Friday, May 30, 2014

ArmchairBEA 2014 - Day 5 (MG/YA)

Middle Grade/Young Adult

ArmchairBEA said: Our final genre of discussion is one that we know is a popular one these days: books for the younger crowd, from middle grade to young adult. If you do not normally talk about this genre on your site, maybe you want to feature books that you remember impacting you during this stage in your life. If this is where you tend to gravitate, maybe you want to list your favorites, make recommendations based on genres, or feature some titles that you are excited to read coming later this year.

So I don't read a lot of middle grade books now. I like the idea of middle grade. I probably just haven't been exposed to the right ones lately. I do have hopes to read more middle grade in the coming years, but I might just wait until I actually have kids and can read the same books as they do when they're reading them. For now, I'll give you a list of some of my favorite reads from that time in my life.

Little Sister series by Ann M Martin
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Shiloh (Shiloh, # 1) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O'Brien
Julie of the Wolves (Julie of the Wolves, # 1) by Jean Craighead George
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E L Konigsburg
The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M Martin
Angels Watching Over Me Trilogy by Lurlene McDaniel
Dawn Rochelle Series by Lurlene McDaniel
April Lancaster Series by Lurlene McDaniel
The Indian in the Cupboard (The Indian in the Cupboard, # 1) by Lynne Reid Banks
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
What We Did Last Summer (Love Stories for Young Adults, # 33) by Elizabeth Craft
I Do (Love Stories for Young Adults, # 35) by Elizabeth Chandler
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Stranger with my Face by Lois Duncan

And here's some that might be too old for Middle Grade but on the younger side of Young Adult...

Carter Finally Gets It (Carter Finally Gets It, # 1) by Brent Crawford
Spellbinding by Maya Gold
The False Prince (The Ascendance Trilogy, # 1) by Jennifer A Nielsen
The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, # 1) by James Dashner
Rockoholic by CJ Skuse
Infinity (The Chronicles of Nick, # 1) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dante's Girl (The Paradise Diaries, # 1) by Courtney Cole
Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes, # 1) by Shannon Dittemore
Sea Change by Aimee Friedman
Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Because I frequently read and review young adult books here on the blog, I won't go into all that now. What do you think? Got any middle grade suggestions for me that should be must reads? Let me know!

6 comments:

  1. We read a lot of the same books growing up!! Seeing some of them again makes me want to read them all over again!

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  2. Haha...yeah I'm all for re-reading. Some of these will definitely be ones that I direct my kids to one day. Thanks for stopping by Alyssaz!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The only one I've read is Harry Potter, haha! I've always been curious about The Maze Runner though... I don't really read much MG anymore either, I just think YA definitely has more appeal to adults than MG does most of the time. I've heard lots of good things about Bird by Crystal Chan though which is MG, and I'm planning to read that at some point, so maybe you'd like to check it out? :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hallo, Hallo! :)

    *waves!* I am a #cheerREADER with Team4 of the #ArmChairBEA! :) I was just talking about the books I *love!* from YA/MG literature branches! My favourites of the past few years have been: The Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber; "The Golden Hour" by Maiya
    Williams; "The Sixty-Eight Rooms" by Marianne Malone; "Keepers of the
    School" by Andrew Clements; "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio, etc. I even
    *loved!* "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly! And,
    yes, I do love and cherish Harry Potter! :)

    I was thankful to
    read and review about the Leland Dragon series, and "Wonder" on my blog,
    in case you were keen to find out a bit more about each of those from
    an adult who read them. The author I have not yet mentioned is Laura
    Resau, who writes outstanding fiction for Young Adults!! I spotlighted
    her in my Equality in Lit post during the #AtoZChallenge in April,
    because I truly want to read through her novels this Summer & blog
    my impressions of them as I do! I have only read a small handful of her
    stories: "The Indigo Notebook", "Star in the Forest", and "What the Moon
    Saw". She writes cutting honest drama and she brings in a mirror of
    another culture as she writes about everyday life.

    Jorie's
    post on Equality in Lit / Diversity in Lit


    I decided to share the same information with you I had already typed because you did not list any of these authors in your post!? I can say, that if you appreciate historical fiction you will love soaking into "The Golden Hour" & "The Sixty-Eight Rooms"! I also want to say, I am an adult who reads these titles with the gusto and appreciation of someone who loved finding these kinds of stories when she was younger! Ooh! I forgot to mention, I just finished reading "Uncovering Cobbogoth" which is reviewed on my blog! :) I posted the review during #ArmChairBEA even!

    The story takes on Icelandic mythology, archaeological mysteries, and sets a new spin on the fantasy genre for Young Adults! I loved how it was part Urban and part Myth! I was wholly entranced the entire time I read the novel!

    You'd be surprised there is a HEAP to discover right now! And, I do not typically gravitate towards the regular 'must reads' either - no Twilight or Hunger Games for me! :) Don't wait to have children, I am not! :) I think I always get Middle Grade & YA confused for each other; the one novel I read on my blog & reviewed that I know for a fact is MG is: "Red Thread Sisters" about Chinese adoption, cultural differences, and the longing for a forever family. I highly recommend the book!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hallo, Hallo! :)

    Sorry I am a bit late in reaching your lovely blog! I am thrilled to be dropping by tonight!

    *waves!* I am a #cheerREADER with Team4 of the #ArmChairBEA! :) I was just talking about the books I *love!* from YA/MG literature branches! My favourites of the past few years have been: The Leland Dragon series by Jackie Gamber; "The Golden Hour" by Maiya Williams; "The Sixty-Eight Rooms" by Marianne Malone; "Keepers of
    the School" by Andrew Clements; "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio, etc. I even *loved!* "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly! And, yes, I do love and cherish Harry Potter! :)

    I was thankful to read and review about the Leland Dragon series, and "Wonder" on my blog,in case you were keen to find out a bit more about each of those from an adult who read them. The author I have not yet mentioned is Laura Resau, who writes outstanding fiction for Young Adults!! I spotlighted her in my Equality in Lit post during the #AtoZChallenge in April, because I truly want to read through her novels this Summer &blog my impressions of them as I do! I have only read a small handful
    of her stories: "The Indigo Notebook", "Star in the Forest", and "What the Moon Saw". She writes cutting honest drama and she brings in a mirror of another culture as she writes about everyday life.

    Jorie's
    post on Equality in Lit / Diversity in Lit


    I decided to share the same information with you I had already typed because you did not list any of these authors in your post!? I can say, that if you appreciate historical fiction you will love soaking into "The Golden Hour" & "The Sixty-Eight Rooms"! I also want to say, I am an adult who reads these titles with the gusto and appreciation of
    someone who loved finding these kinds of stories when she was younger! Ooh! I forgot to mention, I just finished reading "Uncovering Cobbogoth"which is reviewed on my blog! :) I posted the review during #ArmChairBEA even!

    The story takes on Icelandic mythology, archaeological mysteries, and sets a new spin on the fantasy genre for Young Adults! I loved how it was part Urban and part Myth! I was wholly entranced the entire time I read the novel!

    You'd be surprised there is a HEAP to discover right now! And, I do not typically gravitatetowards the regular 'must reads' either - no Twilight or Hunger Games for me! :) Don't wait to have children, I am not! :) I think I always get Middle Grade & YA confused for each other; the one novel I read on my blog & reviewed that I know for a fact is MG is: "Red Thread Sisters" about Chinese adoption, cultural differences, and the longing for a forever family. I highly recommend the book!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seeing these books brings back good memories. We read so many of the same books.

    ReplyDelete