Reading Middle Grade: Then and Now

Animal Stories

Although I have yet to read it, I love the title of Katherine Rundell’s Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise. About twenty years ago I started collecting “chapter” books that I loved when I was in elementary school. Today they are called middle grade books (not to be confused with middle school, which does have some overlap with middle grade and YA). These are my comfort reads. Not only do they create a sense of nostalgia for when my life was simpler, but their messages still resonate.

Not that they are moralistic, I don’t mean that. I could smell those books a mile away, and I don’t even remember any of those titles. Messages of belonging and friendship and the power of imagination, have stayed with me over the years. So did the different kinds of places there were in the world beyond my life in Kansas.

A favorite of mine, and many, is Charlotte’s Web. I bought my first copy at the Scholastic book fair at school, (for 75 cents!) and my mom read it to me. I don’t know how many times I’ve read it, since then, but that equals the amount of times I cried near the end. The first time I cried, I ran into my room and threw myself on my bed and let the tears soak into my pillow. After I was worn out, I went to the kitchen for lunch. On the table, the pickle jar was almost empty, and my mom pointed out all the green strand-y things floating in the pickle juice. She said that it looked like Templeton’s rat nest, and I had to laugh.

I’ve read Charlotte’s Web to students when I was a librarian, and the smells of the barnyard still permeate my memory. And the cleverness of that little spider. And the friendships that grew in the barn. And even the crabby, but helpful rat.

I continue to seek current books that will give today’s children the same comfort, the same messages of belonging and friendship. I just finished reading Jasmine Warga’s newest book, The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan. I cried a little at the end, always a good sign! Children of all ages, especially young children, love stories about animals. I will be giving this one to my grandchildren, especially my granddaughter who loves “big cats.” She’ll hear a message of belonging, of knowing it’s okay to make mistakes (who doesn’t?), and sometimes friends are very different from you.

Clocks Anthology

I am excited to announce that my story, Memory Jars, will appear in an anthology. The Kickstarter for this project will begin on March 24. You will find information here. There will be total of seventeen stories, and I am excited to read the others.

Memory Jars takes place in the Great Hall of the Turicum train station, the setting for both of my novels. This speculative fiction story is appropriate for all ages.

The cover art was created by Elizabeth Jaffari. The anthology was edited by Elizabeth Mitchell of Little Key Press.

Middle Grade Fantasy with Clocks

There’s something about clocks that I particularly like. Maybe it’s the way all the gears fit together with the cogs like a jigsaw puzzle. Maybe it’s the first watch I owned, a Cinderella watch with a pink band and a porcelain Cinderella figurine that came with it. Maybe because being on time is either my character flaw or virtue (depending on how you think about it).

In any case, I am drawn to stories about clocks. As a child, I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. The Wichita Public Library didn’t carry them, so I had to borrow them from my best friend who lived next door. (She also let me read all her Archie comics.)

The very first Nancy Drew book is The Secret of the Old Clock, where Nancy finds an important message hidden inside a clock.

More current books that I have particularly enjoyed are, in no particular order, are:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Not only are clocks important in the story, as Hugo must take care of the clocks when his father dies, but it is also set in a train station. I can also recommend the movie.

The Clockwork Three by Mathhew J. Kirby

There are three main characters in this story, and one of them is an apprentice to a clockmaker.

The House of One Hundred Clocks by A. M. Howell

Helena goes with her father to a house where his job is to make sure the one hundred clocks must never stop.

The Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher

This is the first book in a series, and although there is not a clock per se, there is a mechanical talking crow who helps our heroine, Seren, find a missing boy.

The Counterclockwise Heart by Brian Farrey

If you like German fairy tales, this one will be sure to please. The prince has a clock in his chest instead of a heart, and it is running backwards.

Another thing these books have in common is their European setting. My steampunk story, The Secret of the Moon Dial, concerns a pocket watch, and the Turicum train station, inspired by the main station in Zürich, Switzerland. (Coming Summer 2026).

Leave a comment below if you have other books with clocks that you love.