Angie’s Book Talk Corner is a place for highlighting books for our middle grade readers. These are kids who have moved past “Rainbow Fairies” and “Magic Treehouse” and are looking for a more challenging book. All of these books have been personally read by me and can be checked out at the library. Hopefully, a new favorite for your child can emerge from these book talks.
“Half a World Away” by Cynthia Kadohata is a contemplative book, asking the reader to think about why we are here and where did we come from. The book follows middle-schooler Jaden as his family takes a journey to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby brother. Julian has mixed emotions about his families decision to adopt because he was adopted from Romania when he was eight.
For Jaden, adoption did not mean instant love and family and happiness for all time, the end. For Jaden, his journey is haunted by a feeling of abandonment. He was loved by a mother once, and that mother chose to leave him at an orphanage at an age when he was old enough to remember. He can’t let go of those memories, and he cannot let himself love his adoptive mom, even though she loves him wholeheartedly, despite all the fights and the fires.
Will Jaden be able to love this new brother? Will this new brother feel the same emptiness that Jaden feels in his heart? What about all the other kids in the orphanage? Will anyone come back for them?
Jaden’s honesty will really hit home for readers who aren’t afraid to talk about feelings, even if they sometimes delve into negative territory. This book is for anyone interested in the darker side of life and wonders whether or not people can become whole again. If you have a young reader looking for a good cry, “Half a World Away” will be a great read for them.
It will also appeal to those interested in reading about other cultures. There are many details about life in Kazakhstan and how the world of international adoption can work. This may be of interest to kids who like to read about life in other countries, or, perhaps, wish they had been adopted.
Afterward, you can find Kadohata’s other books such as Newbery Medal winner “Kira-Kira,” which is an amazing, emotional book about a young girl dealing with her sister’s cancer diagnosis.
“The Secret Hum of a Daisy” by Tracy Holczer is another great read for that thoughtful tween in your world. This book follows the journey of twelve-year-old Grace as she must deal with the sudden death of her mother and the move to a new town to live with a grandma she’s never met (and never heard nice things about before). You see, Grace’s mother was once young and pregnant. Grandma sent her mother away to have her baby, but, once Grace was born, her mother never returned home and she never settled in one city for too long. Grace has spent her whole life living a sort-of hippie, vagabond dream. She and her mother experienced many new towns and made many new friends along the way, but nothing ever stuck.
Now, Grace is stuck. She wants out of her Grandma’s care, and she wants desperately to get back to the last home she knew, the last home where her mom was still alive, because Grace is afraid to move forward. If she moves forward, then her mom is gone for good, and she keeps seeing what she thinks are signs from her mom around town so surely she’s not gone for good. Who else could be leaving paper cranes everywhere?
In this book, the reader will confront issues, like parental honesty. What if the version of the stories your mom was telling you were not the most accurate? What if the grandparent you were raised to hate might actually be a good person? Is it okay to change your perspective on things?
This is another great choice for any young reader hoping to cry (I promise they won’t all be tearjerkers). Holczer words flow so freely that I times you will feel like your in a poem, only to be brought back down to Earth again to face the reality that Grace has to move forward. This book is a great pick for any little soulful person in your world.
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