Today, I bring you not one but three fantastic mid-grade books, all for the low, low price of … your feels?

Hey, nothing in life is free, okay? Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made. A little bit of feels isn’t too much to ask.

The theme of the day is found family and sibling love, which are two tropes that I just can never get enough of.

There’s nothing that warms my heart better than siblings that are close and would do anything for each other. It’s a trope I’ll never get tired of. Plus, found family is where it’s at. It’s the only family you get to choose, and thank goodness for that.

So without beating around the bush too much, let’s get to the books!

Title: The Boy With the Butterfly Mind
Author: Victoria Williamson
Publication Date: September 12, 2019
Publisher: Floris Books
Format: Edelweiss eARC

Many thanks to Edelweiss and Floris Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

❧ This is a really raw coming-of-age, found-family story that is sure to tug at the heartstrings.

Both the main characters, Jamie and Elin, aren’t haven’t a great time in life at this point. Elin struggles with a need to be perfect, in the hopes that her father will come back. Jamie struggles with ADHD and the repercussions of not thinking about his actions. He causes trouble for those around him without meaning to. They’re both just precious little cinnamon rolls that deserve all the love and hugs and support.

❧ As someone with ADHD, I feel SEEN and gosh how refreshing that is.

Granted, my ADHD isn’t as bad as Jamie’s, and I’m not on medication for it (I’ve learned coping mechanisms and strategies). But just the number of things Jamie goes through where I was nodding my head and showing my poor husband passages like, “SEE?!” It was just perfect. I felt the treatment of ADHD in this book was fabulous, and I was excited to see, especially, Jamie’s father embrace him for who he is, even as Jamie struggles with finding himself.

❧ This book does a really good job of detailing the struggle to get medicine and treatment for ADHD and the side effects.

It’s not as easy as throw a pill at someone and, wham, bam, they’re fine again. If only. It can take years to find the right medicine, and some people never do. There are so many “what if” scenarios, and ADHD can look so different in various people, but I appreciated Jamie’s journey for what it was.

❧ The character arcs in this are just so freaking poignant and heart-wrenching and so much more than I expected from a middle grade book.

I actually had no idea what to expect going in. I just saw a character with ADHD, got excited, and clicked, as you do. But oh gosh, this book just broke my heart over and over and over again, from the things Jamie and Elin had to go through, to how broken they felt, to how desperately they just wanted to be themselves.

I actually started out completely hating Elin, because gosh, she was just so rude and mean and intolerable.

But thankfully, the story is also from her point of view, so there was room for an actually quite beautiful arc that, little by little, had her actions making sense. Didn’t absolve them, of course, but it was easy to see how she’d arrived there.

❧ Underneath all the ugliness and struggle between the characters, there’s a beautiful story of found family and learning to accept things as they are.

Sometimes people can change, but you can’t force it upon them, and you can’t change how you’re born. That’s the fundamental lesson of the book, and it was so reaffirming and lovely. I’m also a huge sucker for found family, so of course that was a win.

I went through such a range of emotions here, from empathy to outrage to just wanting to hug everyone and smoosh them back together.

The book certainly doesn’t gloss over how hard it is, on all sides … well, handling kids, in general. None of the parents have it particularly easy, and as a parent, gosh can I relate. Even though the story was from the point of view of the kids, the parents have their own arcs and issues, and I just connected to everyone’s struggle.

❧ This is a character-driven book, so there’s little in the way of actual actiony action.

Say that one three times fast, I dare you.

Whether that’s a problem or not depends on whether you connect to the characters, most likely. As I said, I was not a fan of Elin. At first, I could definitely relate to her struggle. I’ve always been a perfectionist, and a lot of her inner thoughts are things that me at that age also wrestled with. For a good quarter of the book at least, though, I just couldn’t stand her choices, and that made it a little hard for me to get through, but I’m glad I stuck it out.

Title: The Girl Who Lost Her Shadow
Author: Emily Ilett
Publication Date: February 11, 2020
Publisher: Kelpies
Format: Edelweiss eARC

Many thanks to Edelweiss and Kelpies for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

❧ At its core, this is a moving story about a girl who would do anything to save her sister.

I will always show up for strong sibling bonds, and gosh, this was it. As Kay withdraws further and further into herself, Gail just wants to save her sister, even though she doesn’t quite understand what’s happening to her. It’s such a powerful, poignant thing that anyone with family who suffers from depression will understand.

Gail isn’t just reaching out to Kay, though; she’s learning how to find herself.

Since their father left, both girls have just been lost. They’ve become something not entirely themselves, and Gail wants things to go back to how they were. There were some real zingers of lines that just punched right to the feels, and they were gorgeous.

❧ There’s some depression rep in this, and gosh, did it hurt my soul, because it was so realistic.

Gail’s sister, Kay, has severe depression, since shortly after their father left. She’s withdrawn, lost interest in life, and just doesn’t know what’s wrong with her. Gail doesn’t know what’s wrong with her, either. Kay wants to feel better, but of course, that’s not quite how depression works, is it? The way this was written was accessible for young kids, but still stayed true to the struggle with depression.

❧ I can’t say too much about it, because spoilers obviously, but I thought there were some really unique things done with this story via the magical realism.

I mean, the thing that first grabbed my attention was the idea of losing a shadow. I’ve seen this done several times before, and the concept has always both intrigued and terrified me. There are some pretty unique and wonderful people Gail comes across in her journey, which felt a little less adventure a little more soul searching.

❧ I struggled to connect with most of the characters.

There were a lot of them, and most were just fleeting. There was a lot of depth in Gail and Kay, so maybe that’s why the others felt a little shallow and dull in comparison. Or maybe we just didn’t spend enough time with them. I couldn’t tell you quite what it was, but even now, writing the review, I’ve forgotten half their names and most of the (very few) details we had about them.

❧ It feels like there are important parts of the book that are missing or not elaborated on quite enough for me to get a full grasp on things.

The thing I wanted to know most about was their father. He’s … gone. That pretty much sums up everything I know about him. This was a big lack for me, because it’s implied that him leaving was a big turning point for Kay and a trigger for her depression. Yet, we hear virtually nothing about him, despite the fact that he’s only been gone for something like a year and a half. No memories, no reasoning about why he left, very little of the impact of his leaving (other than Kay).

There were just things that I felt weren’t completely tied up or expanded on in order to form a complete picture of what was going on in the story, so it didn’t feel quite as cohesive as it could have.

Title: Watch Hollow
Author: Gregory Funaro
Publication Date: February 12, 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover

❧ Right from the very start, this book is creepy and atmospheric, but in a very age appropriate way.

It feels like a nice middle ground for kids who are a little too young for traditionally scary books like Goosebumps, but are wanting something a little more on the spooky side. It’s more along the veins of Small Spaces by Katherine Arden.

While I was never really creeped out (I am an adult, thank you very much *flips feather boa over shoulder*), there were moments that were deliciously creepy that I appreciated.

They probably would have spooked me were I just a bit younger. Okay, or a lot younger. I’m kinda getting up there now. The atmosphere, though, was dark and gothic and heavy, like you know there’s a monster lurking somewhere in the pages, waiting for some unsuspecting reader to wander along. Hellooo, that’s where you come in. There were definite stakes and a pretty intense climax.

❧ There’s spooky woods AND a spooky house, and be still, my trope-loving little heart.

I want all the spooky, haunted things, and this book just really delivered. The plot unravels little by little, where at first you’re just a little suspicious, but it gets dark pretty quickly. Scary things never stay where they belong. I appreciated how the plot grew darker as it went on and the mystery unraveled a little at a time. It kept me wanting to find out what was next.

❧ The characters in this are just too cute and easy to love, a mixture of snark and adolescence and obstinance and all sorts of goodness.

Also, a lot of the names are PUNS, and oh my gosh, have I told y’all how much I love puns? It’s horrible. But I do. I can’t get enough of them.

Lucy is a fun narrator, because she’s just a little snarky, but also caring and protective and brave. Oliver is a fun counterpoint, because he’s the older, more reliable big brother who happens to be suffering from the unfortunate side effects of puberty … but Lucy is still his sister, despite everything. And the clock animals? Well, they’re a treat that you’ll just have to discover for yourself.

❧ Family is a big theme of this, both family coming together and falling apart.

I appreciated how this was done, because family is hard, y’all. Even when you love them, at the best of times, it’s a tribulation. The foremost family is the Tinkers, who are reeling from the loss of their mother and wife, which is hard enough. Add a little dash of financial problems, and it’s a recipe for disaster, right? The way each character handled this was different, and I felt for all of them.

I can’t really say more about the whole theme of family without running amok of spoilers, but suffice it to say that it was quite thoughtful and rather touching.

Have you read any of these books yet? What’s your favorite found family or sibling book?

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