What’s The Eleven-Year-Old reading this week?
I’m taking some shortcuts with the post today, because as sharp-eyed readers will have noticed, somebody’s one year older. I’m due to report to school with the customary birthday batch of homemade Rice Krispy treats in just over an hour. I haven’t actually made the treats yet (planning!), so I’m going to use the book descriptions from Goodreads rather than write descriptions of my own. Thanks, Goodreads!
The Leanin’ Dog by K. A. Nuzum
From the Goodreads blurb:
“More than anything, Dessa Dean needed a friend. A friend to love and confide in, a friend with whom she could share her heart. A friend who would delight in all the beauty and joy and fun of Christmas, only four days away.
Hope had just about run out, but then . . . there came a scratchin’ at the door and Dessa Dean’s life was forever changed.”
Why The Eleven-Year-Old Likes It: “It’s funny and has a good storyline about overcoming fear.”
The Middle Moffatt by Eleaner Estes
From the Goodreads blurb:
“Who is Jane Moffat, anyway? She isn’t the youngest in the family, and she isn’t the oldest-she is always just Jane. How boring. So Jane decides to become a figure of mystery . . . the mysterious “Middle Moffat.” But being in the middle is a lot harder than it looks.
In between not rescuing stray dogs, and losing and finding best friends, Jane must secretly look after the oldest inhabitant of Cranbury . . . so he can live to be one hundred. Between brushing her hair from her eyes and holding up her stockings, she has to help the girls’ basketball team win the championship. And it falls to Jane-the only person in town with enough courage-to stand up to the frightful mechanical wizard, Wallie Bangs.
Jane is so busy keeping Cranbury in order that she barely has time to be plain old Jane. Sometimes the middle is the most exciting place of all. . . .”
Why The Eleven-Year-Old Likes It: “I like that the main character helps out an old guy, whose name I can’t remember right now. I also like that she introduces herself to the old guy as the Mysterious Middle Moffatt, but the author decided to drop the ‘Mysterious’ part from the book title. That made me think about the author’s choices in setting up the story, especially since the ‘mysterious’ part becomes a recurring plot point.”
Related Links:
- What’s The Seven-Year-Old reading this week? (Caterpickles)
- What’s The Eight-Year-Old reading this week? (Caterpickles)
- What’s The Nine-Year-Old reading this week? (Caterpickles)
- What’s The Ten-Year-Old reading this week? (Caterpickles)
- More Book Reviews on Caterpickles
CATERPICKLES 
What are you thinking?