I’ve been posting more regularly in my Bookstagram account (@BlueBottleBooks on Instagram), and thought it was time to share our top favourites with our blog readers too. These are the books that scored 9/10 and 10/10 with us over the past year or so, amongst many others which we reviewed. Hope you enjoy this list – do feel free to leave a comment to share your thoughts and your own favourite titles too!
1. The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell
“But if we just pack up and go home, Sorrotore will have won. He’ll win, just like men like him always win. So I don’t want to be sensible. Just once, I want to fight. I’m going to fight.”
The Good Thieves is a masterpiece by Katherine Rundell. Jam-packed with gripping action that leads to a nail-biting finish, the reader is swung through the air like a trapeze artiste.
Beautiful descriptive writing weaves through myriad themes – the sorrow and love Vita’s grandfather had for his late wife and stolen castle, the dreams of circus boys who want to go beyond their families’ trade and intrepid tweens pitting themselves against corrupt Mammon. What I enjoyed most was the complex and almost sympathetic portrayal of an evil henchman who resorts to drink because he couldn’t reconcile being told to get rid of a girl with a physical handicap.
Utterly enjoyed this book.
9/10 ⭐️
2. Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
“Some people aren’t dealt easy hands, and it isn’t fair. But I think if you olay a difficult hand with courage and compassion, you end up stronger. It’s hard and I know there are times when the world beats you down ad you feel like that’s the only way it’ll ever be…… But the thing is are you going to live your life as a victim? Or a survivor?”
“Shouting at the Rain” by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is just as fantastic as her “Fish in a Tree”.
Lynda writes so powerfully, yet so compassionately, that her books are simply gems in the canon of middle grade fiction that will encourage and uplift so many kids who may be struggling through all sorts of hurt.
“Shouting at the Rain” shows how we are better off without friends who trade loyalty for lesser things, deals with the difficult subject of a parent who is absent because of addiction, a grandma dealing with her own hurt, a boy whose mum *chose* to leave him, children living near the poverty line, and comfortingly proves how you do not need to be wealthy to be rich with the love of family and true friends.
Totally loved the setting of a seaside town with all its clams, fishing and the rescuing of sea life. Plus the awesome surprise of so many cool anagrams as a bonus at the end of the book!
10/10 ⭐️
3. The Losers Club by Andrew Clements
And everybody figures out that labels don’t matter either, like ‘bookworm’ or ‘sports guy,’ because that’s a label, too. And eventually everyone figures out that it’s not what someone does that matters most. It’s what a person is – on the inside.”
If your kid loves books, or if you’re trying to inculcate a passion for reading in them, then “The Losers Club” is the book for them!
Miss 10 got hooked on Andrew Clements’ books ever since her school gave her a copy of Frindle, and I must say I can see why!
Clements is known as the ‘master of school stories’, having started writing as a public school teacher many years ago, and is now the author of over 80 acclaimed books for kids. Frindle sold over 6 million copies and became a New York Times bestseller.
“The Losers Club” is a beautiful ode to the protagonist’s all-consuming love for books, and I thought it captured the slightly confusing yet realistic gentle awakenings of puppy love very well too.
At least 50 other middle-grade book titles are mentioned within this book, and helpfully collated into the list at the end. We put quite a few from that list into our to-be-read pile, which is a bonus for this long stay-at-home June holidays!
9/10 ⭐️
4. Wonderscape by Jennifer Bell
Wonderscape is like Terry Pratchett for kids.
Miss 11 absolutely loved it, and couldn’t wait for me to finish reading it too.
I was indeed enthralled by the almost-scientific mix of escape room type puzzles, multi-player RPG aspects, famous great personas, as well as time travel in this well-written book.
The reader’s mind is taken on a whirlwind tour of wonder, through the eyes of three ordinary kids from a run-down estate. As they make their way through this ingenious yet disingenuous world, little pieces of the puzzle of how it all holds together surface, and the final unveiling is combined with an epic battle as they seek to make their way back out of this mesmerising yet somewhat evil world.
I am always fascinated when science and good literature are woven together so beautifully, and that is what makes this book so special. A good book stretches the imagination and opens realms that you never thought could exist. I enjoyed how Jennifer Bell put it all so well together, without gaps in logic or portions that would be too confusing for middle-graders. The theme of familial love and friendship that subtly undergirds the book was comforting too.
Definitely a book for all aged 10 and above to dive into and get lost in!
10/10 ⭐️
5. The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
“Sila remembered reading that poor people gave a bigger percentage of their income to charity than wealthy people. Was that because people who didn’t have the money to be comfortable filling basic needs understood what that felt like? Did it make them more generous? Did her own pain and sorrow over her mother’s absence force her to become a bigger person? Were people more compassionate because of their own difficult experiences?”
Elephant in the Room is a meaningful, touching and well-written book about Sila, who was born in America to parents of Turkish descent. The author skilfully weaves in topics of unjust HR practices, animal rights, changes in immigration laws, together with characters such as a tween with special needs, a elderly man grieving for his deceased wife, as well as an elephant purchased from a circus.
Holly Goldberg Sloan does a masterful job of knitting all this together into a beautiful tapestry, not unlike the Turkish carpets featured in the tale.
9/10 ⭐️
6. Jefferson by Jean-Claude Mourlevat
“… but they had barely driven a few miles when the two vixens who had already eaten all their macarons and boasted about it to anyone who’d listen. They were both skeleton-thin and could eat anything without putting on an ounce, which exasperated Mrs Schmitt the pig and a few other podgy ladies.”
Jefferson Ponsonby-Smythe, hedgehog, is falsely accused of murder. His best friend Gilbert the pig goes on the run with him to sleuth out the real killers.
A truly enjoyable tale – a murder mystery with many humorous moments worked into it, some unexpected clever twists, ending in a meaningful endeavour to advance the cause that mild-mannered badger Mr Edgar had given his life for.
A refreshing quirky story authored by Jean-Claude Mourlevat and originally published in French in 2018. It has now been translated to English by Ros Schwartz and published in 2020.
Both kids finished it in one sitting too and told me I’d enjoy it. I did!
9/10 ⭐️
7. Turbulence by Vivian Teo
“Jessica turned around and our eyes met. If looks could kill, I would have died a thousand times over.”
Against the backdrop of intense schoolgirl rivalries, Vivian Teo unfurls a mystery of whether the sporadic odd weather events that seem to always occur near the best friends point to something more insidious than climate change?
Fans of the My BFF is an Alien book series would love this latest instalment. This is Miss 10’s favourite book series and she was thrilled beyond words to receive Turbulence.
A cute JC boy is thrown into the mix, and best friends drift apart after a rift occurs. Intense yet totally believable, the schoolgirl dynamics are captured convincingly and empathetically. Is it true that best friends should give each other space to harbour secrets from time to time? Is what a friend thinks is in your best interests, always in your best interests?
Read Turbulence to find out.
9/10 💫
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