BookDragon Middle Grade Readers

Mirror by Jeannie Baker

12 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Australian, Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Moroccan, Young Adult Readers

The simplicity of Australian author/artist Jeannie Baker's latest title makes it simply stupendous. Open the book and you have two halves on either side, the left which begins in English, and right which...

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins

09 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, Myanmarese (Burmese), Southeast Asian, Young Adult Readers

Inspired by three years of living in Thailand with her family and visiting refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, Mitali Perkins’ latest novel follows the lives of two boys on...

What Janie Found by Caroline B. Cooney

07 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

The final title of Caroline B. Cooney's award-winning Janie Johnson quartet begins with a newspaper article that marks the anniversary of the "Missing Child Milk Carton Campaign" that – for better...

The Voice on the Radio by Caroline B. Cooney

07 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

If you haven’t read the first two titles of the Janie Johnson quartet, then skip this post for sure … no fun knowing too much! And, as the third volume proves, knowing...

Whatever Happened to Janie? by Caroline B. Cooney

06 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Award-winning author Caroline Cooney never intended to write a sequel to The Face on the Milk Carton, which she ends with an uncertain telephone call: "I wanted you...

Taro and the Magic Pencil by Sango Morimoto, translated by Katherine Schilling

02 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation

Parents might recognize (and appreciate) the derivative homage to children's classic Harold and the Purple Crayon, Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli's animated Howl's Moving Castle, and more ...

It’s a Book by Lane Smith

01 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Delighted guffawing is inevitable as soon as you open the pages. And most especially fitting if you are a proud, obstinate Luddite like me! Move over Kindles, Nooks, iPads, Vooks, and whatever other...

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney

31 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

As today is Halloween, here's a story that promises to scare, chill, and thrill you ...

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli

30 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

David, age 9, and Primrose, age 13, make for strange friends, especially with the rate at which they seem to enjoy exchanging "I hate you!"-moments! But David is new to own, living with his grandmother since his mother suddenly died last year from a freak...

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

27 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Black/African American, Middle Grade Readers, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction

Heads up for DC-area locals … mark your calendars: you can meet Jacqueline Woodson on November 9, 2010 at Fairfax County Government Center, Fairfax, Virginia! Click here for details! And now through October 31, 2010, a play version of Locomotion is up at the Kennedy Center...

Saturn Apartments (vol. 1) by Hisae Iwaoka, translated by Matt Thorn

25 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Since all of earth has been declared a nature preserve, mankind now inhabits a "giant apartment complex," which orbits 35,000 meters above the deserted planet. Society is literally stratified, with the upper level residents afforded greater privileges while the basement dwellers live with limited resources. Five...

Pop by Gordon Korman

24 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be football players! If ever you needed convincing, read this book ...

Cross Game 1 (vols. 1-3) by Mitsuru Adachi, translated by Ralph Yamada and Lillian Olsen

23 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

How cool is this? You can read the serialized version of this manga by clicking here. Or, you can watch the anime version online by clicking here. Although, I'll have to admit that I much prefer having it all right here in one book (the first...

The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger

10 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

If you're of a certain age (like me), you probably still remember some of the titles that made you wide-eyed those many decades ago ...

YUMMY: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke

19 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Black/African American, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

True stories about kids with tragic endings are undoubtedly effective in fueling parents' worst nightmares. This one proves especially haunting. Six years ago today, "Yummy" Sandifer made the cover of Time magazine. Along with his mugshot were the words, "The Short, Violent Life of Robert 'Yummy'...

The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault

14 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Latin American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction

María Luz's family is in trouble. Their land in the hills of Honduras, which provides them with the corn and beans they need to live, has "lost its goodness." In order for the family to survive, María Luz's father must leave home and find work....

Bobby the Brave (Sometimes) by Lisa Yee, illustrated by Dan Santat

09 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Middle Grade Readers, Southeast Asian American, Thai American

Bobby Ellis-Chan – skateboarder, goldfish trainer, football-challenged son of legendary NFL star "The Freezer" who is now a stay-at-home dad – is back. He's a year older and a grade higher from when he made his entertaining debut in Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally), brought to you once...

Amulet | Book Three: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi

05 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

My tween son grabbed the third installment of Kazu Kibuishi's inventive, adventurous series before I could even say 'three,' then lamented at the six months he would have to wait for Book Four, Book Four: "Do I really have to wait so long?" followed with "Can't...

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck

26 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Truly, one of the best ways to keep the kids happily quiet in the car is to share a story ...

The Hidden Girl: A True Story of the Holocaust by Lola Rein Kaufman with Lois Metzger

25 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in European, Jewish, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Lola Rein Kaufman's "'memory button'" got turned on on September 17, 1939, when Russian tanks, trucks, and soldiers entered her small hometown of Czortków in what was then Poland. She was not yet 5 years old. Before she reached her 10th birthday, she lost her...