The best book I read in FEBRUARY was....

[Jemima]

Did you have a good set of reads in February? What Middle Grade book did you enjoy and want to tell the world about?

[Manybooks]

My best middle grade books I read in February are atually rereads,

The Annotated Anne of Green Gables, which is amazing both for the story (of course) but also for the annotations and supplemental information.

Winterbound, love this almost as much as novels by L.M. Montgomery, which is saying rather an awful lot.

This picture book on the Holocaust, Otto: the Autobiography of a Teddy Bear, is also amazing and suitable for the middle grades but I hate that n the American version, the nudes depicted in David's apartment in the French and original German editions, have been sanatised. But strangely enough, the rather gruesome pictures of war and dead soldiers have been retained, as I guess violence and destruction is less problematic than picture of a nude female? And also, why does the English language edition from Phaidon call the Concentration Camps to which David and his family were sent (and where his parents were gassed) a "terrible prison" when in both the French and the German editions, they are clearly called what they were, Concentration Camps, Death Camps?

[Rebecca]

Manybooks--
Thanks for the tip about Winterbound. It looks like something I'd like, so I may buy the Kindle (doesn't seem to be available otherwise).

And about Otto: yes, here in the US we are WAY more uptight about nudity than we are about death and war and murder. Just look at what will move a film from PG-13 to R. Hint: it's not blood and gore.

[[deleted user]]

The best book I read in February was
Inside Out & Back Again

This book was based on a true story of the author's life. It was interesting, informative and it also hooked me in emotionally. Inside Out and Back Again is written in verse so I found it to be a quick read. I would recommend it to everyone.

[Jemima]

I read the second Lockwood and Co book in February. I really want to thank whoever nominated the Screaming Staircase for our October BOTM, because it got me completely hooked on the series. If anything, book 2 The Whispering Skull is even better - another 5 star read.

I've done some thinking on why I don't think this 'horror' is scary for kids on my blog post yesterday. You can read that here.

[Manybooks]

Rebecca wrote: "Manybooks--
Thanks for the tip about Winterbound. It looks like something I'd like, so I may buy the Kindle (doesn't seem to be available otherwise).

And about Otto: yes, here in the US we are WAY..."

I do hope you enjoy Winterbound, it was a really great read (and the kindle edition is really user-friendly as well).

I agree that in the US, nudity is often seem as more of a problem than violence, but I really chafe at this and actually find it rather scary as it inures children to violence.