NEW MEMBERS: Hi everyone, I've joined the GMGR group. I'm ...... Showing 951-1,000 of 2,209

[Laura]

hi I am Laura I am going to be 11 in 2 weeks. I am on here to get ideas for books to read. I like reading!

[Lesley]

Hello I am Laura greens mother! She is really getting I interested into reading and would like friends that can offer her support and books she may be interested in reading.thanks in advance for helping us!

[J.S.]

Hi Lesley and Laura! Try: The Secret Garden, King of the Wind, Anne of Green Gables. All beautiful, timeless classics. Some others: Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher; Catherine Called Birdy; The Witch of Blackbird Pond (not a real witch, just a Quaker); Harry Potter series. Enjoy!

[S.W.]

Lesley wrote: "Hello I am Laura greens mother! She is really getting I interested into reading and would like friends that can offer her support and books she may be interested in reading.thanks in advance for he..."

Laura wrote: "hi I am Laura I am going to be 11 in 2 weeks. I am on here to get ideas for books to read. I like reading!"

Hi Lesley and Laura, Welcome to both of you to GMGR. There are plenty of suggestions scattered through the group threads. You may be also interested in the monthly reads as well, M.G. sends a list for voting each month. If you have any suggestions for the group please feel free to contact me or any other moderator.
Happy reading :)

[Evelyne]

Hi everyone,
I just joined the Middle Grade Reads Group as an avid reader of the genre and a writer too. Currently re-re-reading The Giver with my children's library club: Books Turned Into Movies. A unique book that I love since its publication in the ealry '90s, but I wonder if it's a book that children like as much as adults do.
Looking forward to reading more with all of you.

[J.S.]

Evelyne wrote: "Hi everyone,
I just joined the Middle Grade Reads Group as an avid reader of the genre and a writer too. Currently re-re-reading The Giver with my children's library club: Books Turned Into Movies..."

Welcome Evelyn! I think it would be a challenge to make a good movie from The Giver; the book needs no movie. I think it's timeless and ageless. I know young children (4th grade) who loved it and were amazed.

Congrats on your own books, too!

[Evelyne]

J.S. wrote: "Evelyne wrote: "Hi everyone,
I just joined the Middle Grade Reads Group as an avid reader of the genre and a writer too. Currently re-re-reading The Giver with my children's library club: Books Tu..."

Thank you for your welcomimg message! I agree on The Giver being a timeless and exceptional book. In fact, I think that Lois Lowry started the social dystopia genre with her fabulous series. My children read it in fourth grade too and loved it, especially the girls, although the main character Jonas is a boy.

[Mandy]

Hi J.S. Thanks for the recommendations. I loved the Secret Garden too. I haven't heard of King of the Wind. I will check it out. We started Redwall but so far my son hasn't really gotten into it so I don't know of we'll keep at it or try something different for now.

[Craig]

Hi Everyone,

Craig Goodwin here. I'm an elementary school counselor, and author of Unexpected Hero: A Benji Stone Adventure, who knows full well getting some of our kiddos (especially some of those boys) to sit down and read can be tough, so new book recommendations are great. I feel kids enjoying reading is so important, and the more books I can recommend to the teachers and librarian, the better.

Craig

[J.S.]

Evelyne wrote: "J.S. wrote: "Evelyne wrote: "Hi everyone,
I just joined the Middle Grade Reads Group as an avid reader of the genre and a writer too. Currently re-re-reading The Giver with my children's library c..."

Hi Evelyne, You may be right about The Giver as the beginning of dystopia books. Interesting insight!

[J.S.]

Mandy wrote: "Hi J.S. Thanks for the recommendations. I loved the Secret Garden too. I haven't heard of King of the Wind. I will check it out. We started Redwall but so far my son hasn't really gotten into it s..."

Hi Mandy, King of the Wind is a classic, based on a very famous horse and the mute boy who cared for him through good and bad times. What about Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher?

[J.S.]

Craig wrote: "Hi Everyone,

Craig Goodwin here. I'm an elementary school counselor, and author of Unexpected Hero: A Benji Stone Adventure, who knows full well getting some of our kiddos (especially some of thos..."

Hi Craig, I'll check out your book!

[Rebecca]

Mandy wrote: "Hi J.S. Thanks for the recommendations. I loved the Secret Garden too. I haven't heard of King of the Wind. I will check it out. We started Redwall but so far my son hasn't really gotten into it s..."

Jump on to one of the others. Redwall is my least favorite of the series; my boys and I think Jacques figured out his world in that one, and thereafter it was a better and more consistent world. It helps some to have the backstory Redwall provides, but it's not essential.

Funny note on the Redwall books: we tried once to do the recorded book on a car trip. The animals have a lot of different accents (from all over the British Isles), and we simply couldn't understand most of them, especially not with the road noise in the car! Had to give up and go back to reading aloud ourselves, with the laughable attempts of the spouse and me to render those accents.

[Craig]

I remember loving the Redwall books and reading every one that was out (we're talking twenty-ish years ago). Some were definitely better than other and many were better than Redwall.

[Mandy]

Thanks Rebecca and Craig. We are going to try Jeremy Thatcher next I think. And maybe Skulduggery Pleasant - I am building a great list!

[J.S.]

Mandy, There are also some really good YA books by goodreads authors that might appeal to your son.
J.S.

[Craig]

Mandy, there's also Eragon and The Hobbit

[Mandy]

I know JS - I'm reading one now - Kingdom Loghts by Steven VS!
But my little guy and I often listen to audiobooks together at night. He prefers graphic novels to read as paper editions.
We listened to all the Harry Potters so I was looking for audiobook editions right now.
Rebecca mentioned that they didn't like the audio for Redwall and I think that might have been part of the problem for my son.
And Craig - I know it's the wrong way around but he doesn't want to know how The Hobbit ends before he sees the movie. My middle son LOVED the book though - as did I!

[Steven]

Thanks for the shoutout for my novel The Kingdom Lights!

I am often asked to review books by other authors. if i come across any real gem MG/YA I will pass along their recommendation. Although reading the Mistborn series right now so might take me awhile :D

[Mandy]

Oops - except I was typing on my phone and made a typo - lol! The Kingdom Lights not Loghts!

[Rebecca]

I want to be clear that it wasn't that we didn't LIKE the Redwall audio. We just couldn't understand it! I have downloaded The Long Patrol and am listening under better (non-automotive) conditions and am able to follow okay, though it does take more focus than most books.

Any Brits out there? Can you follow all those regional/class accents easily?

[Mandy]

Rebecca wrote: "I want to be clear that it wasn't that we didn't LIKE the Redwall audio. We just couldn't understand it! I have downloaded The Long Patrol and am listening under better (non-automotive)..."

Sorry - I wasn't trying to imply that you didn't like the book - just that you weren't crazy about the audio version.

Sorry again if I wasn't clear!

[Rebecca]

Out of curiosity, Mandy, did your son just dislike the HP audio books or did he also have trouble understanding the accents? I find that sometimes kids' books also have so much added music, etc., that it interferes with the story.

[Mandy]

He didn't say it was the accents (my husband is British.) he just said he couldn't follow what was going on. I think maybe it was stylistic -Jacques just jumps into the story without any real introduction and you just pick it up as you go along. Which was fine by me but I think my son didn't get that and it threw him off.

[Mandy]

We started listening to Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher last night and we both like it so far!

[J.S.]

Mandy wrote: "We started listening to Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher last night and we both like it so far!"

That's a book my kids and I all enjoyed. The book has some beautiful illustrations, also.

[Lesley]

S.W. wrote: "Lesley wrote: "Hello I am Laura greens mother! She is really getting I interested into reading and would like friends that can offer her support and books she may be interested in reading.thanks in..."

Thanks for the ideas!

[Lesley]

J.S. wrote: "Hi Lesley and Laura! Try: The Secret Garden, King of the Wind, Anne of Green Gables. All beautiful, timeless classics. Some others: Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher; Catherine Called Birdy; The Witc..."

Thanks for the ideas!

[Rebecca]

Mandy wrote: "He didn't say it was the accents (my husband is British.) he just said he couldn't follow what was going on. I think maybe it was stylistic -Jacques just jumps into the story without any real intro..."

Jacques has a LOT of characters to keep track of, too. I am finding that a challenge, only hearing the names and not seeing them (I do better with things written than things heard, as I suspect many of us do. Tell me again why teachers lecture?).

[J.S.]

Rebecca wrote: "Mandy wrote: "He didn't say it was the accents (my husband is British.) he just said he couldn't follow what was going on. I think maybe it was stylistic -Jacques just jumps into the story without ..."

Rebecca, I agree. It's interesting how seeing affects understanding, and touching even more. When I taught math I used crystals, fossil shark's teeth, shells, etc. in lessons; kids understood and remembered! J.S.

[Kate]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Kate Jaimet. I'm the author of 2 middle grade comedic novels published by Orca Book Publishers in Victoria, BC: Dunces Anonymous and Dunces Rock. I love books that are funny, adventurous and fast-paced. I also have a soft spot for what my 10-year-old daughter would call "emotional novels" though I couldn't write them if I tried! Looking forward to being part of this group.

[Mandy]

Hi Kate from a fellow Canuck! Your books look like a lot of fun. Congrats on being a finalist in the Silver Birch awards! I'm working on my first MG novel, but I've been writing for kids for a few years - I used to write for the kids' website Webkinz. There are lots of great suggestions here.

[Kate]

Lesley wrote: "S.W. wrote: "Lesley wrote: "Hello I am Laura greens mother! She is really getting I interested into reading and would like friends that can offer her support and books she may be interested in read..."

J.S. wrote: "Mandy wrote: "We started listening to Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher last night and we both like it so far!"

That's a book my kids and I all enjoyed. The book has some beautiful illustrations, also."

Hi Lesley,

What kind of books is your daughter interested in? For comedy, Gordon Korman is always good for a laugh. For adventure, my daughter loved the Warriors series starting with Into the Wild or of course you could try the Percy Jackson series starting with The Lightning Thief. For more 'girly' books, you can try Lin Oliver's Almost Identical.
Cheers!
kate

[Georgie]

Hi I'm Georgie. I live in York, England where I work for the city centre library (its called York Explore Library Learning Centre). I am 29 but I read middle-grade and YA fic almost entirely. I do read 'adult' fic but I find there's something so refreshing and unbounded about MG and YA fic. I've read so many books which are 'for kids' but are better written than a lot of the stuff out there 'for adults'. I think what I like best is that in adult fic, a lot of the time the characters are bogged down by stuff connected with 'adult' stuff like relationships, jobs, politics. That of course has it's place, but sometimes it just gets in the way. Whereas in MG or YA books, the characters don't really deal with that kind of stuff, and are more open and genuine as a result. So, yeah, just over the last couple of years or so, I've found myself much more drawn to YA and MG fiction and characters than to 'grown-up' fiction. I prefer 'realistic' MG/YA to fantasy stuff, but I do read that too. I'm particularly interested in MG horror fiction or ghost stories at the minute, anything written with an age group of 10 up in mind. I've already read 'Doll Bones' by Holly Black and 'The Screaming Staircase' by Jonathan Stroud, and I have a few others on my to-read list, but any recommendations would be much appreciated, either for MG horror or any other good MG fic people here have enjoyed.

[Kate]

Georgie wrote: "Hi I'm Georgie. I live in York, England where I work for the city centre library (its called York Explore Library Learning Centre). I am 29 but I read middle-grade and YA fic almost entirely. I do ..."
Hi Georgie, Hi Lesley,

Here in Canada, there are 2 interesting MG horror/mystery books that I've put on my to-read list. One is The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier and the other is The Dead Kid Detective Agency by Evan Munday (I think that one is more of a horror/comedy). You can find out more at this link https://www.accessola.org/web/OLAWEB/...

[J.S.]

Welcome Georgie and Lesley,

I assume you've read the Hunger Games trilogy? It's older YA with some horror in the killings. Movies are good, books predictably better.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Everyone,
I have just discovered goodreads. I am an avid reader of MG and YA fiction myself, but have specifically joined this group as I homeschool my middle grade children and thought it would be a great place to discover new books for them, particularly historical fiction. Oh, and we are in Australia.

[Craig]

Welcome to goodreads, Skye! I think here you'll find enough book recommendations to last you for years. Enjoy!

[S.W.]

Skye wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I have just discovered goodreads. I am an avid reader of MG and YA fiction myself, but have specifically joined this group as I homeschool my middle grade children and thought it woul..."

Hi Skye,
Glad to have you in the group. Welcome, from a fellow Aussie

[Rebecca]

Hi, Skye and everyone else! Skye, you have the name I wanted to give my second child. Since he turned out to be a boy, I didn't do it :D

[Jay]

Hi, I'm Jay.

I'm a former (many jobs in science & technology), turned hopeful author. While my main passion is science fiction (it dominates the way I view the world), my large family (five kids) has lead me to a deep appreciation of books for kids, ranging from board books up through Young Adult. I've recently published (self-pub, Kindle) an SF middle grade, which is what brought me to goodreads -- I hadn't found it earlier despite my immense library and lifelong devotion to reading. I'm just beginning to look around and figure out what's what.

[J.S.]

Skye wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I have just discovered goodreads. I am an avid reader of MG and YA fiction myself, but have specifically joined this group as I homeschool my middle grade children and thought it woul..."

Hi Skye,
Welcome to Goodreads! Are you looking for MG historical fiction from any particular time period?
J.S.

[J.S.]

Welcome, Jay!
Are you working on creating a goodreads author page? Do you want to join the goodreads authors/readers group? Have you read Alan Dean Foster's first few Pip & Flinx books? I didn't read the Foster book you reviewed, but I think Foster creates good aliens and alien worlds.
J.S.

[M.G.]

Glad to see all the new members here!

[Jay]

J.S. wrote: "Welcome, Jay!
Are you working on creating a goodreads author page? Do you want to join the goodreads authors/readers group? Have you read Alan Dean Foster's first few Pip & Flinx books? I didn't r..."

Thanks. I don't even know about most of those things yet, but I'll look them up. If I can't find details, I'll be back here with more questions.

As for the books you mentioned... Has anyone else had this experience? You have books that you really loved when you were younger, but now that you're older and more well-read, you find holes you never noticed the first time around? I loved those books you mentioned, but I've begun re-reading Foster and discovered that his earliest books, at least, ramble all over the place. And yet... the "sensawonder" remains.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.
J.S. - We study history in chronological order and visit it twice over the school years, so I'm looking for all years really!
Rebecca, I have met one boy in my life who was also named Skye, so you could have done it! :-)

[M.G.]

Jay wrote: "J.S. wrote: "Welcome, Jay!
Are you working on creating a goodreads author page? Do you want to join the goodreads authors/readers group? Have you read Alan Dean Foster's first few Pip & Flinx book..."

I think those are the books that for whatever reason have the ability to resonate with a reader's own imagination -- I know exactly what you mean!

[J.S.]

Thanks, M.G.! I love a book that resonates. A.D. Foster's books have detailed, creative, alien worlds; I aspire to have that in my books. Watership Down, Clan of the Cave Bear, Pip & Flinx, Hawaii...the genre hardly matters when the world is real and fun to visit.
J.S.

[Jennifer]

I'm Jennifer J. from Tucson, Arizona. "I would rather be reading" is probably what should be my epitaph. I have six library cards, and am constantly borrowing books. Middle grade novels are a particular favorite. When I was a kid, it was Eager, Nesbit, Keatley Snyder, Baum, and Konigsburg that were in heavy rotation. My mom had been a children's librarian, so it rubbed off. I look forward to learning about new books and discussing old favorites.

P.S. I also write.

[Tammy]

Hi I'm Tammy M from Dallas Tx. I just discovered Goodreads a few days ago and was ecstatic to find this group! I love reading middle grade books and it has been difficult finding a group that wasn't just for kids. I look forward to learning about and reading new books!