Waiting on Wednesday: No Brainer: Diary of a Wimpy Kid #18 by Jeff Kinney

Image: Abrams Books

No Brainer: Diary of a Wimpy Kid #18 by Jeff Kinney. 224 p. Amulet Books/ Abrams, October 24, 2023. 9781419766947.

Waiting on Wednesday features No Brainer by Jeff Kinney. #18 in the very popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is coming on October 24! 

Publisher synopsis: Up until now, middle school hasn’t exactly been a joyride for Greg Heffley. So when the town threatens to close the crumbling building, he’s not too broken up about it.

But when Greg realizes this means he’s going to be sent to a different school than his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, he changes his tune. Can Greg and his classmates save their school before it’s shuttered for good? Or is this the start of a whole new chapter for Greg

#tbt: Amulet #1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Amulet #1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi. 192 p. Graphix/ Scholastic, 2008. 9780439846813.

Happy Thursday! #tbt features Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi. Emily, her brother and mother are grieving the loss of her father in a car accident when her mother decides to move the family to her childhood home. It has fallen into disrepair and needs a good cleaning. While doing so, Emily finds an amulet in her grandfather's study and her brother helps her put it on. That night, Her mother is kidnapped by an arachnopod and Emily and Navin follow them into a parallel universe in order to save her. 

This fantasy graphic novel series starter is fast-paced and features amazing artwork. It is a TMS favorite. It has also won several state award since its publication in 2008. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Waverider by Kazu Kibuishi

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Waverider by Kazu Kibuishi. 256 p. Amulet $9. Graphix/ Scholastic, February 6, 2024. 9780545828659.

Waiting on Wednesday features Waverider by Kazu Kibuishi. Amulet fans rejoice! The long-awaited ninth volume in this beloved series has a publication date! It's not until February 6 of 2024, but yay!

Publisher synopsis: After her confrontation with Ikol, Emily finally understands the stone's power and what she must do to defend Alledia from the shadows. As she travels to Typhon to help her mom and Navin, Prince Trellis returns to the Kingdom of the Elves to save his countrymen — and confront the fraud who has seized power in the absence of a king. The threat of darkness follows all Stonekeepers closely, and it will take the strength of both new friends and old foes to conquer it... and survive.

Middle Grade Monday: Captain America: the Ghost Army (Original Graphic Novel) by Alan Gratz.

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Captain America: the Ghost Army (Original Graphic Novel) by Alan Gratz. Illustrated by Brent Schoonover. 176 p. Scholastic/ Graphix, January, 2023. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Happy Monday! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. We had torrential rain on Saturday and partial sunshine on Sunday. I was able to close my move ring despite the rain and crushed it on Sunday with almost twelve miles! Mowing my lawn needs about 1.5 miles of steps! The rest was walks with the Boo bear.

Middle Grade Monday features Captain America: the Ghost Army (Original Graphic Novel) by Alan Gratz. Mr. Gratz's many fans at TMS will be happy to know that he has written a graphic novel! It's historical fiction, of course. It's World War II and Capt. America and his feisty sidekick Bucky are in the fictional country of Transia on the eastern front. They're sent to help the British hold their position, but are struggling because they're outnumbered. Just in time, they hear the rumble of artillary, which sends the Nazi's running. It turns out, their saviors are just a few soldiers driving Jeeps, led by a Japanese-American soldier named Jim Morita. Morita's "Ghost Army" has been an effective tool, but little do they know that they will be facing an army of real ghosts that are immune to Capt. America's shield.

I am totally ignorant of the Marvel Universe myself and cannot comment about canon, but this was an engaging read. There's historical meat embedded in a quick-paced action adventure whose ending promises more to come. The art zings. 

Captain America: the Ghost Army belongs in all kinds of libraries. 

Fact Friday: A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Image: Macmillan

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat. 320 p. First Second/ Macmillan, February, 2023. 9781626724150. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Fact Friday features A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat. Years before becoming a Caldecott Medal-winning author/ illustrator, Dan Santat was an introverted middle school student doing his best to fly under the radar of teachers as well as classmates. He is the only child in his family and his parents want him to spread his wings a bit. Their answer is to send him to Europe on a class trip the summer after his eighth grade year.

He really doesn't want to go and is dismayed to learn that some of his female tormenters are in the group. He learns some lessons the hard way, such as unwittingly eating an entire basket of delicious French bread only to find that he was getting charged for each! He discovers Fanta and revels in the art at the Louvre. 

The art is just gorgeous. Landmarks and cityscapes are brought to glorious life and flashbacks are done in muted blues and add context. At turns hilarious and poignant, readers will relate to the angst and ache while also marveling over life before smart phones and social media. 

#tbt: Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Image: Simon & Schuster

Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. 272 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March, 2002. 9780689848919.

Happy Thursday! #tbt features Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's August and it's hot in Philadelphia, the new capital of the fledgling United States. Fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook drags herself out of bed to help her widowed mother run a bustling coffee house. Yellow Fever is spreading through the city. Wealthier families are leaving to stay in country homes. 

Ms. Anderson brings to life the sights, smells and sounds of Philadelphia and a plucky, resilient narrator. Readers will root for  Mattie as she deals with the unthinkable. 

Since its publication in 2002, Fever, 1793 has been named to numerous state awards lists and Best Books lists. More importantly, this suspenseful tale has made readers of quite a number of students who do not identify as readers.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Last Rose by Leah Cypess

Image: Penguin Random House

The Last Rose by Leah Cypess. 256 p. Sisters Ever After #4. Delacorte Press/ Penguin Young Readers, December 5, 2023. 9780593481332.

Happy Wednesday! Today promises to be a lovely day with dipping temps and a refreshing breeze. It's also the last day of state testing in ELA and Math. Tomorrow and Friday are make up days and the fifth and eighth graders take the science state test next week.  

Waiting on Wednesday features The Last Rose by Leah Cypess. This is book four of the Sisters Ever After series. I learned about this sweet series of fairy tale retellings earlier this year from a fifth grader. The Last Rose is due out on December 5. 

Here's the publisher synopsis: The fourth book in the Sisters Ever After series of fairy tale retellings, this is the wild story of Mera, the only one who can save her beautiful older sister when she is kidnapped by the Beast who viciously rules over their small village.

For as long as Mera can remember, she and her sister Darina have feared the Beast who lurks in the castle above their village. On countless nights they have locked themselves into their home while the Beast led his hounds on the Wild Hunt, preying on anything in his path.

Now Darina has been kidnapped by the Beast, and only Mera can save her. But she soon finds that in the Beast’s eerie, magic-haunted castle, nothing is quite what it seems—including her own sister. Here, Mera will discover the dark secrets that have bound her village to the Beast for so long.

But in order to set them all free, she will have to face the most dangerous secret of all: the truth about herself.

If you're a reader who enjoys fairy tale retellings, check out this series.