Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 2

Hello, dear visitor! Welcome to my first middle-grade (MG) compilation post of 2025. I firmly believe that MG stories can be easily enjoyed by adults as well as youth. Don’t knock it because it’s MG. Open your minds and your imaginations. You never know what doors will open for you!

The House at the Edge of Magic (Jan. 7, 2021/UK edition) by Amy Sparkes.

<This is the first book in a series.>

An orphan pickpocket knocks on a tiny door that grows into a sizable higgledy-piggledy house. Nine knows nothing of her origin, and the only possession her baby self came with was a treasured music box, which is in the literal clutches of Pockets, the grimy man who took her in and who, apparently, never gets strawberries. Life’s circumstances have made Nine cynical from a young age, and she has not an altruistic bone in her body. To say the word “sorry” is almost painful for her. The house, cursed by a witch, houses an eccentric group. There’s Flabberghast, a young wizard and champion hopscotch-er, Eric, a troll housekeeper whose most beloved possession is his feather duster, and Dr. Spoon, an alchemist who really is a sword-wielding wooden spoon. Nine will be the one to help end the curse, because she’s the one who knocked. There’s a life-changing reward in it for her, but is she ready for a zapping cabinet, acid dung, a burping sugar bowl and a clever witch? A room with a dark purple door has chosen her, because “the House at the Edge of Magic has manners” (unlike Nine), but the toilet is never in the same spot and has reportedly grown teeth (so “Sit down very carefully”), and there’s a skeleton in the closet. For real. He’d like his ribs dusted.

            An eccentric group, a house that can’t move because it’s missing its toad tongue and magic mix together to craft a delightful, middle-grade adventure. It’s filled with wonder and mayhem, ferocity and hidden vulnerability, with clever world-building and characters that you want to root for, no matter how ridiculous or rough-around-the-edges. It’s an adventure story, but the main character may find herself learning the significance of friendship, teamwork and compassion. If you found the House at the Edge of Magic, would you knock on its door?

The Lost Library (Aug. 29, 2023) by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass.

<This is a standalone novel.>

A mysterious little free library has popped up overnight in the small town of Martinville. It’s guarded by a large orange cat called dear cat/Goldie/Sunshine, but his name is Mortimer. Seeing it on his way to school, 11-year-old Evan McClelland plucks two books from its shelves and later realizes they’re books from the former Martinville Library, which burned down 20 years ago. As Evan looks through the books, he discusses with his best friend, Rafe, that one book was checked out multiple times by his father. The other had one checkout to H.G. Higgins, a famous mystery writer. Evan thinks this writer had something to do with the mystery fire, a cause for which was never determined. There is an unknown past in his town, and Evan seeks to find the answers as he also navigates his anxiety about entering middle school. At one point, visiting the History House, he’s able to talk to Al (short for Assistant Librarian), a ghost woman, who resides in the House with ghost residents Ms. Scoggin and Mr. Brock. All three perished in the library fire. Al has struggled to remain invisible to others, and Ms. Scoggin reminds her to, “Take your place, my dear!” Ms. Scoggin’s Reminders and Criticisms have been a constant since Al first started at the library as a 17-year-old. It’s a constant that’s about to change. Is Al ready? Is Evan?

            A contemporary, middle-grade novel with light supernatural elements, “The Lost Library” is a timeless ode to libraries, books that take readers to an infinite number of places, making “rooms and rooms up here” in readers’ minds, and the amazing librarians who know the power of reading. The fast pacing, well-rounded characters (even though physical character descriptions are mostly absent) and courage of this crafty, softly mysterious tale make for a dynamic, wholesome, engaging page-turner that’s full of heart and quiet magic. I adored it!

Tristan Strong Keeps Punching (Oct. 5, 2021) by Kwame Mbalia.

<This is the final novel in a trilogy.>

<Possible spoilers ahead.>

Hm, should Tristan Strong be on fire like that? Tristan is angry, and that uncontrolled anger “is chaotic at best.” He’s searching for his Alkean friends, now in this world, including Anansi’s son Junior. Anansi remains trapped in the SBP (Story Box Phone), though he continues to plead for his release. Or he will, once he sees Nyame again. Tristan’s also been pulled into a mystery involving missing children. The haintiest haint of them all, his foe King Cotton, must be behind it, but he has help, and not only from his monsters, but other troublesome haints. They’re snatching children as well as spirits, but for what nefarious purpose? Tristan reunites with Ayanna and manages to find Gum Baby. Old Familiar is around, too, but look sharp, because he isn’t only in his giant shadow crow form. Tristan must learn to overcome his impetuousness and harness his anger to use it as a tool to rid the world of his archenemy once and for all. “STRONGS ON THE MOVE,” and this Strong keeps punching.

            This book, along with the entire trilogy, is a triumphant adventure with superb world-building, standout characters and antagonists to make one’s skin crawl, featuring West African and African American mythology. Tristan’s recklessness is grating, especially when his choices tend to affect others outside of him, like children, but he’s still a hero to root for, because readers trust that he’ll remember his strength as an Anansesem (storyteller) and his family, blood-related and not. The story is compelling; its fantasy and action is fast-paced. There isn’t humor without heartbreak, the playful scenes balancing the serious climate and weight of the world. It’s a satisfying conclusion, and I would happily read a spin-off series.

            Book 1: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

            Book 2: Tristan Strong Destroys the World

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 4

In this compilation, you’ll find two familiar and one new-to-me author. This isn’t on purpose, but all stories are part of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (Aug. 4, 2020) by Tehlor Kay Mejia.

*This is the first novel in a trilogy.*

            Stay away from the Gila River, as it is a place where children mysteriously disappear, a place where monsters of myth lurk. 12-year-old Paolo Santiago prefers science and logic, would rather obsess over outer space or ponder the wonders of algae as a fuel, than heed her mother’s stories of La Llorona, the wailing ghost mother who drowned her own children and now seeks others to drag into the river, or any other stories of legend. Major. Eye. Roll. She blames her mom for why no one takes people like them seriously, like the local police when her best friend, Emma Lockwood, goes missing. Together with her other best friend, Dante Mata, they will take refuge with Los Niños de la Luz, an army of child warriors who don’t age as long as they help guard the world’s liminal spaces. The third quarter is approaching as well as the solstice, which is a double whammy. It turns out Pao’s mom was right. Things like chupacabras and manos pachonas (i.e. disembodied hands) exist, but so do fantastical weapons like the Arma del Alma. Pao and Dante will help the niños, but her priority is saving Emma. Into the rift she’ll go to confront relentless spirits (ahogados) and other monsters like lechuzas (shape-shifting witches). But who is the biggest bad of all? Who is Ondina, because she’s no typical ahogado? As if being 12 doesn’t have its own growing pains and the emergence of “boy-girl weirdness” between her and Dante, logic has sailed out the window while the stuff of myth has moved right in.

            Although I initially struggled with Pao’s brattiness, I was still swept up in Mejia’s Mexican legend and how the author draws on her Latinx heritage to conjure creatures of lore and meld them with the contemporary world. Despite the fantasy element, there are realistic plot points: socioeconomic differences and immigration status and the stereotypes associated with both. Probably all of Pao’s bratty behavior and bad attitude stem from anger issues and her inability to forgive others. The mother-daughter strife is real and deep; Pao’s been trying to push away her Mexican ancestry too long. The imagery of the story is colorful, the prose engaging, and the mindset of an angry, insecure preteen tumultuous and therefore believable. Action is plentiful, the southwestern setting is full of cacti, and there is good character development. Many should be able to understand the scattered Spanish phrases by context if they do not outright know them. I plan to continue the series. After all, how can I resist a world full of sinister magical forces?

            Clever line: “Her anger was the perfect breeding ground for this supernatural bacteria.” (p. 294, paperback ed.)

Sal & Gabi Fix the Universe (May 5, 2020) by Carlos Hernandez.

*This is the second novel in a series.*

Three weeks have passed since Sal & Gabi saved Iggy, but life is anything but calm. Culeco Academy is in the midst of tech week. They’re preparing for Rompenoche, and they will break the night with their performance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for parent-teacher conference night. Sal’s encountered “FixGabi,” who’s popped in from another universe, and has told Sal that Papi Vidón, a calamity physicist, will create a remembranation machine that will close all the holes (tears) in the multiverse, but instead of fixing it, will break the world that Sal lives in. FixGabi lost her own Sal, but says there’s nothing to worry about until the remembranation machine becomes sentient, and, well, it asked Sal this morning if it was alive, and Sal said yes, so ... whoops? Maybe? I mean, FixGabi isn’t exactly like his own Gabi, but he can still trust her. Right? What Sal does know is that, when the machine is on, he feels “as empty as a grave without a ghost. Just a soulless corpse.” On top of that, he wants Yasmany to find a new home and winds up co-directing Culeco’s performance after he’s too truthful (the biggest sandwich of them all). Sal’s a showman, but that’s a lot for even him to juggle. He isn’t on his own, what with the Gabi from his own universe, and Yasmany, who’s now his friend (quite a difference from mere weeks ago when Yasmany wanted to beat him up), though Yasmany knows nothing of multiverses. There’s also his AI friends: Sweeps, the entropy sweeper, Brana, the remembranation machine, and Vorágine, the talking toilet. Yes, you read that correctly. A talking toilet. Whether breaking or destroying or fixing, just this one universe has enough going on!

            The sophomore installment in the Sal & Gabi Series is the best kind of calamitous, for it’s a “wonderboom” of high-octane entertainment, madcap adventure and tickle-your-funny-bone moments. Hernandez seamlessly weaves science fiction with middle school mayhem while focusing on family (biological and found), friendship, self-awareness and the impact love can have on someone who readers intuit is abused and feels unloved. It is simultaneously hilarious and heartwarming with an ever-moving plot and Cuban influence. Sal appears to identify as aromantic. New readers to this series from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint should definitely begin with the first novel. This series is the opposite of a “stupid-and-mayonnaise sandwich” and is as tasty as a homemade empanada.

            Book 1: Sal & Gabi Break the Universe

Tristan Strong Destroys the World (Oct. 6, 2020) by Kwame Mbalia.

*This is the second novel in a trilogy.*

*Spoilers included if one hasn’t read the first novel.*

Three weeks have passed since Tristan Strong’s return to his grandparents’ farm from Alke, the land of West African gods and African American folk heroes. His time there was harrowing and exhausting, but victorious. He’s still missing his best friend; there is trauma surrounding him, but there will be no rest when his nana is abducted by a masked villain covered in iron monsters (fetterlings, brand flies, a hullbeast and a bossling) called the Shamble Man. With Anansi trapped in the SBP (Story Box Phone), he and Tristan find themselves back in Alke. He reunites with familiar faces like Ayanna and the loud-mouthed and sticky Gum Baby. He meets new allies in Keelboat Annie, Lady Night (a boo hag) and Junior, though his start with Junior is rocky, and who is Junior, really? Since Nana’s abduction, Tristan’s Anansesem ability seems to have left him. How can he be a storyteller if he can’t tell stories? The Shamble Man, possibly a MidPass god, blames Tristan for everything and wants to exact revenge. Something is terribly wrong with John Henry after he’s attacked. Missing like his nana is Mami Wata, goddess of Nyanza, source of the City of Lakes. Along this new quest, Tristan will find that he isn’t the only one dealing with trauma. Trauma is a deeply distressing event, and sometimes others handle trauma very badly. Tristan is a hero, but he has major fails, too. He must overcome the brutal truth of failure and knit the brokenness back together, because if he and his allies can’t save Alke, it and his world will fall.

            The second in the Tristan Strong Series packs a punch. With its focus on what it means to be part of a diaspora and the effects of trauma, this sequel story is heavily weighted in tough stuff that’s not easy to discuss. There’s heartbreak, but humor, too. The humans are all Black and have varying shades of brown skin. The action is nonstop, the world-building is magnificent, and concluding this story reminds me that I haven’t bought the next story and need to. The way Mbalia takes folktales and mythology and threads them like any master weaver is impressive. Tristan is the series’ Anansesem, yes, but Mbalia is the real storyteller, and his story showcases that stories are communal. One person may weave a tale, but stories don’t come from only one. They come from all over the world or Alke or the multiverse!

            Book 1: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Rutabaga's Reads 2021: Part 10

As anticipated, here is my second middle-grade compilation post for 2021.

Aru Shah and the City of Gold (Apr. 6, 2021) by Roshani Chokshi.

*This is the fourth novel in a pentalogy.*

It’s no secret that Aru made a wish to Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree, right near the third story’s end. Oddly enough, she cannot remember what she wished for, but she’s fairly certain that she didn’t wish for a sister named Kara. Kara claims to be the Sleeper’s daughter, too, and she was found in his lair, so … *shrugs shoulders*. She doesn’t want to trust her at first, but Kara is eager to be helpful, to be part of the Potatoes. Plus, she has a cool trident, and it looks like something wielded by a god, yet it’s Kara that wields it. The Pandavas (a.k.a. the Potatoes) know that they’re speeding closer to war with the Sleeper and his army. Kubera, ruler of Lanka, the city of gold, promises to give them powerful weapons to help prevent Sleeper and Company from taking over the Otherworld. Granted, Kubera also calls them “blips of mortality,” and he’s a god, so he clearly doesn’t care if they pass his trials. Best of luck and all that!

            Chokshi’s Pandava series is one of magic and adventure (and misadventure), but reading it is pure magic. The way the author immerses readers in the slice of Hindu mythology she writes about (because it is vast and stories vary from state to state within India) is complex and rich with witty banter, strong South Asian female leads (though Aiden and Rudy are good company, complementing the rest of the Potatoes nicely and amusingly) and a plot that only rushes forward. However, there are also layers of mistrust, jealousy and even betrayal to break through, lest the group crumble due to the lack of camaraderie and support of one another. Reading the “Aru Shah” books brings me great joy, and they’re so mesmerizingly written that I hope you’ll read them, too, if you haven’t already, yet enjoy mythology.

            P.S. I want to befriend a golden-furred mongoose (Kubera has so many). Because they’re mongooses. Very agile. It’s an added bonus that Kubera’s mongooses hiccup/cough up precious gemstones.

            Book One: Aru Shah and the End of Time

            Book Two: Aru Shah and the Song of Death

            Book Three: Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Oct. 31, 2017) by Jessica Townsend.

*This is the first novel in a series; it’s also a debut novel.*

Fair weather turned foul? The kitchen cat died? There was fire damage because the school lunch lady left the stove burner on overnight, and it was clearly her own fault? Whatever the misfortune, go ahead and blame Morrigan Crow. She was born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born; she’s on the Cursed Children’s Register and everything. Why cursed? Well, on top of bringing supposed misfortune to her locale, she will die on the next Eventide. Normally a 12-year Age, this one comes a year early. Morrigan already felt cheated expecting to die right as she turned 12. But 11? Remarkably, Morrigan receives multiple bids on Bid Day. It’d be unheard of for a “cursed child” to receive one. But Captain Jupiter North “of the Wondrous Society, the League of Explorers, and the Federation of Nevermoorian Hoteliers” does arrive at Crow Manor. And he whisks her off in the nick of time, barely avoiding the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow, taking her to the Hotel Deucalion. Nevermoor itself is a wonder, a Free State housing the illustrious Wundrous Society, a secret world of magic and wonderment. It’s wholly unlike where she fled from: the town of Jackalfax in the state of Great Wolfacre in the Wintersea Republic. In Nevermoor, Morrigan has the opportunity to become a member of the Wundrous Society (or Wunsoc), but there are rigorous trials that she must endure to vie for one of nine spots … and there are 500+ candidates competing. But no pressure! Not passing a trial only means that Morrigan will get kicked out of Nevermoor and have to face the Hunt again. Certain death! But again, no pressure! Because what Nevermoor can give Morrigan are things she’s never really had: a family (Jupiter, Dame Chanda, Fenestra) and friends (Hawthorne Swift, kinda-sorta-maybe John Arjuna Korrapati a.k.a. Jack).

            I bought this on a whim and am so very pleased that I did. It’s no Harry Potter (but nothing ever will be except Harry Potter, so), but it is wildly imaginative, cheekily charming and happily spellbinding. It is a splendid adventure and a fast-paced one, at that. Townsend has crafted this world with care and opulent detail. I imagine the scenes that readers construct in their minds to be as impressive as the world-building within the pages. The cast is diverse, and the magic isn’t so wand-wielding magical as it is clever. But that isn’t all that makes this story, for the core relates to Morrigan herself. It isn’t discovering what Gossamer is (“an invisible, intangible network”). It’s far deeper and highlights the complexity of someone realizing her own worth. Morrigan has moxie, but it’s hope and bravery and self-love that’s been sorely missing. And which she needs in her life. We all do.

            P.S. I wish Fenestra (Fen) were in my life. She’s a Magnificat (not to be confused with the Christian canticle, which is spelled the same). Fen is actually a giant, talking cat.

            P.P.S. Remember to befriend Frank. He’s a vampire dwarf (not a dwarf vampire – do be sensitive). He will not bite you. At least, I don’t think so.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Oct. 15, 2019) by Kwame Mbalia.

*This is the first novel in a trilogy.*

What happens when 7^th-grader Tristan Strong goes on an adventure in which he encounters West African gods (like Nyame, the sky god, and Anansi, the Weaver and trickster, whose normal form is that of a spider) and African-American folk legends (like Brer Fox, John Henry and High John)? Lots of bickering. Yep, working together isn’t their thing, but Tristan wants to return to Alabama. Thanks to a fight with Gum Baby (a sassy, living doll who’s sticky with sap), Tristan knocks a bottle off the Bottle Tree, and it shatters, releasing a haint (evil spirit) who calls himself Uncle C. He winds up in Alke, a place that is “the dream to your world’s reality. The tales, the fables, the things you think are made up, they exist here” (p. 76). The Maafa and its minions (fetterlings a.k.a. iron monsters and poisonous brand flies) are hunting them. Many Midfolk have fled to MidPass (it’s here that Tristan first encounters John Henry), an island in the Burning Sea, but it is attacked when Tristan, Ayanna, Gum Baby and Chestnutt aim to reach Nyame’s Palace to collect the Story Box. They need Anansi’s help to repair the hole in the sky above MidPass and also to enable Tristan to return home. But how does one barter with a trickster? Tristan is an Anansesem, a storyteller, and when he tells stories, they come alive. The world listens to him, and he listens to it. The stories in his late best friend’s (Eddie) journal aren’t simply stories. But will Tristan trust in his Anansesem abilities to use them to save Alke? How? How does storytelling defeat the Maafa, a feeling of “devastation and destruction, hunger and greed.” The Maafa survives on pain, but it came with the other gods: “It came here with the first of us. The sadness to our joy.”

            The first thing I thought when reading this story was, “I will be reading the rest of this trilogy.” Coming into this novel, I’d heard of MidPass gods like John Henry and High John and the Brers (Fox, Rabbit, Bear) but I was not familiar with the West African gods at all. I love mythology and so happily learned more about this one. This novel is wildly busy, like a magical rollercoaster roving on a topsy-turvy, right-side-up-and-upside-down track that only moves at top speed. Concluding the story is like that feeling you get when a wild rollercoaster suddenly comes to a stop -- your hair is riotously unkempt, your face feels both frozen and flushed (maybe that’s just me), and you can’t move right away. Mbalia’s novel is constant action and adventure. The only thing I missed was a Glossary at the book’s end, as this story is a trove of mythology. Like Rick Riordan says of Tristan’s adventure, “…the sky’s the limit. Wait, no. Tristan punched a hole in the sky. There are no limits.” So, go forth and be limitless! (But also responsible. Please don’t do anything illegal or uncouth.)

            My favorite line comes from High John, who purposely aggravates one of Nyame’s guardians, Leopard. Leopard has just growled at High John, so High John says, “Purr at me again, little kitty, I'll be wearing you soon.” (p. 455)

            Another line that made me chuckle: “When grown-ups get on their high horses, those things gallop for days.” (--Tristan, p. 119)