Books In the Middle Podcast

Send us Fan Mail One Crazy Summer    By Rita Williams-Garcia         They didn’t really remember their mother, since she’d left so many years ago. So when their dad sends them off to San Francisco to get to know their mom, Delphine has her reservations. After all, she doesn’t know much about her mother and her mother doesn’t seem to even want them in her house. Plus it is the summer of 1968, and l...

Send us Fan Mail Esperanza Rising By Pam Munoz Ryan      Esperanza’s life it torn apart after her father is killed and she and her mother must flee from Mexico with little money. Esperanza was used to a life of plenty, but suddenly she is thrown into a new world in America and is forced to work for all she needs as a migrant worker. Esperanza begins to wonder if she can ever be happy in this new l...

Send us Fan Mail Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor       Growing up in the south in Mississippi during the Great Depression was not easy for anyone, but it was especially hard for Cassie's family. Her family must deal with the racism that pervades the south and for Cassie it will turn out to be a year where she comes face to face with some very harsh realities.  Recommended fo...

Send us Fan Mail Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys      As World War II is ending, Germany is losing ground to the Russians and many civilians are being caught in the crossfire. As a result, many are fleeing and find themselves at the coast along the Baltic Sea. In order to reach safety, they must find safe passage. Around 2 million civilians and German soldier made this crossing, but there were man...

Send us Fan Mail The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe         Dita is fourteen and living in Family Block 31 in Auschwitz in 1944. What made this block unusal is that families were kept together in the same area. Men and women were still separated, but they could see each other each day. Many in the block are unsure why the Nazis are allowing this, since it wasn't common at all. It tu...

Send us Fan Mail The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt Holling Hoodhood (yeah that seriously is his name) is already struggling with 7th grade. The year is 1967 and he knows that his teacher, Mrs. Baker doesn't like him. In fact, there are days when he thinks she's actively trying to take him out! It all has to do with Wednesday afternoons. Or at least, that is what he thinks. What he do...

Send us Fan Mail Call of the Wild by Jack London Buck is the master of his domain, the king of his castle, and an amazing dog living an amazing life. Until one day he is kidnapped and forced north due to the Klondike gold rush sweeping the nation. There his life will never be the same as he is forced to endure brutal treatment until one kind person comes into his life.  Recommended for grades 8th...

Send us Fan Mail Lyddie by Katherine Paterson Lyddie is living with her younger siblings in the country in the 1840s when her father decides to leave the family and go in search of fortune elsewhere. While Lyddie and her brother hold onto the hope that their father will return someday, there mother doesn't think he'll ever will. When she basically gives Lyddie to an innkeeper to use as a...

Send us Fan Mail Inside Out & Back Again     By Thanhha Lai  With her father missing for years, Ha’s mother must make a decision as the Vietnam War begins to end. Should she try to escape with her family, or wait in Vietnam? Ha’s life changes quickly when she flees with her family to America. However, things are not easy in the new country. Recommended for grades 6 and up.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 By Christopher Paul Curtis What happens when you older brother keeps getting into trouble, and your parents have relatives in Birmingham, Alabama who can straighten him out?  Kenny can’t believe all the trouble his brother Byron is getting into these days, and finally their parents decided it’s time for a trip down South. Recommended for grades 6...

Send us Fan Mail American Ace     By Marilyn Nelson  Connor understands that his father is very depressed after the death of his mom. What he doesn’t realize is that his dad is thinking about a lot of things. It turns out that when his mother died, she left him with something that shook the foundation of Connor’s father’s life. In a letter, Connor’s grandmother tells his dad that the man he though...

Send us Fan Mail Ghost      By Jason Reynolds Ghost, or Castle as his mom calls him, feels that he’s been running for some time. It all started one night when his dad got out of control and tried to shoot him and his mother. Since then it feels like he just can’t take a breath and catch his breath. When he tries to show up a kid on a track team, he ends up getting on the team. But can he stay on i...

Send us Fan Mail Sound of Letting Go    By Stasia Ward Kehoe  Daisy feels like she is strangling under the pressure from everyone to keep up the facade of being the “perfect girl.” She needs to be that, because without it, she believes her family will fall apart. Her younger brother, Steven, is severely autistic and it is getting to the point where no one can control him. What will happen then? Re...

Send us Fan Mail The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder  What if you had one day? One day to do what you wanted before life as you knew it would change forever? What would you choose to do with it? Amber has one day for herself before things will never be the same. She packs a bag and heads for the beach, where she has always been able to be herself. In this one day, she meets a boy named Cade, who appe...

Send us Fan Mail After the Death of Anna Gonzales By Terri Fields When students arrive at school to hear on the morning announcements one of the students has committed suicide, the reactions of teachers and classmates range from despair to barely registering the tragedy. See into the minds of forty-seven individuals, and how they reflect on Anna’s death. Recommended for 8th grade and up due to mat...

Send us Fan Mail A Northern Light    By Jennifer Donnelly  Mattie is looking for a way out, but can’t see one. All she sees is her life is hard work taking care of her father and the farm and her younger siblings. She wants to go to college, but that seems like a far off dream in 1906. Mattie works at a hotel in the summer to earn money for her family and she meets a young woman named Grace, who c...

Send us Fan Mail A Long Way from Chicago By Richard Peck  When Joey and his sister Mary Alice find out they have to spend a week at their grandmother’s place, far away from Chicago, they don’t want to go. What will they do to be entertained? But they are the ones who are in for a big shock, and plenty of entertainment when they realize all the things their grandmother has in store for them.  Recom...

Send us Fan Mail Leon’s Story      By Leon Tillage Leon was born in 1936, near Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. When he was younger, hewould curse the fact that he was black. “But in those days they didn’t call you ‘black.’ They didn’t say ‘minority.’ They called us ‘colored’ or….” worse. This is his story of growing up in the South. Recommended for mature 6th graders and up.  Support the s...

Send us Fan Mail Warriors Don’t Cry By Melba Pattillo Beals         As a teenager everyone wants to fit in.  Melba did not stand a chance of that happening as one of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High in 1957.  With a guard posted to make sure Melba survived the day and armored tanks to keep back the mobs, she tried to make it through 10th grade alive.  This is her story of what happ...

Send us Fan Mail The Terrorist     By Caroline B. Cooney Laura and her younger brother Billy are trying to adjust to life in London when their father is assigned there for work. However, when Billy gets killed, Laura’s life takes on a new focus and meaning; finding Billy’s killer. Recommended for 7th grade and up.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Tia never knew her father, or at least she doesn’t have memories of him. That is because he was sentenced to life in prison when she was only four years old. Her mother won’t talk about him and basically tells Tia to forget about him – that for all intent and purpose, he is dead. This works for Tia until one night at choir practice when a carjacking happens outside the church her...

Send us Fan Mail Josh and Jordan are identical twins. Both take after their father, and are fantastic basketball players. However, not everything is perfect in their world. Pressure is mounting on them to step up their games, and now Josh is feeling distance from his brother since Jordan has gotten a girlfriend. He’s wondering if everything is going to change.  Recommended for grades 7th and up. ...

Send us Fan Mail When Travis and his sister head to their grandmother’s Bed and Breakfast for the summer, they think it will be boring. That is until they learn the inn is listed as haunted. Their grandmother doesn’t believe it is, so Travis and Corey decide to make it haunted. Little do they know, it already is! Recommended for 6th grade and up.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail So the vacation isn’t starting off the way he, Davey, is hoping or imagining it would. Even though they are in “paradise,” Davey is stuck in a room with his parents and younger, obnoxious brother and, well, the room is getting pretty funky. So why not just slip out with his book and get some reading in while the rest of the family sleeps on? It sounds like a good idea, but even th...

Send us Fan Mail Maud lives in an orphanage and sees no hope of being adopted, until two old sisters come asking for a clever girl. At first Maud can’t believe her good luck. However, over time, she realizes the Hawthorne sisters want her to play a part, a very important acting role and if Maud pulls it off, all their lives will be changed forever. Recommended for 7th grade and up.  Support the sh...