Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. This was one of those library books I found by following the "if you liked that" suggestions. It kind of falls into the "issue books" category, but was an interesting read regardless.   Title: Asking For a Friend Author: Ronnie Riley Publication Info: Scholastic Press, 2024. 268 pages in Kindle Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads) : Why go through the stress of making friends when you can just pretend? It works for Eden and their social anxiety... until their mom announces she's throwing them a birthday party and all their friends are invited. Eden's "friends," Duke, Ramona, and Tabitha, are all real kids from school... but Eden's never actually spoken to them before. Now Eden will do whatever it takes to convince them ...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  IIRC I won today's book in a drawing from someone's web site. It then sat on my TBR pile (the real one, the one that might bury me in an earthquake) for so long that I don't remember from whom I got it. My thanks to you, whoever you are!   Title : Meg Goes to America Author: Katy Hammel Publication Info: 2020, 193 pages Source: won it in a giveaway  My Review: Meg Goes to America  is a fictionalized version of real-life events in the life of the author's mother. As a family story, it's pretty dramatic.  The book deals with some serious issues, and brings up a lot of good food for thought, but somehow it didn't grab me in the way that I think it might have done.  One reason for that might be the writing style. The reading level is probably a little more t...

My June Pride reviews have spilled over into July! Here's another good MG book I read, about a lot more than just being non-binary, but that's part of the character. I think I like it best when the LGBTQ+ issues are balanced with other issues any kid might relate to. P.S. I'm out hiking, but I will return visits and comments!    Title: Just Shy of Ordinary Author: A. J. Sass. Read by P. J. Morgan Publication info: Little, Brown Young Readers, 2024. 7 hours. (Original hardback by Little, Brown, 2024, 384 pages). Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Thirteen-year-old Shai is an expert problem-solver. There’s never been something they couldn’t research and figure out on their own. But there’s one thing Shai hasn’t been able to logic their way through: picking at the hair on their arms.       Ever since their mom lost her job, the two had to move in with family friends, and the world went into pandemic lockdown, Shai’s been unable to control...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  Since this is Pride month, I'm focusing my MMGM book reviews on middle-grade books about sexual orientation and gender identity.  A note for those wondering if books like this are appropriate for middle-grade kids: 9-13 is exactly the age when kids are entering puberty and starting to think about love, sex, and increasingly, gender identity. That makes it exactly the age when they need books that openly address the things that happen in middle school besides using a locker and changing classrooms six times a day. If 10-year-olds are old enough to be thinking about kissing their girl/boy friends (and they are thinking about it, so... yeah), then they are old enough to read about it.   This week's book tells a story of first love from two perspectives.   T...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  Since this is Pride month, I'm focusing my MMGM book reviews on middle-grade books about sexual orientation and gender identity.  A note for those wondering if books like this are appropriate for middle-grade kids: 9-13 is exactly the age when kids are entering puberty and starting to think about love, sex, and increasingly, gender identity. That makes it exactly the age when they need books that openly address the things that happen in middle school besides using a locker and changing classrooms six times a day. If 10-year-olds are old enough to be thinking about kissing their girl/boy friends (and they are thinking about it, so... yeah), then they are old enough to read about it.  Today I'm featuring two books by Kyle Lukoff that address similar issues in very...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  Since this is Pride month, I'm focusing my MMGM book reviews on middle-grade books about sexual orientation and gender identity. It kind of started with my review of Ollie In Between last month.  A note for those wondering if books like this are appropriate for middle-grade kids: 9-13 is exactly the age when kids are entering puberty and starting to think about love, sex, and increasingly, gender identity. That makes it exactly the age when they need books that openly address the things that happen in middle school besides using a locker and changing classrooms six times a day. If 10-year-olds are old enough to be thinking about kissing their girl/boy friends (and they are thinking about it, so... yeah), then they are old enough to read about it.  Title:  Just Lizzie A...

Because I absolutely loved  The Secret of Honeycake (review in link) by Kimberly Newton Fusco, I nabbed Beholding Bee as an audiobook for my recent trip to Utah. I'm reviewing it for t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional reviews of middle grade books .    Title: Beholding Bee Author: Kimberly Newton Fusco. Read by Ariadne Meyers Publication Info: Listening Library, 2013. 8 hours. Original hardcover by Knopf Books, 2013, 336 pages. Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Bee is an orphan who lives with a carnival and sleeps in the back of a tractor trailer. Every day she endures taunts for the birthmark on her face—though her beloved Pauline, the only person who has ever cared for her, tells her it is a precious diamond. When Pauline is sent to work for another carnival, Bee is lost. Then a scruffy dog shows up, as unwanted as she, an...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  I'm pretty sure I learned about this book from one of my fellow MMGM bloggers--they've been tipping me off to the best books lately. Wherever I learned about it, it struck the right note with me.   Title: Ollie in Between Author: Jess Callans Publication Info : April 2025, Feiwel & Friends. 225 pages (ebook) Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Puberty, AKA the ultimate biological predator, is driving a wedge between soon-to-be 13 year old Ollie Thompson and their lifelong friends. Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit. And their usual ability to camouflage? Woefully disrupted.When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means t...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  I'm pretty sure I learned about this book from one of my fellow MMGM bloggers--they've been tipping me off to the best books lately.   Title: The Secret of Honeycake Author: Kimberly Newton Fusco Publication Info : Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2025. 363 pages. Source: Library Blurb (from Goodreads) : Hurricane is quiet while her Aunt Clare is a force of nature with very particular ideas--and a host of Latin sayings to back them up. When Hurricane gets stuck living with her, she retreats into herself...until a series of unexpected friends, including a mangy cat, help her find her voice in a whole new way. With a name like Hurricane, you'd think this girl would take the world by storm. But instead, she's almost invisible. And when her sister gets tuberculos...

  I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. A few weeks ago I read and reviewed t he charming Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms , an amazing debut novel from 2011. Since I liked it a lot, I went ahead and checked out Katherine Rundell's second book, Rooftoppers, to listen to as I drove to California. I ended up getting distracted by a great podcast about D-Day, so didn't finish the audiobook until a couple of days ago.     Title : Rooftoppers Author : Katherine Rundell. Read by Nicola Barber Publication Info: Simon and Schuster Audio, 2013. 6 hours. Originally published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013, 289 pages. Source : Library Publisher's Blurb: “The beauty of sky, music, and the belief in ‘extraordinary things’ triumph in this whimsical and magical tale” (Publishers Weekly) about a girl in ...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. I've been discovering some great reads there--possibly including the one I'm reviewing today (I'm not really sure; it was on my library wish list).    Title : Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms Author : Katherine Rundell; read by Biana Amato Publication Info : 2014, Recorded Books. 7 hours. First published by Faber & Faber, 2011, as The Girl Savage Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Even a life on the untamed plains of Africa can’t prepare Wilhelmina for the wilds of an English boarding school in this lovely and lyrical novel from the author of Rooftoppers, which Booklist called “a glorious adventure.” Wilhelmina Silver’s world is golden. Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. I've been discovering some great reads there--like the one I'm reviewing today.   Title: The Long Way Around Author: Anne Nesbet Publication Info: Candlewick Press, 2024. 185 pages (Kindle edition) Source:   Library Publisher's Blurb:* During a hiking trip with their parents in the mountains of California, cousins Owen, Vivian, and Amy are finally allowed to camp for one night at a little lake all on their own. But when a massive earthquake blocks their return path, there’s only one way: the long way around, through a wilderness filled with fierce animals, raging rivers, unstable weather, and high passes. The hardest challenges the cousins face, however, are the troubles they’ve brought with them: bold Vivian’s fear of starting middle school and of changes she c...