Middle Grade Monday: The Moon without Stars by Chanel Miller

Image: Penguin Random House

 

The Moon without Stars by Chanel Miller. 256 p. Philomel Books/ Penguin Young Readers, January, 2026. 9780593624555. Review of finished book borrowed from pubic library. 

Seventh grader Luna is well aware of her outsider status. She might be even comfortable with it. After all, she has her bff, Scott to walk to school and sit with at lunch. They sit under a tree, where Luna observes the interactions of the "popular crowd" with some fascination. 

After she read all the books that she was given by the family of a girl in town who had died, Luna wonders what to do with them. She decides to give them away, but carefully. She becomes a "book doctor," prescribing books for her classmates - a middle school "right book at the right time for the right reader," if you will. Soon, she finds herself in demand for these books and she wonders how she can help more people. So she creates a zine and Scott illustrates it. 

The zine takes off and eventually, Luna catches the eye of the popular crowd. At first, she splits her time between them and Scott, but eventually ditches him altogether; but being in the popular crowd has its price and as the stakes grow, Luna is unsure of her place in it.

This was such a spot-on depiction of middle school friendship dynamics. I loved Luna's voice. I loved her friendship with Scott and ached for him when she ditched him for the popular crowd. Middle school readers will find much to relate with in this engaging, heartfelt story. I picked it up after reading some Newbery buzz about it. The buzz is well-deserved. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Leaving Birdsong by Brenda Woods

Image: Penguin Random House

Leaving Birdsong by Brenda Woods. 224 p. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers, October 13, 2026. 9780593461563.

I came across an announcement about this on Twitter a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA as well as St. Louis Armstrong Beach.

Publisher synopsis: An inquisitive bookworm explores a whole new world when her family moves north during the Great Migration in Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods’s stand-alone companion to The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA.

It’s 1946 when eleven-year-old Abigail and her parents move from Birdsong, South Carolina, to Detroit, where her parents say there are more opportunities for people of color. This promise is fulfilled when her father gets a good job at an auto factory, and on her visits to the city’s impressive library, where she not only gets to walk through the front door for the first time but also meets her first Black librarian. And though her parents encourage her to focus on the new possibilities, it doesn’t take long for Abigail to see that some of the limitations imposed by segregation also exist in the North.


Abigail keenly observes it all, as she’s determined to become a writer, even though not everyone takes her seriously. The Motor City offers plenty of inspiration, and she writes poems about Caesar, her funny neighbor, and the goings-on at the fancy hotel for wealthy Black folks where her mom gets a job. But before long, Abigail becomes more than an observer when a tragedy occurs after a homeless boy robs her. When she and her friends set out to help the boy’s younger brother, she is confronted with uncomfortable realities about poverty. Throughout her summer of adventures and unexpected happenings, Abigail keeps her light shining as she reluctantly sheds her country-girl beginnings and starts to embrace Detroit as home.

Waiting on Wednesday: Rising Thunder by Neal Shusterman

Image: Simon & Schuster

Rising Thunder by Neal Shusterman. A Prequel to Arc of the Scythe. 528 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, December 1, 2026. 9781665972086.

I posted a #tbt devoted to Scythe last week while waiting for the cover reveal of Rising Thunder. I can't wait to read this prequel even though I feel like we're living in a dystopia here in the U.S.

Here's the publisher synopsis: Discover Thunderhead’s origin—the fragile moment before the world changes forever and the hidden forces that set the storm in motion—in this long-awaited prequel to the New York Times bestselling and Printz Honor–winning Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman.

And of course, as every school child knows, December 2042 marks the end of the Age of Mortality.

What no one has ever fully understood is how the world reached that moment.

As death begins to seem optional, humanity looks for ways to bend the rules of existence. Twi-life centers begin storing the nearly-deceased, while eco-nihilists destroy civilization’s icons and threaten to end the human race entirely. Public opinion fractures. Systems strain. The world feels…unstable.

Behind the scenes, two powerful and diametrically opposed artificial intelligences set out to optimize, stabilize, and protect—each with its own idea of what that means. But in a world already tipping toward transformation, the consequences could be catastrophic.

Meanwhile, in an obscure online chatroom, a small group of teenagers from around the globe debate both the glorious and the terrifying prospects of the future, never realizing that they stand on a very literal cutting edge—and that their conversations, their choices, their very existence matter far more than they realize.

Because when humanity stands on the brink of immortality, someone must decide what survives…and what must be cut away.

Happy reading!

#tbt: Sycthe by Neal Shusterman

Image: Simon and Schuster

Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Arc of the Scythe #1. 464 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, November, 2016. 9781442472426.

#tbt features Scythe by Neal Shusterman. I was a fan of the author for a while, having read his Dark Fusion series, his Skin Jacker series and the Unwind Distology. He came to visit my last school before I left for a nearby middle school. His visit was quite memorable for several reasons, not the least being that his rental car didn't show and he had to scramble to find a new one. It made him late to us, but he was calm and unruffled. He really connected with the students, and I also loved the fact that he checked out the eighth grade LA teacher's classroom library!

I was blown away by Scythe, but hesitated to put it in the YA (grades 7 & 8) section, where the Unwind books were favorites. I opted for my 8th grade only shelf, where it too, soon became a favorite. 

It takes place in a future where death and disease are basically eradicated. One cannot even commit suicide. In order to control the population, an elite order of Scythes glean candidates. Is this a good thing? How does a Scythe choose candidates? How does one become a Scythe? Are Scythes immune from corruption?

I recently heard that a prequel, Rising Thunder, the first book of a planned series called First Blade. It's not due out until December and there is no cover yet. Still, I'm excited to revisit this incredibly realistic possible world.

Waiting on Wednesday: Wombat Waiting by Katherine Applegate

Image: HarperCollins Publishers 

Wombat Waiting by Katherine Applegate. 336 p. Storytide/ HarperCollins Publishers, May 5, 2026. 9780063221178.

I was very happy to stumble upon a FB post on Saturday by Katherine Applegate promoting her appearances for her newest book, and extra happy to see there's a stop near me!

Publisher synopsis: From the Newbery Award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The One and Only Ivan and Odder comes a stunning middle grade standalone novel-in-verse about compassion, resilience, and surprising friendships, following a dog named Wombat in the aftermath of a catastrophic fire.

Wombat isn’t actually a wombat—but when the homeless dog is discovered, singed and ash-covered after a terrible fire destroys a community, someone tags her with the nickname and it sticks.

Wombat is a “destiny dog.” Something inside of her (she nicknames it “Voice’) keeps telling her there’s a special someone out there who is meant to be her person.

Surrounded by a devastated town, Wombat takes up residence on bench near the makeshift community center, an old brick warehouse that, for the most part, survived the flames. A small part of the community center evacuation site has been repurposed for the local wildlife rehab sanctuary that burned down. All of the animals were spared, and the temporary quarters include an elderly fruit bat and a young Northern saw-whet owl.

No matter what, Wombat refuses to move from her perch, despite the efforts of many humans. Clearly the dog is waiting for someone. But for whom? And what are the odds they survived?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Drowning Game by Dusti Bowling

Image: Hachette Book Group

The Drowning Game by Dusti Bowling. 288 p. Union Square & Company/ Hachette Book Group, October 13, 2026. 9781454957089.

I saw a tweet the other day from Dusti Bowling announcing her YA debut. Her book, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, was our One Book, One School choice in the fall of 2023. The PTO paid for Ms. Bowling to visit the school at the culmination of our school-wide read in November. (Unfortunately for me, I was hospitalized about a week later and ended up on a medical leave for a long time.) Her presentation was fun and engaging.

 I have read and enjoyed most of her middle grade novels and really look forward to her YA debut.

The Drowning Game is due out on October 13, and here's the publisher synopsis: 

Award-winning author Dusti Bowling masterfully crafts a wild ride on Arizona’s Salt River in this thriller inspired by Hitchcock’sVertigo that’s perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus.

It’s the late 1990s, and seventeen-year-old Christian is content with his summer plans to work and hang out with his cat, when he gets a phone call from his best friend that will change his life forever. James invites Christian to Arizona for a whitewater rafting trip, even though he knows Christian is terrified of water. But James is persuasive, and Christian relents.

In Salt River Canyon, the heat is scorching, and so is James’s pretty girlfriend, Freya. However, something seems off between the couple as bitter words fly. When James and the others disappear in the second raft, Christian and Freya are left to face the rapids alone. Disaster strikes when Freya falls into the river, and Christian is frozen with fear.

One year later, Christian is still wracked with guilt over Freya’s death. Now, he’s a freshman at Arizona State University, and he thinks he sees Freya on campus. It can’t be her. Freya is dead, after all. They found her body. Didn’t they? Christian follows Madison, the girl who looks like Freya, everywhere. He was certain Freya had died that day, but now he’s certain Madison is Freya. Will he ever find out what’s real? Or will his obsession be his downfall?

There were a ton of Karen McManus fans at my school, so they should be stoked for this. Happy reading!

Middle Grade Monday: The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman

Image: Hachette Book Group

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman. Unabridged audiobook, ~6 hours. Read by Marisa Calin. Hachette Audio/ Little, Brown Young Readers, February, 2025. 9781668647448.

Clare, the undead fox of Deadwood Forest, is rather relieved to be undead. He's a silver-tailed fox who was run over as a kit and was convinced that his afterlife would be spent in the realm of Pain. Instead, he became an usher, one who welcomes the newly dead to Deadwood Forest and prepares them to enter one of four realms, Peace, Pleasure, Progress or Pain. Excepting for the yearly taunting by children each Halloween about how he's a monster who feasts on bones, his life is orderly and predictable. He enjoys helping souls move on and loves tending to his mushroom garden.

Things become a bit unsettled though, when a badger named Gingersnipes appears. Clare hates badgers, but this one doesn't seem so bad. She has way too many questions for Clare's liking, and he tries to show her the way quickly. Unfortunately, Gingersnipes knocks on Clare's door again, apparently unable to pass on. With great foreboding Clare attempts again, and again, and again. What does this mean?

This was an absolutely immersive audiobook! Ms. Calin's smooth narration and unique voices added dimension to this layered, lovely and magical story. The world building was deeply engaging. There was humor, suspense, sadness, heartbreak and hope. It's a story that can be read on many levels and should have broad appeal. 

As I listened, it occurred to me to check out the print book. Something told me it was illustrated. It was, and they were a lovely addition!