New Middle Grade Books

I've been reading quite a few books lately that I think of as "middle-grade": on the older side of chapter books, or maybe the younger side of the teen books. A brand-new contribution to that set is Brian Selznick's new book Wonderstruck. I wouldn't be the least surprised if it won as many awards and as much recognition as his first book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Wonderstruck is done in the same arresting visual style, and has a similar feel in terms of the story and characters. It is a bit more complex then Hugo Cabret, but in a way I think kids will enjoy.

I also read a couple of books that aren't quite as new in terms of publication date, but are new to me at least: the first book in the Dork Diaries series by Rachel Russell (titled Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life) and as I mentioned before, the first book in Patrick Carman's Skeleton Creek series (titled Skeleton Creek). I liked the Dork Diaries book fairly well, and I think it's a good choice for female fans of the Wimpy Kid series. I wasn't very impressed with Skeleton Creek, though. It was meant to be spooky but wasn't at all, and I found the videos tedious and badly acted. Maybe this is just my adult cynicism preventing me from enjoying the story. Kids really seem to like these books. Oh well.