That's Noteworthy! (vol. 8)

5 great middle grade books, what my kids are reading, and more

Hello readers!

In case you missed it, because I published it on a pretty busy day (aka Halloween), I released the prologue and first chapter of my serial YA novel, Timing is Everything, right here on my Substack. If you’d like to read along after this free preview, please consider upgrading to being a paid subscriber. All the details are here, including how to go from free to paid, and also how paid subscribers can also invite a teen in their life to read for free. That’s Noteworthy! will remain free, so as always, thanks for being here and for reading.

📚. October was a really busy month (but maybe they are all busy months in this season of life), and audiobooks have helped me rack up a bunch of great reads still (especially kid lit). I keep wanting to start The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes but alas, it still sits on my kindle waiting for me. Hopefully soon, after I get through a couple of book club reads. Now that it’s officially November I’m embarking on 1.) casually rereading The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater for the 6th time, and 2.) working on my middle grade WIP for NaNoWriMo (more on that below). Here are my recent middle grade reads (my YA reading is sadly lagging these days!).

• Trapped! (Framed/TOAST series, book #3) by James Ponti :: The conclusion to this series did not disappoint. I love how Margaret's overarching mystery concluded and how Florian had to deal with the fallout about that, having known the truth but being unable to share it before. This book also had the extra element of our detectives needing to solve the mystery on a crunched timeline that would also affect their mentor & friend in a significant way. I was sad to see this series end, but luckily there are plenty more James Ponti books available and on the way (including a new mystery series, called Sherlock Society!). 
  5⭐️s

• The Maze of Bones Graphic Novel (The 39 Clues, book 1) adapted by Ethan Young, original story by Rick Riordan :: I have never read the 39 Clues books before but when we got the first graphic novel adaptation in at our library, I gave it a whirl. This is the start of a fun adventure series that seems perfect for the graphic format. For me, the story had me rolling my eyes a bit (every stop/clue brought another bad guy looking over our MCs’ shoulders), but I think the target audience will eat this up and enjoy the good-vs-evil romp that it is.
  3.5⭐️s

• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt :: This book came highly recommended and I'm so glad I finally read it. Holling's story of his 7th-grade school year set during the Vietnam War completely captivated me. This book is funny, realistic, and interesting all the way through. It's full of hijinx, everyday obstacles, middle school embarrassment, forced Shakespeare learning (maybe not all that bad?), bullies and friends, family drama, and the tiniest bit of friendship-turned-romance. Great audio narration.
  5+⭐️s

• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead :: This was an interesting contemporary/realistic fiction story that had me hooked from the beginning. To be honest, I was unsure of whether I actually liked this book until the end. When some unknowns were revealed, it changed how I looked at several characters, and at the same time, changed what I thought about the book as a whole. Great on audio and a pretty quick read, too. 
  4⭐️s

• Make a Move, Sunny Park! by Jessica Kim :: Another charming and funny book from Jessica Kim (I loved that Sunny is Yumi Chung's cousin so we got a few mentions to Yumi in this one). At first I cringed a little with the lie-as-plot-point, because this always makes me personally super uncomfortable, but the more I read the book and got to know the characters and the situation, the more I empathized with and understood Sunny's reasons for doing what she did. This book gave a group of adults a lot to talk about and relate to, and I know that it will do the same for younger readers. The life lessons are not didactic but rather wrapped up in the captivating story and the humor, as Sunny figures out what a real friend looks like, and how to be a good friend as well. Also, there is an awesome grandma in this story, which is always fun.

  4.5⭐️s

If you’re curious about my star-ratings, I recently added an explanation in the footnotes of my about page. I originally worked on this and honed it this year to explain the subjectivity of book ratings and to share how I personally rate books with my library book club kiddos.

🤓. Speaking of book club, this week in the library we finished our 5th grade book club book, Chasing Vermeer. It was so fun to discuss the ending of the book with all three small groups today and see what the kids thought of it. I’ll probably do a final recap of our book club in my next edition of That’s Noteworthy!

What my own kids are reading:
(I got the idea of sharing this from Youngna’s newsletter,

Making it Work

)

• Gigi (16) just reread American Royals and is now moving on to finish the series.

• Brody (13) is reading The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and a bonus collection from the Eragon series (waiting for the new book coming soon). Together we’re slowly listening to Story Thieves: Secret Origins (book 3) by James Riley.

• Hallee (12) just finished (and loved) A Soft Place to Land by Janae Marks (author of another book Hallee and I loved, From the Desk of Zoe Washington). She recommended that I read this one. Together we’re slowly listening to Space Case by Stuart Gibbs (a reread for her).

🥰. Writing this newsletter every two weeks means that I have lots of things I could report that are bringing me joy (seeing extended family, watching kids excel at things they’ve worked hard at, celebrating Halloween in the neighborhood, listening to 1989 TV with my girls), but since I’m sending this out later than normal due to two particularly bookish things that kept me busy yesterday, I’ll just share details about those…

• Book club! Another lovely meetup with my YA/MG book club to discuss Make a Move, Sunny Park! over delicious Korean/Hawaiian food in Oceanside at a place called Haetae. Some people might think it’s weird for adults to have a book club reading children’s books, but this week again reminded us how relatable these books can be even to us. We had a great conversation about this book, and I know I for one found myself reflecting on my own friendships after reading it.

• Nanowrimo! I’ve officially begun my foray into another attempt at Nanowrimo (aka National Novel Writing Month). I’ve participated in this numerous times and always love the accountability and community that comes along with it. I’m working on my middle grade WIP, that’s called Locals Only. I haven’t said much about it, but I did write up a little blurb for my Nano project, so I’ll share that with you here:

  Locals Only: Malibu Rescue meets The Vanderbeekers...
  Tessa Reed, 11 years old, new to California, and new to Junior Lifeguards, is ready to see what the summer has in store for her... which may or may not include surprises like mysterious sea creatures, a renegade sea lion, green flashes, and a statue called the Grom. And hopefully, with the help of her cousins and a new friend, she can find a way to become a local in her new hometown before middle school starts.

Now off to do some writing and to hopefully finish the first Percy Jackson book which I am finally listening to after all these years.

Happy Friday and happy reading!

xo,
Nicole

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