MMGM: My Top Three MG books of 2013

Below is a list of all the books I read this past year. I highlighted my top three favorites for the middle grade books, and my favorite YA and adult book. Unfortunately I had an apparent least favorite middle grade and adult book, but it wouldn't be in the spirit of this post to mention those. At least (as writers) we can learn from what we don't like in books we read and make sure it doesn't show up in our own writing!

Favorite middle grade books:

1. Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff. I just thought this book was a lot of fun in the creative way she retold this story. Instead of a mean little old man, Rump was a young boy who needed to unravel the mystery of his name. I enjoyed learning the story right along with him.

2. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. I had only read one verse novel prior to this, and it was a good one (Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai) but with Out of the Dust I really understood the power verse can have. I connected more with the format and knew I had to try to write in verse myself. Any book which inspires me to go write is a winner in my mind!

3. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven Book 4) by Brandon Mull. I have really enjoyed each book in this series. With every new installment there comes a new adventure (it does take a stretch of the imagination to believe that humans could come out from any of them alive - but it is fantasy after all) and what I liked about this one is a major character twist I didn't see coming. Like "whoa... no way!" Maybe other readers had this figured out, but not me. I have enjoyed the creativity of the world Brandon Mull has created and that he keeps us guessing how it will all turn out in the end.

What was your favorite middle grade (or other) book that you read in 2013?

Happy reading in 2014!

Middle Grade Books 2013

1. The Boy on the Porch Sharon Creech
2. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
3. The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham
4. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
5. A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
6. Kepler's Dream by Juliet Bell
7. Doll Bones by Holly Black
8. Judy Moody and the Bad Luck Charm by Megan McDonald
9. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
10. Crunch by Leslie Connor
11. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
12. Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
13. May B by Caroline Starr Rose
14. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd 
15. Better Than Weird by Anna Kerz
16. Geenie Wishes by Elisabeth Dahl
17. Frindle by Andrew Clements
18. Pie by Sarah Weeks
19. The Humming Room by Ellen Potter
20. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
21. Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff
22. The Last Song by Eva Wiseman
23. SLOB by Ellen Potter
24. Katerina's Wish by Jeannie Mobley
25. Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry
26. Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
27. I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson
28. The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech
29. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
30. The Magic Half by Annie Barrows
31. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven Book 4) by Brandon Mull
32. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
33. Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
34. Fairytale Detectives by Michael Buckley
35. Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
36. Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven Book 3) by Brandon Mull

Young Adult Books 2013

1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
2. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth
4. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
5. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder 
6. Deadline by Chris Crutcher
7. Butter by Erin Jade Lange
8. This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
9. The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

Adult Books 2013

1. Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag
2. The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag
3. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
4. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
5. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
6. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
7. Six Years by Harlan Coben
8. Drop Shot by Harlan Coben
9. The Shack by William Paul Young
10. You Don't Know Me by Susan May Warren

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) was created by Shannon Messenger. To find other bloggers participating in MMGM go to her blog for a list of links.

Just Deleted Over 300 (unread) E-mails!

What a fun way to spend two hours of my evening. The sad thing is I still have 390 (unread) e-mails waiting for me to figure out what to do with them. There was one with the subject line "You have a new bill from ______ Credit Card" dating back to October 2011. Hopefully that was paid otherwise we will have a big surprise interest payment coming up. LOL! So much junk mail from so many on-line companies... obviously there was a big jump in these since the middle of November. As much as I hate having them clog up my inbox I do appreciate grabbing a coupon here or there or being "reminded" that I "need" to buy something.

How do you tackle the never-ending stream of e-mails? If you have a tip (besides using the delete button more often) please leave it in the comments.

And so, there is no MMGM today, again.

But I am reading Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker and have enjoyed it so far. She is the Co-Coordinator for the Western WA region of the SCBWI and I enjoyed her fun sense-of-humor as she announced things at the conference this past April. Cool to be reading a debt from a local author!

Daughter (8 years old) is still loving the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. We went to the used bookstore yesterday and her picks were The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (which I read to her earlier this year but she wanted her own copy), A Little Princess also by Frances Hodgson Burnett (which I have a feeling I will be reading to her as well in the near future!) Little Men by Louisa May Alcott (because Little Women wasn't available) and Matilda by Ronald Dahl (which she scanned through and pointed out the word "ass" to me and then wanted to know why people use bad words. Uhhh...)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) was created by Shannon Messenger. To find other bloggers participating in MMGM go to her blog for a list of links.

MMGM: What we are Reading

Well it has been a while since I last posted, but sometimes life is just too busy. Here is an update on what we are reading in my house.

Son #1: (Age 10)

• He is on the last book in The Inheritance Cycle Series by Christopher Palolini and is still enjoying them. I am looking forward to seeing what he picks up next as he has been reading this series for two months now!

Daughter: (age 8)

• She just finishsed the last Harry Potter book! This girl was on a mission to finish the series and is understandably quite proud of herself. Bonus for the rest of the family - we got to watch the last four movies over the past month!
• There's a Girl in the Boy's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. I got this book at a yard sale and didn't realize she had been reading it up in her room. She is almost done and last night I asked if it was a funny book. She turned it over so I could see the cover (and title) and said "What do you think?" So yes, she thinks it is pretty funny.
• Not sure what the next book she picks up will be... I am trying to talk her into the Fablehaven series. Shhh... I bought the paperback set on sale this weekend for under $18 and will give it to both kids, probably from the cat!
 

Mom: (not revealing my age!)

• Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven) by Brandon Mull. I read the first book in this series a couple months ago and wasn't planning on reading more. Not because I didn't enjoy the book but because I'm trying to diversify my reading. But I was in Barnes and Noble and picked up book #2 and wanted to keep reading. These books are fun adventures!
• The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow. This book is on the list for the Sasquatch Award in Washington state and my daughter got it at the school book fair, so of course I had to read it first. VERY quick read (about 2 hours for me) but it was fun! The book is done entirely in colored pencil drawings and handwriting, alternating between the two main characters like they are writing notes back and forth to each other. One handwriting is in cursive so it might be a little hard for a younger reader to get through it if he/she is not used to that type of font.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) was created by Shannon Messenger. To find other bloggers participating in MMGM go to her blog for a list of links.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

I normally don't read fantasy... well OK, except for Harry Potter and Twilight! But I do like to attend "Meet the Author" events and Brandon Mull came to our area this past week. As I have mentioned here before we have an awesome library system and a great organization that supports the library by handing out free books by the authors they have invited to speak. So I picked up my copy of Fablehaven and dove right in without knowing much about the series or the author.

Book Description: (from Amazon) Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among the greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. But when the rules get broken, powerful forces are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and maybe even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most...

 

Why it is marvelous: When I met Brandon this past week I told him I don't normally read fantasy but that I really enjoyed this book. I think that is because it is set in the real world, with two normal everyday kids as the main characters. And we are introduced to the fantasy element nice and slow. The reader discovers the magical world of Fablehaven right along with the two main protagonists, and this is a very interesting world to discover. The Fablehaven series deals with magical creatures we are used to, like fairies, demons, witches and trolls. But Brandon puts his own twist on them which pulls the reader in wanting to find out how this world works, and then when things go very wrong for Kendra and Seth, how mere humans could possibly prevail over the greatest evil at Fablehaven.

 

If I had the time I would definitely read on in this series as I am curious to go on another adventure with Kendra, Seth and their grandparents. Brandon's other popular series, Beyonders, leans even more toward the fantastical with a portal to another world via the mouth of a hippo and made-up races such as The Seed People who, when killed, can be reborn by planting a seed that pops out of the back of their head. My son seemed interested so we are now the proud owners of a signed copy of the first book in this series A World Without Heroes. But reader beware! From the reviews I see that this book is a bit gory and might be suited for a slightly higher age range.

 

It was interesting to hear Brandon speak about his professional writing and daydreaming... imagine getting paid to daydream! An interesting point he made was about the first book he wrote - at age 6! What was meaningful to him about that project was that he actually completed the book. He said lots of kids (adults too!) can start a story, that's easy. But only those who are dedicated will finish it! And his biggest pieces of advice to the kids in the audience was to keep writing.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

My son getting his books signed!

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) was created by Shannon Messenger. To find other bloggers participating in MMGM go to her blog for a list of links.