Category: Middle Grade

Title: The Becket List: A Blackberry Farm Story
Author: Adele Griffin, LeUyen Pham (pictures)
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 2, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Adventure and discover with the bold and intrepid Becket Branch when her family’s move from city to a country farm means big changes!

Everything is changing for Becket Branch. From subways to sidewalks to safety rules, Becket is a city kid born and raised. Now the Branch family is trading urban bustle for big green fields and moving to Gran’s farm, where Becket has to make sense of new routines from feeding animals to baling hay. And as much as Becket loves to yell “Beautiful Alert!” there’s a lot about the countryside that is just plain odd.

But Becket is ready to put her own spin on country life. Whether selling her mouth-puckering lemonade, feeding hostile hens, or trying to make a best friend of her new neighbor Frieda Franca, Becket is determined to use her city smarts to get a grip on farm living. Laugh and learn with Becket as she mucks through the messy, exuberant human experience of change she didn’t ask for, in a story that sparkles with quirky characters and lasting connections.

Review:

This is a great story about growing up and life changes.

Becket goes through many changes in this book. At the beginning, her family moves to her grandmother’s farm. She has to adjust from city life in an apartment to country life on a farm. She also goes to a camp, but it is very different from the camp she used to go to in the city. She doesn’t make friends as easily as she did before. I loved that Becket had to deal with all of these changes in this book, because often kids books just focus on one kind of life change rather than many different ones.

I loved the pictures in the book. There were some at the beginning, but they tapered off towards the end. I had an ARC so this may have changed in the final edition, but I would have loved to have even more pictures because they were so great!

The one thing I didn’t like about this book was the ending. I won’t spoil it, but something happens to one of the animals. It was upsetting to me, because I could relate to it, which made it difficult to read. Things happen to animals as part of life on a farm, so I understand why it was in the story. However, I don’t like reading about things that happen to animals, so it is a personal preference.

I really liked this story. It’s great for middle grade readers.

What to read next:

Have you read The Becket List: A Blueberry Farm Story? What did you think of it?

Title: Bad Hair Day (Whatever After #5)
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Format: Paperback
Release Date: April 29, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

After a tough day at school, I am NOT in a good mood. The perfect pick-me-up? A trip through our magic mirror! When my brother and I — plus our new dog — end up in the story of Rapunzel, we can’t resist climbing her hair. Oh no! Her smooth locks suddenly look like they’ve been attacked by a cheese grater. Maybe a trim will help…Snip, snip. SNIP. Oops. Now Rapunzel’s hair is too short and we’re trapped!

So we have to:
-Find the tower’s secret door
-Avoid getting swallowed by a giant spider
-Locate Pickles (aka the prince)
-Reunite Rapunzel with her parents

If we don’t untangle this knotty tale soon, we could be stuck in this mess for good!

Review:

This is another great story in the Whatever After series.

In this book, Abby and Jonah visit Rapunzel. They explore some of the problems with the fairytale, and learn new things. For example, Rapunzel is always illustrated as a girl with blonde hair, but in this story her hair was brown. They also investigate the idea that Rapunzel was trapped in the tower with no other way for people to get in and out than climbing her hair. The witch had to get her into the tower some how, so the kids look for a hidden staircase that leads up the tower. I loved the way they searched for answers to the plot holes in the story.

They also give a little more background to the characters. In the last story, one of Abby’s friends accidentally joins them on their trip. This story begins with Abby being upset about losing the spelling bee at school. I love this insight into their regular lives because most of the stories are spent in the fairy tale world.

I’m in love with this series! It’s so much fun!

What to read next:

Have you read Bad Hair Day? What did you think of it?

Title: Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School #1)
Author: Jen Calonita
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Would you send a villain to do a hero’s job? An exciting new twisted fairy tale series from award-winning author Jen Calonita.

Full of regret, Cinderella’s wicked stepmother, Flora, has founded the Fairy Tale Reform School with the mission of turning the wicked and criminally mischievous into upstanding members of Enchantasia.

Impish, sassy 12-year-old Gilly has a history of petty theft and she’s not too sorry about it. When she lifts a hair clip, she gets tossed in reform school-for at least three months. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there’s more to this school than its sweet mission. There’s a battle brewing and she starts to wonder: can a villain really change?

Review:

I love fairy tale retellings! There are so many great middle grade series about fairy tales these days. After reading Misfits, which is set in the same world as this series, I wanted to check out Jen Calonita’s other fairy tale books.

In this book, Gillian, a cobbler’s daughter, is sent to the Fairy Tale Reform School after being caught stealing. The school is meant to reform kids in the fairy tale school. It is run by Flora, who was Cinderella’s stepmother. The teachers are reformed villains, such as the Big Bad Wolf, the Sea Witch, and the Evil Queen.

This story was very fast paced. There was lots happening in the story. Since there were so many villains, it was hard to know who to trust. It made the story more exciting, because it was unpredictable.

I really enjoyed this story! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

What to read next:

Have you read Flunked? What did you think of it?

Title: Dream On (Whatever After #4)
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the magic mirror bite….

It was supposed to be the best sleepover ever. Just me, my best friend, Robin, and an awesome night of s’mores, secrets, and staying up late. No pesky little brothers allowed. And DEFINITELY no magic mirrors.

Everything was perfect…until the mirror sucked Robin into Sleeping Beauty’s story! My brother and I dove in after her, but we couldn’t stop her from pricking her finger on the spindle. Now we’re REALLY in trouble. Robin’s fast asleep–and Sleeping Beauty is wide-awake! To save the day I’ve got to:

– Host a fake birthday party for Jonah
– Find a prince to wake up Robin
– Avoid getting cursed by scary fairies

We only have ten hours to make things right…or this day will become a nightmare!

Review:

This was a really fun story! It had some elements that were different from the past books in the series.

When Abby and Jonah travel to Sleeping Beauty’s story, Abby’s friend Robin ends up going with them. The problem was that when they got there, Robin pricked her arm on the spindle that was meant for Sleeping Beauty, aka Bri. Robin fell asleep instantly, taking the spell that was meant for the princess. The kids had to figure out a way to wake Robin up and fix Bri’s story.

Some of the parts didn’t go as smoothly as they did in the other stories. They planned a birthday party for Jonah in order to get wishes from fairies to save Robin. However, that didn’t work out when the fairies discovered that it wasn’t actually Jonah’s birthday. They had to find another way to fix their problems.

I was glad to see more of Abby and Jonah’s real lives in the story. Even though Abby’s friend was asleep for most of the story, I liked hearing about her friends. Up until this book, we only really heard about their adventures in fairy tales. There was even an addition to the family at the end of the story, who I believe will be making appearances in later books too.

This was a fun adaptation of Sleeping Beauty! I’m excited to read the next book!

What to read next:

Have you read Dream On? What did you think of it?