It's only when I began writing this post that I noticed that most (six out of seven) of my favourite middle-grade reads from 2023 have blue covers! How odd!I made a conscious effort to read more middle-grade books this year, also because I want to write more middle grade. It's an age-group I enjoy interacting with, and I want more MG literature that moves and changes me, urging me to read on. Here are the books that I read and loved in 2023. An Alien in the Jam Factory I read this wacky book at the end of November 2023, and I loved it so much that it's going to be part of the February 2024 edition of Read, Write, Explore. An Alien in the Jam Factory is a book that I think most children can identify with, even though the protagonist is a genius who meets an alien, a situation that most children cannot identify with. What makes me feel it has … [Read more...]
An Alien in the Jam Factory
An Alien in the Jam Factory is such a fun read! A book that celebrates ideas is the best kind of book to read with children. The very first page is filled with doodles and ideas--like a jam slice, which is like a cheese slice that you can put straight into a sandwich. What else can we do as we read the book? Food Ideas Create your own wacky jam recipe! Scooter, the protagonist of An Alien in the Jam Factory, creates wasp-repelling jam, Brussels sprout jam, cherry bomb jam and more. What can we make? What kind of jam do the children at my book club think will be fun and delicious? Waiting to find out! Alien Creative writing is an integral part of my book club for ages nine and ten, so let's imagine aliens of our own. If an alien landed in your balcony, what would you do? What problems would you face and how would you solve them? Would you … [Read more...]
An Alien in the Jam Factory
There's something about book titles that can just grab your attention right away. An Alien in the Jam Factory is one of those.I often pick up books when I travel and when I was in Goa last month, I visited Literati for the first time. I browsed for quite a while before this book caught my attention, and I loved the premise.Scooter McLay is a genius. Thanks to his incredible inventions, McLay's jam is a phenomenal success. Whether it's wasp-repellent jam or the not-yet-very-successful Edible Jam Bubbles, each of Scooter's inventions sparkles. He has loving parents, he thoroughly enjoys inventing, and he's never going to let their rival Daffy Dodgy steal his secrets. It's all perfect. Except that he has no friends. No one is allowed into the top-secret factory. And for hygienic reasons, he cannot even have a pet.One day, however, an alien called Fizzbee crashes into the … [Read more...]