BookDragon Middle Grade Readers

In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage: A Survey of New & Notable Books [in Bloomsbury Review]

10 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Repost, Young Adult Readers

I've been doing an annual New & Notable roundup of APA titles for The Bloomsbury Review for more than a few years now. This year's installment is running a little later than usual. I know you can't see it here, but the roundup is referenced...

heartbeat by Sharon Creech

09 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction

I fully admit to being poetically challenged (damaged?). I don't get musicals either. But something about free verse is sooo gloriously addictive – when the rhythm is just right and you can't seem to put the pages down ...

Author Interview: Grace Lin [in Bookslut]

02 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Author Interview/Profile, Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Taiwanese American, Young Adult Readers

I really should have taken a picture: my too-fast growing tween son, cuddled in bed reading to his little cousin (my not-quite-5-year-old nephew with the most amazing eyes you’ll ever gaze into), hearing the very familiar words of Grace Lin’s delicious Dim Sum for Everyone. “Do...

Sharing Our Homeland: Palestinian and Jewish Children at Summer Peace Camp by Trish Marx, photographs by Cindy Karp

19 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Arab, Children/Picture Books, Israeli, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Palestinian

Too often, media headlines are filled with Arab/Palestinian and Jewish/Israeli conflict and tragedy. Here's a resonating anecdote filled with images of real-life kids from both sides of the religious/political/historical borders, enjoying a real-life camp where "...

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

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

As the new boy in town, living in a motel with his near-silent father, young Rob Horton literally hasn't unpacked. He keeps a virtual suitcase tightly locked with his deepest feelings and thoughts, most notably memories about his mother who passed away six months ago...

Blue Jay Girl by Sylvia Ross

24 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples

Sylvia Ross, LA-born and “raised … apart from her family Chukchansi culture,” as stated in her bio, has focused her writerly life on her Native American culture. Her latest title captures an inspiring ‘girl power’ story of long ago … about a “medium-sized” Yaudanchi child...

Me and Rolly Maloo by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Elizabeth Buttler

21 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Chinese American, Fiction, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

Janet Wong has gone literally hybrid. Her latest title, debuting next month, is part graphic novel, part regular prose. Thanks to her flexible illustrator Elizabeth Buttler, the result is an entertaining new way for young readers to enjoy a story on different levels. Popular. pretty Rolly Maloo is...

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin

17 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

Despite the fact that Ling and Ting are twins, they are not – regardless of their many similarities, regardless of what the barber says – exactly the same! And ever since Ting sneezed at just the wrong moment during their latest haircuts and lost an uneven...

We Troubled the Waters by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Rod Brown

14 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Black/African American, Middle Grade Readers, Poetry, Young Adult Readers

Although at first glance, this might look like a children's title – it is essentially a picture book – the sometimes difficult contents make it much more suitable for middle grade readers and older. Even adults will certainly find deeply resonating moments to appreciate throughout. Ntozake...

The Long Season of Rain by Helen Kim

04 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

For years, this 1996 National Book Award finalist in Children's Literature sat high on my night-table stack. But once I finally opened its pages – annoyingly marked with multiple intrusive stamps of "Discarded by the Yankton Community Library" as I ordered it used – the book...

Resistance: Book 1 by Carla Jablonski, illustrated by Leland Purvis, color by Hilary Sycamore

18 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Here's something else that APAs and Jewish Americans have in common: we share the same heritage month! Yup, as of April 2006, May is not only our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but May is also Jewish American Heritage Month! Various stereotypes have long linked...

The Tale of Despereaux: being the story of a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

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

Sometimes it takes me years to read certain books. Oftentimes, fear is involved. Sometimes when I like a book so very much, I'm afraid the next book by that author just might disappoint. So I do the denial thing and move said title deeper down...

Colibrí by Ann Cameron

01 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Latin American, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Even though "Uncle" calls her Rosa Garcia, Tzunun Chumil knows her real Mayan name, and that in Spanish, Tzunun is 'colibrí,' which means "hummingbird." She knows somewhere that she has a mother and father that once loved her very much, that she lived a happy...

MIXED: Portraits of Multicultural America by Kip Fulbeck, foreword by Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, afterword by Cher

28 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Children/Picture Books, Hapa/Mixed-race, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

What a perfect companion text to Kip Fulbeck's part asian • 100% hapa, his previous title for Chronicle Books ...

Foiled by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mike Cavallaro

21 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

Warning: I can't find any promises of a volume 2 (or 3, 4, or more!) anywhere in, on, or around this book. Nothing in the publicist's note, either! Uh-oh ...

Smile by Raina Telgemeier, with color by Stephanie Yue

18 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

For anyone and everyone who has or knows a middle-grader with braces (or about to get braces), this is the book of choice to share. "I've been telling people about what happened to my teeth ever since I knocked them out in sixth grade," writes...

The Adventures of Jack Lime by James Leck

17 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

Jack Lime is a self-described "detective, a private investigator, a gumshoe." He's also a new student at Iona High School, who landed mid-9th grade in the ultra-planned, exclusive community from the City of Angels to live with his grandmother after the tragic death of his...

The Shepherd’s Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter

14 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Fiction, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Palestinian, Young Adult Readers

Last week, this article landed in my inbox: "Jewish Group Boycotts Canadian Kids' Book."  The comments are also well worth reading. Then a friend sent me another related article which announced, "Controversial Mideast book stays in Toronto schools." The running quote box on the left side...

Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang

10 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Gene Luen Yang, who made publishing history as the author of the first graphic novel ever to be nominated for a National Book Award, returns with an irresistible, hilarious little book that takes sibling rivalry to whole new heights. First serialized in The New York...

Raven Summer by David Almond

09 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

David Almond has been repeatedly popping up in my inbox recently. Not him personally (don't I wish, as he is definitely one of my very favorite writers for young adult titles), but his mega-award-winning name is haunting my emails...