Middle Grade Monday: Duel by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley.

Image: Simon & Schuster

Duel by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley. 320 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, November, 2023. 9781534496545. (Review of finished, purchased copy.) 

Happy Monday! It is the final Monday of the 2023- 2024 school year and we have a heat wave this week in the northeast. Middle Grade Monday features Duel by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley. 

Siblings fight, but sisters, Gigi and Lucy's bickering is next-level and about to get worse. Gigi is a popular eighth grader. She's also a good student and star fencer. In fact, she will probably be named captain this year. Lucy is entering sixth grade and terrified of not fitting in and being as good as her sister. When Gigi humiliates Lucy in the cafeteria on the very first day of school in front of the entire school, she grabs Gigi's foil from her fencing bag and challenges her to a duel. Both girls end up in the principal's office and their over-worked, stressed out mother manages to talk the principal out of suspending them, but she's done. Now that the gauntlet has been thrown on multiple levels, Gigi and Lucy are committed to their duel and the entire school is taking sides and bets.

This sibling rivalry story is unique. Each chapter opens with a page from a fencing guidebook, the significance of which, I will not spoil. The full-color art is expressive, with flashback action presented in blue tones for contrast. This graphic novel will have wide appeal. I loved it. Stay cool and happy reading!

Middle Grade Monday: Twins by Varian Johnson

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Twins by Varian Johnson. Illustrated by Shannon Wright. Twins #1. 252 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc., October, 2020. 9781338236132. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

It's a rainy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic weekend! I got to rake my leaves and finish a few books. Middle Grade Monday features a graphic novel called Twins by Varian Johnson and illustrated by Shannon Wright. This is Mr. Johnson's first graphic novel. You may have read some of his other middle grade fiction like, The Great Greene Heist or The Parker Inheritance. Come to think of it, he has also written a few YA titles, which are old enough to feature on #tbt so stay tuned.

Twins, Francine and Maureen do everything together. They share a room and have shared a classroom all through elementary school. Now that they are entering middle school, Francine is pulling away. Maureen expects things to go on as usual and is hurt, first when she discovers that they don't have the same schedules, then when she learns that Francine has something to do after school each day and isn't including her. Francine has even shortened her name and wants to be called, "Fran" now!

So what happens when to two decide to run for class president? Read this delightfully relatable, gorgeously illustrated graphic novel to find out. I know this wouldn't sit on my shelf were we not in a pandemic and my library closed. 

Both girls are immediately likable, relatable and endearing. Their family is blended, consisting of an older half-brother, and happily supportive. The girls' parents are attentive and involved. The tween dialogue and middle school drama are spot-on. Some of the sisters' fights are so eerily familiar even to this old reviewer! But so is the evident bond between to the two.

The art is vibrant and engaging, with subtle bits of visual humor sprinkled about, such as a store named "Temporarily 22." This smile disappears however, once the girls are ignored in the store by a white salesperson. Luckily for them, the white customer the saleslady rebuffed the girls for called her out on her behavior before stomping out of the store, causing other customers to do the same. It was a subtle example of white allyship in action. This was followed by Mama Bear storming into the store to give the clerk a piece of her mind after Maureen's friend tearfully recounts the experience. The panels are dynamic and the bright palette is quite pleasing. The student body is diverse in many respects from race to body types. 

I hadn't realized when I bought the book that it was a series starter. This pleases me. I look forward to visiting with Francine and Maureen soon. This book belongs in all library collections! Fans of friendship graphic novels like Real Friends and Smile and Sunny as well as the kids of Berrybrook Middle School, will just gobble Twins up and ask for more.

Visit Varian Johnson's website and Shannon Wrights website for more information about each and their body of work. 

November is Picture Book Month! Review: Lift by Minh Lê

Lift: Disney/ LBYR

Lift by Minh Lê. Illustrated by Dan Santat. unpgd. Disney/ Hyperion/ Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, May, 2020. 9781368036924. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.) 

It's Iris' job to press the elevator button. Period. Up and down. Each day. Every day. But one day, an interloper in the form of her little brother presses the button before she can and she's mad.  Betrayal! In this spread, we see Iris' proud parents hugging her little brother as he hugs his stuffed tiger that was apparently Iris'!

After she's betrayed yet again, she decides to push all the buttons and doesn't care about her parents' ire. Unfortunately, she breaks the elevator. While she and her parents wait for the repairman to finish fixing the elevator, she watches as he tosses the dysfunctional button into a nearby trash can. Inspiration strikes and Iris snatches it. She tapes it to the wall of her room, presses the button and... whoa!

While Minh Lê expertly taps into the psyche of the older sibling, Dan Santat adroitly and humorously portrays the dynamics in a variety of panel sizes a lá graphic novel style. Iris is clearly put upon but not without love for her brother. 

This is an absolute must purchase for any library. It's an absolute joy! One a parent won't mind reading again and again.

Middle Grade Monday: Dugout: the zombie steals home by Scott Morse

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Dugout: the zombie steals home by Scott Morse. 254 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc., June, 2019. 9781338188097. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday features Dugout: the zombie steals home by Scott Morse. Twins Gina and and Stacy share a love of baseball and their grandmother, who is raising them, but little else. Not only do they constantly fight at home, but they are both pitchers on rival baseball teams. Gina's an ace and Stacy's team can't catch a break. The two come from a long line of witches but aren't yet trained. That doesn't stop Gina from putting a spell on Stacy's mitt. Stacy and her team are practicing in a clearing in the woods, when a zombie bursts from the mound Stacy's pitching from. He's utterly terrifying; but changes when one of the kids bean him with their baseball. It seems there's a connection between the zombie and baseball. 

This delightfully inventive story is fast-paced, humorous and fun! The art was great too. I just loved the jewel-toned palette, panel layout and dialogue. My fifth grade graphic novel fans are going to go gaga over this.

Gone Fishing: a novel in verse by Tamera Will Wissinger

Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. 120 p. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March, 2013. 9780547829118. (Purchased)

Sam just loves to fish. He and his dad have a sacred fishing routine and he is so looking forward to going fishing the next day. Just Sam and Dad, Dad and Sam. Then, he discovers that his tackle box has been invaded by a princess doll, a throne, a clown and a bottle of perfume. Lucy!

Sam finds Lucy wearing his lucky fishing cap and riding a boat fashioned out of his fishing maps and steering with his compass. She was fair; she made a trade.

Sam is not amused. 

Unfortunately, the next day, he finds that his dad is rather difficult to get out of bed, but Lucy is up and raring to go. Uh-oh. 

This delightful story of fishing and sibling rivalry is told through a variety of poetic forms and link together in a blank verse novel sure to please the upper elementary crowd, and their language arts teachers as well. Matthew Cordell's whimsical black, white and grey line art perfectly captures Sam's growing dismay and Lucy's blissful exuberance.

But wait, there's more! Not only does the poet helpfully notate the type of poem under each title, but a "Poet's Tackle Box" is provided at the end in which, Ms. Will Wissinger helpfully explains poetic terms like rhyme and rhythm, and techniques like alliteration and assonance and imagery and simile, as well as poetic forms like ballad and cinquain. This is sure to thrill the LA teachers in my building as our school participates in an annual poetry festival and all students are expected to submit at least one poem for consideration to represent their grade level in a culminating, valley-wide celebration. 

I was very sad not to be able to make Matthew Cordell's signing of this book at ALA Annual and not just because he promised to draw a quick sketch for everyone on line, but because I'm a fan of his work and wanted to meet him in person. On Monday, I happened by the Houghton Mifflin booth and spied a stack of the books for sale. Score! Then I learned that the author was there to sign! Double score! Then I discovered that the batch had also been signed by M.C. Yes!

I'm donating this to my school's library.

Do check this one out. I'm sure I will be purchasing a few more copies as the LA teachers discover it.

Click here for Tamera Will Wissinger's website and here for Matthew Cordell's website.

Other blog reviews:
GreenBeanTeenQueen
100 Scope Notes
Bookends