The Last Firehawk, Mindy Kim, Mars Patel
MBH no. 15
Hello wonderful readers,
Not much time for an intro today, because I know I’m about a week behind on this newsletter! Does anyone else feel like transitioning from the school routine to the summer schedule can be rough—for everyone? 🤦🏼♀️
While one of my children has always been early to bed, and early to rise—no matter what time of year—the other loves her lazy summer mornings and later bedtimes. One of my children thrives on routine and is happiest when he’s busy, and the other loves a day off to hang around the house, coloring and listening to audiobooks.
Both embrace the sports—swim team, golf, tennis—that they only do in the summer, and both love seeing their “summer” friends—kids who go to different schools but do the same camps and activities.
Camps, sports, parties, babysitters at random hours..all this makes for unpredictable days and later evenings. Too much of this (for us) also makes for cranky, out-of-sorts kids.
One routine I’ve managed to keep mostly intact this summer is nightly reading. Sometimes it’s already too late and we only have time for a few minutes aloud, sometimes it’s the kids reading their own books because I’m finishing work I couldn’t do during the day, sometimes it’s in the car on the way home from games. However the reading looks, it serves as an essential reset for us all.
If you’re looking for the reset button for your kids (or yourself), these books—and one fantastic podcast—will do the trick.
The Last Firehawk (series) by Katrina Charman, illustrations by Jeremy Norton (2017-2020)
In the enchanted land of Perodia lies Valor Wood-a forest filled with magic and light. There, a wise old owl named Grey leads the Owls of Valor. These brave warriors protect the many creatures of the wood. But a darkness is spreading across Peoria, and the forest’s magic and light are fading away…In the land of Perodia, a shadow spreads across Valor Wood. Thorn, an evil vulture, controls this dark magic and aims to destroy the forest.
Enter Tag, a small owl desperate to prove his courage to join a group of heroic protectors. Tag and his friend Skyla discover a mysterious golden egg—which hatches to reveal a firehawk, a magical bird believed extinct. The three friends learn about the powerful Ember stone, which may be their only hope against the spreading evil. Together, Tag, Skyla, and Blaze embark on a quest to retrieve the Ember Stone and save their home.
The Last Firehawk is a 12-book series that’s part of Scholastic’s Branches imprint— early chapter books created especially for newly independent readers. The books are plot-driven, heavily illustrated, and with lots of energetic dialogue. Several (not scary) battles of good vs. evil and exciting adventures make this magical series a great introduction to the fantasy genre.
Recommended for ages 6-9
Mindy Kim (series) by Lyla Lee, illustrations by Dung Ho
Back at my old school, I always sat with Diya and Izzy, my two best friends. With them by my side, I never felt lonely. But now, with no one to call my friend, I felt really alone, like the little lost penguin in a nature show I had watched with Dad. The little penguin was all alone, a black speck on the white ice, with its friends and family miles and miles away. I cried when I watched that episode, and I kind of felt like crying now.
The Mindy Kim series follows 8-year-old Mindy and her father as they move to Florida after her mother's death. In the first book, Mindy is nervous about starting a new school where no one looks like her. She misses the Korean-American community she had in California, and after classmates make fun of her Korean lunch (which includes kimchi and seaweed), Mindy wonders if she'll ever fit in. However, after a classmate tries her seaweed snack and declares it "delicious”, Mindy starts a seaweed business-- hoping to make new friends AND earn enough money for a puppy to cheer up her father.
With 10 books out and more to come, this series is so popular that I even debated including it in the newsletter—I'm sure many of you have heard of it.
However, the author does such a great job with tough topics—the death of a parent, the struggle to make friends, and the feeling of otherness. She does all this and still manages to make this series sweet and lighthearted. Even though there are some emotional moments, these books aren't sad. Mindy is a sweet, hopeful heroine despite the hardships she’s faced.
Another great aspect of the Mindy Kim series is the way the author weaves in Korean culture— she includes lots of Korean words in context (and explains their meanings), and describes Korean foods and traditions. Even though Mindy feels different from the other kids, she takes pride in her family and her heritage.
Recommended for ages 7-9
The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel
…
In lieu of a middle grade book recommendation, I wanted to share a podcast we’ve recently started listening to—and we’re OBSESSED.
I've already shared our love for audiobooks, so while searching for some both my kids would like (no easy feat these days) I found this review on Common Sense Media:
In THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL, students from H.G. Wells Middle School start to go missing. Mars Patel and his group of friends are surprised to find that they're the only ones willing to investigate. As they go in search of their missing friends, they discover that other kids from around the world have gone missing too. Their search eventually leads them to suspect Oliver Pruitt, a prominent public figure and science and tech billionaire. Pruitt is also the founder of Pruitt Prep -- a school, it turns out, that may not be exactly what it seems.
This award-winning audio mystery series earns its good reputation. Not only does The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel teach as it entertains, but fantasy elements such as kid characters having superpowers make it exciting to follow along. Sound effects are fully immersive, making you feel like you're along for the ride as you follow characters to desert islands and even on spaceships through outer space. Take this and add some out-of-this-world voice acting performed by actual young people, and what you get is one exceptional audio series.
This mystery/sci-fi/adventure series is so fantastic. We’re all on the edges of our seats each time we listen, and while I thought it might be a little too mature or eerie for my 8-year-old, she’s just as into it as her 11-year-old brother.
Each episode is about 17 minutes long, but we let it roll into the next—all three seasons are out, and I just learned you can even buy the scripts to follow along. We listen on Apple Podcasts, but Amazon offers it ad-free. (the ads get annoying, FYI)
A fantastic listen for your summer road trip!
Recommended for ages 8-12
✨Wishing you hours and hours of reading (and listening!) magic✨,
Katie
I hear you on the lack of routine in the summer. These last few weeks have been.... chaos.
We adore Mindy Kim and I'm so excited to try this podcast on the way home from the mountains tomorrow (although perhaps it will be a bit too grown up for Claire?).
You might like Dream Breachers podcast - it's also a group of middle schoolers trying to solve supernatural mysteries/problems, but in my opinion it's a better listen than Mars Patel. It's radio play style, but there aren't as many distracting background noises as in Mars Patel, there aren't as many characters to keep track of, and the cadences of the conversations feel more natural. IMO conversation in Mars Patel feels like it's trying too hard to be witty/of the times, is paced too fast, and ends up feeling forced and rushed.