When three very different girls find a mysterious invitation to a lavish mansion, the promise of adventure and mischief is too intriguing to pass up.
Ofelia Castillo (a budding journalist), Aster Douglas (a bookish foodie), and Cat Garcia (a rule-abiding birdwatcher) meet the kid behind the invite, Lane DiSanti, and it isn’t love at first sight. But they soon bond over a shared mission to get the Floras, their local Scouts, to ditch an outdated tradition. In their quest for justice, independence, and an unforgettable summer, the girls form their own troop and find something they didn’t know they needed: sisterhood.
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Friendships have its ups and downs. It’s no secret that friendships can be hard to make and maintain, especially when you’re not great at socializing.
When I was a kid (and even now as an adult), I couldn’t work out how to become friends like it was a difficult math problem. How do you make people see that you’re a great person to be friends with? I still don’t know the answer, but when you meet these people, it just works.
For the Strange Birds blog tour, I wanted to recommend some fantastic Middle Grade books about friendships that’ll make you think and reflect on your own friendship history.
| THE FIRST RULE OF PUNK BY CELIA C. PEREZ |
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“The First Rule of Punk hits every note with a perfectly pitched scream,” I wrote in my review for the book when it first came out. And it’s still true.
Not only do you get this wonderful book that appreciates all types of music, it’s a throwback to zines and getting in touch with your culture. Don’t forget what makes you…YOU!
And it shows the makings of great friendships—unlikely kids who don’t seem like they’ll work well together, but surprisingly they do; they are worth the trouble of school. You can rely on them to make music and more.
| GOODBYE STRANGER BY REBECCA STEAD |
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Goodbye Stranger is a book that everybody needs to fall in love with because it captures the beauty and ugliness of friendships.
You meet these girls who vow to never fight with each other, but they break their rule, and readers get to experience how they deal with it and issues like boys, feminism, body shaming, and so on. You see these girls see what they value in their own friendships and how they try to fix what isn’t working.
It will make readers think about their own friendships and how they approach those.
| MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR |
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A preteen genius and her best friend Devil Dinosaur, ’nuff said.
| LIKE MAGIC BY ELAINE VICKERS |
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You find friendship in the place you least expect, and for Grace, Jada, and Malia, it starts with a treasure box from the library where a friendship blossoms.
This treasure box helps draw them in and share a bit of themselves with each other, and it’s absolutely wonderful to read this spark of their friendship begin.
| BE PREPARED BY VERA BROGSOL |
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Be Prepared is almost like what not to do when you want to make friends at a strange Summer camp.
You just gotta not be afraid of putting yourself out there, and remember that not everybody you meet will hit it off with you.
This graphic novel is full of wacky camp stories and mishaps in trying to become friends with the wrong people.
| THE WAY TO BEA BY KATE YEH |
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Can everybody read The Way to Bea and weep at how beautiful this book is?
The Way to Bea has a girl who’s trying to deal with her best friend no longer speaking to her and trying to make friends even though she’s afraid; an autistic boy who makes Bea think beyond herself; a love for poetry; and so much more.
It’s full of warmth and uncertainty and so much honesty flowing from these characters.
| STRANGE BIRDS BY CELIA C. PEREZ |
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Celia C. Perez does it again! She brings another excellent book that gives us these fantastic girls who join forces to stop the Floras from using bird feathers as part of a tradition. Of course, that’s not how it all started.
These girls are so uniquely different from each other—there’s Ofelia who wants to be a journalist; Aster, who loves to cook and bake; Cat, who loves birds; and Lane, who loves art and brings these girls to her beloved treehouse at her grandmother’s estate.
Don’t sacrifice who you are to fit in. These girls don’t seem like they’d mesh well on paper, but when you get them together, it’s instant chemistry.
Strange Birds is a must-read, especially for those who love books about friendships, diversity, characters with cherished hobbies, standing up for ones beliefs, and overall fun.
[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#000000″]AUTHOR’S BIO: Celia C. Pérez is the author of The First Rule of Punk, a 2018 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book, a 2018 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award Winner, and a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction and Poetry Honor Book. She lives in Chicago with her family where, in addition to writing books about lovable weirdos and outsiders, she works as a librarian. She is originally from Miami, Florida, where roosters and peacocks really do wander the streets. Visit her at celiacperez.com.[/note]| BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE |
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Week One
August 27 – The Novel Hermit – Book Recommendations about Friendships
August 28 – Books 4 Your Kids – Review
August 29 – The Young Folks – Author Guest Post
August 30 – A Bronx Latina Reads – Review
Week Two
September 3 – The Geeky Yogi – Review + Creative Instagram Picture
September 4 – Lost in Storyland – Author Guest Post: 10 Bucket List Items she wants to do with her BFFs.
September 5 – Book Fidelity – Review + Moodboard
September 6 – Randomly Reading – Review
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