October KidLit Blog Hop

This monthly hop is designed to engage a group of people who love everything that has to do with children’s literature. Everyone is welcome to join us: bloggers, authors, publicist, and publishers!

For the October KidLit Blog Hop, I thought I’d review the reading I’ve done and plan to do for the Cybils this month. Public nominations closed on October 15. I went through the nominees list and noted which books my public library has (total: 28).

Read So Far

• My Life with the Liars by Caella Carter – A strange book about a young girl who is rescued from a cult. I’m not sure who this would appeal to.
• Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm – A fun story set in a time and place with which I was unfamiliar (Key West in the 1930s). I feel like this book should exemplify middle grade historical fiction.
• All Rise for the Honourable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor – Although I had to suspend my disbelief at the story’s premise, I came to appreciate its greater significance as a tale about a kid whose family can be found in a correctional centre. I like children’s books that include adult perspectives. Plus Perry is an easily lovable character.
• OCDaniel by Wesley King – The protagonist of King’s novel struggles with OCD but doesn’t know it. This book offers a realistic portrayal of how kids can experience mental illness. The murder mystery and football plot lines were unexpected but mostly fun.

I’m currently reading Slacker by Gordon Korman. When I was in fifth grade, my teacher read aloud from his books to us. I adored Radio Fifth Grade, I Want to Go Home, and the MacDonald Hall Books. I remember being disappointed when he began publishing ‘serious’ disaster stories such as Island, but I enjoyed that as well. Slacker sounds to me to be ‘classic’ Korman, and it’s off to a good start. Though it feels a bit strange reading one of his novels set in the present day!

Upcoming Reading

I have the following books currently signed out from the library. Thanksgiving and a road trip interrupted my progress, but this Saturday is Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon – a perfect opportunity to get through a stack of middle grade fiction!

• When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin
• Makoons by Louise Erdrich
• The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs by Cylin Busby
• The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey
• Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Be sure to check out this master post for a list of other participants in the October KidLit Blog Hop. Have you read any great children’s lit recently?