A Few Middle-Grade Books

“A Girl’s Best Friend” by Catherine Stine.

            Written by Catherine Stine for the “Innerstar University” series of American Girl stories, “A Girl’s Best Friend” (Nov. 15, 2010) is a book geared for girls ages 8 to 12. It was illustrated by Thu Thai for Arcana Studios.

            The main character of “A Girl’s Best Friend” is … you! Essentially you, the reader, are the star of the book. The book has a colorful map of the Innerstar U Campus. You as the protagonist in this story will learn that your dorm room is in Brightstar House and no, you do not have a roommate. Your character in this story is also a pet lover; you like cats, but you especially love dogs; therefore, you’ll note on the map where Pet-Palooza is located, which is one of the corner buildings in the Shopping Square. You and your friend, Isabel, have just graduated from a pet-sitting course, so you can now volunteer at Pet-Palooza, a daycare center for animals, which you are really looking forward to. You will melt when you meet Pepper, an adorable husky pup with sky blue eyes. Pepper is the central pet in this book.

            The sneaky thing about the story is that the story can change. How can that be? Well, “A Girl’s Best Friend” is not only a story that stars you, it also comes with over 20 endings!  I counted 21 and there is a code in the book to unlock even more ending possibilities online! There is a lot of page turning, though not usually simply to the next page. Often you may skip ahead two or five pages. You may even skip ahead ten or fall back fifteen pages. You never know until you try out the book!

            What sort of main character will you be? Will you choose the most logical path from the get-go, the one where you make responsible choices with no procrastination? Or will you divert on occasion because you think you’re making the best choices but maybe they aren’t? What will happen when you reach THE END?

            There is much jumping between multiple pages, but there are cute pictures to accompany portions of the story. The author did a nice job coming up with endings, for they all teach or remind us of something. It may remind us how good it is to be a responsible friend to our human and our animal friends. It may also remind us of the importance of being honest and not assumptive about others. Above all, it reminds us to be a good and trustworthy friend!

“Bless This Mouse” by Lois Lowry.

            From two-time Newberry Medalist Lois Lowry comes a new tale for younger people called “Bless This Mouse” (Mar. 21, 2011). It is geared for eight- to eleven-year-olds. The book’s illustrations are by Caldecott Medalist Eric Rohmann.

            Hildegarde is the Mouse Mistress of Saint Bartholemew’s. It is her responsibility to keep the church mice – all 219 of them, not including herself – safe and hidden from Father Murphy, others who work at church, churchgoers, but especially, the Altar Guild ladies! Hildegarde even has Sunday morning duties – she leads all the church mice in confession while perched on the furnace oil tank. The mice all sing.

            Unfortunately, Mouse Vivian let her entire litter “exercise” right before a Sunday service. They’re five weeks old: adolescent mice. As Hildegarde’s friend, Roderick puts it, “Awful bunch. Poorly behaved,” not to mention that they were all spotted … by the entire Altar Guild.

            This prompts another Great X. It is every pest and rodents’ nightmare. It means that the exterminator will be paying the church a visit. The previous Great X hadn’t happened for some time now, so none of the youngest mice know what it’s all about.

            They move outdoors for a couple nights. The youngsters think it’s rather exciting until they are warned to watch out for owls. No rhododendron leaves, either! There is exploring and the befriending of field mice, though Hildegarde is quick to differentiate between the likes of a field mouse to her clan’s church mouse.

            A very wise old mouse called Ignatious informs Hildegarde of the “special traps” that the exterminator brings. There are no enticing bits of cheese on a trap of springs and metals. They smell nice, though. The smell, he tells her, lures mice. It doesn’t look like a trap, for it’s a simple piece of cardboard, but it’s very sticky as it’s covered with glue. Hildegarde is horrified at the thought of those traps and any of her mouse clan getting stuck to it and starving. When young Harvey finds the invoice from the exterminator, Hildegarde, Roderick and Ignatious discover that there are 52 glue traps (yes, they sing and read). They send in their bravest and best sniffers to seek out all the traps and cover them. How do they cover the glue traps? Will they find them all before the mice return to Saint Bartholemew’s?

            I found “Bless This Mouse” to be a charming little tale. How many times have we come across a mouse at church (whether in a trap or scurrying away)? This puts the “challenges” of being a church mouse in a cute and complicated (for the mice) light. I hope you will give this book a chance and read it to your kids or grandkids.

“The Dead End: A Poison Apple Book” by Mimi McCoy.

            “The Dead End” is a “Poison Apple Book” by Mimi McCoy (May 1, 2010). Poison Apple books are paranormal publications by Scholastic for the preteen/teen set.

            Have you ever made what you thought were the perfect plans, only to have something totally unexpected crop up or have the plans disintegrate before your eyes? If so, city girl Casey Slater knows how you feel. Twelve-year-old Casey is all excited for summer vacation, for Casey and her best friend, Jillian, have major plans to, like, hang out every single day, meet two boys who are best friends who will be their boyfriends, and go to the beach.

            Fast forward a few weeks to the start of summer vacation. Spending days at the beach? No. Seeing Jillian every day? No. Taking in the usual fares of city life in New York? No. Heading toward a creepy house on Drury Road in a remote place in New Hampshire? Yes.

            Casey encounters strange happenings early in her arrival at the house in fictional Stillness, NH, though Casey is the only one they affect. Her parents are oblivious and eventually aggravated by the stories they believe their daughter is making up.

            In a stack of old books, Casey finds the diary of Millie, who wrote in it for a summer in 1939. Like Casey, she encountered strange happenings. Casey continues to read Millie’s diary and by now thinks of Millie as a friend. After all, Millie would’ve understood what Casey was experiencing in the old house; she would’ve been able to empathize, would’ve believed her. She meets a neighbor boy named Erik Greer who’s about her age. He brings over a hotdish (they say casserole) as his mom’s way of welcoming them to the area. She eventually runs into him again and tells him about the occurrences once he admits that people think her house is haunted.

            Once, when Casey stops by the Greer residence, Erik introduces her to his siblings, mom and grandma. Meeting his grandma is startling, as she calls Casey, Millie, and Erik, Charles. Why? What is her connection to Millie’s past?

            The idea of a creepy old house is nothing new, nor is the premise that botched summer plans are the worst thing ever for a preteen. However, the character is believable in that you picture her as a preteen. She doesn’t speak in a voice that sounds too mature for her age. I found it to be a fast read and encourage others to check it out. What will you learn about the dead end house on Drury Road?