Mini Reviews: A Middle Grade Bonanza

This wonderful book just won the Newbery Medal and it was justly deserved. (The Newbery Medal is the oldest award for children’s literature) This was such a sweet story with a great narrator. Michael is a very anxious tween who has a lot going on in his life, plus his worries about Y2K (remember that?!). So when he meets someone proclaiming to be from the future he thinks his worries will be over. I loved how he accepted Ridge, the time traveler, and even when Ridge refused to tell him about Y2K he was able to overcome some of his fears. I also loved Ridge and how excited he was to visit a time that he was very interested in. Gibby, his babysitter, was also a very nice character and great with Michael. The story is paced well and at times was very nostalgic with all of the various 90’s references. I loved the overall plot of the story, and loved that we got a glimpse of what was happening with Ridge’s family as well. A nicely done time travel story with a lot of heart.

I really enjoyed this historical novel set during WWII in England. It is centered around the secret code breaking work that the British accomplished during the war. But at its heart is the story of two siblings dealing with the loss of their mother and Lizzie’s belief that she isn’t really dead. I loved the siblings and thought they both very smart and brave to face the things they had to face in this book. Lizzie was especially very endearing as she was headstrong and wouldn’t let anything stop her from finding her mother. I loved the historical content as well and learned a bit more about the enigma machines and some of the people who worked on them. The book also has some really nice codes from their mother that the siblings have to decipher, I could definitely see kids trying to figure those out on their own. The pictures and newspaper clippings from the time period are a nice touch too. The pacing is a little on the slow side, but the wonderful writing makes up for that. Overall a great read for tweens and teens interested in this time period and secret codes.

While this was a very informative book about the famed Loch Ness Monster, full of facts and evidence, it was unfortunately a little on the dry side. The book starts out with the first sighting in the 1930’s and explains very well why people got excited about it and were quite willing to believe that there was a monster living in a lake in Scotland. It then goes on to explain why the newspapers were willing to print a story that they knew was probably false, and that the concept of false news is not something that has only happened recently. This is a meticulously researched topic (the bibliography is almost as long as the book!) and the author goes into great detail about how pictures and accounts were fabricated or in one case, caused by user error. But even while I found the subject matter fascinating and wanted to know more, I was also bored while reading it. Bored isn’t quite right but I can’t think of a better word. Perhaps a few more pictures or newspaper clippings could have helped as I found these quite interesting. I would have really appreciated a picture or drawing of the toy submarine used to create the most famous picture of Nessie. I really appreciated the final chapter that talked a bit about how to spot fake news, especially on the internet. Something most people could use. Overall this was a solid look at one of the world’s most famous cryptids. (I still believe in Nessie in my heart!)