Middle Grade Monday: Shine on Luz Véliz by Rebecca Balcarcel

Image: Chronicle Books

Shine on Luz Véliz! by Rebecca Balcarcel. 276 p. Chronicle Books, March, 2022. 9781797209678. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Middle Grade Monday features Shine on Luz Véliz! by Rebecca Balcarcel. Luz is a sixth grader who is struggling now that she has been sidelined after an injury on the soccer field. She had always been a star and loved having her dad as a coach. Now that she can't play, maybe forever, she senses a coldness from him. She's also stuck in a soccer elective at school which makes missing soccer even worse. One morning, she passes a robotics class and is intrigued by the hum of activity. She learns that she can switch her morning elective, but has to take an intro class first before joining that class. The problem? It's held at the elementary school! Will Luz put her pride aside to pursue a new interest?

This fast-paced story features well-rounded characters and authentic tween dynamics. Luz is sympathetic and relatable as she navigates her post-soccer world and deals with the revelation of a family secret.

Shine On Luz Véliz is a terrific addition to any library. Happy reading and happy Hispanic Heritage Month!

Review: Franklin Endicott and the Third Key by Kate DiCamillo

Image: Candlewick Press

Franklin Endicott and the Third Key by Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. Tales from Deckawoo Drive series. 104 p. Candlewick Press, June 8, 2021. 9781536201819. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Franklin Endicott of Deckawoo Drive is a worrier, but not just a garden variety worrier. He keeps lists of his worries, then alphabetizes them. His list is long and, on top of that, he suffers from vivid nightmares. He finds some comfort visiting the Lincoln sisters. They have a wonderful set of encyclopedias that he is welcome to use anytime. 

One day, he accompanies Eugenia Lincoln to Odd Buddy Lamp's thrift store to get a key duplicated. Eugenia leaves Franklin in the store to wait while she finishes her errands. Franklin is quite disturbed by the menacing and eclectic items for sale. Items like a bug stuck forever in amber were unsettling enough, but the stuffed weasel and jar of eyeballs just sent Franklin right over the edge of anxiety, not to mention that Odd Buddy Lamp himself was just, odd! When Franklin discovers a third key in Miss Lincoln's envelop, she sends him back to the thrift store ALONE to find out why. 

I can't prove this, but I'd like to think I could spot something written by Kate DiCamillo were I handed a manuscript blind. She takes such care with her characters and often speaks to the heart of childhood wants and worries. Franklin is so endearing, made more so by Chris Van Dusen's illustrations.

I especially loved that Buddy gifts Franklin a book of short stories and was tickled that the book included the story, Eleven, a story that we read with our sixth graders this year. It really is quite amazing what Ms. DiCamillo manages to accomplish in just over one hundred pages. 

I've been out of the elementary scene for quite a while and so, lost track of Mercy Watson and her spin-offs. Franklin Endicott and the Third Key is volume six of the Tales from Deckwoo Drive series and I promised myself to read volumes one through five. Franklin Endicott and the Third Key releases next Tuesday, June 8. 

Middle Grade Monday: Into the Wind by William Loizeaux

Image: Red Chair Press

Middle Grade Monday features Into the Wind by William Loizeaux. 186 p. Red Chair Press, March 2, 2021. 9781947159426. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday wishes an early book birthday (tomorrow) to Into the Wind by William Loiseaux. I broke my no-star policy on Goodreads to give this gentle, heartwarming story of intergenerational friendship five. It was just lovely. Rusty is relatable as a tween with a couple of outsized problems - the possibility of repeating fifth grade thanks to failing math and the absence of his mother due to depression. She is in a residential hospital on the mainland trying to recover. It doesn't help that his bossy older sister is particularly obnoxious at home. 

He takes refuge in restoring a sailboat that a neighbor gave him and also in reading about sailing. He's startled one day by the request of an elderly, wheelchair-bound art garage owner. She asks him to take her sailing and then persists when he turns her down. She apologizes for making him uncomfortable and several days later, offers him a job helping her around her cramped and cluttered cottage. He can use the money for outfitting his sailboat and takes the job. 

It's mostly menial labor, but she insists that Rusty do his math homework and have lunch before tackling his chores. The two develop and easy routine and Rusty gets to know this feisty neighbor.

This is slow-paced, introspective and perfect for your readers who like sad but gentle books. Clocking in at 186 pages and containing warm, pencil illustrations, it will also appeal to readers who are still developing stamina. As a land-lubber, I found the sailing descriptions accessible and interesting. 

Between posting a version of this review to Goodreads on February 7 and publishing this post, I came across a thread on Twitter bemoaning the fate of quiet books as unmarketable. I didn't delve deeply into it, but hope that isn't true. Each year, I have a new crop of readers to get to know and in each grade. I have a fair number of thoughtful readers who definitely want quiet books and sometimes I have a challenge finding enough for them, for they tend to be students who love to read. 

I hope that Into the Wind finds its readers. It's a sweet little book with a great big heart and publishes tomorrow. I'm looking forward to book talking this with my students.