Share this… What I love about books like Guys Write is that they remind me of those assortments of little boxes of cereal: you get a little bit of everything. Like those assortments, there’s no need to read a book like this straight through, or even to read all of it. You can dip in …read more…
Posts contained in the “Intermediate Literature” category:
Books written for and/or marketed to middle school and upper elementary students, generally people 9-12 years of age.
Atherton: The House of Power by Patrick Carman
Share this… The only world eleven-year-old Edgar has ever known is that of Tabletop. In the center of Tabletop are the cliffs that lead to the Highlands, but climbing those cliffs is strictly forbidden. At the outer edge, sheer cliffs descend to the unknown Flatlands. As an orphan, Edgar has always had to work for Mr. …read more…
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Share this… Twelve-year-old Anita has always had a happy life, living with her extended family in the Dominican Republic. Her middle class family live a life that few in her country can afford, with household servants and private schools for their children. And always, they are surrounded by portraits of “El Jefe,” whom Anita has always …read more…
Strange Happenings by Avi
Share this… At some point in our lives, we all have a desire to become someone or something else. What would you do if that wish became true? The five short tales contained in this book all have transformation as a central plot device: A bored twelve-year-old boy turns into a cat. A young princess in …read more…
April is National Poetry Month
Share this… April is National Poetry Month. I know I’m getting this out a bit late, but better late than never (a cliché that I’m sure all aspiring poets will be careful to avoid in their work). If you don’t know what National Poetry Month is, it was inaugurated in 1996 by the Academy of American …read more…
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Share this… If you are lucky, a book will come into your life at precisely the moment that you need it. I had been missing the Harry Potter books for some time, and while I didn’t want to read a clone, ripoff, or wannabe of that series (of which there are many), I did want to …read more…
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Robert Cormier
Share this… Sixteen-year-old Barney Snow is the only patient in his hospital ward who isn’t dying. Unlike the other kids however, most of his memory is gone; he has only vague recollections of a car accident, and the knowledge that he is at the hospital as a service to others. At the heart of this story …read more…
By the River by Steven Herrick
Share this… The year is 1962, and fourteen-year-old Harry Hodby lives in a small town in Australia. His mother died when he was seven, his friend (and potential girlfriend) Linda was swept away in a flood, and he, along with his father and younger brother Keith, are left to sort out their hardscrabble lives, coping with …read more…
