Great Book Gift Ideas for Middle Grade Readers - Round One

Here are some books you may like to ask for (or give) at Christmas this year!

Round One: For the sports fanatics:

• MIKE LUPICA!  Did you catch that?  A prominent sports writer in general, he is also, in my humble opinion, Mr. Young-Adult-Sports-Fiction.  Million Dollar Throw is his latest sports novel.
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls may appeal to the young outdoorsmen in your midst.  Hiking and hunting abound in this classic.
• Jerry Spinelli's Crash and Maniac Magee stealthily hide some of those great life lessons about growing up in tales about football (Crash) and running (Maniac Magee).
• Now, I must confess that I have not read these next two, but John Feinstein's Cover-Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl and Last Shot fit the bill for this category and have gotten some positive reviews for this age group.
• You may also want to check out some athlete biographies geared towards this age group.  Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton is a particular favorite of mine.

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

In a small town in the summer, a group of fourteen-year-old friends find new discoveries in everyday occurrences.  Each with their own tale to tell, the lives of Debbie, Patty, Lenny, Hector, and Phil wind in and out of each others' stories.   In the midst of it all, they come together each week to listen to the radio show "Criss-Cross" in the cab of Lenny's dad's truck.  This is a great piece of realistic fiction about growing up.  I liked it reading it now, and I think I would have loved it reading it when I was in middle school.  I admire Hector's goofy self-confidence; he wore a grass skirt to a luau for goodness sake!  I was also impressed with Lenny's mechanical genius.  Most of all, I enjoyed following Debbie as she learns that she is not as ordinary and boring as she thinks.

This is not a book for every reader.  If you like a lot of action or mystery, you will not find it here.  There is no fantasy or science fiction.  It takes place in the 1970s, but there is not enough to classify it as historical fiction.  However, if you are worried that a book that follows a couple teenagers around for a summer can't hold your interest (you are living it after all), it works hard to keep the pace up.  This book is realistic fiction to its core, and that endorsement will hold its own value for many readers.  As the title suggests, the plot line criss-crosses between each of the characters and back again; they each get their own chance at the limelight.  The writing style switches it up every now again, too, criss-crossing between styles.  Just frequently enough to keep you on your toes, you will encounter a chapter presented like a script; or perhaps in a question and answer format; there is even a chapter of haikus.
Here is my haiku in honor of Criss Cross:

Ordinary days
More exciting than they seem
Fun at every turn.

 Stats: 
(c) 2005       Publisher:  Greenwillow Books     Number of Pages:  337     Awards:  Newberry Medal Winner

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

I do not really like running, but I do like the idea of running.  I am not a very good runner, but I can certainly understand the way that Annie feels about it.  She loves running.  This is different from liking something.  Liking is for things like weekends and televisions.  Loving is for things like her grandpa, laughter, and running.  She is not running in order to get somewhere, like her best friend Max.  Annie likes to run barefoot through the town and park where she feels free.  Sometimes I want to break out in a run for these very same reasons.  Some people feel this way when they paint or write or sing or swing a baseball bat.  We all need something, though that lets us free our minds and focus on what is important.

Max is Annie's best friend and running partner, her "sideways shadow."  Though he runs barefoot, too, he runs for completely different reasons.  For Max, his running feet are his tickets out of town.  He wants to make it big, and running is how he plans to do it.  He wants Annie to join the track team with him, but she can't see the point in running around in circles ... in a "herd"... with shoes on ... just to win a medal.

Annie's 7th grade school year is full of changing relationships.  Her relationship with Max is strained over their different viewpoints; her relationship with her grandfather shifts as he begins to lose his memory; her family relationships change as a new baby is welcomed into their home.  Her relationship with running, though, remains constant, keeping her heart strong no matter what changes she may face.  Heartbeat is a novel in verse that lets you run right along side Annie through all the hills and valleys of her 7th grade year.

(c) 2004          Publisher:  Harper Collins          Pages:  180