Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer

 

Ezra Cloud is a Native kid living in the city. He hates it there but his dad is a professor of Ojibwe language with a job in Minneapolis. Ezra would rather be in Canada with his grandparents learning their skills in nature. When Ezra has a run-in with Matt Shroeder, a notoriously troubled bully, Ezra becomes a suspect in a fire that destroys Matt's house and kills his family members. Ezra's family sends him north to work a trapline with his grandfather while the investigation plays out, knowing that an Indian teenager may not get fair treatment from the law. This book grabs your attention from the first page, makes you fall in love with Ezra and his grandparents, then catapults you into an outdoor survival story, then brings you back to the original murder mystery. It's a great story with so much to learn along the way. The audiobook read by the author is excellent, and it will help readers to hear the Ojibwe words spoken. It's a true coming of age story about a young teen finding his culture, learning about his mother, seeing his grandparents as full people, finding first love, facing mortal danger, and reconciling with his father. Beautifully written and insightful and a really great story. Highly recommended for 7th graders on up and also for adults.  

Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

 

Ferris is going into 5th grade and is having a weird summer that includes a sick grandma, a possible ghost, a younger sibling running wild, and adults acting strangely (and sometimes selfishly). It's an offbeat, quirky story grounded in family relationships and the love of a grandmother and granddaughter. As you can probably tell from this description, it's hard to describe the plot of this story, because it's not really about the plot. Suffice it to say, it's very much in the Kate DiCamillo style, and I love her books. The writing has moments of pure beautiful simplicity. This book is solidly for younger kids, however, and I don't see a lot of crossover appeal for middle schoolers, even though it is beautifully written. 

The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine by Katherine Marsh

 

Have you ever heard of the Holodomor? I hadn't until I read this book. And a good children's historical fiction novel is one of my favorite ways to learn something new. This story has a dual timeline--Matthew is a 13-year-old living with his mother and grandmother during the 2020 pandemic. An old photo starts him on a journey of discovering her secret past. The 1930s story is one of cousins from Ukraine who are living through a horrific famine that is being deliberately covered up by the Soviet Union. One cousin is a city girl who is well fed, but when a starving girl claiming to be her cousin shows up on her doorstep she discovers family secrets as well as the high cost of speaking truth under the communist regime. It has a lot of similarities to Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler, and also connects to Blackbird Girls by Anne Blackman and I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys. A great book for 4th-8th graders but also can be enjoyed by adults. 

Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler

 

This World War II story set in Holland features two sisters, Hannie and Mila. It is 1942 and the danger to Jewish people is rapidly increasing. The girls' parents find a non-Jewish family that will take the sisters, so the book begins with Mila and Hannie saying goodbye to their parents, possibly never to see them again. It's a dual timeline story, and in the modern day, a girl named Liv is trying to get to know her grandmother "Bubbe" better when she finds a box of papers in her attic. The story goes from past to present, and in the past we see the older sister Hannie get involved in the resistance by saving Jewish children from certain death. Mila is 12 years old, and the book has a solidly middle grade feel, but traumatic things happen and the brutality of the Nazis is evident. It's a compelling story that will appeal to historical fiction readers from 4th-7th grades. It has a lot of similarities to The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh, and readers who enjoyed Blackbird Girls and The War that Saved My Life will definitely want to read it. 

War Stories by Gordon Korman

 

This is a contemporary story about a kid who loves playing World War II video games and learning about the war from his great grandfather, G.G. Trevor idolizes G.G. and is thrilled to be invited on a trip to relive his war experiences in France. G.G. helped liberate a French village, and as the last living soldier from his company, is set to receive a medal there. Trevor travels from Fort Benning to Normandy to Paris and through rural France, but strange things are happening and an angry blonde teenage girl seems to be following them. This story goes from the present to the past, painting a vivid picture of D-Day, fighting through hedgerows, and the French Resistance. Readers will learn a lot, get drawn into the suspenseful story, and come to understand that right and wrong are hard to judge in a war-time setting. Middle school fans of Gordon Korman and anyone with an interest in World War II will want to read this book.  

Roll with It by Jamie Sumner

Ellie is a middle school girl who dreams of being a chef. Worried about her grandfather's worsening dementia, Ellie and her mom move to be near her grandparents, and Ellie finds herself as the new kid in a wheelchair in a small town school that's not equipped to handle her special needs. She's living in a trailer park on the wrong side of the city, but for the first time in her life she makes some real friends and feels needed by her grandparents. Ellie's cerebral palsy is a defining parameter of her life, but it isn't the the most difficult challenge she faces. She is focused on friendship, family health issues, and winning the annual cooking contest. This book is predictable and definitely not action-packed, but Ellie is a refreshing character and younger readers will enjoy how she overcomes her challenges. Recommended for grades 3-5.

The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by

Violet Diamond is biracial but she lives in a white world. Her father, who was black, passed away when she was young and she lives with her mother and sister, who are white, in a mostly white community near Seattle. Violet is getting older and realizing that she knows nothing about her father's side of the family. When she finds out that she has a grandmother she has never met, she comes up with a plan to meet her in spite of the fact that her grandmother has never been willing to meet with her. There is no action or adventure here, but it's a well-paced realistic story about a girl searching for her identity and finding out more about herself.