Book Recommendation: Aru Shah #iLoveMG

Welcome to #iLoveMG where I share middle grade books that my fifth graders recommend. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Or check out #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

The Aru Shah Series

Recommended by Varnika

Do you like learning things about cultures other than your own? Do you like books full (no, literally) of adventure?

Then you should read Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. It's a book full of Hindu mythology, adventure, and humor.

The book is about a girl named Aru who accidentally freezes all time in the world and releases a powerful demon spirit (hence the name) when she lights a lamp to show off for her friends. She then learns that she has the reincarnated soul of one of the famous Pandava brothers. She teams up with Mini, another girl with a Pandava soul. They go on an epic quest through the Otherworld, making friends and fighting demons along the way.


If you liked that book and you want to find out what happens to Aru next, read Aru Shah and the Song of Death.

In this book, the god of love's bow and arrow are stolen and Aru is blamed. She and Mini team up with Brynne, another reincarnated Pandava and Aiden, the son of a famous celestial dancer. They go on a long adventure, fighting nagas (top half human, bottom half snake), a legendary demoness, and others. Aru Shah is a brave, Swedish Fish eating girl and she will prove her strength to you through this book.

Note: These two books are part of a quartet. The third book is called Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, and it is coming out in spring 2020.

Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 09/16/17

It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.

Recent Posts

• #PB10for10: Inclusive picture books for the first weeks of school. A round up of my all-time favorites (and many of which I've already shared with this year's fifth graders).

• Fifth grader book recommendation: Number the Stars

• Best Book List: fantasy by fifth grader Ezra

• Probably every book I read in fifth grade that you should read too

Middle Grade

I decided to dedicate a white board in my room to our own #IMWAYR, and I love it! The kids enjoy seeing what others are reading, and it's been an easy way to initiate book conversations. My plan was for it to be a once-a-week thing, but they kept wanting to keep it current and changed Monday to whatever day of the week it was.

I've read several new books over the past month, most of which are now available. Click over to the full posts to read more!

Friend or Fiction is the third novel from Abby Cooper, and it debuts on October 8th, 2019. Click here to read my full review post.

Hena Khan's newest middle grade novel More to the Story debuted earlier this month. Click here for my full review post.

The Okay Witch is a new graphic novel by Emma Steinkellner debuting on September 3rd, 2019. Click here to read my full review post.

Happy Reading!

New Book Alert: Friend or Fiction

Friend or Fiction is the third novel from Abby Cooper, and it debuts on October 8th, 2019. Like her previous books, Sticks & Stones and Bubbles, Friend or Fiction is set in our modern world with one very specific element of magical realism thrown in. (I received a digital ARC of the book through Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.)

Jade has always felt adrift in her small town, and her dad's cancer diagnosis has only made things work. She (and her dad) takes solace in her creative writing about her imagined best friend, Zoe. So when a classmate's experiment brings real life Zoe out of the notebook and into her classroom, Jade couldn't be more thrilled. But is writing your own best friend the same as actually having one ... ?

I thorough enjoyed this amusing novel, and it has a lot to say about the realities of true friendship. I also particularly loved all the winks and nods about the writing process, especially some of the things Zoe doesn't know/have because Jade hadn't thought to include them in the writing. But you'll have to read it for yourself to find out more!

I think readers will really be drawn to the premise of this book ... and they might be surprised at how much it makes them think too!

New Book Alert: More to the Story

Happy book birthday to Hena Khan's newest middle grade novel: More to the Story! Inspired by Little Women, this modern-day story is narrated by seventh grader Jameela (Jam), the second oldest in a family of Muslim-American four sisters. She'd much rather be thinking about her next story for the middle school newspaper than dealing with the news of her dad's new job overseas. But the new school year brings even more challenges for Jameela and her whole family.

Readers already familiar with Little Women will enjoy recognizing the connections (big and small) to the original story - the sisters share names with matching first letters (Jameela / Jo for example). But I think even readers without any knowledge of Little Women will find a lot to connect to in this novel: from long-distance parents to navigating new friendships to learning to speak up for what you care about. This is a book I look forward to adding to my classroom library!

(I received a digital ARC of More to the Story via Net Galley. All thoughts are my own.)

Book Recommendation: Number the Stars #iLoveMG

Welcome to #iLoveMG where I share middle grade books that my fifth graders recommend. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Or check out #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

Number the Stars

Recommended by AH

Hi, my name is Anna, and I recommend the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry because it is full of adventures, and takes you back in time to imagine what it was like for Jewish people during the Danish Civil War.

The book is about a girl named Annemarie, and her best friend Ellen, who live in Denmark. At that time, many Nazis roamed Denmark looking for Jewish people to arrest, and because of that, Ellen and her family are in great danger, and it is up to Annemarie to save their lives.

My favorite quote from the book is from Annemarie’s mother: “ The God of Thunder [a kitten] made a very small rain shower in the corner of the kitchen floor, keep an eye on him."

If you like adventures, mystery, and history I think you would like this book. It was a lot of fun to read this book and learn a little about the history of Europe, and if any of you read it, I hope you like it too.

Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?

Best Book List: Fantasy Favorites #BestBooks #iLoveMG

At the end of the year, I asked my fifth grade students to create their own Best Book List, themed however they wished. Click our Best Book tag for more lists or #iLoveMG for individual books recommended by my fifth graders. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Check out #3rdfor3rd for kid recommendations from when I taught third grade.

My Favorite Book List

Recommended by ER

• Ready Player One is a futuristic book where everyone lives most of their lives in vr. There is a giant competition in the vr game and the whole world tries to win. This game makes a lot of troubles for the main character. (YA)

• Amulet 1 through 8 are a great series of books. The main character finds an amulet that brings to many adventures. These books are very exciting and will take you many places.

• Percy Jackson is a great low fantasy series where the main character is half god. Being half god is very hard for a young teenager. He and many of his friends go on many treacherous adventures.

• Artemis Fowl is a good book if you like mystery. Artemis Fowl may seem like a good guy but he is not. He is an 11 year old criminal that never gets caught. In this book he finds out a lot about other species and uncovers secrets.

• Savvy is a very good low fantasy book where one family has special powers. They might seem odd but really they’re just a regular family. The kids go on an adventure to see their dad in the hospital this book has many secrets.

Student-designed cover for Savvy

Click here for all of our Best Books posts or here for more great middle grade recommendations. What are your favorite fantasy books?

New Graphic Novel Alert: The Okay Witch

The Okay Witch is a new graphic novel by Emma Steinkellner debuting on September 3rd, 2019. (I received access to a digital ARC via Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.)

13-year old Moth has always felt like the odd one out in her small New England town, so finding out that she's actually a witch, descended from the hunted witches of the 1700s, is almost more of a relief than a worry. But unraveling the truth about her parentage and why her mother has been keeping her witch powers secret will take a little more digging.

Moth is an immediately engaging character to root for, and I love how the book wraps this story in the imagined history of a sleepy New England town and its connections to its darker history. There is a lot to be discovered here about how we understand our past, what lessons we choose to learn from it, and what divisions we continue to sow, as the angle of "witches" makes it easy for the reader to make connections to real-world racism, hatred, and discrimination.

Graphic novels continue to be among the hottest books in my classroom library, and I am sure this is another that I will likely never see on my shelf again, as it makes its way from reader to reader to reader!

Looking for more graphic novels?

• Great Graphic Novels for Middle School, realistic fiction
• Great Graphic Novels for Middle School, fantasy
• Middle Schoolers' Favorite Graphic Novels