As the school year ends, it’s time to stock up on books for summer reading. The following recently released books are for middle readers ages 6-7 and up. These are books that have not been reviewed by Cracking the Cover, but are recommended by a number of respected sources (ie., Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, etc.). All synopses are provided by respective publishers.
STAR STRUCK! (THE COSMIC ADVENTURES OF ASTRID AND STELLA BOOK #2 (A HELLO!LUCKY BOOK)), by Hello!Lucky, Harry N. Abrams, March 21, 2023, Hardcover, $12.99 (ages 6-9)
Fire up the turbo pumps and blast off with Astrid and Stella on their next adventure!
Astrid and Stella are best friends and intergalactic heroes. But sometimes, even this dynamic duo needs a reset. After drifting into a dangerous force field powered by misunderstanding, it will take total teamwork to get back on track!
Once they’ve recovered from that detour, a run-in with a fur-miliar villain and the rescue of an intergalactic pop star are enough to keep things interesting for Astrid, Stella, and their trusty robot sidekick, Bobo. They just need to remember what’s most important—friendship and being true to yourself! Astrid and Stella just might surprise themselves by learning a few new things along the way, too.
LINK + HUD: HEROES BY A HAIR by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey, Norton Young Readers, March 7, 2023, Hardcover, $16.95 (ages 6-10)
Meet Link and Hud―brothers causing chaos in the first of a new middle grade series from real-life brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey.
Lincoln and Hudson Dupré are brothers with what grown-ups call “active imaginations.” Link and Hud hunt for yetis in the Himalayas and battle orcs on epic quests. Unfortunately, their imaginary adventures wreak havoc in their real world. Dr. and Mrs. Dupré have tried every babysitter in the neighborhood and are at their wits’ end.
Enter Ms. Joyce. Strict and old-fashioned, she proves to be a formidable adversary. The boys don’t like her or her rules and decide she’s got to go. Through a series of escalating events―told as high-action comic panel sequences―the brothers conspire to undermine Ms. Joyce and get her fired. When they go so big that even Ms. Joyce can’t fix it, suddenly she’s out. Finally, success! Or is it?
With warm and authentic humor, Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey have blended prose and graphic novel-style illustrations to craft a unique and subversive new series full of brotherly mischief and mayhem.
ZARA’S RULES FOR LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE, Book 3 of 3: Zara’s Rules, by Hena Khan, S&S Books for Young Readers, March 21, 2023, Paperback, $6.99 (ages 7-10)
From the award-winning author of Amina’s Voice and Amina’s Song comes the third book in the middle grade Zara’s Rules series following Zara as she tries to save her spring break!
It’s spring break and Zara and Naomi have big plans…until Zara finds out that Naomi’s parents are sending her to camp and Zara and Zayd are going to spend the week with their grandparents. Zara’s pretty sure it’s a rule that spring break is supposed to be full of fun and adventure—not doing chores for Naano and watching Nana Abu doze on the couch! But ever since Nana Abu retired, it seems all he wants to do is eat and sleep, and Zara’s worried their grandfather has lost his mojo.
Meanwhile, Naomi’s having a blast at her day camp. Since Zara can’t join her, can Zara find a way to bring the fun of camp to her grandparents’ home? With a little help from Zayd, Zara concocts a plan that just might save her vacation—and help her grandfather start living his best life.
THE FIELD GUIDE, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Reissue edition, Feb. 21, 2023, Paperback, $8.99 (ages 6-10)
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles and get ready for the series soon to be streaming on Disney+ with this first installment in the adventures of the Grace children featuring an all-new look.
After finding a mysterious, handmade field guide in the attic of the ramshackle old mansion they’ve just moved into, Jared; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister, Mallory, discover that there’s a magical and maybe dangerous world existing parallel to their own—the world of faerie.
The Grace children want to share their story, but the faeries will do everything possible to stop them…
Copyright © 2023 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
