Book Reviews Archives - Reading Middle Grade

Review | Blood in the Water

Afoma Umesi — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 14:42:28 +0000

Summary: Blood in the Water Kaylani is spending the summer on Martha’s Vineyard with the Watson family, her family friends, after her dad is imprisoned for fraud. She’s understandably sad to be without her father, but her parents want her to have some fun and be a kid despite the ups and downs in their

Review | Refugee by Alan Gratz

Afoma Umesi — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are three kids living in the 1940s, 1990s, and 2015, respectively. They are also all refugees trying to escape their homes in search of a better life. Josef is a Jew fleeing Germany with his family, Isabel is leaving Cuba via boat to Miami, and Mahmoud and his family are fleeing Syria amidst the civil unrest. But will they make it to safety?

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Review | Top Heavy

Afoma Umesi — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 15:39:53 +0000

High school sophomore Esme has a lot going on. She's recently been accepted into the Elite dance group with her best friend Mia, and her family is navigating some challenges. Her father's back was severely hurt in a work accident, and because he's out of work, money is tight for them. Most pressing to Esme, however, is the physical and emotional weight of her large bust and the obstacle it is to dancing -- not to mention the leering she receives from uncouth men. To add to it, she's being bullied by a girl on the dance team who doesn't want sophomores there; her best friend is becoming increasingly distant from her, and finally, she's being harassed during an outing. Can she figure out a way to bear the heavy weight of being a teen girl who just wants to dance?

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Review | The Trouble with Sunshine

Afoma Umesi — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 17:59:46 +0000

Dorani is heartbroken when her mom dies on the freeway of a heart attack en route to her school after she's suspended for speaking up. Soon after, she's separated from her mom's fiancé in Florida and sent to live with her aunt Ivette in rural Wyoming as stipulated by her mom. There, she learns a great deal about her mom's childhood and teenage years, forms a bond with a horse named Sunshine, and grows closer to her aunt. But soon, she realizes that she'll need to stand up for her new group of friends who are being unfairly treated. But is she brave enough to do it, when she thinks it cost her her mother's life?

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Review | All the Noise at Once

Afoma Umesi — Wed, 28 May 2025 21:25:34 +0000

Aiden has always relied on his popular, football-star brother, Brandon, to smooth the edges of a neurotypical world for him. But when Aiden gets in a fight that leads to Brandon getting arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, their family gets thrown into a media frenzy, and suddenly, Aiden is watching his brother's achievements go down the drain. Even though he's always had fewer expectations because of his autism, can Aiden step up now to help Brandon?

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Review | The Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun

Afoma Umesi — Wed, 21 May 2025 10:09:18 +0000

Esme is used to being the underachiever of her family. Her other three sisters are all good at something and get lavish praise from their mother. This summer, Esme realizes that she can actually swim really well. She also starts forming a great group of friends at the pool who encourage each other to succeed. But once her mom finds out and starts egging Esme on to compete at the cost of her friendships, the summer swim team doesn't feel fun anymore.

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Review | It’s You Every Time

Afoma Umesi — Thu, 15 May 2025 04:10:15 +0000

It's just an ordinary September 24th, and teens Sydney and Marcus have what is probably the cutest meet-cute at a Dunkin's. They both skip school to spend the day together, and everything seems great until they part ways abruptly in the evening and wake up on September 24... again. Throughout the book, they keep meeting on the same day over 20 times until they can figure out why it's happening, how to break the cycle, and if they even want to break the cycle.

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Review | Zarina Divided

Afoma Umesi — Thu, 08 May 2025 20:46:20 +0000

Zarina's life changes when her family is forced to move from Poona to Karachi after the Indian Partition. This story chronicles the family's dangerous move to Karachi, Zarina's move to a boarding school far from Karachi after a painful mistake, and her struggle to stay open to people, regardless of their religion or race, despite the many prevailing prejudices at the time.

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Review | Benny on the Case

Afoma Umesi — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:26:30 +0000

Benny is a boy with Mosaic Down Syndrome living in Newfoundland, Canada. He lives with his mom in the nursing home they run and is entering mainstream school for the first time. Fortunately, he meets and befriends a new girl called Salma on his first day. When a string of burglaries at the home start to threaten his mother’s livelihood, Benny and Salma come up with a plan to catch the thief and end up unraveling a shocking conspiracy.

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Review | Wish by Barbara O’Connor

Afoma Umesi — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 13:33:10 +0000

Charlie Reese is an 11-year-old with a temper and an obsession with making wishes -- and she wishes for the same thing every time. Temporarily living with her aunt and uncle because of her family's instability, her life changes in the best way when she finds a stray dog to belong to and makes a neighborhood friend who is kind to her and sees the best in her, even when she makes mistakes.

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