The best book I read in FEBRUARY was . . .

[M.G.]

Yep, it's already February! Give us your best recommendations!

[Rebecca]

Well, The Honest Truth was really good, and had substance and all that. But I have really gotten a hoot out of P.K. Pinkerton and the Pistol-Packing Widows :D It has almost no substance and a fair bit of tongue-in-cheek melodrama and I enjoyed it all!

[Megan]

The Crossover this was an unexpectedly good book. I love novels in verse but the rhythm in this offered something different again...

[Cheryl]

The Dark House of the Sea Witch was surprisingly good. The kids think she's a witch, but in one dramatic weekend they learn to see her, themselves, and each other, more clearly.

[Annie]

The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks is a delightful and enchanting quest tale...with a female hero. Loved it as a child, love it as an adult. It is well-written and imaginative!

[Kat]

I just finished The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, The Blue Death, and a Boy called Eel and it was fantastic! Exciting historical fiction/mystery, great main character, incredibly interesting. Here is my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Justine]

Spilled Water by Sally Grindley. It's like Oliver Twist, except it's set in China, and the protangonist is a girl.

[Hamachaun]

The second in the 'Hidden" series. It was over far too soon and the depth of characterization is something I haven't come across in a long while. At first I didn't like one of the characters at all but they grew so much that by the end I loved them.

[Cheryl]

Swear to Howdy surprised me - I won't say more; I'll just highly recommend it for MG male reluctant readers and also for everyone else.

[wanderer]

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Not really mg, but an mg writer recommended it as an example of well done anthropomorphism. Wonderful book!

[M.G.]

V. wrote: "

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Not really mg, but an mg writer recommended it as an example of well done anthropomorphism. Wonderful book!"

I agree -- the protagonist was brilliantly doggy.

[Ruth]

"The Golem's Eye" by Jonathan Stroud. The second in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I really love this series! Once I finish Bartimaeus, I plan to go on with the Lockwood & Co. Series.

[M.G.]

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. I loved the voices of these three sisters! Each so distinct. Will have to look for Williams-Garcia's other books.

[Ben]

Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse isn't really fiction, but it is a fun book for middle grades. Most of the middle grade books I read in February and March haven't been released yet, but there are a couple of great ones coming in April.