Catching Up on Middle Grade Books

I've been reading alot of adult non-fiction lately, so I was pretty behind on my middle-grade reads. Here are a few that I finished recently:

Dana Simpson's cartoons about Phoebe and her imaginary? unicorn are reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes. Phoebe confides in her friend, plays with her and sometimes comes to realizations containing adult wisdom, but it's not really clear if the unicorn is real, or if the people who interact with the unicorn are playing along.

I love reading historical fiction, and Dumas's book is a breath of fresh air in this genre. When most people think about historical fiction, they envision classic titles with outdated cover art, like:

But It Ain't So Awful, Falafel is set in the 1970's, so there are many familiar pop culture references like The Brady Bunch, the Beach Boys, and beanbag chairs.  Zomorod and her family are from Iran, but they are living in California when the revolution begins, and the American hostage situation crisis unfolds on televisions around the world. Her family gets a taste of the prejudice and intolerance that exists when people choose to be ignorant and close-minded, but ultimately Zomorod sees that people, no matter their country, religion or skin color, are willing to help others.

Since I enjoyed that historical fiction book so much, I went in search of another one. This book, with its young black heroine who exhibits bravery and strength throughout the story, is a good read for fans of Christopher Paul Curtis's book The Mighty Miss Malone.

The story begins with Stella and her younger brother Jojo witnessing a Ku Klux Klan meeting from afar. Knowing that the Klan has become active again in their town, they try to go about their lives as normally, and carefully, as possible. Stella attends school and enjoys it, even if she is not the best writer. She helps out at home, and enjoys community get togethers whenever possible. She observes people with interest and compassion, noting that although some people will only help people whose skin color matches their own, that other people treat everyone equally.  This book makes a good introduction to learning about the Klan's resurgence in the early 20th century; it sets the tone and contains basic information, but nothing graphic.