••ALWAYS in the MIDDLE is where you can find my review of THE NOWHERE BEAST by Leslie Vedder.
••Natalie Aguirre @ Literary Rambles has an interview with Garth P. Jones and a giveaway of his two Solve Your Own Mysteries series books, The Monster Maker and The Time Thief.
••Susan Uhlig had fun with CITY SPIES by James Ponti. It’s the first book in a series.
••Rebecca Douglass is reviewing One Fine Voice by Rebecca Langston-George.
••Jenni Enzor has a collection of books old and new for readers who are beyond picture books but not quite ready for longer middle-grade books. Included in the collection are Heartfelt Hotel (Kallie George), Flat Stanley (Jeff Brown), Catwings (Ursula LeGuin), and many more.
••Sue Heavenrich has a great nonfiction MG book over at Archimedes Notebook: Who Hid the Stars? How Light Pollution Changes Our World.
••Valinora Troy reviews CITY SPIES by Jame Ponti.
••Jennifer Rummel @ YA Book Nerd reviews Phoenix, a book about healing.
••Linda Browne @ Bookcase Bizarro is back with us this week and reviews Michael Bedard’s The Winter Vault. Linda wrestles with how to talk about a book that doesn’t fit neatly into publishing categories.
••Karen Yingling at Mrs. Yingling Reads has a book to share every day. Check out Karen’s MMGM choice for today and all her reviews from this past week.
••BONUS LINK: I came across this interesting opinion piece about the past, present, and future of Middle Grade books by Vicky Weber: Middle Grade Is “Dead” And I Think That’s Good News.
Always in the Middle... 
I think that MG Lit is just not paying attention to what actual tweens want. I’m pretty sure some don’t read as much because of screens (not testing or anything else, really), but also because the books don’t address issues that concern them. More sports books! More funny books! I’ve been saying this for twenty years.
I saw a similar article last week. And I couldn’t agree more. When you think that most 4th-5th graders are still new readers, it’s not surprising that they get scared at 400 pages with no pictures. (I do too!) My sped students would often pick a book based on whether it was funny or if it had interesting facts. I tend to be a sparse writer and have to add more to my story, so I’m so happy to see the pendulum shift.