Alli the Book Giraffe

Hello readers! Middle Grade March is approaching, and I thought I’d go ahead and make a TBR. I haven’t actually read anything this entire month, but I still want to make a TBR for March in hopes that I will find my love for reading again.

So much is happening in my personal life right now, including being sick and such. And, it’s taking a very large toll on my mental health. BUT, I hope I can get back to it in March! Because of this, I am actually going to give two options for each prompt and I’ll try to get to either one.

Make sure to check out my Middle Grade March recommendations post! I tried to recommend 2 to 3 books for four of the prompts for the readathon. I also have some other recommendation posts coming to you centering middle grade in March.

LASTLY, don’t forget to check out the announcement video for the readathon!

Prompt 1: A One Word Title

I really want to pick books that I actually own, so for option 1, I’m going with Inkheart. I have too many unread MG books on my bookshelf. I picked this up a couple years ago after seeing the movie. I can’t believe I never saw Inkheart as a kid!

My husband really loved the movie as a kid and wanted me to watch it with him, so I did. This is the perfect book about books as well.

Inkheart follows a girl named Meggie, whose father can read aloud from books and read people in/out of the books. He can’t really control who is sucked into or comes out of the book. Actually, Meggie’s mom was read into a book many years before and they weren’t able to get her out.

In this book specifically, her dad has read this evil ruler out of a book and they have to go on a mission to stop him.

Option two will be Green, which is Alex Gino’s most recent release. I didn’t even know about this book until it already came out and I want to get to it soon.

It’s supposed to be connected to Melissa and Rick, which are two books I suggested for you guys to read for this prompt. It follows a NB middle schooler who wants to be in the next school play, being Wizard of Oz.

If you read my recommendations post, you know that Melissa actually centered a school play as well, but it was Charlotte’s Web.

I’m really excited for this one, but I don’t actually own it yet.

Prompt 2: A Debut

Wiw, was this was such a hard prompt!

I decided to go with one that I’ve wanted to read for a long, long time, and that is Front Desk by Kelly Yang. This one came out in 2018, but is her debut book.

All i know about it is that it follows a young girl whose immigrant parents own a motel and they help undocumented immigrants in some way. I think they either hide them or give them jobs, or both. It’s also the first book in the series, so I might try to read on if I manage to get to all these books this month.

My second option for this one would be to reread Amari and the Night Brothers. Book three is to be released this year and I have yet to even read book two.

Seriously, give this book a shot! It is one of the best, and one of my absolute favorite, middle grade books that exists.

Prompt 3: An Immigration or Refugee Story

I’m leaning toward option two for this one, but this one has recently hit my radar.

This one follows a young girl who immigrates from Israel to the US. She really hates the move and is determined to do anything to go back home, including winning a drawing competition to pay for a plane ticket home.

This one is a non-fiction and also a graphic novel following Omar as a kid. Omar and his brother were living in a refugee camp and he was taking care of his brother. Then, he gets an opportunity to go to school in America and doesn’t know what to do.

If there is one thing I always love, it’s graphic novel, non-fiction middle grade books. I do have a recommendation post coming soon of MG graphic novels and there will be some non-fiction in there.

Prompt 4: Animal on the Cover

Here is one that I have been wanted to read for a while now. If you look really close on the right side, there is half a dog or cat running on the cover.

I know this one follows four kids who get stuck at an airport together. I’m hoping it’s like Unaccompanied Minors, but I think I’ll love it even if it isn’t.

We Still Belong is Christine Day’s 2023 release. And, I am so excited to try it! I’ve read two books by this author before and really enjoyed both.

This one follows a girl who is celebrating her culture on Indigenous People’s Day and is having a hard time with it. And, she is trying to find where she belongs within the community.

I am expecting a punch in the gut as I got one in her previous books, but I LOVE middle grade books like this.

Prompt 5: A Book You Missed Out On

This prompt was supposed to be a book you missed out on as a kid, but they said we could read a book that was the group book in a previous year.

They had Sweep one year and I currently own a copy, so I might as well get to it.

I know it follows a young Jewish girl who is a chimney sweep and her golem. The only thing I know about Jewish culture and golems comes from that episode of Supernatural. Drop a comment below if you are a Supernatural fan!

Group Book: The Mona Lisa Vanishes

I have never heard of this one before and all I know about it is that it’s a non-fiction. AND, the art is by Brett Helequist, who did the art for Lemony Snicket’s books.

It says on Goodreads that this follows multiple timelines. One is in 1911 when the Mona Lisa was stolen and the other follows Leonardo da Vinci when he was creating the painting.

This one could also fit for the Buzzwordathon prompt in March, which is something about a name of a character in the title.

Other Books

For this area, I want to show you some other books that I would love to get to this month, but I didn’t fit them into prompts.

First up is This is Our Rainbow. I have had this book for a few months now and never manage to prioritize it. It’s a book of LGBT short stories by many different middle grade authors.

The Titanium Ticket is the final book in the Mr. Lemoncello series and the other book is a prequel following Mr. Lemoncello as a kid.

I really want to get to these. I can finish a series for one, but they also center games and are generally such fun reads.

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