Crows, Again. And A Crop of Middle Grade Book Recs

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit magnificent Marcie Flinchum Atkins for Roundup.

I've been reading lots of middle grade this week!

One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate. Ivan's back, and in this one he becomes a father! This brings up issues about his family, what happened to him, and what's appropriate to tell the children. I loved it. And there is this one chapter called "missing stella." It ends like this: 

"It's been a long time since she passed away. You'd think the missing would end. But it doesn't. It just softens around the edges.

Instead of a hurting place to avoid, it becomes a healing place to seek out."

Not Quite A Ghost by Anne Ursu - I'm a long-time Anne Ursu fan... Breadcrumbs, anyone? I got some Judy Blume vibes in this one...and trigger warning: A LOT of time spent describing illness/how it feels to be sick. (Maybe this is great for post-covid kids, but it was tough for me.)

Selkie's Daughter by Linda Crotta Brennan - The sea language is rich in this one! I dove into this one and didn't come up for air until I was finished...I think I'd like to be a selkie.

Journey Beyond the Burrow by Rina Heisel - I love animal adventure stories! This one features mice...and all kinds of critters (snake, woodchuck, fox, possom, hawk, owl...) they meet along their journey to save their little sibling (a pinkling) from spiders. Cooperation is a major theme.

The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree by Lucille Abendanon - historical fiction! WWII Japanese occupation in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. Oh Emmy makes some choices that have huge consequences...all about survival, finding voice, and freedom. So good! Here's a quote I love:

" Deep inside, I feel my fear changing, evaporating like a puddle after the rain. A white-hot fire burns in the pit of my stomach.

I won't give up. I won't let them win

I am the only one who can save me."

Another passage I really relate to: "Many different places, many different homes...For you, a monkey in a tree is as ordinary as a dog in a kennel; a frangipani flower as familiar as an English rose. You inhabit both words...Batavia may be the country of your birth and your home now, Emmy-chan. But remember, people like us are only ever guests here."

 

And a great question: "But what's better: Living in ignorance or knowing the bad stuff so you can try to do something about it?"

Today's ArtSpeak: FOLK ART poem has me returning to the Florida Highwaymen, this time George Voronovsky. The title comes from The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl (which I blogged about here). It's for my sister who is a July sunshine baby. (Happy Birthday, LTG!!) Thanks so much for reading!

In the Season of Singing

—for Lynn

crows know it's summer

when melons can't stop vining

sunflowers won't stop shining

and each evening Sister Sun

commands skyline to s t r  e  t  c h

just a few wingbeats longer

- Irene Latham