Middle Grade Monday: Sunny Figures It Out by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Image: Scholastic

Sunny Figures It Out by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. Sunny #6. 224 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc. July, 2025. 9781338792478. Review of finished purchased copy.

Middle Grade Monday features Sunny Figures It Out by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. This sixth installment in the Sunny series does not disappoint. Sunny is enjoying her friendship with Tony, but is pressured to take it to the next level by her boy-crazy friend, and it just doesn't feel right. Meanwhile, her mom is about to re-enter the work force. 

I love this series and the fact that all the 70's stuff, like rotary phones is explained. The peer pressure to conform has not changed at all though, making this gn memoir relatable to contemporary readers. Keep them coming!

Middle Grade Monday: Absolutely Nat by Maria Scrivan

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Absolutely Nat by Maria Scrivan. Nat Enough series #3. 240 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc., September, 2021. 9781338715392. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Happy last day of school! The final Middle Grade Monday post of the 21-22 school year features Absolutely Nat by Maria Scrivan. Book #3 of the "Nat Enough" graphic novel series does not disappoint. It doesn't take long for Natalie to find out that summer camp is not going to live up to the brochures. Instead of bunking with her besties, she's stuck bunking with her former bestie and the tiresome Millie Flatbottom. What's worse, is she's being pushed out of her comfort zone, like having to swim to the dock in the lake. While not the first graphic novel to portray the trials and tribulations of summer camp, Nat continues to endear. More please!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Brightest Night by Tui Sutherland

Image: Scholastic Inc.

The Brightest Night by Tui Sutherland. Wings of Fire: the Graphic Novel #5. 224 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc., December 27, 2021. 9781338730852.

Happy Wednesday! I try to keep up with upcoming releases, but sometimes I need a little help from students. Thanks to K., a sixth grader for alerting me to our Wednesday title. Waiting on Wednesday features The Brightest Night by Tui Sutherland. This is book 5 of the Wings of Fire Graphic Novel series and it's due out on December 27!

Here's the publisher synopsis: Sunny has always taken the Dragonet Prophecy very seriously. If Pyrrhia’s dragons need her, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight to end the war, she’s ready to try. She even has some good ideas how to do it, if anyone would listen to her.

But shattering news from Morrowseer has shaken Sunny’s faith in their destiny. Is it possible for anyone to end this terrible war and choose a new SandWing queen? What if everything they’ve been through was for nothing?

Buried secrets, deadly surprises, and an unexpected side to scavengers are all waiting for her in the shifting sands of the desert, where Sunny must decide once and for all: Is her destiny already written?

Or can five dragonets change their fate and save the world . . . the way they choose?

This series is enormously popular at my school.

Fact Friday: Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. 448 p. First: Second/ Macmillan Publishers, March, 2020. 9781626720794. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Fact Friday features Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. Again, astute observers will recall that I featured Mr. Yang in a Friday Focus post and book talked the book there along with some of his other books. Dragon Hoops is part-autobiography and part-history of basketball and totally fantastic. Mr. Yang taught for seventeen years at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Northern California. Gene Luen Yang, a self-professed nerd had no interest in basketball, rarely set foot in the athletics building on campus and rarely crossed paths with Lou Richie, the storied coach of Dragon basketball. He himself is an O'Dowd alum and went to state with his much beloved coach and mentor. But as much as the Dragons dominated California basketball, the team never clinched a title. Gene Yang was looking for a story idea for his next graphic novel when he heard a rumor that the 2014 team had a great chance at going all the way. He began shadowing Richie and his team and grew to appreciate the game, its history and the players. 

Dragon Hoops is hefty, weighing in at over 400 pages. They do fly by thanks to great storytelling and superb art. If you are a fan of basketball, check this book out.