Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly

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The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly. Unabridged audiobook download. ~ 5 hours. Read by Ramón de Ocampo. HarperAudio/ HarperCollins, March, 2024. 9780063337343. Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.

Middle Grade Monday features The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly. This time travel story alternates between the year 2199 and 1999. Ridge, the genius son of a scientist perfecting a time travel device in 2199, decides to test it out without authorization, to visit his favorite year in history, 1999. The 2199 parts are transcripts of conversations between Ridge's mother and his siblings as they frantically try to return him to there time and worry about the repercussions of Ridge's actions in the past. 

Most of the book takes place in 1999. Ridge ends up in the Fox Run apartments and catches the eye of twelve-year-old Michael Rosario. Michael is bi-racial (Filipino/ white) and lives with his single mother in the apartment complex. He has a crush on his babysitter, Gibby. He's also anxious and obsessed with the doomsday scenarios around the turning of the century, and has been stealing supplies. When he finds out the Ridge is from the future, and also has a book that maps the next twenty years, Michael is torn between helping Ridge to return to his time and finding out what happens. 

Time travel stories are not my favorite. This one was engaging and featured interesting, fleshed-out characters. It also fleshed out some provocative themes. Ramón de Ocampo's narration moves seamlessly between times and characters. 

The First State of Being won the 2025 Newbery Medal and was a National Book Award finalist last fall. It will appeal to fans of the author as well as fans of time travel books. Happy reading! 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review : The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

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The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~3 hours. Read by Imani Parks. HarperAudio, May, 2023. (E-audio book borrowed from public library. HC purchased.)

Happy Monday TMS Readers! Middle Grade Monday features The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate. And now, it's Ruby's turn to tell her story. Fans of The One and Only Ivan and The One and Only Bob will be thrilled to hear Ruby's story. While she is now safe in a sanctuary with room to roam, a herd of doting elephant "aunties," and Ivan in the enclosure next door, Ruby is unsettled about her upcoming tuskday, a ritual her aunties insist is necessary. After Ruby is visited by an important person from her past, memories of her life in Africa come flooding back. Ruby's narration, told in blank verse, with grey toned illustrations make for a satisfying sequel.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt

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Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hrs., 43 min. Read by Leah Horowitz. Recorded Books, 2021. 

Happy Monday! We had quite the wet and wild weekend here in northern NJ! I hope you're all dry and cozy. Middle Grade Monday features Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt. Meryl Lee Kowalski reluctantly heads to Maine from Long Island with her parents for "a new start." She will be attending St. Elene's Preparatory School for Girls in Harpswell, Maine. Dr. Nora Macknockater promises Meryl Lee's parents that she will help Meryl Lee become "accomplished." All Meryl Lee wants to do is keep the "blank" at bay. Ever since the death of her best friend Holling Hoodhood, Meryl Lee is awash in grief, in the blank.

The year is 1968 and it's a turbulent time for the country. The Vietnam War is very unpopular. Young women are questioning sex roles. Teachers at St. Elene's demand academic rigor, but some balk at questions that challenge the status quo. Meryl Lee's rich roommate hates her, her English teacher has it in for her, and she's roped into joining field hockey, where she finally meets two girls with friendship possibiliy. She doesn't understand the rule that she can't befriend the girls who serve the school and upsets decorum one evening when she dares to pour her own water.

In a parallel plot, thirteen-year-old Matt Coffin is on the run from a notorious gang boss. Dr. Macknockater finds him holed up in an abandoned shed and shelters him in her home. This strand of the story adds a menacing touch.

Fans of The Wednesday Wars and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy will be delighted by the Easter Eggs, but the story stands on its own quite nicely. As with any book by Mr. Schmidt, laughter can be quickly followed by tears and vice versa.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

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The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt. Unabridged audiobook, ~8 hours. Read by Fred Berman. Clarion Books, May, 2023. 

Happy Juneteenth and happy first Monday of summer break. Middle Grade Monday features The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt. Hercules Beal lives on Cape Cod with his much older brother, Achilles. Achilles returned home from Washington, D.C. to run the family nursery and to care for Herc when their parents were killed in a car crash a year earlier. Herc has to start seventh grade in a new school thanks to bussing redistricting and he's not too happy about that. He's especially leery of his language arts teacher, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer has assigned a long-term project based on world mythology and Hercules' project is to recreate the twelve labors of his namesake and write a reflection for each.

This first-person narrative grabbed me from the start. Hercules is such an endearing character. He hikes up the dune each morning to watch the sun rise and to say hello to his parents; is convinced that Achilles' girlfriend, Viola is a vampire, and is maybe, just maybe developing a crush on his best friend. This hero's journey is filled with wonderful supporting characters. It is often laugh-out-loud funny, but there will be tears as well. Herc's reflections and Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer's scathing responses are especially funny.

Gary D. Schmidt is a favorite of mine, but I can rarely get students to try his books. He's definitely a reader's writer. His books beg to be taught for they have depth and his writing is lyrical and lovely. ELA teachers can have a field day teaching literary devices. He is prone to using repetition and he seems to poke fun at himself through Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer's criticism of Hercules' reflections.

New-to-me narrator Fred Berman doesn't sound particularly youthful, but his soft, thoughtful delivery reflected Hercules perfectly. I think this might have been a book I should've read with my eyes because Herc's reflections seemed to have crossouts and such that probably added visual humor. Still Mr. Berman did a nice job with those areas as well.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

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The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~10 hrs., 28 min. Read by Jason Geneo, Anthony Keyvan and Kyla Garcia. Quill Tree Books/ HarperAudio/ HarperCollins Publishers, October, 2022. 9780063240834. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Happy penultimate Tuesday of my school year! Teen Tuesday features The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera. I love Mr. Silvera's books, but rarely book talk them generally at my middle school because they are better suited for a high school audience. I particularly enjoyed his 2017, They Both Die at the End. Over the years, a fair number of eighth grade readers discovered it, which made me happy. The First to Die at the End is a prequel to They Both Die at the End and it's brilliant.

Death-Cast is about to launch and the world is divided over the "service" it will provide. The founder has discovered a way to predict the day someone will die and subscribers receive a call around midnight so that "deckers," as they have been named, can live their best life for their remaining hours. Two boys meet at a launch party in Times Square. Orion has a heart ailment and is waiting for a transplant. Valentino has just moved to New York to pursue a modelling career. He recently came out to his parents and they are not accepting. His twin sister, Scarlet is due to arrive the following day. Sparks fly between Orion and Valentino in the moments leading up to midnight when the first calls will be placed. Wouldn't you know it, one of them receives the very first call, which was placed by the founder himself.

This heartbreaking novel, while mainly centered on the first-person narration of the boys, occasionally shifts to third-person points-of-view of supporting characters and takes place in twenty-four hours. While it is not necessary to read first, fans of They Both Die at the End will be tickled to discover Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the prequel. The plot is fast-paced and absolutely riveting and the budding romance is just so sweet. Just when I thought I had figured out how the plot would play out, there was a twist that called into questions all of my assumptions.

It's a good thing I read this one with my ears. Reading through tears would've been difficult. The narrators were all new to me and each did a terrific job with pacing and voices. 

This book belongs in all libraries serving teens. Highly recommended. Happy reading. Happy Pride month.

Teen Tuesday: A Thousand Steps into the Night by Traci Chee

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Happy Tuesday!  Teen Tuesday features A Thousand Steps into the Night by Traci Chee. Seventeen-year-old Otori Miuko is doomed. She was born, plain and clumsy, into the serving class, bound by restrictive gender and class roles. Still, her father took care of her, even after her mother deserted the family. Then, Miuko is cursed by a demon and she's driven from her village. She has two weeks to undo the curse before she's changed into her demon form forever. She rescues a magpie from some foxes and discovers that it is the shape-shifting trickster, Geiki, who is now in her debt for saving his life. The two set out across Awara and they encounter evil humans and gods as well as unexpected allies.

This fast-paced adventure is filled with gods from Japanese mythology, memorable characters and vivid world building. Atmospheric, suspenseful and filled with moments of humor, this dark fantasy will appeal to fans of Studio Ghibli. 

The narration was well-paced, with the narrator sounding suitably youthful. 

Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

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This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi. This Woven Kingdom #1. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~13 hours. Read by Kate Reading. HarperAudio/ HarperCollins, February, 2022. 9780063220225. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi. 
Alizeh is a servant in a wealthy house in the kingdom of Ardunia. She wears a garment called a snodder to hide her features because she is a jinn. Even though the wars between the jinn and humankind are over, jinn are not safe to roam about in society and Alizeh is at risk even more because she has ice in her veins, which makes her very powerful. She's also a talented seamstress and tries to earn extra money sewing gowns for clients at night. There is a huge ball for the crown prince coming and a client is interested in having her sew several. Traveling through the streets late at night is dangerous for an unaccompanied woman though, and she's attacked by a young boy, but a shadowy figure intervenes and Alizeh flees into the night, dropping her parcels. That figure is Prince Kamran, who is more interested in leading his army than attending the ball that is being thrown in his honor, but his grandfather insists that he choose a bride.

Ms Mafi is a gifted writer and this epic high fantasy series starter based on an ancient Persian poem and Islamic tradition is riveting from page one. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for book two, These Infinite Threads, which, luckily, is out. Highly recommended!

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira

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Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~10 hours. Read by Monica Gomez-Hira. HarperTeen/ HarperAudio, March, 2021. 9780063061415. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira. The only thing standing between Carmen Aguilar and her high school diploma is an internship. She didn't complete it during senior year due to the harassment she suffered from her project supervisor. The only internship she could find on such short notice was as a party princess. The last thing she wants to do is dress up as Belle and sing "Beauty and the Beast" for a bunch of five-year-olds, but that's what she needs to do. Her situation goes from bad to worse when she learns that her "Beast" partner is none other than Mauro, an ex who also had something to do with her estrangement from her cousin and the cancelling of her own quinceañera three years earlier.

Carmen is a wisecracking firecracker who doesn't suffer fools gladly. Yet, there is still chemistry between her and Mauro. The family dynamics are dramatic and sometimes hilarious. There is definitely a soap opera feel to all the angst. There's also foul language, underage drinking and other risky behavior in the story. Mature eighth grade readers who enjoy romance and know or want to learn about quinceañeras will be entertained. 

The lively narration kept things interesting.

Teen Tuesday: Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston

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Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~8 hours. Balzer + Bray/ HarperAudio, October, 2020. 9780063025899. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! I hope you dress for the weather today because it's finally winter cold! It was a brisk 19 degrees at a little after 5 this morning when I took the hounds out for a walk. It was in the 50s over the weekend! Crazy.

Teen Tuesday features Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston. Cerys lives in the kingdom of Aloriya under the protection of a king who wears a golden crown that was gifted to his forefather hundreds of years earlier by the Lady of the Wilds. Her father is the royal gardener, a job she is content to inherit. Her talent for it is helped along by a bit of secret magic she possesses in her blood. If she adds her blood to plants, they grow and thrive instantly. Her best friend, Princess Anwen, is about to be coronated, but just as the magical crown is placed on her head, she is transformed into a vile creature as the woodcursed leave the dark forest to attack the kingdom. Cerys grabs the crown and dashes into the dark forest accompanied by a strange young man who may or may not have been the fox that she rescued from a trap. The two set out through the dark woods in search of the mythical city of Voryn hoping that they will help to break the curse.

This fantasy has the dark, grim feel of an old fairy tale. The forest is positively creepy and filled with danger. Cerys feels ill-equiped to be the hero and Fox is disgruntled in his clumsy, vulnerable human form and just wants to turn back into a fox. Luckily for them, the two team up with Bear, who has the strength and smarts to guide them.

The POV (point-of-view) shifts between Cerys and Fox. There's a good deal of humor to lighten the suspense and there's plenty of gore and evil creatures to create the gore. The story stands alone, but there's enough left unresolved for a sequel or companion novel.

Teens who love fantasy or fairy tales will eat this up and ask for more. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

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Sea Witch by Sarah Henning. Unabridged e-audiobook, 550 minutes. Read by Billie Fulford-Brown. Katherine Tegan Books/ HarperAudio/ HarperCollins Publishers, July, 2018. 978

Teen Tuesday features Sea Witch by Sarah Henning. While I love a good fairy tale retelling, I especially love a good villain origin story. The very first one I remember is The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli, which explores the origin of the witch in Hansel and Gretel. More recently, I was captivated by Heartless by Marissa Meyer, which tells the story of the Queen of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I cannot wait to read Gilded by Ms. Meyer as well.

Evie lives in Havnestad, a kingdom by the sea in Denmark with her fisherman father and elderly aunt. Magic and witchcraft are forbidden. Evie's aunt is a healer, rumored to be a witch, but left alone because she once saved the king's life. Evie is best friends with the king's son, Prince Nik and Anna. Evie has been an outcast ever since Anna's death by drowning three or four years earlier. Nik managed to save Evie but not Anna and Evie feels tremendous guilt over that. The townspeople whisper about the unseemly friendship between Nik and Evie, especially as Nik is about to come of age. Nik doesn't care and invites Evie to attend his birthday party on his father's new ship. Evie sees a face looking in a port hole that looks like Anna, but it's gone before Evie can take a closer look. A sudden storm blows in and Nik is swept overboard. Evie and Nik's cousin, Iker search frantically for Nik and Evie finds him washed ashore and alive, but not alone. It seems a girl has saved Evie's best friend, but then she disappears into the ocean.

The pace is quite leisurely in the beginning, which might deter readers who like action earlier. Evie is a conflicted narrator prone to dismissing herself as just a poor fisherman's daughter so much so that it became annoying. Still, the dynamics between Evie and the two princely cousins was cute and the mystery of Annamette was intriguing. Once all the pieces begin to click into place, the pace quickens to dizzying and the reader is left breathless at its conclusion.

The new-to-me narrator had a wide array of voices and was well-suited to the material. I'm interested in reading the companion, Rise of the Sea Witch soon. 

Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: Kneel by Candace Buford

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Kneel by Candace Buford. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~8.3 hours. Read by Preston Butler III. HarperAudio/ Inkyard/ HarperCollins Publishers, September, 2021. 9781488211805. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy rainy Tuesday! There has been a flash flood warning in my area since last night and it has been raining steadily. Hopefully, the winds will stay calm and my hundred year old American Beech tree will remain standing.

Teen Tuesday features Kneel by Candace Buford. Rus Boudreaux and his best friend, Marion LaSalle are co-captains of their football team entering their senior year with high hopes for a winning season, another chance at the state championship and a football scholarship to a D-1 college. A scholarship is their only way out of their racially segregated parish in Louisiana. At the start of their second game of the season, against the team's rival, one of the white co-captains hurls a racial slur after the coin toss and the other sucker punches Marion. The refs turn a blind eye to the slur and don't defend Marion as he is hauled off the field in handcuffs and eventually beaten by police for "resisting arrest." Rus knows that Marion's chances for a scholarship are nonexistent if he can't play football, so he takes a knee during the national anthem at the next game, earning himself the ire of his coach, his teammates, his parents and the press as the media choose to portray him and Marion as thugs.

Rus' first-person narrative is compelling from the start as this thoughtful athlete tries to play by rules that seem to change at the whim of the privileged. Kneel is the author's debut and it's an impressive one peopled with complex characters dealing with real issues of poverty, racism and broken dreams.

New-to-me narrator Preston Butler III turned in a well-paced, emotionally resonant performance as Rus. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audio Review: Unplugged by Gordon Korman

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Unplugged by Gordon Korman. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~6.5 hours. Read by a cast of six. HarperAudio/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2021. 9780063058095. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was fantastic. Mine was quite nice. The week promises to be rainy, so I'm glad I had a lot of outdoors time. Middle Grade Monday features Unplugged by Gordon Korman. Jett Baranov is an unabashed bad boy. His dad is founder and CEO of a huge tech company and has the money to bail Jett out of whatever trouble he gets into, so Jett kept upping the ante until his dad put his foot down. The family's private jet dumps Jett and his bodyguard/ babysitter in rural Arkansas to spend the summer at a place called the Oasis. It's in the middle of nowhere, the menu is totally vegetarian, the activities include meditation and, worst of all, Jett has to turn over all electronics. Jett sets about doing what Jett does best.

Mr. Korman has lots of fans at my school and deservedly so. His books are often quite funny and fast-paced. This one's pretty outlandish, but tons of fun.

The multiple narrators set a brisk pace and each was well-suited to their character. 

Teen Tuesday Audiobook Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

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Happy Tuesday! Well, the Hunter's Moon sure put on a show last night as it waxes toward full tomorrow. I hope the weather cooperates and we can continue to bask in its light. And, I could see Orion nearly halfway up at 5 AM. I've been watching him make his way across the pre-sunrise sky since September. I will never forgot the morning I looked out from my deck at the beach at 3AM one August. I saw Orion appear to rise from the ocean.

Well, TMS Readers, I did it. An eighth grader has been telling me that I needed to read The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani for years! She might be a little obsessed with this series and its author. The hype is real!

Teen Tuesday features The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. This fantasy fairy tale series starter was published in 2013 and was the author's debut. Its 14+ hours fly by as listeners are transported into Agatha and Sophie's adventures. Every four years in their village, two children, age 12 or older are kidnapped, never to be seen again, presumably transported to the School for Good and Evil. While most of the villager dread this arrival, Sophie believes herself to be a princess and hopes for it. She goes about her day doing good, especially seeking out homely Agatha, who lives in a cemetery. Agatha just wants to be left alone. A surprise happens on the day of the kidnapping and both girls end up in unexpected circumstances.
The world-building is quite vivid and the many characters add charm, humor or menace as Sophie and Agatha try to find where they truly belong. Not surprisingly, this cinematic epic has been adapted for film and is be released on Netflix soon.

Thanks to my student for the recommendation! I'm hooked.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Root Magic by Eden Royce

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Root Magic by Eden Royce. Unabridged downloadable audiobook. ~594 minutes. Read by Imani Parks. Walden Pond Press/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2021. 9780063064416. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.) 

Middle Grade Monday features Root Magic by Eden Royce. Jezabel Turner lives with her twin brother, Jay, their mother and extended family in South Carolina in 1963. They are burying Jez's beloved grandmother at the opening of this leisurely, lyrical debut novel. Gran was a respected root worker, one whom many members of the community came to for help, but who also garnered suspicion and fear. Jez's uncle, Doc carried the Gullah Geechee tradition of root work and wants to teach it to the twins. Their mother is hesitant, but changes her mind after a racist deputy unlawfully searches their property and threatens violence.

The real dangers of the Jim Crow south and the potential danger of a malevolent presence in the marsh quietly ratchet up the tension as Jez and Jay learn the ways of root. Jez is a thoughtful and charming narrator. Other characters, such as Jay, Doc and her mother brim with energy and life.

Imani Parks' performance matched the measured pace of the narrative well. I enjoyed reading this with my ears. Readers who enjoy intricately crafted suspense will love Root Magic.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

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Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard. Unabridged e-audiobook. 16.5 hours. Read by Natalie Naudus. HarperAudio/ HarperTeen/ HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2021. 9780063087668.

Teen Tuesday features Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard. This is the beginning of a wholly new fantasy series by the author of The Red Queen series.

The realm of Allward is protected from evil and "He who waits" by spindles, which are in turn, protected by humans descended from the Cor bloodline. They are the only ones who can wield a spindleblade. Taristan, bitter at being denied his heritage, has been opening spindles with the help of a wizard. Twelve Companions of the Realm, including Cortael, Taristan's twin meet in a bloody battle in the opening pages of this sweeping fantasy. When Taristan viciously murders his twin, Andry, a squire manages to spirit Cortael's spindleblade away from the battlefield and escapes the massacre. 

Meanwhile, Corayne an-Amarat, daughter of a fierce and feared pirate, wishes for adventures on the sea of her own. She's bitterly disappointed when her mother leaves her behind. It seems that she is the last of the Cor bloodline and learns who her father was from an immortal elder named Dom, who is determined to recover Cortael's spindleblade and train Corayne to closed the spindles her uncle is opening. 

Dom's band of realm defenders is small and ragtag, comprised of a dangerous assassin, Landry, the haunted squire, Corayne, and eventually a sorceress, a forger with a price on his head and a bounty hunter with a grudge.

The world building was a bit vague and multiple points of view occasionally cause confusion. The plot was frequently interrupted by flashbacks that sometimes distracted. Still, the cast of characters were intriguing as were the political machinations. There's banter and occasional humor amidst the suspense of the action with close calls and impossible escapes. 

Sign me up for book two! New-to-me narrator, Natalie Naudus turned in a well-paced performance with voices that were unique. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Unsettled by Reem Faruqi

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Unsettled by Reem Faruqi. Unabridged e-Audiobook, ~2.5 hours. HarperAudio/ HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2021. 9780063044739. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Monday! I am roughly halfway through summer break and it seems to be a good time to stop and reflect. Am I having fun? Am I getting exercise? Am I getting outdoors in between all the rain we've been having? Am I reading? This has been an eventful summer for me filled with a fair amount of stress, but I am trying to get some exercise and get out of doors each day. I've been averaging seven miles a day of walking and I walk briskly enough to get my heart rate up. 

The stress has definitely impacted my reading. I'm finding it difficult to maintain concentration and even though I've read roughly a book a day this summer, I went into the break 28 books behind my GR goal and was hoping to catch up. That won't happen and that is okay.

Middle Grade Monday features Unsettled by Reem Faruqi. This blank verse novel is loosely based on the author's childhood. Nurah has a perfect life in Karachi, Pakistan. She has a best friend, lives with her beloved grandmother and gets to swim in the ocean with her brother often. One perfect day at the beach turns into Nurah's worst day when her father announced plans to move to Peachtree City, Georgia for a new job. Suddenly, Nurah's life is unsettled as she realizes that everything about her from her accented English through her clothing and brown skin makes her stick out when all she wants to do is blend in. Joining the swim team helps, but she becomes jealous of her brother's ability and seeming ease at fitting in.

This moving novel is told in verse in nine sections. Issues of racism, Islamophobia, racial profiling and friendship are explored. Back matter includes a glossary of Arabic and Urdu terms that are woven into the text, an author's note and a recipe.

The audio was well-paced. The narrator's voice sounded youthful and I appreciated her fluency with Arabic. When I read foreign language words with my eyes, I tend to butcher the pronunciation or skim right by. I know I should stop and look the words up, but I often sacrifice that in favor of staying in the flow of the book. 

Unsettled should appeal to a wide range of middle grade readers. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

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Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~7 hours. Read by Chad Burros. HarperAudio/ Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2021. 9780063088762. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Well, we made it! Happy last day of school! This has been quite the school year and I'm happy that it's over. Personally, I have a challenging summer ahead. I'm glad that I no longer have to juggle school along with the sudden changes that have befallen my family. I can devote all my attention and energy to it over the summer. 

Teen Tuesday features Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. This is the concluding volume to the trilogy that began with Dumplin' and continued with Puddin'. Clover City, Texas is too small to contain high school senior Waylon "Pumpkin" Brewer. He's tall, redheaded, fat and flamboyant. He has been out for a while, but that doesn't mean his life is easy. He can't wait until graduation and the time when he and his twin sister and best friend, Clementine, will move to Austen to attend community college. Then, he's convinced that he can be his true self. He has even planned his wardrobe.

On one fateful night, Waylon is dumped by his closeted hook-up and he discovers that Clementine not only applied to, but was accepted to the University of Georgia. Heartbroken, Waylon dons a wig, puts makeup on and videotapes himself singing as "Pumpkin (his grammy's nickname for him)," thinking he might audition for his favorite show, Fiercest of Them All. After the video is accidentally leaked, Waylon finds himself nominated for Prom Queen and Clem's girlfriend Hannah is nominated for Prom King. Instead of being humiliated, Hannah encourages Waylon to go through with it with her.

Waylon's voice in this first-person narrative is at turns hilarious and heartbreaking, but always utterly honest and charming. Characters from the earlier novels make appearances and become involved in Waylon's journey in large and small ways. Even though this novel can stand alone, reading all three will be a treat. New-to-me narrator, Chad Burros, turned in a delightful performance, imbuing Waylon with energy, determination and longing. I just loved this. 

Middle Grade Monday: Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

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Happy Monday TMS Readers! I hope you had a wonderful Summer Solstice and celebrated the dads in your life yesterday. Middle Grade Monday features Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca. Reha narrates her story in this poignant verse novel set in 1983 about growing up part of two worlds. At school, Reha is the only Indian American; while she has a best friend, she feels isolated. On the weekends, she's immersed in her Indian community, celebrating the culture and hanging with Sunita, her other best friend. She chafes at the constraints her overprotective parents place on her and argues with them to be able to attend a school dance. On the night of the dance, her mother falls ill and then Reha's world is split in two yet again-this time between home and hospital as she and her dad try to cope with her mother's illness.

If you like verse novels, #ownvoices novels and/ or sad stories, Red, White and Whole is the book for you. I read this one with my ears and enjoyed the narration. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

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Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. Read by Imani Parks. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hours. HarperAudio/ Balzer+Bray/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2021. 9780063057968.

Middle Grade Monday features Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. This fantasy series starter is the author's debut and getting a lot of well-deserved Newbery buzz.

Thirteen-year-old Amari Peters has had it. She's a scholarship student at a fancy prep school and hates it. She's not as smart as her perfect older brother, Quinton, and is bullied relentlessly for being a scholarship student as well as the fact that her brother is missing-implying he was into drugs. Amari and her single-mom don't believe that for a second, but even the police have stopped investigating his disappearance. Now, she's facing expulsion for fighting and grounded as well. Then, she receives a mysterious package containing a message from her brother.

She learns that he was working for the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation and was one of their top agents. He and his partner were working on a case and disappeared. The message was to be delivered to Amari should something happen to him, but Amari refuses to believe that he's dead. He has recommended her to attend summer camp at the bureau. She wants to attend so that she can investigate Quinton's disappearance herself. Once there, she discovers that she has a magical power-only it's illegal.

Normal-kid-who-discovers-they-are-magical is a trope that has been done before, but this one feels fresh. It's fast-paced, suspenseful, twisty and narrated by gritty, gutsy Amari, whom readers will instantly root for. The world-building is excellent. The diverse cast of characters are all intriguing and the mystery is excellently constructed, with plenty of suspects and red herrings. I can't wait for the next installment of the Supernatural Investigations series.

I will be reading that book with my eyes however. I found the narration uneven, with odd pauses that distracted from the enjoyment of the story. 

Teen Tuesday: Burn by Patrick Ness

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Burn by Patrick Ness. Unabridged audiobook. ~10 hours. Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt.Quill Tree Books, June 2020. (Review of downloadable e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features Burn by Patrick Ness. Mr. Ness, ever the experimenter, blends dragons from fantasy with parallel universes from sci-fi with Cold War history and a dash of noir in a 1957 rural Washinton State setting. Sarah Dewhurst has enough to deal with being bi-racial in a small town and keeping her budding romance with the only Japanese American boy in town a secret. Her father's farm is failing, especially since her mother's death. He has hired a dragon, a Russian dragon, named Kazimir to help. Dragons and humans exist under an uneasy truce, but a Russian dragon! Kazimir may be working for gold, but he's also there due to a prophecy. In a parallel story, Malcolm, a teen acolyte in a cult called the Believers, sets out to make his way across the country to a small farm in Washington State. He's being pursued by two shadowy FBI agents. Malcolm does not want to, but he will kill anyone who interferes with him reaching his target - Sarah Dewhurst.

The complex plot takes a bit of time to come together. Stick with it. Because when it does, your mind will be blown!