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Tag Archives: middle grade

Nowhere Special: A Review

“Who you are isn’t in your blood. What’s in your blood is an idea, like something whispered to you from the past. You have to decide what to do with that.”

Elpidia is tired of her cousins beating her up for something she didn’t do. School is miserable when the three of them decide to come pick on her, and no one at the school cares enough to do anything about it. When her abuela decides that it’s time for a change, Elpidia finds herself being delivered to Charlie, who lives out in a compound that he built in the middle of the desert. Charlie, Elpidia is told, is going to teach her to fight.

Stan is tired of being unable to protect his mother from her abusive husband, and the violence that he drunkenly explodes with. He’s the one white kid at school, and that plus his size makes him a prime target for bullies at school. When his mom says that she has a surprise for him, he’s truly shocked to be driven out to Charlie’s, where he finds a girl that he knows from school.

Together, Elpidia and Stan begin to find a new strength, both in their Escrima training and in their friendship. She’s trying to move beyond the disaster that destroyed her home and resulted in her mom and dad no longer being in the picture (it’s not stated outright, but it looks like an attempt to cook meth in their house went awry), and the ripples that have impacted both sides of her family in the aftermath. Stan is trying to find where he belongs, and right now it looks like that might be serving as a nice, white face on behalf of the local gang, Los Cocos (the gang leader would love to have a friendly looking gringo to interact with law enforcement for him). Together, they might be able to make a better future for themselves and their families.

Matt Wallace is a phenomenal writer, and he’s put together another brilliant middle grade fiction title. Nowhere Special is a great depiction of life in a small town, where no one wants to actually talk about the issues that the people face. It’s a quick read, and a necessary story to tell, tackling issues of bullying, drug use, domestic violence, and more in a format that makes the story accessible for younger readers who are dealing with these issues in real life.

Nowhere Special is out tomorrow, 10/24. Do yourself a favor and give it a read. My utmost thanks to HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor: A Review

Zachary Ying doesn’t want to stand out, a difficult task when he’s usually the only Asian kid in his school. He wants to finish summer classes and play Mythrealm, an augmented reality game that blends elements of Pokémon GO and trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh! with classic mythology. Zack never learned a lot about Chinese myths and history from his mother, who had complicated feelings regarding their homeland. It comes as quite a shock when a Chinese transfer student, Simon Li, introduces himself and explains that Zack’s likely a direct descendent of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Before he knows what’s happening, the spirit of his ancestor has possessed him, or rather, his portal-lens, the AR headset he wears to play Mythrealm.

Qin Shi Huang is on a mission, and he needs Zack’s body to do it. The long-dead emperor has to seal a portal to the Chinese underworld to prevent all manner of demons and spirits from flooding out into the human world, and the clock is ticking. Zack needs to get to Qin Shi Huang’s tomb in China, and he needs to strengthen the bond between himself and the emperor’s spirit, or his mother’s soul may be devoured. Zack has to learn as much as he can about the Dragon Emperor and his exploits so that he can channel the magic necessary to close the gap between the realms.

Qin Shi Huang isn’t the only dead emperor setting out to save China. Simon is possessed by the spirit of his own ancestor, Tang Taizong, and he’s partnered with Wu Zetian, China’s only female emperor, hosted by her own descendent, Melissa Wu. Together, the three kids and their spirit partners navigate an escalating series of heists and battles with mythological figures and monsters. If they fail, China—and the rest of the world—are doomed.

Xiran Jay Zhao has crafted a most excellent middle grade adventure here. They’ve taken some of the best bits of Yu-Gi-Oh! (which I’ve loved since seeing the first episodes land in English back in 2001) and wrapped it in an intense love of Chinese history and myth, with an end result that will satisfy readers of all ages and make the folks at Disney jealous that they didn’t pick this one up for a Rick Riordan Presents title. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is fun, fast-paced, and clever. It’s out tomorrow, May 10th.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

And my additional thanks to Xiran for their signature on a copy of Iron Widow and a selfie with them back in April!

Selfie of me, Philip (he/they), standing in front of Xiran Jay Zhao (they/them), the author of Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor as well as Iron Widow.