middlegrade – Krista Beucler

New Books Read

The cover of If We Were Villians shows a white background, three swords crossed and a spray of red like blood darkens the right side. — Flatiron Books

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: suicide, murder
I loved this. Like The Secret History if it was about Shakespeare instead of the Classics. At an exclusive college for the arts, the senior drama students are putting on Julius Ceasar. But when their Ceasar’s body turns up in the freezing lake, the young actors must step into their hardest roles yet. I loved how many Shakespeare quotes and allusions were in this. I loved the characters and their dynamics. I loved the tension and the structure. I have one thought about the ending.
Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

I did kind of like that their was room for hope in the ending, but I also wouldn’t have minded if it was just a straight tragedy. The Shakespeare works it’s based on are.

5/5 Shakespeare quotes

On the cover of the Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, Carl wearing signature boxers, kneepads, cape. leather jacket, and gauntlet, jumps down to punch a Mantaur (a centaur but a man instead of a horse). They appear to be in a train station. — Audible

The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
Dungeon Crawler Carl book 3 of 8
CW: gore, murder
When I started this book, I was like idk I’m a little tired of opening boxes and getting new achievements. And then that seemed like a much smaller part of this book than the previous ones. On level 4 of the dungeon, Carl, Donut and Katia must unravel the mystery of floor map, a mystifying subway system, before they can get to the next level. I liked seeing Katia’s character development; Zev was right, she was a little boring. As usual I like to see the developing political conflict.
4.5/5 trains

On the cover of Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt there are what look like ripples in a pond after you drop in a pebble. Some dahlias and a cat and the moon and sun appear in the ripples — Simon & Schuster

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves*
CW: grief, death, death of a child
This was all right. It felt a little like The Midnight Library (which I hated) in that it felt like it was trying to share a profound truth about humanity, but it was, like, not that deep. I liked the prose. That was nice. I did like the story of Layla and Dahlia, but the character of Death was So Boring. Like I get it; he has to be this impartial observer of the world, but couldn’t he have at least had a personality? I also have a thought about the ending but spoilers.
Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

It should have ended right after Dahlia’s death. That was the spot. But instead there was an overdone interlude about fireflies or something (I actually can’t remember, but the point was about living in the moment), and then a preachy epilogue about what you would do if you had this 20 minutes right now to live over again at the end of your life. What would you do? Well, I wouldn’t spent it reading the end of this book.

3/5 fireflies

A hand holds up a copy of Juliette Low’s biography before a set of blue double doors covered with trefoil emblems of Girl Scouts

Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts by Stacy A. Cordery***
I’ve been waiting to read this book until I was at a World Center again and volunteering for Girl Scouts. And I’m so glad I did. I loved learning about Daisy Low and this incredible organization she founded. I loved learning about her disability and how her bad marriage and husband’s subsequent death led to her founding Girl Scouts later in her life. There were a lot of people to keep track of (and all of them were named William or Mary *sobs*). I do think a family tree diagram would have been helpful. Cordery does a good job of sorting through all of Daisy’s relationships and showing how she came to be the person she was and how she was able to found such a successful organization, navigating the expectations for women and very divided social groups at the time.
3.5/5 steam ships across the Atlantic

The cover of Homebound shows a pixelated sky during a sunset, the clouds pink, orange, and purple. The text of the title is diagonal across the cover — Simon & Schuster

Homebound by Portia Elan***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: grief
I don’t even know what to say about this one. I really liked it. Linked by a videogame about an astronaut on her way home, a teenager in 1983 grapples with the death of her uncle, a ship captain in 2586 tries to get out of debt by taking on several passengers who will turn her life around, and a scientist in 2078 watches the toll of climate change, the investment by billionaires in the wrong things, and one of her androids gain sentience. It reminded me both of Cloud Atlas and of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, both books I enjoyed a lot (boo, Gabrielle Zevin). I obviously loved the non linear storytelling and epistolary elements. The vision of the future felt very true to me and I loved the very human search for home.
4/5 ayes

The cover of The Case of the Missing Marquess shows a young woman in Victorian dress on a bicycle. She looks knowlingly at the viewer — Penguin Young Readers

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer*
Enola Holmes book 1 of 10
This was a fun little middle grade mystery. I’ve enjoyed the Enola Holmes movies, and this audiobook was read by one of my favorite narrators, so I listened to it. The movie follows this book pretty well. It was an enjoyable, easy listen.
3.5/5 anagrams

The cover of Dark Sisters is red with what looks like two torn black and white photos of victorian women in the center. The photos are torn and layered so that the faces of the women are obscured — Macmillan

Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
CW: misogyny, sexual assault, murder, gore
I enjoyed this. In three time periods (1750, 1953, and 2007) three women must face a mysterious curse that causes an illness only women catch. In their ultra-religious community, though generations apart, the illness is seen as a punishment for sin. Camilla in 2007 must piece together the history of this community to stop the curse and free the women from the misogynistic rule of the religious leaders. I did like this, although both the 1750 and 1953 timelines continued much longer than I expected them to. Mary was my favorite character and storyline. I liked Camilla, but I felt I wanted to understand better how she as an 18 year old who grew up in this community had escaped its thought patterns and brainwashing. How did she get woke?
3.5/5 magic trees

The cover of Molka shows an air vent with the red eye of a hidden camera visible through the vent. Blood leaks from the bottom of the vent. — Erewhon Books

Molka by Monika Kim***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: misogyny, sexual assault, murder, gore
Men should be forced to read this book and then attend a seminar about how the behavior of the men in this book is *bad* (not normal, not aspirational, not acceptable). IT worker Junyoung spends his work days monitoring the secret cameras he’s hidden in the women’s bathrooms throughout the building, fantasizing about the women who have never looked twice at him. Dahye thinks she has the perfect boyfriend—rich, powerful, handsome, considerate—until a leaked explicit video throws her life into turmoil. And she doesn’t even know that after one normal interaction, she’s the object of Junyoung’s obsession. (That wasn’t a very good blurb, I apologize.) I liked that the horror of this book was not just that some men do terrible things to women, but that the majority of men let them get away with it. Highlighted the problems of misogyny and violence against women not just in Korea but around the world. Also emphasized the real and present danger of surveillance in our current world and how that’s being weaponized against women. Also important in the context of AI and how easy it is now to create an explicit video of a woman without her knowledge or consent.
5/5 spy cameras

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be lying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Juliette Low’s biography to learn more about the largest movement for girls and young women in history. Read Homebound to consider the future if we don’t do anything about climate change. Read Molka and make all your male acquaintances read it to understand the reality of being a woman in the world.

Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.

February was kind of a reading slump for me.

Books Reread

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
**Book Hangover Alert
Heroes of Olympus book 3 of 5
This book is just so excellent. I really enjoy the first two books, but this one, when the team is all assembled? *Chef’s kiss* Now that the seven Greek and Roman heroes are all assembled, the quest to defeat Gaia can begin in earnest. This book focuses on the team’s first task, following the Mark of Athena to recover the Athena Parthenos. I’m really impressed by Riordan’s ability to navigate POV with so many important characters. I’ve been thinking a lot about craft lately and his books are just so well structured from a craft standpoint.
10/5 pairs of Chinese handcuffs

New Books Read

The Arrival by Shaun Tan***
This is a lovely little graphic novel told in only pictures. It follows our protagonist as he moves to an unfamiliar, fantastical land and has to adapt to new cultures and customs, make new friends, and not lose himself along the way. It’s so lovely and heartwarming and the way the art tells the story is really impressive. I also love the world Tan creates and all the little creatures that populate it.
3.5/5 lil creatures

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
**Book Hangover Alert
It was so hard to fulfill my obligations while I was reading this book because I just wanted to keep reading it. I love McGuire’s Wayward Children books, but honestly, this book is on another level. It is so good. Alchemist James Reed is attempting to build the Doctrine of Ethos, believed by alchemists to be the fundamental force of the universe. But when he creates two children to embody the Doctrine, he fails to take into account their humanity. Roger and Dodger were created for a purpose, but must find their own way. I feel like that was a very inadequate blurb, so just ignore it and go read the book. This book also has ace rep, which we love. I see you Dodger. Also, not really important, but I learned so much about Hands of Glory? And they are way cooler and have way more lore than JK Rowling made it seem like in Harry Potter.
5/5 timelines

Tethered to Other Stars by Elisa Stone Leahy***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: bullying, microaggressions, racism
Another absolute banger. I read this for my world building class this quarter and it was fantastic. Middle grade novels do not get enough praise. Wendy is a middle schooler trying to fit in to a new school, keeping her head down and avoiding the notice of ICE, when Luz, an undocumented immigrant, takes sanctuary at the church near Wendy’s house and refuses to be deported. Wendy faces bullying, injustice, and the struggles of making new friends. This book tackles a lot of really big issues in such an empathetic, human, and approachable way.
5/5 telescopes

Blind Man’s Bluff by James Tate Hill***
*
This is a fascinating memoir about a man who lost his sight as a teenager but continued to pretend that he could see much better than he could. The story follows his journey through internalized ableism to self-acceptance. I enjoyed this. I thought it was really interesting, though I do feel like Hill could have grappled a little more explicitly with internalized ableism and societal ableism. By the end of the book, it’s understood that he’s come to terms with his own blindness, but I guess I would have appreciated more of a critique of ableism. Hill made some interesting POV choices, telling a couple of the chapters in second person. While I think that was a cool choice and it let me as a reader feel I was experiencing what he did, it did get a little tiresome to read after a while. I think it may have been better to restrict that POV choice to the prologue and tell the rest in first person. But that’s probably just personal preference.
3.5/5 screen readers

Before the Borderless: Dialogues with the Art of Cy Twombly by Dean Rader
**Book Hangover Alert
This book is a collection of ekphrastic poetry on the art of Cy Twombly. When I was the Editor-in-Chief of the Rappahannock Review, we published a poem by Rader that appears in this book, though the version in this book is revised a little. I’ve been thinking a lot about ekphrasis lately as I’m getting ready to teach a course on the interplay between image and text. This whole book was so good. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of Twombly’s art, but Rader’s poems bring them a lot more meaning and dimension for me. And conversely, when I look at the art, the poems gain new meaning as well. I’m really impressed by Rader’s use of white space and enjambment, and I highly recommend this book to poetry and art lovers.
4/5 paintings

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson*
My dad has been bugging me to read this book for forever, and now I finally have. It gives a good background for understanding Western science up to 2003. I prefer Bryson’s travel writing, just because I’m generally more interested in that, but this book did have some good general knowledge things that I’m glad I know now. It was published in 2003, though, so some things are now outdated. I would personally have been more interested in learning about women’s contributions to science and scientific inquiry form non-Western countries, but I guess that wasn’t the goal of this book.
3/5 male scientists

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett*
City watch book 1 of 8
Discworld book 8 of 41
It’s always a good day to read a Terry Pratchett book. The Night Watch, led by Captain Vimes, is a bit of a joke in Anhk-Morpork, capital of the Discworld, but when a mysterious Brotherhood begins summoning dragons as part of a plot to put a puppet king on the throne, Vimes has got to shape up and get to the bottom of it. This book has all of the trademarks of a wonderful Terry Pratchett novel, plus some cute swamp dragons.
3.5/5 dragons

*This book only includes straight, white, cis people.

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The Arrival for a visual telling of an immigration story. Read Tethered to Other Stars to learn more about undocumented immigration and racism and microaggressions as they affect children and families. Though I feel like it could have done more, Read Blind Man’s Bluff to learn more about internalized ableism and to learn more about an experience of blindness.