The Education of Ivy Blake by Ellen Airgood

If you liked Prairie Evers or just this kind of story and cozy characters, you might try The Education of Ivy Blake, also by Ellen Airgood. The books go together, but don’t necessarily have to be read in order. Ivy and her mother are reunited, and Ivy feels like all her dreams are coming true. But it’s not the happy ending she was hoping for, and Ivy is too ashamed to tell the Evers family how scared and lonely she is. It can get pretty dark, but you’ll be impressed with how Ivy finds her inner strength through a creative love of moviemaking. This book really looks at what it means to create your own identity.

Prairie Evers, by Ellen Airgood

Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood is a warm and cozy story of friendship and family. Ten-year-old Prairie Evers and her family just unpacked from their move from North Carolina to a farm in upstate New York, when her Grammy, who has homeschooled Prairie all her life, decides to return to the mountains. Prairie devotes herself to her new flock of chickens, but soon, her parents enroll her in school for the first time, and Prairie makes her first real friend, Ivy. Realizing that Ivy and her mother have a rocky relationship, Prairie learns their tragic family secrets, and she is determined to try to help her friend find happiness.

The View from Saturday by Elaine Konigsburg

Elaine Konigsburg’s The View from Saturday is a Newberry Award winner, and it is really a collection of four short stories of sixth graders, all tied together by their teacher, Mrs. Olinski. Noah was accidental best man at Nadia’s and Ethan’s grandparents’ wedding, and Ethan defends the new Indian student, Julian, from the sixth grade bullies. Each character has a really distinctive voice and style of thinking, so the stories intertwine but are very different.
I liked that not all of the characters are likable all the time. Konigsburg does something really nifty, where she uses the Academic Bowl questions to walk the reader back in time to understand the very personal and human reason these students know the answers. I loved that each child had something to offer the others. It’s so important to remember that middle schoolers get such a bad rap, when really they are capable of such selflessness. This is a great empathy and friendship book, and just a fun read.