December '24- Here We Go!

A round-up of December's Friday Middle Grade Book Recs from Insta

(Reposting my newsletter sent out on 12/27 as I migrate over to Substack.)

I hope you’re enjoying a restful and rejuvenating winter break. I spent time with my husband’s family in Oklahoma reading, crocheting, and pretending to understand the car mechanic tv shows my father-in-law loves to watch. Now I’m winding down the last few days of 2024 reading, crocheting, and pretending to understand the video games my son plays that he loves to tell me about.

Here’s a round of up the Friday Middle Grade Book Recs I posted on Instagram in December, along with some book pairings and teaching ideas for each book. Happy reading!

Friday Middle Grade Book Rec, December 6 (view reel here)
A Brush With Magic by Flora Ahn (website)

It’s finally summer break, and twelve-year-old Yumi is headed to Korea with her older sister, Minji, for the very first time. She can’t wait to explore the city of Seoul together—but Minji has other plans. The moment they land, Minji ditches Yumi to hang out with their cousins, who are more fashionable, better at soccer, and all-around cooler than Yumi. Lost and alone, Yumi is stuck at home painting with her grandfather.
Everything changes when she finds an intriguing ink brush in a neighborhood art shop—and accidentally summons a creature straight out of her grandfather’s retellings of Korean fairy tales. With a new friend by her side and an ink brush that has the power to bring anything she paints to life, Yumi feels unstoppable. From bustling street markets and ancient palaces to riding the subway, Yumi and her friend explore everything Seoul has to offer.
But when the magic takes a dark turn, Yumi must dig deep to hear her own voice and protect the family she loves—even if they don’t always understand each other.

In this book, Yumi is discovering Seoul for the first time so I would recommend students look up websites with pictures of famous places and neighborhoods in Seoul so they can visualize where Yumi is going as they’re reading. This video is a great start. Researching Korean mythological creatures and drawing them would be a good extension activity as well. This video introduces ten creatures from Korean mythology.

Book Pairings:
Misadventures in Ghosthunting by Melissa Yue
The Magic Paintbrush by Kat Zhang, ill. Eric Darnell

Friday Middle Grade Book Rec, December 13 (view reel here)
Noodle and Bao by Shaina Lu (website)

Momo has lived in Town 99 her entire life. She knows all its quirks and rhythms: the best places to buy fruit, practice tai-chi in the park, and, most of all, get the best meal: Noodle & Bao, run by Momo’s best friend, Bao, and their amah, Noodle.

But Town 99 is changing. Rent is becoming unaffordable for Momo and her parents, and even Noodle & Bao has been edged out of its storefront, which was just recently bought out by a new business venture—Fancé Cafe. Fancé is run by the ambitious Ms. Jujube and her henchmen, who claim they're only beautifying Town 99 with good business.

Momo knows that’s not true, and knows that if she doesn’t do something, she’ll lose everything she loves about her neighborhood. From undercover recon to a cook-off proposal, protest signs to petitions, Momo and Bao are on a mission to protect Town 99. Will they succeed before it’s too late?

Break out the cookbooks! Students could research the various recipes and cuisine Bao makes in the book and even try making some of them. This is a quick and easy bao recipe, despite not being entirely authentic. The topic of gentrification is discussed in the book and students could research how this affects cities and communities. This video offers a simple explanation of gentrification while this lesson plan is a more in-depth look at the concept.

Book Pairings:
The Takeout by Tracy Badua
Mabuhay by Zachary Sterling
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

Friday Middle Grade Book Rec, December 20 (view reel here)
The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa (website)

Ten-year-old Anang wants to make a ribbon skirt, a piece of clothing typically worn by girls in the Anishinaabe tradition, for an upcoming powwow. Anang is two-spirit and nonbinary and doesn't know what others will think of them wearing a ribbon skirt, but they're determined to follow their heart's desire. Anang sets off to gather the materials needed to make the skirt and turns to those around them -- their family, their human and turtle friends, the crows, and even the lake itself -- for help. And maybe they'll even find a new confidence within themself along the way.

The backmatter of the book has excellent descriptions of powwows and ribbon skirts. Students might like watching videos of the ribbon skirt dance Anang participates in, such as this one.

Point of Pride has a wonderful site explaining two spirit identity as well as an accompanying video that you can access here. I anticipate this book being on many banned book lists due to our current political climate but its message of being true to yourself despite the discomfort of adults around you is essential for ALL students. It’s critical we stand up for books that students need and I strong suggest utilizing many of the resources outlined on ALA’s website.

Book Pairings:
Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen
The Ship We Built by Lexie Bean
Books by AJ Sass, Justine Pucella Winans, and Ash Van Otterloo

Friday Middle Grade Book Rec, December 27 (view reel here)
May the Best Player Win by Kayla Zhao (website)

The clock is ticking for May Li, whose middle-school chess team just earned a victory at the state championship—and with it, a ticket to nationals. What’s even more exciting is that May got an award for being the top female player and a splashy feature in the biggest chess magazine in the country.
May should be thrilled. But some of her teammates, including her supposed-to-be-friend Ralph, aren’t too pleased with the attention she’s getting—and they’re even questioning her skills. Backed into a corner, but not one to back down, May makes a move as bold as any of her chess tactics: She bets Ralph she can win the school’s internal tournament and be chosen as team captain for nationals.
The crown is May’s for the taking . . . except she’s starting to crumble under the weight of everyone’s expectations. Anxious feelings begin to affect her performance and, what’s worse, eat away at her love for the game. Now May is left to wonder: Can you still play for fun when you’re playing to win?

Zhao does an excellent job of making chess accessible to young readers who may be unfamiliar with the game. Kids can familiarize themselves with the rules of the sport with the website, ChessKid. Students might also want to learn about the top female chess players of all time here. Kids might even want to set up their own chess tournament and can find help on how to do so here.

Order the paperback edition of The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto here!

Order What Fell From the Sky here!