JFIC Favorites 2019

Hello, jFIC fans,

Here are my favorite jFIC books of 2019:

The Rambling by Jimmy Cajoleas (Fantasy/Folklore)

Eleven-year-old Buddy goes on a dangerous quest to rescue his dad from a magical crime Lord. His weapons are a knife and his father’s magical Parsnit cards, and his sidekick is a spider-folk girl named Tally. A fantastic setting, page-turning danger and adventure, quirky characters, a creative game of cards, great messages about family and identity, and a fascinating metanarrative all work together to make this novel an outstanding read.

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo (Realistic Fiction)

This is the third book featuring characters from the world of Raymie Nightingale. I loved this tenderhearted, sensitive story about dealing with grief and hardship, and finding unlikely friends in the process. Lyrical, poignant, and simply wonderful.

A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (Historical Fiction)

A lovely novel, written in verse, about the Irish Land War (1881). Well done, suspenseful, and poignant. Excellent characterization.

Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt (Realistic Fiction / Humor)

Carter Jones is dealing with his first year in middle school, his father’s absence, his brother’s death, his distraught mother, helping to take care of his three younger sisters, and a surprise English butler who wants him to behave like a “proper gentleman” and learn to drink tea and play cricket. Well-written and both funny and heart-wrenching.

The Runaways by Ulf Stark (Realistic Fiction)

A young boy helps his dying grandfather to run away from the hospital for a couple of days, giving him the chance to prepare for his final good-bye. Well-written with delightful characters. An inter-generational adventure full of humor and heart. 

Happy reading!

“What’s this?” I said.

“Tea with milk and sugar,” said the Butler.

“I don’t drink tea,” I said.

“All civilized people drink tea, young Master Jones.”

“Then I guess I’m not civilized.”

“A claim you share with Vikings, Huns, assorted barbarian hordes, and marauders of all stripes. I have taken the liberty of adding more sugar than one might normally expect.”

I sipped at it. I sipped again. It was pretty good.

“It stinks,” I said.

— from Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt

JFIC Adventures 2019

Hello, jFIC fans,

Looking for a holiday gift for the preteen in your life? Here are seven jFIC adventure novels published in 2019 that I particularly enjoyed:

The Rambling by Jimmy Cajoleas

A fantastical river setting, unforgettable characters, and a terrific storyline.

The Stormkeeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle

A beautifully-written high-stakes Irish fantasy. Fascinating!

The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horowitz

The daughter and heir of a Dark Lord saves the day. Witches, unicorns, quirky characters, and a positive message. Very entertaining!

Time Sight by Lynne Jonell

A suspenseful time-travel adventure in the Scottish highlands. A page-turner!

Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly

A fantastical quest in a wondrous island setting with endearing characters and a great message.

The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell (British cover shown)

A group of talented children stand up to an evil conman. High stakes and a clever twist at the end.

Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage

A post-apocalyptic adventure where the main character is a human cockroach. Terrific!

Happy reading + happy holidays + happy new year!!!

“There’s a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie” –from “Sleigh Ride” by Billy Gilman

Twelve Christmas Classics

Hello, jFIC fans,

Last year I posted a list of holiday books:

https://elsapla.wordpress.com/2018/11/29/holiday-books-2/

Here are 12 Christmas classics to add to the list:

Little Women by Louise May Alcott

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck (author) and Mark Buehner (illustrator)

A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories edited and assembled by Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Nueve Días para Navidad: Un Cuento de México by Marie Hall Ets (author, illustrator) and Aurora Labastida (author)

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

Circle of Wonder: A Native American Christmas Story by N. Scott Momaday

The Taylor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (author) and Trina Schart Hyman (illustrator)

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski (author) and P.J. Lynch (illustrator)

Joyous reading and happy holidays!

“It snowed last year too: I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea.”
― Dylan Thomas (from A Child’s Christmas in Wales)

JFIC Family Stories

Hello, jFIC Fans,

Here’s a list of 25 diverse jFIC books about family stories. Some are happy and some are sad, some are contemporary and some are historical, most are realistic and a few are fantastical, and all are great reads. 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay and sequels by Julia Alvarez

My Diary from the Edge of the World by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Hold Fast by Blue Balliett

The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson

The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Lotterys Plus One and sequel by Emma Donoghue

The Birchbark House and sequels by Louise Erdrich

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street and sequels by Karina Yan Glaser

A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Riley Giff

The Family Hitchcock by Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett

Sarah, Plain, and Tall and sequels by Patricia MacLachlan

Saffy’s Angel and sequels by Hilary McKay

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

The Borrowers and sequels by Mary Norton

Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr

The Best Man by Richard Peck

Esperanza Rising and sequel by Pam Munoz Ryan

Shooting Kabul and sequels by N.H. Senzai

All-of-a-Kind Family and sequels by Sydney Taylor

Three Times Lucky and sequels by Sheila Turnage

One Crazy Summer and sequels by Rita Williams-Garcia

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Happy reading!

“Mercy on us, how they did talk! first one, then the other, then all burst out together–trying to tell the history of three years in half an hour. It was fortunate that tea was at hand, to produce a lull and provide refreshment–for they would have been hoarse and faint if they had gone on much longer.” – Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Spooky JFIC

Hello, jFIC fans,

October is my favorite month of the year, not just because it’s so cool and colorful, but because it has the funnest holiday: Halloween! To celebrate, here’s a list of creepy reads that’ll leave you feeling delightfully spooked. Read them at night with a steaming cup of your favorite autumn tea.

The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson

Small Spaces and Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

The House With a Clock in Its Walls and other books by John Bellairs

Doll Bones by Holly Black

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

The Ghost Road by Chris Cotter

The Witches by Roald Dahl

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

Watch Hollow by Gregory Funaro

The Graveyard Book and Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Wait Till Helen Comes and other books by Mary Downing Hahn

The Great Ghost Rescue and Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

How to Catch a Bogle Trilogy by Catherine Jinks

The Dark Thirty by Patricia McKissack

The Book of Bad Things and other books by Dan Poblocki

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (three books) by Alvin Schwartz

City of Ghosts and Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

Beware! scary stories picked by by R.L. Stine

Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine

Lockwood & Co Series by Jonathan Stroud  

The Accidental Afterlife of Thomas Marsden by Emma Trevayne

Nightbooks by J.A. White

Happy reading!

“Autumn stars shine through gaps in the wall. We brew midnight tea by the stove’s ruddy light.” ~From a traditional Taoist song

JFIC and Love of Nature

Hello, jFIC fans,

From beloved classics like Heidi by Johanna Spyri to contemporary gems like The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, there are many jFIC books that inspire love and respect for nature. Here are a few: 

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

The Ancient One by T.A. Barron

Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty

The Wild Robot and sequel by Peter Brown

The Earth Is My Mother by  Bev Doolittle and Elise Maclay

The Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher

Julie of the Wolves and sequels by Jean Craighead George

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Hoot and others by Carl Hiaasen

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and sequel by Jacqueline Kelly

Wild Wings and others by Gill Lewis

Hatchet and sequels by Gary Paulsen

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Song of the Trees by Mildred Taylor

The Last Wild and sequels by Piers Torday

Happy reading!

“Where there’s tea there’s hope.” ~Arthur Wing Pinero

JFIC Books about School

Hello, jFIC fans,

August is National Back-to-School Month, and many schools have already begun or are about to begin the new school year, so here’s a broad list (alpha by title) of jFIC books (including some graphic novels) about school life, followed by a few personal favorites. 

Amelia’s Middle School Graduation Yearbook by Marissa Moss

Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry

Anna Wang: The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng

Back to School, Mallory! by Laurie Friedman

The Best Man by Richard Peck

Big Nate in a Class by Himself (Big Nate Series) by Lincoln Peirce

Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf (NEW 2019)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Dork Diaries Series) by Rachel Renee Russell 

Eighth Grade Is Making Me Sick by Jennifer L. Holm

Ellie McDoodle New Kid in School by Ruth McNally Barshaw

The Fantastic and Terrible Fame of Classroom 13 by Honest Lee and Mathew J. Gilbert

Fire Girl by Tony Abbott

The First Day of School Forever by R. L. Stein

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

The 47 People You’ll Meet in Middle School by Kristin Mahoney (NEW 2019)

The Friendship Experiment by Erin Teagan

Frindle and other books about school by Andrew Clements

George by Alex Gino

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

The Homework Strike by Greg Pincus

How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park

Loser, Crash, and other books about school by Jerry Spinelli

Middle School Cool by Maiya Williams

Middle School Is Worse than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm

Middle School Misadventures by Jason Platt

The Middle School Rules of Brian Urlacher by Sean Jensen

Middle School Series and other books about school by James Patterson and partner writers

The Misadventures of Max Crumbly Series by Rachel Renee Russell

My Homework Ate My Homework by Patrick Jennings

New Kid by Jerry Craft

One Tough Chick (from the Annabelle Unleashed Series) by Leslie Margolis

Posted by John David Anderson

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School Series by Charles Gilman

Reformed by Justin Weinberger

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan

Smile and Drama by Raina Telgemeier

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda Series by Tom Angleberger

The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (from the Timmy Failure Series) by Stephan Pastis

Too Cool for This School by Kristen Tracy

Twerp by Mark Goldblatt

The Unteachables and other books about school by Gordon Korman

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry

And three favorites:

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Eleven-year-old Langston moves with his father from Alabama to Chicago in 1946 after his mother dies. Langston has to deal with many new experiences: a whole new way of life in the city, a new school, bullying, and different kinds of discrimination. Fortunately he walks into a library and discovers the comforting words of poet Langston Hughes, his namesake. 

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by  Meg Medina

Cuban American Merci Suárez lives with her mother, father, and older brother. Her grandfather, with whom she has a close relationship and who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, lives next door. Other relatives live nearby, and the whole extended family helps each other in different ways. Her father doesn’t earn much money, but Merci has earned a scholarship to a private school for rich kids, where she experiences multiple challenges. Merci has to learn to balance the school’s expectations and her family responsibilities. Family comes first, of course.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

It’s 1967, and seventh grader Holling Hoodhood is being forced to spend each Wednesday afternoon with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, whom he believes hates him. Holling slowly realizes that although Mrs. Baker is strict, she’s also caring and insightful. Through his teacher, his sister, friends, and the works of Shakespeare, Holling opens his eyes to the dangers in the world he’s living in: the Vietnam war and its tragic consequences and the problems of racism and discrimination. The Wednesday Wars is a humorous coming-of-age novel with a lot of heart.

Happy reading!

“Coffee, coffee! It’s our drink! If we don’t get it, we can’t think!” ~Unknown