#tbt: Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur

Image: Penguin Random House

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur. 216 p. Wendy Lamb Books/ Random House Children's Books, 2011. (Own)

Happy Thursday! #tbt features Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur. On Monday, I mentioned this book when I recommended Seven Clues to Home. Elise's mother died when she was born and her father died three years later. She has been living with her aunt and uncle on their farm. The second floor of the barn has eight locked doors, which Elise never wondered about until keys started appearing after her twelfth birthday. Middle school has been tough for Elise. She's being bullied, her best friend, Franklin, has become embarrassing and she's falling behind academically. What will she discover behind those locked barn doors?

Eight Keys was Ms. LaFleur's second novel and was published in 2011. Her debut, Love, Aubrey was published in 2009 and is one of my favorite books to give to readers who want sad books.

PS: I linked the cover image to the audiobook on the PRH website. This is the cover of the book in my library. I don't love the paperback cover. It's fine, but something about the original cover speaks to me. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

Image: Penguin Random House

The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead. Unabridged -audiobook. ~ 297 minutes. Read by Rachel L. Jacobs. Listening Library, April, 2020. 9780593155370. (Review of e-audiobook downloaded from public library.)

Middle Grade Monday features The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead. This sweet, character-driven novel is told in the first person by twelve-year-old Bea. When her parents divorced, they presented her with a notebook filled with a list of things that will not change in Bea's life, then committed to remaining amicable as they co-parented Bea. Now Bea's dad is remarrying and she's thrilled because, not only does she love Jesse, she will finally have a sister! Jesse has a daughter who lives in California. 

Not all is smooth sailing though. Bea struggles with anxiety and has a bit of a temper. She's working through these issues with a supportive therapist. When she finally meets Jesse's daughter, she finds that Sonia is less-than-thrilled to share her father with Bea, especially since Bea gets to live with him. 

Conversational and engaging, this novel quietly entrances. Ms. Stead excels at creating thoughtful tween characters. New-to-me narrator Rachel L. Jacobs' performance was well-paced. She has a youthful voice and embodied Bea's quixotic personality beautifully. 

The List of Things That Will Not Change belongs in all library collections. Stead's many fans will clamor for it.

#tbt: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Image: Penguin Random House

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. 200 p. Wendy Lamb Books/ Random House Children's Books, July, 2009. 9780385737425. (Own.)

#tbt celebrates the tenth anniversary of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. This time travel novel is set in New York City in the late 1970s. It published in the summer of 2009 and won the 2010 Newbery Medal as well as hitting the NYT Bestseller list and many "Best Books" lists. She drew from memories of her own childhood growing up in New York City to write this novel. Stead was also influenced by her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. The story follows Miranda through her sixth grade year and explores themes of independence and friendship.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon. Unabridged downloadable e-audiobook, ~5 hours. Read by Sullivan Jones. Listening Library, August, 2018. 9780525643524. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library. Own hc edition.) 

Have you ever met a new friend who is fun and exciting and a bit older? Middle Grade Monday features The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon. Ten-year-old Caleb and eleven-year-old Bobby Gene are looking forward to summer but live in the most boring town ever with the most over-protective father ever. Bobby Gene is fine with this; but Caleb wants adventure and finds it when sixteen-year-old foster child Styx Malone moves in nearby. He oozes cool and seems to like Caleb. He likes Caleb so much he's even willing to let the boys in a what he calls "The Great Escalator Trade." What could go wrong?

Magoon is such a versatile author. From gritty realism to reimagined Robin Hood, she excels at developing characters we find interesting and come to care about. Readers will relate to the brothers' dilemmas after hooting about the fact that they traded their baby sister for a sack of fire works. This is a story that invites you in to sit awhile. Before you know it, you never want to leave. And can't, because first you just want to find out what hijinks is going to happen next. Then, once the real action starts, there's no way to close the book until you've read till the end.

Hilarious and heartbreaking, you won't soon forget Caleb, Bobby Gene and Styx. New to me narrator, Sullivan Jones nails the performance with unique voices and perfect pacing. Read with your eyes. Read with your ears. Make time to read The Season of Styx Malone.

Friday Memes: Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko. 225 p. Wendy Lamb Books/ Random House Children's Books, May 8, 2018. 9781101938133. 

Publisher synopsis: Return to Al Capone's Alcatraz with Newbery Honor-winning author Gennifer Choldenko in this charming addition to the beloved series about the son of a prison guard.

Moose Flanagan lives on a famous island in California: Alcatraz, home to some of the most dangerous prisoners in the United States in the 1930s. It's the summer before he starts high school, and Moose is going to play a lot of baseball and win a spot on the high school team. But he still needs to watch his special older sister, Natalie—and then the warden asks Moose to look after his two-faced, danger-loving daughter, Piper. 

In the cell house there are rumors that the cons will a strike, and that Moose's father might step up to a new job. Moose is worried: What will this mean for their family, especially for Natalie, who's had some scary run-ins with prisoners? Then the unthinkable happens: Natalie winds up someplace she should never, ever go. And Moose has to rescue her.

First Line: 1. Potty-Training a Snake

Tuesday, May 26, 1936

Even when you live on a prison island with crafty criminals plotting ways to knock you off, summer is the best time of year.

Page 56: 7. The Rule of Silence

Wednesday, May 27, 1936

I can smell the cake before I even open the door. Mom is in the living room, thumbing through the Sears catalog. When she looks up, she smiles at me. But then she sees Natalie. The catalog slips out of her hand and thuds to the rug. She gags.

      "Bea gave her a different hairstyle and a new birthday dress. Nat's really excited about it." I'm talking twice as fast as normal. I can't look my mom in the eye.

I am so-o excited by this surprise new entry in the Tales of Alcatraz series!