Bird Fiction for Middle Grade

I recently read two middle grade novels that have bird watching at their core. The Secret Language of Birds, by Lynne Kelly is about a girl who discovers a pair of endangered birds nesting in an unusual place. And Bird Nerd, by Jennifer Ann Richter features a birding tournament between two schools that gets a bit more competitive than expected. 

While both books feature our feathery friends, they are also about and finding your own flock. So let’s crack open their covers and see what they’re about.

Bird Nerd 

by Jennifer Ann Richter 

240 pages; ages 8-12

‎ Holiday House, 2024

What happens when your fifth-grade teacher decides to enter your class in a birding competition – and the only other team is from a wealthier suburban school? Nyla Braun, a bird nerd, has high hopes of leading her City Birders to victory. All she needs is a place with trees where birds hang out, and to find a way to motivate her class.

While birdwatching draws her closer to her grandfather, her desire to win conflicts with a long-standing friendship. And her high expectations lead to disappointments along the way. Not only does her feeder design fail to win a prize, but squirrels invade! 

One of the things I liked about this book was the way the author, Jennifer sprinkled bird words throughout the book. The teacher perches on the edge of her desk. There’s a skirt that’s “goldfinch yellow.” But what I particularly love is that Jennifer included an author’s note at the back – YAY for back matter in fiction – where she lists resources for bird nerds (or the merely bird-curious) who live in cities or suburbs or anywhere, really.

Review copy provided by the publisher

The Secret Language of Birds 

by Lynne Kelly 

240 pages; ages 8-12

Delacorte Press, 2024

Nina has always felt like an odd duck, but she is determined to fit in at summer camp. Where she discovers a rare bird – a bird that hasn’t nested in Texas for over a hundred years. The problem… when she discovered this bird, she was in a place she was Not Supposed To Be. An old cabin that is off limits to the campers. So when Nina finally decides to report this bird to the wildlife folks, she has to reveal where she saw it.

The cool stuff: there is a mate. Where did he come from? There is a nest, and an egg. Nina definitely wants to watch developments, and figures out how she and her cabin-mates can keep an eye on the birds. There is, of course, trouble. And Nina does find her flock.

One of the things I like about this book is the authentic birding stuff. Nina uses a bird app (if you’re looking for one, Merlin is great) and squirrels and raccoons raid her feeder just like they do in real life. There’s also cool bird facts, like how jays and crows are related and how birds can recognize faces. And then there’s this quote that I want to hang over my desk: “…a 

This book is from my personal library

The seasons are changing. I see more birds at the feeder every day. So this might be the perfect time to put a birdy-novel in the hands of a middle-grader. If you’re looking for bird books for the littles, check out my post over at the GROG a couple weeks ago.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading.

Look Up - Stars Are Falling!

 The annual Orionids meteor shower has been happening this week, and is predicted to peak this weekend. Just how many meteors are we talking about? According to the Washington Post, meteorologists are expecting about 23 meteors to shoot across the sky every hour. I can't think of a better time to check out this book!

The Meteor Shower: Kaleidoscope Club  

by Marie Mazas; illus by Joëlle Passeron 

128 pages; ages 7-10

‎Blue Dot Kids Press, 2024

This is book two in this fun, STEAM adventure series and Nour and August, best friends and tree-house engineers, are at it again. This time they are drawing up plans to build something cool for watching the meteor shower. But first, they need to convince the Mayor to turn off the lights so they can have a dark-sky night. There’s already a law on the books that requires public lighting – street lights, public buildings, monuments – to be off between 1 and 7 am in an effort to reduce energy consumption. But nobody is enforcing the law, and the Mayor isn’t interested in pushing the issue.

So Nour and August engage in a flyer campaign: Keep the Stars Bright! Turn off Your Lights! This is a bold initiative for August, who is afraid of the dark. 

Just as the community seems to rally around the Dark Night idea, a fair moves into town. People have been waiting for the carnival rides and the games for a whole year – but the carnival lights threaten Nour and August’s efforts for stargazing. And an unlikely friendship threatens the Kaleidoscope Club.

What I like about the book is that it focuses on problem-solving and includes lots of STEM stuff: 

• designing and building a model space capsule using recycled materials (engineering, art);
• migration and light pollution (biology, conservation science);
• meteors and constellations (astronomy); and
• kitchen chemistry

I also like the back matter, which discusses in more depth how light pollution disrupts animal ecosystems, wastes energy, and even affects human health. And there’s a list of “what you can do” about it.

Thanks for dropping by today – and remember to watch for the meteor shower this weekend!. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Small Seeds, Big Dreams

 

Saving Delicia: A Story about Small Seeds and Big Dreams 

by Laura Gehl; illus. by Patricia Metola 

40 pages; ages 3-7

Flyaway Books, 2024    

theme: seeds, trees, conservation

Every summer afternoon, Kari and Cookie sat in the shade of the beautiful Delicia tree listening to Old Otis tell tales from way back when.

Back then, the world was filled with delicia trees, but now only one remains. What happens if it disappears? Kari wants to make sure it won’t – that there will be delicia fruit for children in years to come. And she has an idea for how to do it. All she needs is the old freezer in Otis’s shed.

What I like about this book: Though it’s fictional, the story reflects some of the realities we see in our world. Disease and environmental changes have pushed many plants to the edge of extinction. People are trying to save those plants – especially crops – by collecting seeds and storing them in seed banks. Author, Laura Gehl goes into more details about seed banks in her author’s note at the back of the book. “Already,” she writes, “seed banks have helped restore crops around the world that were killed by natural disasters, wars, and pest infestations.” Seed banks play an important role in preserving our planet’s biodiversity!

I always love the opportunity to chat with Laura about her books, so I asked her a couple of questions. Okay, three.

Me: What inspired you to write about saving seeds (and creating a seed bank)?

Laura: When I first began learning about seed banks, I was fascinated. I was particularly amazed as I read about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which is located close to the North Pole. Picturing thousands of seeds stored safely for the future, in a plethora of shapes, colors and sizes, ignited my imagination. I knew I wanted to write about seed banks, but finding my way to the story took a long time. I tried a number of different approaches, trying to craft a story introducing seed banks to young readers that would be interesting, inviting, and inspiring. I hope I succeeded in the end! 

Me: Do you garden - and have you gotten any seeds through seed swaps or seed libraries? 

Laura: When my oldest two kids were little, we lived in an apartment building with a community garden, and we enjoyed growing tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables there. Then we had two more kids and life got too hectic for gardening to fit into our schedule. When COVID took over the world, my oldest son came home on the last day before schools closed with a tomato plant rescued from the environmental science class. That started a new spurt of gardening for our family, and we grew lots of tomatoes, lettuce, and herbs that summer. (My in-laws, who are avid gardeners, lived with us for a while during the lockdown, so we benefitted from their expertise.) But then life got hectic again, and gardening fell by the wayside. When I have my next spurt of gardening energy, I plan to get seeds from a seed library. There are several seed libraries in Maryland, and I am excited to give them a try. Eating heirloom tomatoes is one of my favorite summer activities…now I want to attempt growing some! 

Me: Do you think you'll try to save some seeds after having written about it?

Laura: Definitely! I want to try saving seeds when I get back to gardening, and I would love to host a neighborhood seed swap in the future.  

Beyond the Books:

What seeds would you save if you could? Beans? Apples? Tomatoes? Some of these seeds aren’t very hard to save. Tomatoes, for example – just squeeze (or scoop) seeds from a ripe tomato into a sieve and rinse them, and let them dry. Other seeds that aren’t too hard to save are pumpkin, melon, beans, and some flowers such as sunflowers, calendula, poppies, and lupine.

You can learn more about what a seed bank is here and about the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens here. Be sure to check out this video of how Native Seeds/SEARCH stores their seeds in their seed bank.

Laura is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website, https://lauragehl.com/

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday once they resume. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by Blue Slip Media.

A Deliciously Rotten Novel

The Decomposition of Jack 

by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb 

208 pages; ages 8-12

‎Katherine Tegen Books, 2022   

As a parent who has scraped up a dead animal from the side of the road with my kid’s help, I knew I had to read this book! Cleverly disguised as a middle grade novel, it is an intersection of roadkill science, cougar migration, and a boy trying to understand his parent’s divorce. 

Jack (called Jack Splat at school) helps his mom with her research, but he’d rather hang with his middle school friends, play video games – anything but scrape roadkill from the road. But dad left, and Jack is now mom’s right-hand field assistant. He tends the roadkill garden, logging observations about each animal’s decomposition into the laptop. And then one day he sees a cougar crouched in a tree just beyond his backyard. 

Impossible, says the state website. Highly unlikely says his teacher. Are you sure, asks his best friend (and Zombie Zoo cartoonist)? See, cougars don’t live in Tennessee. They've been officially declared extinct in the state... and yet something is watching from the tree. Something with large paws and tawny fur. Something strong enough to move a deer carcass from its assigned location in the roadkill garden to the chain link fence bordering the woods.

There are so many things I like about this book:

The descriptions and language. There is no doubt that this tale is set in Tennessee – you can almost smell the pines. And I like Jack’s wry sense of humor; he describes one roadkill location  as a “meatier road.”

I like Jack’s empathy – for his mom, and for the animals they scrape up from the road. He leaves a small memorial for each one: a small stone for a mouse, a smooth stick for a snake. He gives each creature a name, and greets them during his data-collection rounds.

I chuckled at Jack’s imagery. He makes tons of comparisons of things happening in his life to the stages of decomposition. At one point he describes his friend “as happy as a maggot in an eye socket.” That’s sweet music to a bug-lover’s ears.

I love that there is a chapter titled “Science is all around us.” Because it is.

I especially like that there is Back Matter! Kristin provides more context for roadkill science and uses of roadkill. She also points to citizen science projects in case any readers are motivated to participate.

Though a bit heavy on the science, and maybe a tad reliant on the metaphor of decomposition for his life, I found The Decomposition of Jack to be a fun read. I think it will appeal to science-loving kids who are intrigued by ethical and political questions. For example, would a state wildlife agency label a species extinct because it’s cheaper than trying to protect an endangered species? (Inquiring minds up here in the Northeast would like to know, as people have seen evidence of cougars but their existence is emphatically denied.) 

This book pairs well with Something Rotten, A Fresh Look at Roadkill, by Heather L. Montgomery. Throw in Rotten! Vultures, Beetles, Slime, and Nature’s Other Decomposers, by Anita Sanchez for those kids who want to learn about rotting bodies but shudder at the idea of scooping up roadkill.

On the maggot rating scale, I give this book a 5 out of 5.

Beyond the book: There are a number of community science projects on iNaturalist that kids and their adults can get involved in. Go to https://www.inaturalist.org/ and put roadkill into searchbar. 

Thanks for dropping by today. You can find out more about author Kristin Tubb and her books (including this one) at her website. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the author.

The Trouble With Robots

 

The Trouble with Robots 

by Michelle Mohrweis 

288 pages; ages 8-12

Peachtree, 2022

This is a book about trouble – and it’s not just the robots that are causing it. Eight-graders Allie and Evelyn are their own kind of trouble. Evelyn needs perfection, a trait that is causing a whole lot of trouble with her robotics team. Robotics is Evelyn’s life and she wants to win the competition. But her drive to make everything perfect is driving her team apart. 

Allie can’t seem to settle into school – any school – and the robotics class is her last chance. The only problem: Allie doesn’t care about engineering. She’s into art. When she’s added to Evelyn’s team, it’s like baking soda meeting vinegar … and Allie can’t risk things blowing up. She needs to get through this year for herself, and for her Oma.

One thing I like about this book: people forget is that art is an essential part of engineering. Else how do you visualize a new design? Writing, drawing… these are as important in STEM endeavors as “the smart stuff” (as Allie would call it): the calculating of gear ratios, the physics, the data collecting. Nearly every scientist I know draws or sketches stuff in their notebook, from flower parts to skulls to design elements for machinery.

Another thing I like about this book: it portrays the reality of engineering (and STEM projects of most kinds) as teamwork. This means learning to respect and work with people of all sorts and with different skills. When Evelyn learns to let people contribute in their own way, the team grows stronger. 

And finally, a shout-out to the different kinds of diversity portrayed in this book, from learning styles and neurodiversity to families. We need diverse thinking if we are going to solve the problems facing our future.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

The Natural Genius of Ants

The Natural Genius of Ants 

by Betty Culley 

240 pages; ages 8-12

Crown Books for Young Readers, 2022

The minute I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to read it. Because: ants. I mean, you read my blog – you know my passion for arthropods!

And while this book is full of ant wisdom, nay, ant-genius, it is not really about ants. It’s a story about life and love and parents and hope and worry and …. Okay, how about if I just share a few sentences of jacket copy:

Harvard is used to his father coming home from the hospital and telling him about the babies he helped. But since he made the mistake at work, Dad has been quieter than usual. And now he’s taking Harvard and his little brother, Roger, to Kettle Hole, Maine, for the summer. 

Here’s the thing: Harvard is very observant; he notices that Dad brings his doctor bag with him. And Harvard wants to make his Dad be happy again. So when they decide to build an ant farm as a summer project, and the mail-order ants are dead on arrival, Harvard decides to substitute some local ants. Very local… as in: carpenter ants that scurry around the house. When Dad is ready to fill the ant farm frame with sand, Harvard thinks quick and suggests creating a “Maine habitat,” complete with dirt from outside and some chunks of wood.

Ryan Hodnett / Wikimedia  

What I LOVE about this book: 

• Betty Culley’s descriptions of place are so real that you feel like you’re there – whether it’s in the cozy house or the Maine woods. I mean, you can smell the wood rot and leaf mold!
• The characters are so three-dimensional I kept expecting them to poke their heads out of the book and say “Can you believe there are 15,000 kinds of ant?”
• The ant facts and tidbits of info sprinkled throughout the pages. And the wonderful observations of ant behavior. 
• The chapter titles, from Ant Poetry to Camponotus pennsylvanicus (eastern black carpenter ant). I actually have a few of these that run around my kitchen every now and then, and have whipped more than a few into frittatas.
• The ant puns and ant jokes. They are a good ant-idote to a bad day.
• But here’s what I liked the best: while writing The Natural Genius of Ants, Betty kept an ant farm and cared for a carpenter ant queen. You can check it out here on her website. Immersion journalism at its best!

I give this book 5 pair of antenna! (waaaay better than stars) Run, do not walk, to your nearest book seller and get yourself a copy. Then grab a large mason jar and a smaller jar that can fit inside, and a few more things and make an ant farm. Here’s how. 

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so scurry over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by Media Masters Publicity.

Explorer Academy ~ The Falcon's Feather

Explorer Academy: The Falcon’s Feather
By Trudi Trueit
208 Pages; ages 8-12
Under the Stars (National Geographic imprint), 2019

This is the much anticipated (well, at least on my part) next installment of the Explorer Academy adventures. We met Cruz Coronado and his friends last December. Now they’ve set sail aboard the Explorer Academy ship Orion to continue their studies at sea.

Cruz, born and raised in Hawaii, is used to spending time on the water. His shipmates … not so much. And, as a way of welcoming Cruz aboard the ship, his Aunt Marisol has left him a postcard bearing a coded message.

The Orion is bound for the shores of Iceland and Norway, where the students will continue their studies. Meanwhile, Cruz is on a personal mission to find clues his mom left behind – clues that will help him uncover a secret that could lead to cures for hundreds of diseases. And Nebula Pharmaceuticals will do whatever it takes to keep that secret buried. Fortunately, Cruz’s friends know about his mission and will stick by his side.

As we sail with the young explorers, we learn some sailor speak: port, starboard, bow, stern, aft, fore. And we learn that this is no ordinary research vessel; it is fitted with hydroponic gardens and a mini-sub named Ridley, after the endangered turtle. There are maps – so we can follow the vessel from Chesapeake Bay to Reykjavik, Iceland via Bay of Fundy and the Norwegian coast – and codes to crack. Plus adventures galore, including getting trapped in an ice cave.

Once again people Cruz trusts turn out to be working with the evil Nebula company, and we end with a problem that will lead us to the next adventure (titled The Double Helix).

Like the first book, this one has an awesome section of back matter that explains the truth behind the fiction. You’ll learn about submersibles, speaking whale, glaciers, bioluminescence, and more.

What’s really cool? There is an activity book for kids who want to be more involved in the Explorer Academy. It begins with a letter welcoming the reader to the Academy and is broken into six missions that require you to use your best code-breaking skills. Combined with Explorer Academy adventures, it makes for a perfect summer of …. adventuring!

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading.
Review copies provided by the publisher.

Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret

Have you ever thought it would be fun to be an explorer? Maybe one of those folks who jaunt off on a National Geographic expedition to uncover lost civilizations or discover new species? If so, then you'll like the Explorer Academy series coming out from National Geographic Children's Books.

The Nebula Secret 
by Trudi Trueit
208 pages; ages 8-12
released Sept. 2018

Twelve-year-old Cruz Coronado looks like the typical surfer dude. When we are introduced to him, all he wants to do is catch one more wave before he hops aboard a flight headed 4900 miles east to Washington DC. He's been awarded a coveted spot at the elite Explorer Academy. The school where his aunt teaches, next to the institute where his mom did secret research before she died.

When he reaches the school there's orientation. But first, a gold band is attached to his arm. It's synched to the school's computers to allow access to classrooms and labs. It also monitors all of his vital functions.

Before he can head out on expeditions, Cruz and his classmates have skills to learn. That means class time and lab time - though these labs include virtual reality simulations that can allow the students to explore different habitats and technology before heading into the field. But someone is sabotaging the simulations and putting students in danger. When Cruz learns that his mother's death was no accident, he worries that someone is trying to kill him as well.

Cruz finds himself at the center of an international search for a missing formula that only he can decode. Fortunately, he's got a posse of friends who he trusts, and some technology that links him with his good friend back home. And an aunt who understands that pizza is an essential item.

What I like about this book: there are maps, a code, and tons of technology. Some of it sounds like futuristic dreaming, but the tech in the story is inspired by real National Geographic explorers and their research. For example: 4-D printing and drone bee-bots. Back Matter (yay!) reveals the "truth behind the fictional" technology and also real explorers whose work inspired the adventures.

Want to know more? Visit exploreracademy.com to test your code-breaking skills, check out the wristbands, wearable computers, and other technology and meet real-life scientists. You can also read the first chapter of The Nebula Secret and preview the next book in the series.

On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle , so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by publisher.

Eating Bugs with Rebecca Petruck

Boy Bites Bug 
By Rebecca Petruck
272 pages; ages 8 and up
Amulet Books, 2018

I love finding STEM-related fiction, especially when it involves insects! Boy Bites Bug is about middle school and growing up, discovering who you are who your friends are. It’s also about wrestling, racism, and respect. And, of course, bugs – some swallowed by accident, some on purpose.

This was the winter of the stinkbug invasion in our house, so I particularly loved the opening lines of the book: The intrusion of stinkbugs clumped on the ceiling in a back corner of the library, a splotch like crusty dried mud. 

Of course one of those bugs ends up in Will’s mouth! But instead of becoming an outcast, he becomes “bug boy”, and kids good-naturedly tease him by making up names for lunch items in the school cafeteria: French flies; maggot-aroni and fleas.

Turns out that people all around the world eat bugs as part of their meals. They’re a great source of protein. So Will decides to do a class project on eating insects, and enlists the aid of Eloy Herrera. Eloy agrees, in exchange for Will’s help with wrestling. As their friendship grows, Will’s friendship with Darryl cools. Darryl had called Eloy a racial slur, and seems jealous of the time Will spends with his new friend. Meanwhile there’s wrestling practices and… where did that box of live crickets come from?

I love that this book has back matter: a guide to eating bugs, and a few recipes. Author Rebecca Petruck even rustled up some grubs to taste test: waxworms in cookies, crickets in tacos, and earthworm jerky. Last week she graciously squeezed time between school visits to answer a few questions. 

Archimedes: This isn't a book about insects, but one about becoming a more thoughtful human. So what made you want to use entomophagy as one of the focal points? 

Rebecca: When I began thinking about a new novel, I actually started with the ideas behind edible insects. It took a while to find the story. It evolved naturally, I think, from the facts of edible insects being significantly healthier for the planet in that they use far fewer resources to raise while producing the same, more, and often better nutrients than “traditional” meats and many other food sources.

Our planet is experiencing climate change of a type not seen in millions of years, when Earth was not a homo sapiens friendly place. But, our country is not friendly to all homo sapiens either. Human rights are for everybody, no exceptions. I don’t recall a conscious moment of thinking, “These two facts go together.” It was that special alchemy of the brain making a connection.

We must respect the planet. We must respect each other. Our physical survival, as well as our emotional integrity depend on it.

Archimedes:  Tell us how you did your entomophagy research: what experts you talked to, field trips, events, publications? 

Rebecca: I immediately read The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook by David George Gordon, Edible by Daniella Martin, and National Geographic’s Ultimate Bug-opedia. All were invaluable in educating me and providing me with all sorts of cool buggy facts to use throughout Boy Bites Bug. 

I made dishes like cricket tacos and waxworm cookies from ingredients that arrived alive. I also sampled a variety of treats from several edible insect online shops. I interviewed leaders in the entomophagy community like Christina Socha of Bugs,Inc, and Stacie Goldin of Entomo Farms, who are making huge moves in the Canadian food market. And I follow an entomophagy group on Facebook with posts by leading chefs and edible insect advocates from around the world.

I think the biggest takeaway for me was how contagious their enthusiasm is. They genuinely love edible insects for their tastiness and feel passionately about insects’ healthfulness for our bodies and our planet. It’s a triple win!

Also, I went to Triton Middle School, where Boy Bites Bug is set. I was a seventh grader for a day, and I attended a wrestling team practice and later a tournament. Because a main character, Eloy Herrera, is Hispanic-American, I hired four Latinx middle school students in Minnesota to read an early draft of the manuscript, received notes from all, and was able to interview two of them. I also became a fangirl of Chef Enrique Olvera and modeled Eloy’s dad after him. (An episode of Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” features Olvera.)

Archimedes: What do waxworms taste like? (I haven't tried them yet)

Rebecca: They taste like soft macadamia nuts. In Boy Bites Bug, I describe the waxworms being overcooked in cookies and making the texture leathery and the worms a bit flavorless. That happened to me, too. Bake small cookies like the recipe recommends, and that problem is solved.

I ordered my waxworms from San Diego Waxworms. They arrived alive in two small containers of sawdust. That entire scene in Boy Bites Bug is pretty much a recreation of my experience.

Archimedes: I would feel bad about eating bee larvae. Are there any bugs you wouldn't eat?

Rebecca: I haven’t eaten bees because of the collapse of so many bee colonies, though there is a delicious-seeming recipe in Gordon’s cookbook called “Three BeeSalad.” I want to note that the first edition was printed in 1998, and the dramatic increase of colony collapse spiked in 2006. Responsible insect foraging and farming is as important to any entomophagist as the safe preparation and eating of insects.

As far as eating bugs, I’m game to try anything once. But I haven’t gone out of my way to track down dung beetles or cockroaches, both of which are edible. And I will never again eat earthworm jerky. Blech!

Head over to this page on Rebecca's website for some discount codes for edible insect online shops. You can also read the first five chapters of Boy Bites Bugs.

Thinking that you want to try eating some insects? Then check out this book:

Insects, An Edible Field Guide 
By Stefan Gates
144 pages; Ebury Press, 2018

This book covers more than 70 edible bugs from all over the globe. Part field guide, part cooking guide, it provides what you need to know before diving into dining on insects. It’s divided into sections by continent: northern Europe, southern Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Australia/Pacific Oceania.

The introduction includes safety issues (don’t eat arthropods if you have a shellfish allergy), and the environmental and nutritional benefits of chowing down on insect protein. While not a cookbook, it does introduce readers to a diversity of insects that you might not have thought edible.

 Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup. Head over to see what other cool resources STEM bloggers are sharing. Review copies from publishers.

Charlie Numbers celebrates Science and Diversity

Tomorrow is Multicultural Children's Book Day. So I'm taking the opportunity to share a novel that includes not only a diversity of characters, but a strong STEM component. If you are a fan of the TV series "Scorpion" (or the older "Numbers"), this will appeal to you.

Charlie Numbers and the Man in the Moon
by Ben and Tonya Mezrich
208 pages; ages 8-12
Simon & Schuster, 2017

Charlie Numbers is a smart kid. Fortunately he's got a gang of like-minded friends who, by banding together, manage to survive the hassles and bullying that middle school life can bring. We meet them in the early chapters, where they are hurrying to finish a project for school that involves baking soda and vinegar. And no, it's not a volcano.
Design
When Charlie is approached by a man and woman who say they are from NASA, he is intrigued. They need a favor - and in the process he and his friends get drafted to compete in a national paper airplane contest at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Soon Charlie and his friends find themselves caught in a mystery filled with corporate espionage and lots and lots of calculations regarding lift, thrust, resistance, and gravity.

In addition to the science, math, and engineering that are essential to the plot and fabric of this book, there is a fun cast of wonderfully diverse characters who make up the Whiz Kids. Charlie is a numbers guy who has never done anything practical like paper airplanes. Crystal is passionate about geology, Kentaro is a linguistics genius, Marion  is an artist, and Jeremy has mad math skills.

What I like about the book - in addition to the STEM that is woven through every aspect of the story - is the understanding that we work better when we work together. Teamwork is vital to solving engineering problems, even if it is paper airplane engineering, and a team with diverse skills and personalities brings more to the group - at least that's my opinion.

Author Tonya Mezrich graciously answered a couple questions about the writing process. Turns out she's been helping Ben behind the scenes as a researcher for his other books....and when I asked about inspiration for this book, she confessed that Indiana Jones may have played a part.

authors Ben and Tonya Mezrich

Tonya: We were both fans (of Indiana Jones) and loved to imagine kids solving mysteries in the same exciting action-packed way. Another inspiration is Encyclopedia Brown and Harry Potter. We love the idea of creating a modern day Encyclopedia Brown with kids solving mysteries in today's settings. We also love the magic element of Harry Potter. For Charlie, math and science is his magic.

Archimedes: What makes a book "multicultural" and how does that relate to your book?

Tonya: Our book has a strong Asian character, Kentaro, who is integral in solving the mystery. I am Asian and was always faced with the typical stereotype that I should be good at math and science. (note: Tonya is... she's a dentist!) I didn't want to portray Kentaro that way, so we had his skill set based on words and spelling. He is a Scrabble whiz - and also graces the cover of our book. We've gotten great feedback from the multicultural community about it, which has come as a pleasant surprise.

Tonya and Ben focused on paper airplanes for this book because they are something that any kid can make. Try their design for the super fast dart - and let me know if you have better luck sailing it than I do! Maybe my folds aren't crisp enough, but my plane keeps nosediving.

On Monday we'll be hanging out on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle - so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by author.



A little more about Multicultural Children's Book Day:  It was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump into a Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. The mission of MCBD is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids' books that celebrate diversity on home and school bookshelves, while also working to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.

MCBD has 28 Medallion level sponsors and 47 Author sponsors. The event relies on their impressive CoHost Team for hosting the book review link-up and spreading word of this event. Drop by the Multicultural Children's Book Day website for fabulous resources including free books for teachers and a free classroom empathy kit for homeschoolers, teachers, and others.

Remember to connect with MCBD on social media with #ReadYourWorld

Forest World and Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet

I love it when I'm reading a novel and find that the author has a passion for animals, nature, math - and has incorporated STEM into their story. Here are two recent books where the science and environmental issues are integral to the plot. If you're still seeking a gift for your science-loving kid, these fit well into stockings (and budgets).

Forest World
by Margarita Engle
208 pages; ages 10 & up
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017

Edver isn't happy about being shipped off to Cuba to see the father he barely knows. He definitely isn't expecting to meet a sister he didn't know existed! And he most certainly didn't plan to capture a wildlife poacher.

But what we, the readers don't expect, is to be completely immersed in a Cuban jungle. In the first twelve pages, Margarita Engle introduces us to bee-sized hummingbirds, condors, zombie cockroaches, and the seemingly opposing forces of survival and conservation on a small island. And she does all this in poetry.

What I like LOVE about this book: tucked into every page is a connection to the world beyond humans. There's a discussion of convergent evolution and, later, biodiversity and the advantages of variability in a world being changed by global warming. Layered over this are the real-world concerns of kids: if their mama loves them, why is she off doing research, and what can they do to bring her home? Back matter includes a list of "truly cool biodiversity words".

A couple years ago I reviewed Engle's picture book about Louis Fuertes who, like Audubon, painted birds from life.

 Who Gives a Hoot (Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet)
by Jacqueline Kelly
112 pages; ages 7-10
Henry Holt & Co, 2017

If you have a girl who wants to be a veterinarian- or who just loves wild animals - get this book into her hands. Eleven-year-old Calpurnia Tate - yes, the very same Calpurnia from The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate - explores the natural world around her Texas home. She learns about wildlife right in her backyard (or, in this case, a neighboring farmer's field) and helps the veterinarian mend their injuries. What's cool is that the book is set at the turn of the 20th century - the beginning of the 1900s - when veterinarians focused on livestock.

What I like about this book: Kelly's attention to details: mockingbird songs, what happens to a wet owl - those sorts of things. I also like the illustrations of Calpurnia's field notebook, and her "strong girl" attitude. She's not afraid to help an injured owl, even though it means catching mice for its meals. And she helps solve the mystery of what made the owl sick. A hint: it has to do with food chains.

 On Monday we'll be hanging out on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers over at Shannon Messenger's blog, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by publisher.