C.J. Milbrandt's Blog, page 40
January 16, 2020
Fishy
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Elza and I love games almost as much as we love reading middle grade books. You’ll find more of these over on Middle Grade Carousel and posting throughout the day on our Twitter account. Follow us and play along! ~CJ
January 13, 2020
#amreading Excitement
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While I mostly prefer the upper reaches of the Middle Grade range (10-12 year olds), I do dabble in books intended for younger readers (8-10 year olds). One of my favorite lower middle grade finds was The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great, mostly because Morris made me laugh. More than once. Tales from the Hood is the sixth book in the Sisters Grimm series, which I recommend. Serafina and the Black Cloak, the first in a series, is an intriguing blend of historical fiction and magical...
January 9, 2020
Is that an egg?
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Elza and I love games almost as much as we love reading middle grade books. You’ll find more of these over on Middle Grade Carousel and posting throughout the day on our Twitter account. Follow us and play along! ~CJ
January 8, 2020
Black Bird
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Elza and I love games almost as much as we love reading middle grade books. You’ll find more of these over on Middle Grade Carousel and posting throughout the day on our Twitter account. Follow us and play along! ~CJ
January 6, 2020
#amreading Grimm
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I usually try to tackle at least one “long” series a year, and in 2018, that was The Sisters Grimm. (Yes, I’m that far behind with these Book Report posts.) These three titles put us into the thick of things in this 9-book series by Michael Buckley. Worth the commitment? Definitely!
January 2, 2020
January BINGO
Let’s Do This! I’m always so excited to read middle grade books in January. There are plenty of incentives:
Re-upped my goal for Goodreads’ 2020 Reading Challenge. (Are you following me on Goodreads?) Participating in the A-Z Challenge at Great Middle Grade Reads, where I’m a moderator. (This year, I plan to get through the alphabet twice. Again.) Also participating in the GMGR Series Challenge for 2020, which I use to motivate my reading … both in wrapping up unfinished trilogies and for...December 30, 2019
#amreading Good Books
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Happy to report the completion of a trilogy. Fork-Tongued Charmers and Rise of the Ragged Clover wrap up Paul Durham’s Luck Uglies series, which now ranks among my favorite MG trilogies. Creative and complex, daring and enduring. Highly recommended. And then there’s the graphic novel Drama, which follows a group of friends as they get ready for a stage production. It’s a classic kerfuffle of she-likes-him but he-likes-them … with friends doing their best to support one another while still...
December 23, 2019
#amreading Sequels
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Al Capone Shines My Shoes is a sequel (currently the second of four books) that makes the most of its setting. I was fascinated to learn that Choldenko spent time as a docent on Alcatraz. Now that’s commitment! Howl’s Moving Castle is one of my favorite Hayao Miyazaki films, but the book that inspired it is even better. This is a reread for me, since I am eager to read its sequels. And Zia is considered a sequel of sorts to the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Once again, O’Dell presents the...
December 16, 2019
#amreading Variety
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The Zenta and Matsuzo Mysteries are such a refreshing change from the usual brand of detective stories. Set in sixteenth century Japan, the protagonists are a pair of ronin (wandering samurai). In White Serpent Castle, Namioka lets us in on a secret about Zenta’s past. Al Capone Does My Shirts introduces readers to the small community of civilians who live on Alcatraz (wives & children of the guards), and I found the whole story fascinating. No Passengers Beyond this Point, which also...
