Three Great Middle School Reads

Recently Raincoast sent me a three middle school chapter books.   I thoroughly enjoyed them though they had completely different styles.  Affiliate links will be used in this post.  Thanks for blessing my family. :)

I Love You Michael Collins, The Journey to Dragon Island and Ten: A Soccer Story.

TEN: A Soccer Story, is the shortest of the three.   The story involves a young Brazillian girl who ADORES soccer, and has the gumption to start up a girls soccer team, in a time and area when "girls don't play soccer".   We are brought into her family difficulties and how she tries to solve them.   It is a well written book with excellent character development, showing growth in her and her brother, seeing how her team came together to play good soccer.   

 Maya, an odd ball girl, eleven years old, learning to stand up for herself, and for her family.  Learning to love up on her expanded family even if they don't "get her".   It's a nice book that should appeal to a broad range.  :)  It's a good upper elementary/middle school book.

I found this clip of her favourite soccer player and the moment, as talked of in the book, where he didn't get his penalty kick.

176 pages, published by  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, geared for 10-12 years old.  Softcover.

 Amazon.ca: Ten: A Soccer Story

Amazon.com: Ten: A Soccer Story

Oh..this book, The Journey to Dragon Island, made me laugh, oh my.  :)   It could have been my quirky sense of humour though. 

It was a great story.  A group of pirates in a world of magic. 
A rescue to undertake, a meaning of home to understand.

Brine, Peter, Tom, Cassie and the whole gang.. would they solve the mystery?      Would the figure out where the dragons went?

It's a great read that I am eager to see if my son likes it as much as I did.  :)

Written for ages 8-12 and published by Henry Holt and Co, it is the second in a series by Claire Fayers. 304 pages in length each chapter is predicated by a short verse. 

Amazon.ca: The Journey to Dragon Island

Amazon.com: The Journey to Dragon Island (The Accidental Pirates)

I have to admit that I don't know if my son would like this book, "I Love You Michael Collins" but I am fairly sure a couple daughters of a friend would.   Mamie is a young lady who knows her own mind.  She isn't the most popular child in school because of it, but she and her best friend are indeed the best of buds.  Set in the 1969 when the first planned landing on the moon is in the works.  Her school class is given an assignment, write to one of the astronauts.    Mamie chose "the forgotten astronaut" Michael Collins. 

This book is her series of letters to him, talking to him about her life and asking him questions.   It is written in conversational tone, you could just see a 10 year old lass writing like this.  :)   

Part of the conversation in this book is how to handle a fractured family, teen angst, selfish of a variety of people, and how family matters.

Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, 204 pages long, written by Lauren Baratz Logsted, it's a wonderful piece of history.  Walking us through the divergent opinions of putting a man on the moon, how families interacted, and wonder of astronauts in space for middle school students.. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.   Geared to youth 9-12 years old.

Amazon.ca: I Love You, Michael Collins

Amazon.com: I Love You, Michael Collins