Middle Grade Reading for October

Middle Grade Reading for October

With the arrival of fall, it's time to review a new group of middle grade novels!

Sarvenaz Tash's new novel is called The Queen of Ocean Parkway. I asked how she created her protagonist, Roya, and she said, "I was inspired by my neighborhood, which I share withRoya! I also thought a lot about Harriet the Spy when I was writing this book,particularly about how that book made me feel as a kid. 

 

She added: "As a shy suburban kid myself, Harriet, with her curiosityand unapologetic personality, living in a NYC apartment building and having somuch access to secret parts of the building and its tenants was one of themostly wildly thrilling concepts I had ever read. I really wanted to try to capture that feeling of adventureand agency too, with Roya being the super’s kid in her Brooklyn apartmentbuilding—and making a secret podcast about the tenants to boot."

 

 Ciera Burch is the author of the new novel Camp Twisted Pine. I asked what inspired the novel, and she said, "A few things inspired me! The mostprominent was probably my desire to go to a sleep away summer camp as a kidthat was never fulfilled. At least, not how I wanted it to be."

 

She continued: "My mom wasn’t a fan of sending meaway for weeks at a time with strangers, but my school had a week-long fieldtrip for the entire 6th grade class to a place called Mt. Misery up in the PineBarrens and the memory of that, my one and only camping experience, really hada lasting effect!" 

 

Susan R. Greenway's new novel is called Elephant Touch. When I asked about the story behind the novel, she said, "On a visit to see elephants in Thailand several yearsago, I received a phone call from my sister in California that my mother hadpassed. As I cried, three elephants behind me in a fenced corral came towardsme. One of them put its trunk on my shoulder. I was profoundly touched."

 

She added: "That was the beginning of my love for elephants and desireto find out more about them. As I read more about Asian elephants, I was evenmore impressed with their magnificence. But I also found out how frequently andhorribly they’ve been abused. Fortunately, there are some wonderful sanctuariesthat house elephants needing a safe home."

 

Finally,  Michael P. Spradlin is the author of the new novel Rise of the Spider. In our Q&A, he said, "Most of my historical fiction involves young people with a front-row seat to ahistorical event. My goal is always for readers to imagine themselves in thesesituations and think about how they would respond."

 

He continued: "Inthe case of Rise of the Spider, I wanted the same approach, but with a longerview. How did the Nazis’ rise to power affect a young person during that time? Andhow was it the same and different for each of them?"

 

Thanks so much for reading.

--Deborah Kalb