Monsters, skunks and witches: our Middle-Grade picks for Sept 2020
Looking for something zany or a bit of adventure? Take a look at this month's middle grade picks.
Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake, Jon Klassen
The first time Badger saw Skunk, he thought, 'puny', and shut the front door. There was simply too much slick in this Skunk's stripe. Too much puff in his tail. Also, there'd been that grin, and the way he'd stuck out his paw as if he had been looking forward to meeting Badger. Badger knew what to make of that. He shut the door before the fellow got any ideas. But Skunk is Badger's new roommate, and there is nothing Badger can do about it. When Skunk bursts into Badger's life, everything Badger knows is upended. Tails are flipped. The wrong animal is sprayed. And why-oh-why are there so many chickens? 'Skunk and Badger' is a beautiful reminder that sometimes opposites are destined to be the best of friends.
Grime and punishment, by Dav Pilkey
The newest Dog Man title.
The Supa Buddies bamboozled the baddies, but all's not right in the world. Dog Man has a new problem to pound, and he's going to need his entire pack to help him. Will he go barking up the wrong tree? Dav Pilkey's wildly popular Dog Man series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of doing good.
The witches: the graphic novel, by Penelope Bagieu, Roald Dahl
French illustrator and comic designer, Bagieu adapts Dahl’s classic into a graphic novel.
Witches are real, and they are very, very dangerous. They wear ordinary clothes and have ordinary jobs in ordinary towns and there's nothing they despise more than children. When an eight-year-old boy and his grandmother come face-to-face with the Grand High Witch herself, they may be the only ones who can stop the witches' latest plot!
Never and forever, by Cressida Cowell
The final book in the brilliant Wizards of Once series
Warriors and wizards combine forces against the dreadful power of the Kingwitch, whose searing evil threatens not only the Wildwoods, but all its creatures. Xar and Wish are on the final leg of their journey. First stop: The Mines of Unhappiness. Here, starvation is never far away for the Magical creatures who toil in its horrible depths. Xar and Wish must escape and fast; Xar needs to take control of his ever-growing Witchstain, and Wish must achieve her Destiny. But the Tazzelwurm is in their way, a grotesque monster who threatens to block every entrance.Time is not on their side, but the forests are calling them.
The Tower of Nero, by Rick Riordan
The final episode in the Trials of Apollo series
It's time to face the final trial. The battle for Camp Jupiter is over. New Rome is safe. Tarquin and his army of the undead have been defeated. Somehow Apollo has made it out alive, with a little bit of help from the Hunters of Artemis. But though the battle may have been won, the war is far from over. Now Apollo and Meg must get ready for the final - and, let's face it, probably fatal - adventure. They must face the last emperor, the terrifying Nero, and destroy him once and for all. Can Apollo find his godly form again? Will Meg be able to face up to her troubled past? Destiny awaits.
Tamarind & the star of Ishta, by Jasbinder Bilan
Second novel from the author of Asha and the Spirit Bird which won the Costa Children’s Book of the Year
In an unforgettable adventure set in contemporary India, Asha is guided by a majestic bird which she believes to be the spirit of her grandmother. Together with her best friend, Jeevan, she embarks on a journey across the Himalayas to find her missing father and save her home.
Borrow Tamarind & the star of Ishta →
The monsters of Rookhaven, by Padraig Kenny, Edward Bettison
Mirabelle has always known she is a monster. When the glamour protecting her unusual family from the human world is torn and an orphaned brother and sister stumble upon Rookhaven, Mirabelle soon discovers that friendship can be found in the outside world. But as something far more sinister comes to threaten them all, it quickly becomes clear that the true monsters aren't necessarily the ones you can see.
Borrow The monsters of Rookhaven →
The thing at Black Hole Lake, by Dashe Roberts
The sequel to 'The Bigwoof Conspiracy' takes us back to Sticky Pines, a small US town where weird things happen. Milo, loyal to his double-crossing, business-mogul father, has taken a trip to Black Hole Lake, leaving Lucy to continue her search into alien life and the Truth that she knows is out there. Milo's discovery of a sinister, dark creature in the Lake will put them both in terrible danger and also - if they survive their adventure - make them friends again.
It’s back to Sticky Pines for the author of The Bigwoof Conspiracy