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I've read a couple of pretty quite middle grade fiction books lately, aimed towards the girls in your lives. Enjoy!

Strawberry Hill, written by Mary Ann Hoberman, is an excellent choice for a read aloud with your girls at home. Homey, heartwarming, and sweet, we meet Allie, a young girl, heartbroken to learn her family will be moving to the country, leaving behind Allie's best friend and beloved home. Some excitement is raised, however, when Allie learns that her new street name is Strawberry Hill, leading her to believe she will live in a home surrounded by yummy, sweet strawberries.

When Allie and her family arrive at their new home, she realizes there are no strawberries, and she now has to make brand new friends and get used to living in a whole different place. Allie goes through what a lot of children go through after moving, making for a comforting and sweet story.

Again, great for a read aloud. Get in your jammies and read with your girls!

Strawberry Hill
Mary Ann Hoberman
240 pages
Middle Grade Fiction
Little, Brown Young Readers
9780316041362
July 2009

Solving Zoe, written by Barbara Dee, has a lot going on, but in a good, fun way. Zoe is scared of losing her best friend to the drama clique at school, she has a weird boy stalking her and trying to tell her she has a special ability, and she now holds an after-school job feeding reptiles. All that AND she manages to get caught up in some trouble at school that she happens to be the main suspect in.

Finding her place in the world is proving difficult for Zoe. Her daydreaming is out of control and she feels she lost her best friend. Her grades start slipping and she knows she has to figure out what's going on inside her head before she's in true trouble, both at school and at home. She goes to a school for extraordinary children, but Zoe feels nothing but ordinary. Needing some help in solving her own life questions, Zoe befriends the strange new boy, who helps her to discover what and who she is meant to be.

There was a whole lot going on in this book, but not so much that the reader can't follow or won't be able to really get to know Zoe. She is like any typical preteen in the manner that she is slightly lost in the world, unable to solve the mystery of where she fits in.

A nice choice for libraries or as a gift for a preteen girl.

Solving Zoe
Barbara Dee
240 pages
Middle Grade Fiction
Margaret K. McElderry Books
9781416961284
April 2009

To learn more about either title, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.