Carol Coven Grannick

If you have for­got­ten the trau­mas of mid­dle school, as well as the plot and score of The Music Man, then Upstaged is the book for you. Diana Har­mon Asher’s fun­ny and engag­ing nov­el fol­lows Shi­ra Gor­don, a tal­ent­ed sev­enth grad­er cast in her school’s pro­duc­tion of the well-loved musi­cal, as she learns about courage and self-accep­tance. Thor­ough­ly believ­able char­ac­ters and authen­tic the­atri­cal details set Shira’s sto­ry apart from sim­i­lar mid­dle-grade fare.

Fic­tion Danielle Joseph Review By – November 1, 2021 Syd­ney A. Frankel loves to read. Her moth­er insists that she take a sum­mer class in any­thing but read­ing in order to broad­en her hori­zons and gain self-con­fi­dence. Syd­ney’s friend, Mag­gie, loves to dance. Her moth­er insists that she take a sum­mer class in read­ing because she needs the prac­tice. What are two bright, deter­mined, cre­ative ris­ing sixth-graders to do?

Yehu­di Mercado’s new graph­ic nov­el presents two endear­ing char­ac­ters to read­ers mid­dle-grade and old­er. Hudi is a bright, fun­ny kid with lit­tle ath­let­ic abil­i­ty but incred­i­ble charm and intel­li­gence. He is also both Jew­ish and Mex­i­can-Amer­i­can, liv­ing with his work­ing class fam­i­ly in Hous­ton, Texas. To add anoth­er chal­lenge, ongo­ing health prob­lems have caused his well-mean­ing par­ents to have con­cerns about Hudi’s weight.