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4 Must Read Middle-Grade Fiction Novels

By Sara

1# -Keepers of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

In a book series as complex, as it is funny, Shannon Messenger challenges the very idea of what we consider to be perfection.

Sophie Foster is a 12-year-old genius. Offered a full scholarship at Yale, winning spelling bees at 5, Sophie was never what you would call average. But there was also something…….. different. Special. She could hear thoughts. When she is revealed to a world full of elves, beautiful and perfect, she thinks she finally belongs. But, even among the special, she is different. She has memories of things people want. Memories they would even kill for…….

A stunning novel, it challenges the idea of a perfect society, and how even a near-perfect world can have cracks. And how it takes special people to fix what seems unfixable.

#2- The School Between Winter and Fairyland by Heather Fawcett

What makes someone special? What makes someone lesser? And what makes someone a monster? The School Between Winter and Fairyland challenges these concepts we often don’t even bother to think of.

Autumn is a Speaker. She can speak and control monsters, her best friend is a boggart, and her twin brother is dead. That’s what everyone says anyway. But Autumn refuses to believe it. She’s going to find her brother if it kills her. When Cai Morrigan, the Chosen One, seeks her help, she knows what she’s going to do. She’ll help Cai on one condition……he helps her find her brother, Winter. But when they begin to delve into Winter’s disappearance, everything becomes murky. Who can be trusted? Who is the murderer? And…..what is Cai? Human, or monster?

This book is a beautiful representation of how the circumstances of how you were raised do not always define you. Your choices do. Your actions. Not the family, or status you were born to.

#3- A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer

We often don’t think about things that seem normal to us but might not be to another. This book challenges you to look around at the world around you and wonder.

Brystal Evergreen is the daughter of a Justice in the Southern Kingdom, one of the most oppressive kingdoms of the Land of Stories. Brystal has always been different. She doesn’t want to wear fancy dresses and go to balls. She wants to read. But in the southern kingdom, if a woman tries to read, it’s considered an act punishable by law. When Brystal is caught reading and performing the worst act a person could do – perform magic- she is arrested and thrown into a compound for magical girls. Rescued by the kind Madame Weatherberry, she is taken, along with 3 others, to learn magic. But when an evil force threatens to tear the world apart, Brystal must learn sacrifice to save the only home she ever had.

#4- Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Who is a monster? What makes someone a monster? In this stunning novel by Gordon Korman, he challenges the concept of monsters, and forces us to question, what makes someone evil?

Five children, trapped. Trapped in a web of deceit and lies. Unknowingly cloned from the worst villains alive, these kids are an experiment. But what happens when your experiments turn against you? On the run from the people who want to trap them back into their “perfect town”, Serenity may seem perfect, but underneath is an ocean of deceit, hate, and illegality. Amber, Malik, Tori, and Eli are just kids. But what will happen when they find the people they are cloned from? And what happens when their perfect town falls apart? How far will these mad scientists go to get back their experiments?

This book shows that evil is not something your born with. It forces you to question what makes a person evil, and what can we do to save people from becoming evil?

Conclusion

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The Hypnotists

By Gordon Korman

What if you could make someone do anything without knowing how you’re doing it? What if, no matter how hard you tried to get rid of your ability, and become an average person, you couldn’t? Jackson Opus has that problem. He’s a Hypnotist.

Jax Opus was always a little different. He has these…. visions. It was as though he could see himself from another person’s eyes. And when these visions happen, Jax can make them do anything. He did not know what was wrong with him. Till a seventh-grade field trip changed everything.

Accepted into a prestigious academy of hypnosis, Jax is armed with the knowledge he is more than different, he’s special. Jax can do incredible things. But when something’s incredible, people want to use that power. Whether the cause is just is the question. Because sometimes, being special is the most dangerous thing of all.

In the thrilling first book of the Hypnotists series, Gordon Korman tries to understand the lengths some people will go to gain power, and the danger they create. A perfect 5/5 stars, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to laugh, cry and feel everything in between.

The Dragonfly Effect

By Gordon Korman

Hey, bookworms! I know it’s been a while! But here’s my latest book review about a hypnotist who is discovering what a dangerous. yet vulnerable place our world can be.

When you can control people’s minds, you can control the world.

What would happen, if you could control someone’s mind? What would happen if you could make someone do anything? If you want that A, just hypnotize your teacher. Don’t want to pay for your newest books? Well, too bad for the bookkeeper, because he just lost some books! But imagine that on a mass scale. Imagine if you could hypnotize a whole town to just stop moving. They wouldn’t be able to eat, sleep, or drink. This story not only explores Jax’s journey to save his world with the one gift he never wanted, but also the lengths some will go to reach something they have wanted their whole life. In this thrilling finale to Gordon Korman’s brilliant book series, Jackson Opus is forced to learn a truth he never wanted to.

You can’t save everyone.

I loved every minute of reading this book, and it made me feel sad, happy, and angry at the same time. And that’s what a good book does. make you feel a variety of emotions while still having a good plot! Another masterpiece by Gordon Korman, all you bookworms out there who have not yet read the Hypnotist series, start reading! Your world’s about to get a little more supernatural.

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Level Thirteen

By Gordon Korman

How many of us bookworms dream of doing reading as a job? Your passion earning you money! This is a story about a boy who realized what he loved to do and made it earn him money! But he also realized there really can be too much of a good thing.

Cameron Boxer is a dedicated slacker who discovered the crown jewel of gaming. Streaming. he is devoted to his new stream and can’t wait for it to lift off, but his annoying club keeps getting in the way with fundraisers for good causes. But when a widespread lie, a beaver, and way too many gummy worms cause Cams stream to take off, he believes it can only get better from here. But a series of unfortunate events proves Cam wrong as he learns that sometimes the real world really is better than a video game.

In this heart-warming novel about a couple of teens’ journeys into the world of profit, lies, and love, Gordon Korman shows that sometimes just being a kid is the best job in the world. So for my viewers out there who are still kids, don’t try to grow up so fast. You’re only a kid once.

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War Stories

By Gordon Korman

Hey, bookworms! I know you have probably heard of the war in Ukraine and Russia. You are probably as tired of it as I am, but we need to talk about this. When wars are fought, people think surface level. Some side with Russia, others Ukraine. Yet, one thing is the same with almost all of us. We don’t understand. We are not Russians, and we are not Ukrainians. We are people from different countries siding with other countries without fully understanding. How many of you have watched the Incredibles 2? This is a quote I found especially interesting. “People don’t see the fight or what led up to it. They see what politicians tell them to see. They see destruction and they see you.”. This might be what Winston Deavor said to Mr.Incredibele, but it still has the same hold for what’s going on. People don’t see what was going on in Ukraine and Russia. They see a sudden, completely uncalled-for attack. WAR STORIES might have been written before this war, but I think it still has the same message. Gordon Korman is trying to tell us to look past perceptions and mirrors into the face of the truth.

Trevor Firestone is the average American boy. Video game obsessed. War obsessed. To him, war is a game. There are no consequences. War is just war to him. His grandfather being a war hero is of no help to his obsession. Yet, when his grandfather is invited on a tour of France before an award ceremony where he is being awarded a medal for his saving of a small French village, a group begins threatening them online and Trevor is forced to face the truth of war.

A powerful read that left me reeling by the end of it, Gordon Korman truly captured the essence of a good story. His book is trying to tell us that when we choose ignorance, we choose our paths. Trevor was forced to face the truth of war the hard way because he refused to see the truth right in front of him. This story draws you in and forces you to understand the power of perception and the strength of the truth.

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Linked

By Gordon Korman

All us bookworms were different then other people. We love to read! Yet, in this century, Phones, Movies, and TikTok are all people talk about. It is disappointing, children of this age. But the kids in this book are just, amazing. Gordon Korman forced us to open our minds and our eyes to the reality around us. Religion is a part of who a lot of people are. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and more! Sadly, some people cannot accept that fact. Mr. Korman is trying to show us that everyone is equal. And that is what makes this book special.

Link is the popular guy. Funny, nice, and a total sports guy, he is one of the most popular guys in the school! Yet, when a Swastika is painted on the wall of their school, Link just does not know what to do. Michael is the head of the art club. He loves his art but hates how people ignore him and the club until they need them. But when Michael is the first one to see the Swastika, he is the prime suspect. How can this art guy clear his name? Dana is the only Jewish girl in their entire town. She is already the strange new girl at her school. And when the Swastika appears, it just worsens. How can this middle-school girl deal with someone publicly mocking her religion?

Everyone should have the right to worship their religion without mockery or disgust. Gordon Korman, dived deep into the topic of racial discrimination, prejudice, and hate, in his new book. In a perfect world, everyone would get along and religion and religious standing would be accepted and respected. But this is not a perfect world. This is OUR world. And we are the change. We choose how this ends. Acceptance? Or hate? What do you choose?