A Birthday Celebration!

Happy Birthday to You!

I celebrated my birthday this month so it seemed fitting to put together a list of birthday related books. Some of them kick off with birthday gifts, some of them are all about upcoming birthdays, but all of them have something to do with birthdays! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below…what themed lists would you find helpful in future months?

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My goal is simple: Provide book recommendations you can trust so your 8-12 year-old reader can find their next right book.

12 to 22

(Magical Realism, Older Middle Grade) 13 Going on 30 for middle grade readers! Harper’s parents have finally given her approval to have social media, but when she goes to post her first photo, she suddenly finds herself in the future. Ten years in the future! Now she’s 22 and she’s not sure this is the life she pictured for herself. This book is great for older middle graders (4th to 7th grade) as a springboard for discussing social media and phone use.

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Billy Miller Makes a Wish

(Younger Middle Grade) On his birthday, Billy Miller wishes for something exciting to happen. When an ambulance rushes to his neighbor’s house, he starts to worry that he’s responsible. Surprises are around every turn for Billy, including maybe the best surprise of all.

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Catalina Incognito

(Magical Realism, Younger Middle Grade) Catalina likes things the way she likes them—perfect. So it is very hard to hide her disappointment when her glamorous Tía Abuela gives her an old sewing kit for her eighth birthday. However, Catalina soon discovers the sewing kit isn’t as boring as she thinks—it’s magic, turning ordinary clothing into magical disguises. But when rhinestones go missing, will Catalina be able to solve the mystery?

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The Gilded Girl

(Historical Fantasy) Any child can spark magic, but only the elite are allowed to kindle it. Those denied access to the secrets of the kindling ritual will see their magic snuffed out before their thirteenth birthday. Emma has grown up wealthy and is used to having the best of everything. But then her father dies and she is left penniless. When Emma becomes a servant at a nearby magic school, she makes a pact with Izzy, a fellow servant: If Izzy teaches Emma how to survive as a servant, Emma will reveal to Izzy what she knows about magic. And now it’s a race against time before the girls turn 13.

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The Silver Arrow

(Magical Realism) Kate and her younger brother Tom lead very uninteresting lives. Until her mysterious Uncle Herbert, whom she's never even met before, surprises her with the most unexpected, and inappropriate, birthday present of all time: a colossal steam locomotive called the Silver Arrow. Kate and Tom's parents want to send it back, but Kate and Tom have other ideas and soon they're boarding the locomotive and traveling to distant lands along magical rail lines in the company of an assortment of exotic animals who, it turns out, can talk.

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The Swag is in the Socks

(Realistic Fiction) Xavier Moon is not one to steal the show. But for his twelfth birthday, he receives a pair of funky socks and a challenge from his great-uncle, Frankie Bell, saying it’s time to swag out and speak up. Will the socks give Xavier the courage he needs to try new things or will he go back to doing the same thing he’s been doing?

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