MMGM: Wish by Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser

About The Book:
                      Never wish in the woods.
      With one wish made in Willow Forest, Soli and Lucy are pulled into Faerieground—and into the middle of an ancient battle. In the faerie kingdom, an evil queen searches for her daughter while the palace crumbles. To save her best friend, Soli must find her hidden strength.
      This is a story about friendship, growing up, and the power of wishes. This is a story about faeries and spells, queens and lost princesses, fireflies and four-leaf clovers. But mostly, this is a story about love. —Goodreads

First Line: Long ago, a kingdom was founded in Willow Forest...
  
What Others Are Saying: "These four stories will find a place in a middle or high school setting where very low level books are needed. There is excitement, adventure, magic, and a bit of romance. The series, written by Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser, is done well and will entertain those readers who might not otherwise be able to handle a lot of fantasy. Recommended." — Library Media Connection

 "As an added bonus, the text allows for easy readability for individuals learning English as a second language, reluctant readers, or those with dyslexia. The books are accompanied by vivid pictures throughout, adding to the pleasant layout." —VOYA

Bloggers Weigh In:
"I found this world to be interesting and descriptive. The authors also did a beautiful job of capturing the angst and frustration of the early teen years." —Reading Lark

"I’d recommend Wish to anyone, young and old. Fairy lovers especially, or people who love fairy tale worlds will love this book!" —Caught Between The Pages

"This world created by Bracken and Sawyer is one in which, after reading, you would believe exists in your nearest forest. These tales are charming and leave you waiting for more. I would highly recommend them to the pre-teen girl for an afternoon of losing themselves in a lovely imaginary world." —Bookalicious

What I Thought: When I perused the reviews on Goodreads and Amazon I was disappointed that there were as many negative reviews as there were. Mainly, because I loved the book. The common thread throughout was that the readers wanted more, more character development, more words and more descriptions. All requirements of avid book lovers. This book wasn't written for them. This was designed as a hi-lo book, high interest but low reading level and for that it is perfect. See here for specifics. By creating simple text that doesn't fill the page, white space is abundant, a key attraction to reluctant readers. Add to that the incredible artwork and a poor reader with a sophisticated imagination can find enjoyment and satisfaction. It is a beautiful book that takes basic teen issues of friendship and identity without the reluctant reader getting lost in the details. I highly recommend this to libraries that serve those readers that English is a second language and those with reading challenges!   

About The Authors: 

Website
Facebook

Who: Beth Bracken is a children's book editor. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, Steve, and their son, Sam. When she's not reading, writing, or editing books, Beth spends most of her time knitting endlessly while watching reruns of old TV shows and drinking lots of tea. —Website

Kay Fraser is from Buenos Aires. She left home at eighteen and moved to North Dakota—basically the exact opposite of Argentina. These days, she designs books, writes, makes tea for her husband, and drives her daughters to their dance lessons. —Website

Odessa Sawyer is an illustrator from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She works mainly in digital mixed media, utilizing digital painting, photography, and traditional pen and ink. Odessa's work has graced book covers from many top publishing houses, and she has also done work for various film and television projects, posters, and album covers. Highly influenced by fantasy, fairy tales, fashion, and classic horror, Odessa's work celebrates a whimsical, dreamy, and vibrant quality. —Website

I know, I know, I'm a week late for this review. Sometimes you just have to slow down, come up for air and hang out on the beach. 

Things are much clearer now! LOL

MMGM: Pale By Chris Wooding and the Hi/Lo Controversy

About The Book: The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead. Only thing is, it turns you into a Pale. Jed can't imagine anything worse, but then the choice is taken out of his hands...

First Line: We got the Pale on his way to school.

Note: Pale was published by Stoke Books an imprint of Lerner Books. They specialize in books specifically designed for the reluctant or challenged middle grade reader. This is what is often refered to by teachers and librarians as Hi/Lo books, a Lexile measurement of readability. See what HL means here. Chris Wooding's own explanation about the book.

What Others Are Saying: "Although it doesn’t preach, this thought-provoking story about what really matters in life will set readers thinking." —Julia Eccleshare at Love Reading 4Kids

"Since I have spent most of my teaching career working with struggling and reluctant readers, I can safely say that this would have lot of appeal for that group of readers. My middle school boys would be able to relate to Jed easily. The underlying themes of acceptance and bullying would also appeal to today's youth." —The Flashlight Reader [middle grade language arts teacher]

"I was disappointed with the story. It feels unfinished and the characters don't seem natural to me. The changes in them are too abrupt and not very believable. It is also too much of an issue book sprinkled with a bit of sci-fi, which is what bugs me mostly about many teen Hi/Lo books."  —Virginia on Boys Do Read

What I Thought: I haven't read any of Wooding's other books so I had nothing to compare this one to. I always find it interesting when the reviews of a particular book are all over the map, some readers really liked it, others hated it and several thought it was okay. Since I went into this knowing who it's intended audience was, I believe my perpective may be different from someone just picking this up off the shelf. 
     I was a reluctant middle grade reader and often felt left out when others spoke about endings of books that I couldn't seem to finish. After a while you just quit trying. Your reading speed is so slow that you get bored very fast and get bogged down in the words and descriptions. I also had a couple of children that were reluctant readers and finding something to encourage them to read was always a challenge.
     Why I think this is an excellent Hi/Lo choice:
1. Feeling success at finishing an entire book is really important. There are only 72 pages.
2. Action on every page. Since it is short there is something happening on every page.
3. The verbiage is very basic, no flowery language to get bogged down in.
           That said, I really liked the book. The themes of bullying are pertinent and a great launchpad for discussion and thought. 

About The Author: 

Chris Wooding

Website

Who: Wooding grew up in a small town in Leicestershire, where not much of anything happened. So he started to write novels. He was sixteen when he completed his first. He had an agent by eighteen. By nineteen he had signed his first book deal. When he left university he began to write full-time, and he has been doing it professionally all his adult life.

Interesting video from a 
five-part series about setting. 

What are your feelings and thoughts about Hi/Lo books?  Are they important? What characteristics do you think one should have?


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Plus...Rachel over on Rai29 Book, Read N Review has a fun interview and promotion.