skybreaker (2007); Starclimber (2009). Reading Level: Middle grade, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up One-line ...
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The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
By Janie Cheaney |
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield, illustrations by Keith Thompson. Simon Pulse, 2009, 434 pages plus historical note. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages ...
Read More Steampunk!
By Janie Cheaney |
Example of Clanker technology from the 1914-ish world of "Leviathan." According to Wikipedia, the term was probably coined by science-fiction writer K. W. Jeter as ...
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A Dog’s Way Home by Bobbie Pyron
By Janie Cheaney |
A Dog's Way Home, by Bobbie Pyron. HarperCollins, 2011. 321 pp. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom line: When Abby ...
Read More Easter Gifts 101: Last Minute Warning!
By emily |
Easter is almost here, and while you could just pick a board book up at Walmart while you're getting the Paas dye, you've still got ...
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The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
By Janie Cheaney |
The Emerald Atlas (#1 in the Books of Beginning series), by John Stephens. Knopf, 2011, 432 pages. Reading level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ...
Read More Free Audio Book: Corrie Ten Boom’s ‘The Hiding Place’
By emily |
Can't wait for my kids to read this in a few years. If you don't have a copy already, here's a great way to enjoy ...
Read More Stalking the Elusive Boy Reader
By Janie Cheaney |
Supposedly, one of the most-asked questions in children's publishing divisions is, "Will boys read it?" Will boys read anything? Or only books that have "butt" ...
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Peak by Roland Smith
By Janie Cheaney |
Peak by Roland Smith. Harcourt: 2007, 246 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up One-line summary: Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello's ...
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Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong
By Janie Cheaney |
Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong. HarperCollins, 2010. 210 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 12-14 Recommended for: Ages 15-18 Bottom line: The experience of ...
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Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai
By Janie Cheaney |
Shooting Kabul, by N. H. Senzai. Simon & Shuster, 2011, 253 pages plus glossary and author note. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ...
Read More Contest Winners and More
By emily |
$20 Bookshelf Challenge Winner Today is the big day for one Redeemed Reader: the announcement of our $20 Bookshelf Challenge winner. Thank you to everyone ...
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The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
By Janie Cheaney |
The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud. Hyperion/Disney, 2010, 398 pages. Reading level: Middle grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 One-line Summary: The witty narrator ...
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
By Janie Cheaney |
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief (Hyperion/Miramax,2005), The Sea of Monsters (2006), The Titan's Curse (2007), The Battle of the ...
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Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
By Janie Cheaney |
Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool. Delacorte, 2010, 342 pages plus historical notes. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom line: ...
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Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
By Janie Cheaney |
Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer Holm. Random House, 2010, 177 pages plus historical notes. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom ...
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One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
By Janie Cheaney |
One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia. HarperCollins, 2010, 215 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom line: One Crazy Summer is ...
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*The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins
By Janie Cheaney |
The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins. HMH, 2010. 301 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 Bottom Line: Middle-grade ...
Read More *Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
By Janie Cheaney |
Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen. Random House (Wendy Lamb Books), 2007. 88 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 4 (Ages 10-12) Bottom ...
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The King of Mulberry Street by Donna Jo Napoli
By Janie Cheaney |
In The King of Mulberry Street a 9-year-old Italian immigrant realizes the American dream in 1890s New York through a combination of luck, ingenuity, and ...
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They Don’t Write ’em Like This Anymore
By Janie Cheaney |
In tone, appearance, and character, On the Blue Comet is straight out of the 1950s. On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 2010, 329 ...
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