Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Spells & Sleeping Bags

Today’s pick: 

Spells & Sleeping Bags by Sarah Mlynowski

Published by Random House, 2007

Summary:

As Rachel heads off to summer camp, her magical powers are starting to kick in, but they’re a little out of control. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, she has more problems: getting the attention of the boy she likes, trying to help her little sister be less socially-inept, dealing with a girl who seems to hate her and learning to swim.

My Take:

The tone of this book promised a fun, girly story with a sprinkle of magic and that’s exactly what it turned out to be. One of the strengths of this novel is the way the author writes dialogue. The characters really come alive through their conversations. There is minimal description here, just what is needed, allowing the story to move along at a good pace. Although it’s categorized as a teen novel (there’s a lot of talk about kissing), I’d say it’s more “tween” and definitely of interest to 12- and 13- year old girls who are thinking about first crushes, first kisses, making friends, fitting in and other middle school issues. Plus, it has that magical element to add to the fun.

Other Info:

This book is part of a series called, Magic in Manhattan. Nickelodeon has optioned the rights to the series for a television movie. Other books in the series include:

Bras & Broomsticks

Frogs & French Kisses

Parties & Potions

Other books by this author include:

How to Be Bad (YA)

Gimme A Call (YA)

Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) - YA

Me vs. Me - Chick-Lit, adult

Milkrun - Chick-Lit, adult

For more, go to Sarah Mlynowski’s website.

If you want to see more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts, here are a few places to check out:

Shannon O’Donnell
Natalie Aguirre and Casey McCormick
Joanne Fritz
Sherrie Petersen
Brooke Favero
Myrna Foster
Anita Laydon Miller
Barbara Watson
Just Deb
Michael Gettel-Gilmartin
Pam Torres
Jennifer Rumberger