Top Ten Tuesday: Books with My Favorite Theme
Is it any surprise that as a librarian and book blogger that one of my favorite themes in books is books? I love reading about books, libraries, and reading. And there are some really fun books about books out there. I’m going to specifically focus on middle grade books. Otherwise, there are just so many great titles I could share today!
Whether these titles include some intrigue and mystery. Or are fantasy-driven with magical libraries. Or are about kids standing up for the books they love, you’ll definitely find something to add to your TBR list!
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Books with My Favorite Theme
Ban This Book
by Alan Gratz
In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but donât mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.
Book Scavenger
by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it’s the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself, and might contain the only copy of his mysterious new game.
Racing against time, Emily and James rush from clue to clue, desperate to figure out the secret at the heart of Griswold’s new gameâbefore those who attacked Griswold come after them too.
The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams
by Mindy Thompson
It’s 1944 Sutton, NY, and Poppy’s family owns and runs, Rhyme and Reason, a magical bookshop that caters to people from all different places and time periods. Though her world is ravaged by World War II, customers hail from the past and the future, infusing the shop with a delightful mix of ideas and experiences.
Poppy dreams of someday becoming shopkeeper like her father, though her older brother, Al, is technically next in line for the job. She knows all of the rules handed down from one generation of Bookseller to the next, especially their most important one: shopkeepers must never use the magic for themselves.
But then Al’s best friend is killed in the war and her brother wants to use the magic of the shop to save him. With her father in the hospital suffering from a mysterious illness, the only one standing between Al and the bookstore is Poppy. Caught between her love for her brother and loyalty to her family, she knows her brother’s actions could have devastating consequences that reach far beyond the bookshop as an insidious, growing Darkness looms. This decision is bigger than Poppy ever dreamed, and the fate of the bookshops hangs in the balance.
Don’t Check Out This Book
by Kate Klise
Is the sweet town of Appleton ripe for scandal? Consider the facts:
- Appleton Elementary School has a new librarian named Rita B. Danjerous. (Say it fast.)
- Principal Noah Memree barely remembers hiring her.
- Ten-year-old Reid Durr is staying up way too late reading a book from Ms. Danjerous’s controversial “green dot” collection.
- The new school board president has mandated a student dress code that includes white gloves and bow ties available only at her shop.
Sound strange? Fret not. Appleton’s fifth-grade sleuths are following the money, embracing the punny, and determined to the get to the funniest, most rotten core of their town’s juiciest scandal. Don’t miss this seedy saga!
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
by Chris Grabenstein
When Kyle Keeley learns that the world’s most famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has designed the town’s new library and is having an invitation-only lock-in on opening night, Kyle is determined to be there But the tricky part isn’t getting into the library–it’s getting out. Because when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must catch every clue and solve every puzzle to find the hidden escape route
The Library of Ever
by Zeno Alexander
With her parents off traveling the globe, Lenora is bored, bored, boredâuntil she discovers a secret doorway into the ultimate library. Mazelike and reality-bending, the library contains all the universeâs wisdom. Every book ever written, and every fact ever known, can be found within its walls. And Lenora becomes its newly appointed Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian.
She rockets to the stars, travels to a future filled with robots, and faces down a dark nothingness that wants to destroy all knowledge. To save the library, Lenora will have to test her limits and uncover secrets hidden among its shelves.
Nightbooks
by J. A. White
Alexâs original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon heâll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. Heâs loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most donât have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, heâs desperate for a different endingâand a way out of this twisted place.
This modern spin on the Scheherazade story is perfect for fans of Coraline and A Tale Dark and Grimm. With interwoven tips on writing with suspense, adding in plot twists, hooks, interior logic, and dealing with writerâs block, this is the ideal book for budding writers and all readers of delightfully just-dark-enough tales.
Property of the Rebel Librarians
by Allison Varnes
June Harper is a good kid. She follows the rules, plays flute in band, and spends her spare time reading. Nobody would ever call her a rebel . . . until her parents take strict parenting to a whole new level.
It starts with one book deemed “inappropriate” by June’s parents. What follows is a massive book ban at Dogwood Middle School, and suddenly everything June loves–the librarian, books, an author visit–is gone. All seems hopeless. Then June discovers a Little Free Library on her walk to school. When her classmates realize she has access to contraband, she (secretly) becomes the most popular girl in school. A risky reading movement begins at Dogwood, which could destroy June–or gain enough power to protect the one thing she cares most about: the freedom to read!
Equal parts fun and empowering, this novel explores censorship, freedom of speech, and activism. For any kid who doesn’t believe one person can effect change . . . and for all the kids who already know they can!
Story Thieves
by James Riley
Life is boring when you live in the real world, instead of starring in your own book series. Owen knows that better than anyone, what with the real worldâs homework and chores.
But everything changes the day Owen sees the impossible happenâhis classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the library. It turns out Bethanyâs half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, a fictional character.
Bethany canât let anyone else learn her secret, so Owen makes her a deal: All she has to do is take him into a book in Owenâs favorite Kiel Gnomenfoot series, and heâll never say a word. Besides, visiting the book might help Bethany find her fatherâŚ
âŚOr it might just destroy the Kiel Gnomenfoot series, reveal Bethanyâs secret to the entire world, and force Owen to live out Kiel Gnomenfootâs final (very final) adventure.
Winterhouse
by Ben Guterson
Orphan Elizabeth Somersâs malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charmsâmost notably its massive library. Itâs not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister family. But the deeper she delves into the hotelâs secrets, the more Elizabeth starts to realize that she is somehow connected to Winterhouse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the hotelâs curse and solve the mystery. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to care for, and even Winterhouse itself?
Mystery, adventure, and beautiful writing combine in this exciting debut richly set in a hotel full of secrets.
The Artsy Reader Girl currently hosts Top Ten Tuesday, an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.
