Not going to lie, I cannot fully wrap my head around the fact that it’s 2024. But I have five mini middle grade reviews to start off your reading year. I am so excited to read more middle grade this year and I’m off to a good start with Free Period, Olivetti, Daughters of the Lamp, The Curse of Eelgrass Bog & Courtesy of Cupid.
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Olivetti by Allie Millington
Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive.
Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice–his used-to-be most frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him.
Their search takes them across San Francisco—chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
As someone who loves the idea of sentient objects, Olivetti is right up my alley. I love the idea of the objects in our lives witnessing our lives, seeing behind what we show to everyone else. Our hidden tears, the thoughts we mutter when we’re not thinking, the secrets we whisper in our sleep. It’s such a unique and powerful concept. In general, I enjoyed Olivetti’s character and all the lore and secrets behind the typewriters. The idea of an almost secret society of objects under our eyes.
It’s such a fabulous concept. Even more so, I loved Ernest’s character journey. How he feels like he doesn’t fit in. The ways Ernest’s family develops and evolves was fabulous. They have to learn that we can’t always run from our pain. To need to face it together, as a family. That there’s strength in togetherness, in what they can endure together. Find Olivetti on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
Free Period by Ali Terese
Helen and Gracie are pranking their way through middle school when a stinky stunt lands them in the front office — again. Because nothing else has curbed their chaos, the principal orders the best friends to do the care about something. So they join the school’s Community Action Club with plans to do as little as humanly possible. But when Helen is caught unprepared by an early period and bleeds through her pants — they were gold lamé! — the girls take over the club’s campaign for maxi pads in bathrooms for all students who menstruate.
In the name of period equity, the two friends use everything from over-the-top baked goods to glitter gluing for change. But nothing can prepare them for a clueless school board (ew), an annoying little sister (ugh), and crushes (oh my!). As Helen and Gracie find themselves closer to change and in deeper trouble than ever before, they must decide if they care enough to keep going . . . even if it costs them their friendship.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Free Period is a middle grade story about activism. About using our voice for fun, friendship, and for change. It’s about dispelling the taboo of periods for kids, to address the shame, but also the period inequity in our society. Middle grade stories exist at this junction where we begin to realize and learn the ‘shame’ of our bodies – whether it be hair, smells, or blood. About this moment when we begin to see bodies are more than just bodies. That’s part of why I love Free Period so much.
Immediately I loved the friendship duo of Gracie and Helen. I read passages aloud to my partner I loved their dynamic so much. The characters here scream detail, quirk, and vividness. They root themselves deeply into your heart. Free Period is a book that scream heart. It makes us realize what we can use our voice for, our antics, and our scheming. Terese’s debut balances a story about activism and period equity while also talking about friendship, leadership, and community. This is a must read for the middle grade audience!
Find Free Period on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
Daughters of the Lamp by Nedda Lewers
Believe in fairy tales.
Sahara Rashad lives by logic. Loves science. And always has a plan. Except her dad just whisked her away to her uncle’s wedding in Egypt, upending every single plan she had for the summer.
In Cairo, Sahara’s days are filled with family—and mystery. First, Sahara’s cousins claim the pretentious bride-to-be is actually a witch. Then her late mother’s necklace starts glowing—and disappears.
Sahara’s attempts to recover the necklace lead her to the greatest mystery yet. Deep in an underground chamber lies Ali Baba’s magical treasure. Hidden from a line of sorcerers who threatened to use its powers for evil, the treasure was given to Sahara’s ancestor Morgana for safekeeping and passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Now only Sahara stands in the sorcerers’ way.
Can the girl who’s never believed in magic trust the unknown and claim her legacy as the treasure’s keeper?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
This middle grade fantasy infuses a story about family, secrets in our history, and the power of our voice. In Daughters of the Lamp the power of fate and signs are spread out on every page. There’s trouble in the past and the present. Daughters of the Lamp delivers a sense of epic scale with scenes from the past while also being grounded in a story about family and protection. About trying to protect the ones we love, about the power – which can get in the wrong hands.
At the same time, what I loved was the ways Lewers examines family and identity. For Sahara she has to figure out where she feels ‘at home’. She is forced to figure out how she feels as everyone has opinions about how much of a part of her family, her heritage, her home, she is. To feel flashes of familiarity and also to feel a sense of not belonging. People who see her as only being American. Who fail to see the pieces of her. Daughters of the Lamp explores family while also delivering action and discoveries.
Find Daughters of the Lamp on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
Courtesy of Cupid by Nashae Jones
Erin Johnson’s thirteenth birthday unfolds like any other day, from her mom’s quirky and embarrassing choice of outfit to racing her nemesis, Trevor Jin, to the best seat in class—front row, center. But her gifts this year include something very out of the magical powers.
Erin discovers her mysterious father is actually the love god Cupid and she’s inherited his knack for romance. It’s not the most useful ability for an overachiever with lofty academic and extracurricular goals…or is it? Erin desperately wants to be elected president of the Multicultural Leadership Club, and as usual, Trevor is her fiercest competition. He’s never backed down from a challenge before, but if Erin makes him fall in love with her, maybe he’d drop out of the race and let her win.
With her magical pedigree, wrapping Trevor around her finger is a snap, and having him around all the time is a small price to pay for victory. But without their cutthroat rivalry bringing out the worst in each other, Erin realizes Trevor may not be as bad as she thought, and suddenly her first foray into love gets a lot more complicated…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Courtesy of Cupid mixes rivalries and crushes and magical responsibility. It’s perfect for readers who want to swoon, but also want a dash of magic. It’s about the power of love for good and maybe for also sabotage? This middle grade story stole my heart. I’m the queen of salty grudges so rivalry stories will always pique my interest! And in Courtesy of Cupid it’s done so well. We love a STEM queen and so you know I was rooting for Erin from the beginning.
Especially as Erin has to learn about the responsibility of power. Of the ability to pass judgement and manipulate people’s lives with intentions, or not. Like most rival stories, Courtesy of Cupid means that Erin has to see the hidden pieces of Trevor. The reasons for his action, their mutual respect, but also the missing pieces, his vulnerabilities. It’s human to make mistakes, but it’s about how we fix them, how we take responsibility for them, that matters. Find Courtesy of Cupid on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling
Nothing about Kess Pedrock’s life is normal. Not her home (she lives in her family’s Unnatural History Museum), not her interests (hunting for megafauna fossils and skeletons), and not her best friend (a talking demon’s head in a jar named Shrunken Jim).
But things get even stranger than usual when Kess meets Lilou Starling, the new girl in town. Lilou comes to Kess for help breaking a mysterious curse—and the only clue she has leads straight into the center of Eelgrass Bog.
Everyone knows the bog is full of witches, demons, and possibly worse, but Kess and Lilou are determined not to let that stop them. As they investigate the mystery and uncover long-buried secrets, Kess begins to realize that the curse might hit closer to home than she’d ever expected, and she’ll have to summon all her courage to find a way to break it before it’s too late.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Curse of Eelgrass Bog has just the right amount of quirk that I would have loved as a middle grade reader. There’s this fascination, this awkwardness in social interactions, and a love for the ‘strange’ that I adore. Kess’s complicated sibling relationship – which only evolves throughout the book – is one of my favorite elements. All in all, The Curse of Eelgrass Bog all of a sudden switched a flip for me. There’s this lead up where you aren’t even aware of it, until it turns and the light bulb goes off. And the whole book transforms.
It becomes a story about family secrets, about her longing for community and not wanting to be alone. The forest transforms into a character all on its own. About a drowned world that might swallow them whole. The Curse of Eelgrass Bog is about balancing protection and the truth. This delicate line of wanting to protect someone from the harsh truths, from the sadness, yet knowing that we have to allow that wound, that grief, space. Find The Curse of Eelgrass Bog on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.