Phyllis Wheeler's Blog, page 11

Iggy and Oz: the Plastic Dinos of Doom by J.J. Johnson, a review

Middle-grade voice involves a (usually) sassy or joking twelve-year-old who’s finding himself or herself in a pickle and agonizing about it in a very funny way. It’s unique to middle grade books, as far as I can tell. I’ve talked about it before, and even have a category on this blog, “middle-grade voice example.” In […]

Hunger Winter: A World War II Novel by Rob Currie, a review

Rob Currie's debut middle grade novel, Hunger Winter, tells a suspenseful tale of brave kids in World-War-II Holland.

ROAR like a Dandelion by Ruth Krauss and Sergio Ruzzier, a review

I know I said I’d be reviewing middle grade books on this blog, but this picture book is just too irresistible. Can YOU roar like a dandelion? How is that, exactly, roaring like a dandelion? This is an ABC book by Ruth Krauss, a widely known children’s book author of a few generations back who […]

The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson, a review

Andrew Peterson’s middle-grade Wingfeather series that started out as an amusing tale full of rollicking names moves to epic scope along the way. In this fourth book, The Warden and the Wolf King (2014), it builds to a mighty conclusion full of heroic deeds. Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga is the story of the widow and […]

The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson, a review

We learned in the second book that the fangs, which look like beast-humans, are actually recycled humans. In fact, the bad guys nearly succeeding in turning young Kalmar Wingfeather, the 11-year-old next king of Anniera, into a wolfish fang.

North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, a Review

I am reviewing North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, Book 2 in the Wingfeather Saga (2009).This mid-series book could suffer from middle-of-story sag.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, a Review

I'm reviewing On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, by Andrew Peterson, Book One of the Wingfeather Saga (2008) . In this middle-grade book, the three children of the Igiby family are being raised by their mother and their grandfather. They live just outside Glipwood, a rustic village on the edge of the sea, in the house built by their grandfather many, many years before.

Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner, a review

In Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner (2010), Book 1 of a trilogy, Goldie is a protected child. She's so protected that she has never been in any kind of danger, never petted a dog, never seen a snake, and … never been off a leash.

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, a review

She calls herself a cynic as she copes with her mother, who dotes on a pretty porcelain lamp named Mary Ann instead of her tomboy daughter. And Flora adores comic books, especially those about an unassuming janitor who transforms into a shining light of rescue. Plainly, she'd like her own life to be more like that.

Dreamtreaders by Wayne Thomas Batson, a review

In Dreamtreaders, a middle-grade story by Wayne Thomas Batson, Archer Keaton, age 14, serves humanity as a Dreamtreader. In his dreams, what he imagines becomes “real.”