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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

2015 Top Picks for Middle Grade Books


This week we're wrapping up 2015. We've enjoyed reading all the books we've reviewed this year, and here are a few of our favorites. Friday, we'll share our top picks for children's picture books. Happy reading! ~ F & L

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman

Twig has lived in the same small town since she was little. She's pretty much invisible, so no one pays any attention to her. Kids know Twig won't come to their birthday parties, nor will she invite them to her house... read more

Author website 



A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

Felicity Pickle sees words around people and items, so she collects and keeps track of them. She finds them all over the places, especially because Felicity, her mom, and her younger sister are travelers. They never stay in any place very long, that's just the Pickle way... read more
Interview with Natalie Lloyd 

Author website


The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Ivan is a silverback, but he has lived away from his family for most of his life. He lives in what he refers to as his domain, and his domain happens to be a cage at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade... read more
Interview with Katherine Applegate


Author website 



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72 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Suvarna- Glad these sound good to you! :) ~L

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  2. Always neat to look back and remember the good books one read in the year :)

    betty

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    1. Betty- I love looking back at the books I have read too. :) ~L

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  3. These are three on my TBR list I haven't read yet. Thanks for the reminder.

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    1. Rosi- Glad to remind you about these books and I think you will love them all when you get to them! :) ~L

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  4. Nice way to end the year to a shout out of the favourite books you have read

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    1. Thanks, Birgit! It is fun to look back at all the books we read in 2015. :) ~L

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  5. I adored The One and Only Ivan! Now must read the other two. Thanks for recommending. Happy New Year!

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    1. Donna- The One and Only Ivan is awesome! You will love the other two. Happy New Year to you too! :) ~L

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  6. My kids are always on the lookout for new books, thanks for these suggestions.

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    1. Coreena- You are welcome! Hope they enjoy them. :) ~L

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  7. I don't read much MG, but these do sound good

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  8. Lovely covers for all of them! IVAN is supposed to be turned into a movie sometime in the future

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    1. Dezmond- Aren't the covers great! I didn't know Ivan was being turned into a movie. Awesome! :) ~L

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  9. These books look awesome.
    Wishing you a Happy New Year!

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    1. Olivia Rose- They were great! Happy New Year to you too! :) ~L

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  10. I loved The One and Only Ivan.
    I also love Alice Hoffman, and don't know this one of hers. Yet. A Snicker of Magic is tempting too.

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    1. Elephant's Child- Wasn't The One and Only Ivan excellent! I think you will love the Alice Hoffman book and A Snicker of Magic. :) ~L

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  11. Love the cover of A Snicker:) So cute.

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  12. I always say I don't read too much MG but looking back in the year, some of my favourites really are of this genre, so I am trying to look into it more. I'm already familiar with Katherine Applegate's writing in YA, so I would be interested in trying the One and only Ivan for myself. Hope you have a good new year, full of new brilliant books <3

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    1. Olivia- Savannah-How awesome that some of your favorite books from 2015 were MG. I think you will really enjoy The One and Only Ivan. Now you made me curious to read one of Applegate's YA books. :) ~L

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  13. I just got a great MG book in the mail. I think you've heard of it...The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow. :)

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    1. Kelly- You betcha! We hope you love it! ~Stephanie and Jess

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  14. I read Ivan (loved it) and the other two look interesting. MG is awesome.

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    1. Medeia- I think you will love the other two MG books too. :) ~L

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  15. I've read none of these haha. A snicker of Magic is in my library now so we'll see. The Nightbird cover looks so interesting. I'm excited to see what other books are on your top favorites list of this year.

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    1. Adriana- You will love A Snicker of Magic. It is amazing and since you already have it I think you should start right away. :) ~L

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  16. I wanted to wish you a wonderful and very happy New Year xox ♡♡♡ And a very successful one ♡

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    1. Launna- Awww! Thanks so much! :) ~Stephanie and Jess

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  17. Great list! I enjoyed Nightbird, with a some reservations, but The One and Only Ivan was fantastic! My little girl recently finished it and is raving about it to all her friends and cousins :)

    Wishing you all the best in 2016; Happy New Year!

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    1. Claudia- Thanks! Glad to hear that you and your daughter both loved The One and Only Ivan.

      Happy New Year! :) ~L

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  18. I think Ivan is the only one my daughter has read. Thanks for the recommendation on the others!

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    1. The Armchair Squid- Glad to give you some other books to recommend to your daughter. :) ~L

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  19. I have so many books I need to get caught up on, especially in MG! :) Thanks for these awesome recommendations.

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    1. Meradeth- I can totally relate to having a million books to read. :) ~L

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  20. I got to sit with Natalie Lloyd at a booksigning and she was such a sweet person! I had to come back and read her book. It was just as charming as she was.

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    1. Stephanie- You are so lucky! We met her at the Connecticut Children's Book Fair! She was so sweet and that is what made me read A Snicker of Magic. I agree that it was just as sweet as she is. :) ~L

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  21. Nice. I will have to see what my 13 year old thinks. She is an avid reader.

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    1. Lady Lilith- I think she will love these. :) ~L

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  22. I'm always reading MG books to check out the competition :) , but I haven't read NIGHTBIRD yet. Thanks for the reminder. I listened to the audio version of THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN and I can still hear Ivan's well-done voice.

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    1. Marcia- It is a great idea to read MG books to check out the competition. I think you will love Nightbird. I listened to The One and Only Ivan on audio and agree that it was awesome. Very memorable! :) ~L

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  23. Good picks! I don't read as much MG as I probably should. Maybe I'll try to read more in 2016.

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    1. Kate- MG is lots of fun! Happy 2016! :) ~L

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    1. Blodeuedd- Happy New Year to you too! :) ~L

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  25. These books sound pretty great. I really need to read more in 2016!

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    1. Shell Flower- They are all awesome! :) ~L

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  26. some nice books there... I've seen The One and Only Ivan around and it has be intrigued:)

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    1. TF- It is a book that you will really enjoy! :) ~L

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  27. These look great and I have to say the title A Snicker of Magic is very clever!

    Happy New Year! Wishing you a peaceful and prosperous 2016!

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    1. Lexa- It is a clever title and the story is magical.

      Wishing you a fabulous 2016 too! :) ~L

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  28. A Snicker of Magic was one of my favorite books of 2014; I absolutely loved it!

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  29. Such beautiful artwork! I'm participating in the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge for 2016 and one of the categories is a Middle Grade Book. This post will come in really handy!!

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    1. Brandy- Thanks! Glad to give you some books for your reading challenge. Yeah! :) ~L

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  30. I love middle grade books. But, I admit I haven't read those yet.

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    1. Janet- We love MG books too. You will love these! :) ~L

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  31. I also really loved A Snicker of Magic and can't wait to read THE KEY TO EXTRAORDINARY.

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    1. Brenda- I can't wait for it either! :) ~L

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  32. OOOh nice picks, I do love middle grade. Have you read Girl Savage/Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell or the MG/YA crossover series by Lauren Child (Ruby Redfort series)? I love those!

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    1. Hawwa- Thanks! MG is such fun. I haven't read the books you mentioned- but have now added them to my list. Thanks for sharing! :) ~L

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  33. Some good books here. I need to do more Middle Grade reading to keep me motivated to edit the series I've been writing.

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    1. Jeffrey- Reading MG books will definitely help keep you motivated to edit your series! :) ~L

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  34. These look/sound really good! :D I've read Ivan, but not the others - will do ASAP! :)

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    1. Erik- Ivan is awesome and you will love the other two too. :) ~L

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  35. I've heard a lot about all three but (ashamedly) haven't got to them yet. I have them on my to-read list. Really ought to read a bit faster!

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    1. Claudine- I can relate to having a too long TBR list. Whenever you get to these three I know you will enjoy them. :) ~L

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