Book Bundles: Navigating Life in the Middle Grades

(2) 4-6 In this debut novel, winner of the 2021 Pura Belpré Medal for narrative, Cisneros introduces readers to an immigrant family whose desire for better opportunities means contending with cruel and politically motivated policies, backbreaking work for subsistence wages, and the constant threat of deportation. Seventh grader Efrén lives with his parents and twin five-year-old siblings in a one-room apartment in Southern California. He and the twins were born in the States, but their parents are both undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Conscientious Efrén is aware of the immigration raids happening in his neighborhood; he's heard the news stories and the laundromat gossip. He and his siblings know to go into "lockdown mode" in their apartment when they hear helicopters circling or sirens blaring. Still, he's able to enjoy the life he has with his loving, hard-working parents and in his friendly Mexican American neighborhood. The family's worst fears are realized, however, when his amá (mom) is deported. Efrén has to take responsibility for the twins (one of whom has behavioral challenges), the household, and his schoolwork. Spanish words and phrases, including some dialogue, lend authenticity to the narrative; while meaning can usually be gleaned in context, a twelve-page glossary provides English translations. Cisneros's vivid descriptions of Mexican and Mexican American culture, food, and traditions bring the characters and setting to life. The devastatingly realistic conclusion is heartbreaking and brutally makes clear the plight of undocumented immigrants in this country.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) 4-6 Annie Logan feels like an outsider at home and at school, constantly making mistakes and getting in trouble. She blames it on the fact that (according to her mother, who left when Annie was four) she was born under an unlucky star. When Annie has to spend the summer after sixth grade checking in on her elderly neighbor Gloria Crumb, she's forced out of her comfort zone and gains a new perspective. In between visits to Gloria, Annie tries to help her father and older brother design the family hardware store's float for the town festival, but they're not interested in her ideas. Although she sulks and blames her unluckiness once again, Annie also finds herself putting her art skills to work on the festival's other floats, as she gradually learns that her world is bigger than her mother's abandonment and father's dismissiveness. Gloria, stubbornly independent, discovers her own limitations while becoming the mentor Annie was certain she didn't need. McDunn has built a vibrant setting in Oak Branch, North Carolina, a classic rural small town full of dedicated but struggling small businesses run by a tight-knit community of neighbors. (Barbecue restaurateurs JoJo and The Earl are especially delightful.) Annie's self-pity can be wearing, but her emotional growth over the course of the story is ultimately satisfying.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger

(2) 4-6 Somehow, Daniel Redmayne, a pale, skinny sixth grader with glasses, is selected for a "Project Future Leaders" whitewater rafting adventure in Montana, involving five kids and two adult supervisors. The tone is set on day one, when the leaders decide to abandon their planned destination and head instead for the (ominously named) Crazy River. However, the group’s phone isn't working, and no one at home base knows where they are. That night, after they've made camp, a nearby dam breaks, the river floods, the adults are washed away, and the quest for survival begins. Like characters in a downriver Lord of the Flies, the kids divide into two warring parties, one side attacks with sharpened sticks, and the social contract is abandoned. It's not exactly survival of the fittest, though, as Daniel is hardly the rugged type, but he finds that "having two wicked smart, courageous girls for friends is totally great." As demonstrated in Wildfire (rev. 9/19), Philbrick is a master of the fast-paced easy read adventure story, keeping the sentences short and the action verbs plentiful. Daniel's first-person narration is divided into seven days and recounts how mountain lions, bears, a bully, hunger, and death stalk the group. The simple-seeming story raises moral questions that might get readers pondering big ideas. What is the nature of right? What is a hero? Can a lie be a good thing? The back matter includes survival tips (best read before heading out to the river).

Reviewer: Dean Schneider

(2) 4-6 Sila is having the worst year of her life. Her mother, a Turkish immigrant to the U.S., has returned to her homeland to sort out some immigration troubles and has been gone for months, leaving Sila and her father worried and depressed. The tide turns when they meet Gio, a retired carpenter, recent lottery winner, and fairy godfather figure. All the story needs is a link between these characters, handily provided by a traveling circus, down on its luck and wanting to off-load Veda, its Asian elephant. Lonely Gio installs Veda in the grounds of his mansion, and life gets much more expansive for Sila as she helps to care for the animal. A clutch of subplots--one involving an autistic boy who joins Sila in her project and another focusing on a labor dispute, a wrongful dismissal case involving Sila's mother--mutes the off-beat story's impact. Once we encounter a circus bear (who seems introduced for his role in an admittedly hilarious slapstick scene) and the adoption of a flock of flamingos, the narrative loses some focus, but the friendship of old man, child, and giant pachyderm is convincing, touching, and just odd enough.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis