Waiting on Wednesday: Mixed Up by Gordon Korman

Mixed Up by Gordon Korman. 256 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc. July 18, 2023. 9781338826722.

Happy Wednesday TMS Readers! Oops! I nearly forgot to post today! Waiting on Wednesday features yet another book by Gordon Korman. I think this is his 102nd book. His first book was published in 1978! Mixed Up is releasing on July 18! Here is the publisher synopsis: From the author of Restart, the story of two boys who are losing their memories... to each other.

Reef and Theo don't know what's happening to them. They'll be going about their days and then suddenly they'll have these strange flashes of memory -- but the memories don't belong to them. And at the same time, their own memories are starting to... vanish.

For Reef, this is a big problem, because memories are all he has left of his mom.

For Theo, it's strange because the new memories give him a freedom he doesn't have with his domineering dad.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson

Image: Penguin Random House

As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~15 hours, eleven minutes. Read by Bailey Carr and others. Books on Tape/ Penguin Random House, September, 2021. 9780593416761. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a thoughtful MLK Day. My students were off, but we teachers had PD. Teen Tuesday features As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson. This is the third and final book of a trilogy that many seventh and eighth graders have been recommending to each other and me. 

Pippa is getting ready to go to college, but she's in a dark place since her last investigation. She's definitely suffering from PTSD and having trouble with flashbacks and is unable to sleep. In fact, she has turned for former suspect and drug dealer, Luke Hastings for a regular supply of Xanax when her doctor cuts her off. While she's used to death threats, thanks to her true crime podcast, she has been receiving regular messages asking, "Who will look for you when you're the one who disappears?" She is definitely feeling like she's being watched. This intensifies when she's asked by the mother of a man convicted of being the area's serial killer from a few years earlier. Pip believes the wrong man is behind bars and of course, Detective Hawkins doesn't believe her. So it's up to Pip. Will this investigation be her last because she's off to college or because she's dead?

I must say that this series took a very dark turn in this final installment. The first two books are borderline middle school YA, but the last is definitely DARK and twisty. While the credits list multiple narrators, this is mostly Bailey Carr's show. I really couldn't distinguish between the other narrators. Carr's delivery turned a bit annoying, sort of whiney while stretching out intonations. Not that subtle. The twist and the ensuing events just strained credulity for me. 

Middle Grade Monday: Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas. 240 p. HarperAlley/ HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2022. 9780063056763.

Happy Monday! Our students have off for the MLK weekend, but we teachers have PD. Middle Grade Monday features Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas.  Middle schooler Bree isn't too upset to move from Brooklyn to Florida with her single-parent dad. He has been offered a better job. She's even looking forward to starting a new school, hoping to get into an interesting math elective. When all the electives she wants are full and the only one that's available is Swim 101, she freaks. Bree has never learned to swim and she's afraid of the water. So she finds ways to cut the class until her father is notified. After a near-drowning incident at her apartment complex, an older neighbor, Etta, agrees to coach Bree. Bree is filled with anxiety and self-doubt and these thoughts appear in blobby gray thought bubbles that crowd the otherwise vibrant and sunny panel art. This graphic novel educates as well as entertains. Readers will root for Bree.

Swim Team is the author/ illustrator's middle grade debut. It was long listed for the National Book Award, was a Kirkus Best Book and also won a Harvey Award. It won't sit long on the shelf. Highly recommended!

Fact Friday: Play Like a Girl: a Graphic Memoir by Misty Wilson and illustrated by David Wilson

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Play Like a Girl: a Graphic Memoir by Misty Wilson and illustrated by David Wilson. 272 p. Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins Publishers, September, 2022. 9780063064690. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Happy Friday! It is the end of a lo-ong week! Fact Friday features a graphic memoir called Play Line a Girl: a Graphic Memoir by Misty Wilson and illustrated by David Wilson. 

It's the early aughts and seventh grader Misty is athletic and competitive. She has always enjoyed competing against the boys, especially in football. Now, they are playing tackle for the school team and shutting her out. She convinces her best friend, Bree to try out for the team, but doesn't anticipate the grueling practices, the team's hostility and the disinterest by Bree. Her parents and coach are supportive and she does find some support from a team member, who helps her adjust.

This is the story of her football season and in addition to school and friendship drama, there is plenty of great football action. The vibrant, appealing art is reminiscent of fan favorite Raina Telgemeier and Misty is totally relatable. 

Play Like a Girl is this husband/ wife team's debut and is a terrific addition to any school or classroom library.

#tbt: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Image: Penguin Random House

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. 204 p. Philomel Books/ Penguin Young Readers, May, 2001. 9780399236201. (Own)

Happy Thursday! #tbt features one of my go-to series starters for students who want a lot of action. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz is just the ticket. If a student enjoys it, they often go on to read more in the series and there are thirteen!

Alex Rider is an orphan who lives with his uncle and American nanny, Jack in England. He thinks his uncle is a banker and he's shocked to learn that he was killed in a car accident. But things aren't adding up for Alex, so he seeks out the damaged car and finds it is riddled with bullets. Someone killed his uncle.

It turns out that his uncle was an MI6 agent and was killed during an investigation; one that the MI6 bosses want fourteen-year-old Alex to complete. He receives some training and is sent undercover to investigate a multimillionaire who is planning to plant a dirty bomb in thousands of computers that will be distributed to the children of the UK. 

If you're a reader who likes gadgets, suspense and plenty of action. Stormbreaker and the rest of the series are the books for you. Happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

Image: LBYR

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown. Wild Robot #3. 288 p. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, September 26, 2023. 9780316669412.

Happy Wednesday! I saw a tweet by Peter Brown about this a week or so back and I am so excited by this news. I adore Roz. The Wild Robot Protects is due out September 26th!

Here's the publisher synopsis: The action-packed third installment in Peter Brown's internationally bestselling The Wild Robot series takes Roz on an under-the-ocean journey to save her beloved island!

Life for Roz and the animals on their island is perfect: wild, natural, harmonious. Her son Brightbill has even found a mate! But then, one day an injured seal washes ashore and warns of dangerous, cloudy waters that are flowing toward the island—and soon the animals are forced inland to fight over dwindling resources.

Roz calms and organizes the animals, but the poison tide takes a terrible toll on the island. And when the robot discovers that her new body is waterproof, she marches into the waves and sets out across the ocean, determined to stop the poison tide.

During her undersea journey, Roz encounters amazing geological formations and incredible creatures, and she sees the devastation caused by the toxic waters. Creatures she meets along the way direct her to a mysterious character known as the Ancient Shark, who explains that the poison tide is caused by a huge station that floats on the waves; a station operated by humans and by robots. To stop them, the Ancient Shark is prepared to attack with an army of sea creatures. However, Roz hopes to find a peaceful solution, instead. Can the wild robot save the ocean and her island and everything she loves?

This thrilling third installment of the Wild Robot series takes readers on a new adventure under the ocean and to the frigid northern waters where Roz may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti

Image: Penguin Random House

The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~13 hours. Read by Brittany Pressley. Books on Tape/ Listening Library, September, 2022. 9780593611654. (Review of e-audiobook downloaded from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti. Seventeen-year-old Harper Proulx is an anxiety-ridden perfectionist. She is the only child of a single mom who is a college professor and has high expectations of Harper academically and socially. Living through the pandamic quarantined with her mom has only worsened her anxiety. She finds validation with the likes by her many followers on Instagram, where she carefully curates her life. When a follower comments that she looks just like a friend, Harper has to agree, because they both have striking green eyes and auburn hair. The two meet and Harper learns that they share the same sperm donor and that Dario has discovered more half-siblings. Dozens more, in fact. They connect with two more half-siblings, Simone and Wyatt. They do some sleuthing and track their donor dad to Hawai'i, where he runs a surf school and Wyatt's parents own a condo. Though terrified to defy her mother, Harper does so and flies to Hawai'i to discover herself.

Journal entries from the 1800s begin each chapter and readers may wonder about the relevance, but they are beautifully tied together in what is an epic journey of self-discovery on two levels. I also appreciated how the author depicted Harper's anxious obsession with presenting a perfect hash tagged life. Her lack of being present led to her losing her boyfriend, Ezra, whom she treated as little more than a cameraman. The narrator also did a wonderful job of bringing that to life with her almost staccato delivery. Harper starts out a bit self-centered and unlikable, but her growth is believable. A recommended coming-of-age story!

(My one quibble has to do with the prevailing traits shared by most of the offspring - green eyes and auburn hair. These are recessive genes and I found it a bit of a stretch. Teens may pick up on it. I know I knew about recessive and dominant genes from about seventh grade on.)