Middle Grade Reading for November

Hi everyone. It's time for some new middle grade reading, and I've chosen a few excerpts from interviews I did on my blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.

First up, there's Barbara Dee's novel Nothing to See Here. I asked her about the inspiration for the novel, and she said, "A few years ago, I heard a story on NPR about some eighth graders in Texas who posted fake gossip and rumors to show their classmates how misinformation spreads on social media." She added, "I couldn’t stop thinking about these kids, wondering what motivated them, what challenges they faced, what sort of reaction they got, and what they learned from their project. I was so intrigued by the implications of this story that I decided to write a novel about it!"

Next, there's Marie Arnold's novel They Will Not Save Us. I asked about the book's title, and she said: "The title was chosen to reflect two important themes. First, I’ve always loved stories where kids get to be the heroes. There’s something empowering about young readers seeing characters their own age take charge and save the day instead of waiting for adults to rescue them. The title also reflects Haiti’s history. Haiti’s enslaved people organized and fought for their own freedom rather than waiting for someone else to save them. That spirit of courage, resilience, and taking control of your own destiny is at the heart of the book."

And third, we have Leslie Gentile's novel The Total Eclipse of Me. I asked her about the inspiration for the novel and for her character Halley, and she said, "I live in a house with five telescopes (my husband’s) six guitars (mine), so it was just a matter of time till I wrote a book that included astronomy and music. Of course, this one also contains bats and a forest fire." She added, "Really it started with the title, which popped into my head during the solar eclipse in 2024. Then, as I played around with of the word eclipse, the story began to form. I decided to make it a lunar eclipse since that worked better in this case. I knew that Halley needed to feel 'eclipsed' so once I started to create problems in her life, her character began to emerge."

Happy reading!

--Deborah Kalb