Middle School Book Review Blog now has an audio counterpart. You can find it here.

Middlebooks Podcast 

I was glad to see that Suzanne liked The Pigman. I first read it when I was in ninth grade. It was a new book when I read it, because it was very long ago. I remember thinking that it was the first truly realistic book I had ever read in school. I hope you are finding new books that strike you personally. Please recommend any you read to me so I can purchase them.

I am once again looking for suggestions for good books to buy. I will be placing another order in the spring, so please give me your suggestions. My new favorite book is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The illustrations are fabulous and very necessary for understanding the story. It is this year’s Caldecott Medal winner, even though it is about 400 pages long.

Thanks to all who participated in the “Looking for a Few Good Books” contest. Please feel free to continue to submit titles and reviews of books you like!

Abdullatif Saad is the grand prize winner for suggesting Thomas Dygard, a sports book author that I had not heard of until now. I have ordered several of his books. the complete list of books I am ordering as a result of the blog contest is below.

Attack of the jack-o'-lantern,   Be careful what you wish for ,

 The beast from the East, The blob that ate everyone,  Boys and beauty blunders,

 A child called "It",  Cirque du freak,  Cirque du freak : allies,

 Daddy Long Legs, Gulliver's travels, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day,
Manga Claus, The blade of Marunas,   Mysterious stranger, River danger,

Sam, Bangs & moonshine, Second stringer,   Secrets and Supersneaks

I have some (although not a huge amount) of money to spend on new books for middle school pleasure reading. I would like to know what you would suggest. Please tell me the title (required), the author and give a short summary. I will purchase those books which have the highest quality representation. That means I will buy the books that people do the best job of describing in a short summary. You also need to convince me that the book is worthwhile for a school library. I look forward to your submissions.

Please remember to put the title of the book you are reviewing in your post. Reviews without titles will not be posted. To look at some examples of book reviews by kids, check out the link below.

Ann Arbor District Library Book Reviews

This space is for reviews of books you think other middle school kids would enjoy. Please do not post with your real email. Just make up something with an @ sign in the middle and a .com on the end. Remember that a book review should tell why someone would like a book, but not give away the entire plot. Also realize that every post is reviewed by Mrs. Alvarado before posting, so use school appropriate language and ideas.