THE BRIDGE HOME by Padma Venkatramen

 

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

194 pages

Fiction-India, Homelessness, Child Labor, Survival, Adventure, Friendship, Family

Lesson Plan available

 Description
Kirkus Reviews starred (December 15, 2018)

"Venkatraman’s middle-grade debut tackles sisterhood, chosen families, and loss. Eleven-year-old Viji and her sister, Rukku, flee their abusive father after he breaks Amma’s arm and kicks Rukku. They find themselves, overwhelmed, in the big city of Chennai, where they are temporarily employed by kind Teashop Aunty, who offers them bananas and vadais, and fall in love with a puppy, Kutti, who becomes their constant companion. The sisters meet Muthu and Arul, two boys who live under an abandoned bridge, and join them; Viji tells Rukku elaborate stories to reassure herself and her sister that they will be OK. Soon, Viji finds herself telling the young boys her stories as well; in return, the boys show the girls how to earn money on the streets: by scavenging for resalable trash in a very large garbage dump Muthu calls “the Himalayas of rubbish.” When tragedy strikes, it is this new family who helps Viji come to terms. Craftwise, the book is thoughtful: Venkatraman employs the second person throughout as Viji writes to Rukku, and readers will ultimately understand that Viji is processing her grief by writing their story. Viji’s narration is vivid and sensory; moonlight “slip[s] past the rusty iron bars on our window”; “the taste of half an orange…last[s] and last[s].” The novel also touches on social justice issues such as caste, child labor, and poverty elegantly, without sacrificing narrative. A blisteringly beautiful book. (Fiction. 10-14)"

 

My Comments

Venkatraman writes a heartbreaking story through the eyes of a young girl who is trying to survive homelessness on the streets of Chennai, India while taking care of her developmentally challenged sister. The writing is indeed vivid and sensory as mentioned in the Kirkus review. She portrays the stark contrast of wealth and poverty. Chennai is a fashionable city, ranked the ‘best city in India in 2014 which makes this story all the more heartbreaking, but also so full of love, healing, courage, and triumph.

 

“Chennai is ranked as a beta-level city in the Global Cities Index,^[32] and was ranked the best city in India by India Today in the 2014 annual Indian city survey.^[33][34] In 2015 Chennai was named the "hottest" city (city worth visiting and worth living in for long term) by the BBC, citing the mixture of both modern and traditional values.^[35] National Geographic mentioned Chennai as the only South Asian city to feature in its 2015 "Top 10 food cities" list.^[36] Chennai was also named the ninth-best cosmopolitan city in the world by Lonely Planet.^[37] In October 2017, Chennai was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) list for its rich musical tradition.^[38] More than one-third of India's automobile industry being based in the city. Home to the Tamil film industry, Chennai is also known as a major film production centre. It is one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the Smart Cities Mission.^{[39]” (}

-Wikipedia

PRAIRIE LOTUS by Linda Sue Park

Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

261 pages

Asian American, Historical Fiction, U.S. History, Social Awareness, Racism

 Description

Kirkus Reviews starred (January 15, 2020)

“A “half-Chinese and half-white” girl finds her place in a Little House–inspired fictional settler town. After the death of her Chinese mother, Hanna, an aspiring dressmaker, and her white father seek a fresh start in Dakota Territory. It’s 1880, and they endure challenges similar to those faced by the Ingallses and so many others: dreary travel through unfamiliar lands, the struggle to protect food stores from nature, and the risky uncertainty of establishing a livelihood in a new place. Fans of the Little House books will find many of the small satisfactions of Laura’s stories—the mouthwatering descriptions of victuals, the attention to smart building construction, the glorious details of pleats and poplins—here in abundance. Park brings new depth to these well-trodden tales, though, as she renders visible both the xenophobia of the town’s white residents, which ranges in expression from microaggressions to full-out assault, and Hanna’s fight to overcome it with empathy and dignity. Hanna’s encounters with women of the nearby Ihanktonwan community are a treat; they hint at the whole world beyond a white settler perspective, a world all children deserve to learn about. A deeply personal author’s note about the story’s inspiration may leave readers wishing for additional resources for further study and more clarity about her use of Lakota/Dakota. While the cover art unfortunately evokes none of the richness of the text and instead insinuates insidious stereotypes, readers who sink into the pages behind it will be rewarded. Remarkable.”

 

My Comments

This book is so well done, so age appropriate, and is a riveting read. It should be a class read or reading group discussion. So well done!

 

JUST LIKE THAT by Gary Schmidt

 

Just Like that by Gary Schmidt

Historical Fiction (United States, Vietnam War)

 Grief, Loss, Humor

387 pages

"The well-phrased writing is understated, endlessly 

engaging, and sometimes suspenseful or amusing."

 (Booklist)

Description

Booklist starred (September 1, 2020 (Vol. 117, No. 1))

Grades 6-8. It’s the summer of 1968. The accidental death of a dear friend

has blindsided Meryl Lee, and grief still overwhelms her at times. Unable to 

face her old school for eighth grade, she enrolls at St. Elene’s Preparatory 

Academy in Maine, where she initially feels isolated from her pretentious 

roommate and other classmates. From the start, she’s intrigued by the strong,

 enigmatic headmistress, Dr. MacKnockater, who seems to understand so much

and whose opening address unexpectedly mesmerizes and challenges Meryl Lee. 

Slowly, she begins to find her way and tentatively makes friends 

while navigating boarding-school life under the watchful eyes 

of her inscrutable teachers. 

Meanwhile, Matt has arrived in the area. A good-hearted, vulnerable boy on the run 

from his sometimes-violent past, he’s befriended by Dr. MacKnockater, who takes 

him in and gradually gains his trust. The Vietnam War isn’t just the story’s backdrop,

but an inescapable, unsettling element of the times, painfully affecting several characters. 

The well-phrased writing is understated, endlessly engaging, and sometimes suspenseful

 or amusing. While fans of Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars (2007) and Lizzie Bright 

and the Buckminster Boy (2004) will find links to both stories here, this well-constructed 

novel, with its beautifully interwoven strands of narrative, stands on its own. An 

unforgettable story of loss, healing, and finding one’s way.

PAX by Sara Pennypacker

 

PAX by Sara Pennypacker

Fiction, Animal-Human Relationships, War

Description

Hornbook

“Peter and his pet fox have been inseparable since Peter rescued Pax as a kit. Now Peter’s father has enlisted, and there’s no room at Grandfather’s house (where the boy will be staying) for a fox, tame or otherwise; Peter’s father forces his son to release Pax into the wild. Heartsick, Peter soon decides to run away to find Pax. He stumbles onto the land of a woman named Vola, a hermit who reluctantly helps the boy regain his strength after an injury and whose own tragic backstory gradually emerges. Omniscient third-person chapters alternate between Peter’s story and that of Pax, who falls in with a young vixen, her fox-kit brother, and an aging alpha who takes Pax under his protection as the fox tries to find his boy. Pennypacker’s setting is stark, the details of time and place intentionally murky, with occasional textured black-and-white illustrations by Klassen playing up scenes both ordinary-seeming (a boy in a baseball dugout) and subtly menacing (flowers trampled into the ground). “Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t mean it isn’t happening” reads the book’s epigraph, and readers are kept off-balance throughout as soldiers, including Peter’s father, amass and prepare for an unnamed war against unidentified combatants that’s poised to take place practically in Peter’s backyard. An emotional, thought-provoking story of conflict, loyalty, and love. elissa gershowitz”

My Comments

This is a timeless book set in a timeless place. It can be read on many levels depending on the reader. Don't let the adorable cover fool you; this is a book that addresses loss, anger, moral responsibility towards animals, human's place on earth, respect, and love. One of my absolute all time favorites. Highly recommended through 8th grade for independent reading or classroom discussion. It's also a not long and it's a page turner!

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF AIDAN S. (as told by his brother) by David Levithan

 

Fantasy, 215 pages

Description

Publishers Weekly starred (January 4, 2021)

It’s great to step into a magical wardrobe and be transported to a fantastic world, but what happens when you come back? Returning from a magical place called Aveinieu with a royal blue leaf in his hair, 12-year-old Aidan finds he’s been missing for six days, his inexplicable disappearance resulting in a massive, town-wide search as well as endless police questioning of his family and best friend. But joy over his safe return quickly turns to unease about his inability to account for the time-Aidan knows he won’t be believed, and his exhausted parents don’t know whether to be worried or furious. His brother, 11-year-old Lucas, previously duped by Aidan’s fanciful stories, tries to catch him in inconsistencies in a brotherly arc that moves toward emotional support. Via Lucas’s urgent narration, Levithan (19 Love Songs) validates both Lucas’s real-world experience and Aidan’s post-portal mourning, telling a well-paced story about the collision of realities in the vein of Laura E. Weymouth and Seanan McGuire. Ages 8-12. Agent: Bill Clegg, the Clegg Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

My Comments

Magical and mysterious with a hint of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I love the relationship of the brothers.

ZENOBIA JULY by Lisa Bunker

 

Description
The critically acclaimed author of Felix Yz crafts a bold, heartfelt story about a trans girl solving a cyber mystery and coming into her own. Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she's in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she's coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she's able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was. When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school's website, Zenobia knows she's the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home. -Publisher

My Comments

This is a story that you want to keep reading. Zenobia has experienced tremendous loss and rejection, but she is a fighter inside. She is not a rebel, but she is not afraid to stand up for others. Zenobia is complex. She defies stereotypes. She breaks your heart. The book, however, is not all sadness. There are colorful, funny characters, there is friendship, and there is triumph. Zenobia July will give some students courage. It will open the minds and hearts of all readers.

ALI CROSS by James Patterson

 Description

When his best friend Abraham is reported missing, Ali Cross sets out to find him, but he soon learns that being a kid sleuth isn't easy and clues aren't always what they seem"--Provided by publisher.

My Comments

Great choice for those looking for high action mysteries.

MAYBE HE JUST LIKES YOU by Emily Barbara Dee

 

Description

When boys in her class start touching seventh-grader Mila and making her feel uncomfortable, she does not want to tell her friends or mother until she reaches her breaking point.

My Comments

Realistic portrayal of sexual harassment of a girl in middle school that is called just joking by the boys. Mila's confusion, her unwillingness to tell anyone, and the conflict it causes in her life ring true. The story pulls in the reader from the beginning to the end. Highly recommended.

THIS LIGHT BETWEEN US by Andrew Fukuda

Description 

"In 1935, ten-year-old Alex Maki of Bainbridge Island, Washington, is horrified to discover that his new pen pal, Charlie Lévy of Paris, France, is a girl, but in spite of his initial reluctance, their letters continue over the years and they fight for their friendship even as Charlie endures the Nazi occupation and Alex leaves his family in an internment camp and joins the Army" -publisher

My Comments

A gorgeous, tragic story with a tragic ending. The racism against the American Japanese after Pearl Harbor is painful to read, but the perseverance against all odds in the United States and in the war overseas is inspiring. The relationship of Charlie and Alex grows against the backdrop of war's injustice. This is a book for advanced middle school through adult readers.

LIFE IN THE BALANCE by Jen Petro-Roy

 

Realistic Fiction, Softball, Friendship, Family, Alcoholism

Description

After Mom’s alcoholism has created anger within the family and a problem at work, she leaves to spend eight weeks in rehab. Dad takes a second job and has little time for Veronica. Just when she’s worked up the courage to tell Claudia, her best friend, about the situation, Claudia preempts her with the news of her parents’ divorce. Reluctant to add to her friend’s distress, Veronica doesn’t tell her, but when Claudia discovers the secret, she feels hurt that Veronica didn’t confide in her. A heart-to-heart talk sets their friendship back on course, but it will be a long time before Veronica feels that her family is right again. Still, a support group offers a gleam of hope. Petro-Roy, whose Good Enough (2019) portrays a 12-year-old at a treatment center for anorexia, writes with clarity and avoids suggesting that alcoholism is easy to manage or to live with. Given that Veronica’s a sixth-grader whose family is in distress, it seems natural that friendship lies at the heart of this very readable story.

My Comments

The plot has suspense involving making the team, friendship, family secrets, and what's happening with Veronica's mother. The story is accessible and age appropriate. This is a great realistic fiction choice for all middle schoolers.