Meggy MacIntosh: A Highland Girl in the Carolina Colony by Elizabeth Janet Gray (published 1930) is a middle grade novel awarded a Newbery Honor in 1931. As the subtitle suggests, it focuses on Scottish immigrants to South Carolina, specifically during the Revolutionary War. Meggy comes from a long line of highland wealth, but upon becoming
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! Yes, I’m writing about Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (published 2021). I read it in 2022 shortly after it came out, and I desperately wish I’d reviewed it before the movie came out, so I could give you my movie-free perspective. After I watched the movie, I did listen to it
Radicalized by Cory Doctorow (published 2019) contains four short stories that encompass concepts of rebellion and social action. Dystopia is the common theme, although all of them seem to be pertinent and modern at the same time. He did an amazing job of condensing real issues from society today into fictional societies that still feel
Middle grade novel Big Tree by Brian Selznick (published 2023) tells the story of two sycamore tree seeds (Merwin and Louise) using a mix of illustration and text. In their journey from seed to tree, they encounter dangers as well as other creatures, including a butterfly, small microscopic creatures in a seashell, a seaweed, ferns,
The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer (published 1951) is almost more mystery than romance. In this story, it seems like the new Earl of St. Erth is being targeted by his younger half brother, Martin, who would inherit all if not for Gervase. With the help of the others in residence at Stanyon, including the
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal (published 2024, Random House) is a sweeping overview of some of the many nations of Native Americans throughout history. It begins by looking at the societies that thrived long before European contact and continues looking at major nations through to today. It is a comprehensive
The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth (published 1930) is a short illustrated children’s book about a painter who has been commissioned to paint a reverent painting of the death of Buddha and the gathering of the animals that attended him. Although I found little to like about the plot of the story,
In The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency, David M. Rubenstein documents his number of interviews with historians, writers, and presidents themselves as they discuss what the presidency means to the presidents of the United States of America. When Rubenstein interviews an historian, it is one who has studied the particular president at length.
The middle grade novel Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac (published 2021) tells the legend of the mysterious man who, with Hiawatha, spread peace throughout the Iroquoian nations many hundreds of years ago. Prior to his coming, the various Iroquois people violent raided and kidnapped each other. In the novel, young Okwaho faces the reality of his
Maizy faces a lot of new things during her summer in Last Chance, Minnesota, in the middle grade novel Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee (published 2022). It’s hard to pinpoint just what her most influential learning moments are. Almost-twelve-year-old Maizy goes with her mom to help her grandfather during his illness, and she
The Doll family has an island adventure in the early Newbery Honor book Floating Island by Ann Parrish (published 1930). Mr. Doll, Mrs. Doll, their three children, their doll house, and Dinah (their Black cook) are shipwrecked as they are enroute to a child. With the shipwreck, sister Annabel and Dinah have been separated from
The first-person poetic middle grade novella All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson (published 2025) captures the essence of grief in the aftermath of the sudden death of a friend. Thirteen-year-old Sage learns to deal with the pain of losing her friend as well as dealing with guilt as she meets with a
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