Staying Power–Alison McGhee & Kathi Appelt’s Favorite Middle Grade Reads, Plus Giveaway

Here are a few of my favorite midde grade books that, once read, have stayed with me. I carry them around in my heart.–Alison McGhee

1. The Watsons Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis. I wish this book had been around when I was a little girl. Curtis so beautifully weaves together the story of a family and the place and era in which they live. The relationship between the brothers and their sister and their parents, the evocation of one of the darkest days in our collective history, the way this book makes me laugh and cry and recommend it to everyone—it is a perfect middle grade book.

2. My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George. This book was a bible to me as a child. I read it over and over and over. I wanted to be that boy, he who lived in a hollow tree, tanned his own deerskin, taught himself how to survive in the wilds of an upstate New York winter (and as an upstate New Yorker myself, I know what that takes). As a child I was somewhat obsessed with tales of children who survived on their own and figured out a way to live on their own terms. I still am.

3. Stella by Starlight, by Sharon Draper. Draper effortlessly (I love using the word effortlessly, because when it comes to art, the creation of it is almost always anything but) evokes a little girl and her family who live on the border of north and south during the beginning of the civil rights era. The things that Stella witnesses, the fear and courage and humor she shows throughout, and the love and support of her family and community—what a lovely book this is.

4. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes. I read this book when it first came out and have returned to it, in my thoughts, ever since. Told through the eyes of a girl whose classmate dies, this small but huge book is about the secrets we keep, the meaning of our actions, grief and wonder and curiosity. I’ve never read anything by Kevin Henkes that I didn’t love, and Olive’s Ocean is no exception. 

And here are Kathi Appelt’s favorites:

1. Holes, by Louis Sachar. This is my hands­down favorite when it comes to middle grade fiction. The first time I read it, I remember getting to the last page and feeling as though I had just read something as close to perfect as it comes. Sachar uses humor, longing, a compelling back story, and a genuine hero (along with a collective hero), to fight the forces of evil, and he does it in the most deliciously satisfying way. I love this book.

Meet Maybe a Fox!

Worlds collide in a spectacular way when Newbery and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt and Pulitzer Prize nominee and #1 New York Times bestseller Alison McGhee team up to create a fantastical, heartbreaking, and gorgeous tale about two sisters, a fox cub, and what happens when one of the sisters disappears forever.

Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie. Better than just sisters, better than best friends, they’d be identical twins if only they’d been born in the same year. And if only Sylvie wasn’t such a fast—faster than fast—runner. But Sylvie is too fast, and when she runs to the river they’re not supposed to go anywhere near to throw a wish rock just before the school bus comes on a snowy morning, she runs so fast that no one sees what happens…and no one ever sees her again. Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe what all the others believe, that—like their mother—her sister is gone forever.

At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born—half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She too is fast—faster than fast—and she senses danger. She’s too young to know exactly what she senses, but she knows something is very wrong. And when Jules believes one last wish rock for Sylvie needs to be thrown into the river, the human and shadow worlds collide.

Writing in alternate voices—one Jules’s, the other the fox’s—Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee tell the searingly beautiful tale of one small family’s moment of heartbreak, a moment that unfolds into one that is epic, mythic, shimmering, and most of all, hopeful.

Meet Alison McGhee and Kathi Appelt!

Alison McGhee is the New York Times bestselling author of SOMEDAY, LITTLE BOY, BYE-BYE CRIB, ALWAYS and A VERY BRAVE WITCH. Her other children’s books include ALL RIVERS FLOW TO THE SEA, COUNTDOWN TO KINDERGARTEN, SNAP, and the JULIA GILLIAN series, about the adventures of a girl who lives in Minneapolis. Alison is also an award-winning novelist of the adult novels WAS IT BEAUTIFUL? A NOVEL; FALLING BOY; RAINLIGHT; and the Today Show book club selection, SHADOW BABY.She lives in Minneapolis, MN. You can find her at her website and also on Facebook under Alison McGhee, Author.

Kathi Appelt’s books have won numerous national and state awards, including the Irma and Simon Black Award, Children’s Choice Award, the Oppenheimer Gold Award, Parent’s Choice Award, Storytelling World Award, Growing Good Kids Award, Texas Writer’s League Award for Children’s Literature, the Texas Institute of Letters Award, Best Books for Young Adults, VOYA Top of the Shelf Aard, and a host of others. She is married to Ken, a musician and all around nice guy. Together they have two grown sons, Jacob and Cooper. Both of them are musicians too. They also share their home with six cats: Jazz, Hoss, D’jango, Peach, Mingus and Chica. She serves as a faculty member at Vermont College of Fine Arts in their MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.

Maybe a Fox

By: Kathi Appett and Alison McGhee

Release Date: March 8, 2016 

*GIVEAWAY DETAILS* 

One winner will receive a copy of this new book, plus something extra (US only)!

*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*

a Rafflecopter giveaway