I adore Arden from her Winternight trilogy and was curious to see how her incredible writing and story-telling skills translated to middle-grade fiction. I’m glad to say that Small Spaces has the same polish and complexity I would expect from Arden, although maybe just toned down a little (appropriate to the younger audience).
For a book with a far-fetched premise, Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me has a very real and believable quality about it.
In Alice Hoffman’s gentle and enchanting Nightbird, Twig and her mother have a secret, one that keeps them separate from the town, and separate from friends. That is until the Halls and their two young daughters move into the house down the road. They are Twig’s first neighbors ever, and – as it turns out – descendants of the woman who brought her family lasting turmoil generations before.
Laura Amy Schlitz’s new book Splendors and Glooms is eerily -and appropriately – titled. While I found it wonderful and mesmerizing, I also found it a little disturbing, and even stopped reading for a while to let my nerves settle and to decide if I would ultimately finish the book (I did – and I’m so glad!).
R.J. Palacio worked for more than 20 years in publishing as an art director and book cover designer before she finally decided to “just go for it” and write her own book. What a shame that the world had to wait this long for such a profound, moving, heartfelt book like Wonder.
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BOOK:30 