Middle Grade Reading for October

It's time for some new middle grade reading! Here are three excerpts from interviews I did on my blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.

 

First up, there's Terri Libenson's new graphic novel Seriously, Celia?, the latest in her Emmie & Friends series. I asked Terri about the relationship between the book's two protagonists, Celia and Grace, and she said, "I would describe it as toxic. There’s an imbalance their relationship. Celia seemingly has all the power and Grace – although she cares about Cee – can’t seem to break away from their friendship. She is worried she’d be all alone and unpopular without Cee. The story asks the question: are some friendships worth it or not? Readers get to see that play out."

 

Next, we have another graphic novel, The Cloak from Baghdad by Carol Isaacs. When I asked about the inspiration for the book, she said, "Over the years, it seemed to me that the history of Iraqi Jews is not so well known. On hearing I am Jewish people automatically assume I must come from Russia or Eastern Europe. So I wanted to tell my family’s story in order to highlight the wonderful diversity of the Jewish people. The characters of Louise and Flora are based on me (Louise) and my mother (Flora). In the book I travel back in time to Baghdad as a 10-year-old girl to witness my mother who happens to be the same age. I mean, who wouldn’t want to find out what their mother was like as a child!"

Finally, there's The Adventures of He-Man and Porter: Skeletor Ate My Homework, by Stephan Pastis with art by Will Henry. It's based on Mattel's Master of the Universe series. I asked how much leeway they had with the characters, and Pastis said, "A lot! I think the first thing I did was give Skeletor a therapist. The only limitation I bumped up against was when I tried to kill off a character and they told me I couldn’t do that. Insert sad face emoji." Henry added, "More than expected. The editorial team had a lot of faith in Stephan and me. Although the design and approval process was lengthy there wasn’t much push back. I think they were looking for something playful and fresh but also true to the original material."

 

--Deborah Kalb