Book Description Review “Inventive and intriguing, Midnight on Strange Street is both a deliciously spooky mystery and an endearing story about friendship and bravery. An action-packed adventure from start to finish.”―Ashley Herring Blake, author of Stonewall Honor Book Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World“Serves up adventure and intrigue in a near-future world…. Recommend it to sports lovers and fantasy readers alike.”―Booklist“This title will hook readers with its sports action and the strength of the friendship between the main characters.”―School Library Connection“Totally fun.”―Kirkus Reviews“The idea and execution of glowboarding is great fun.”―Publishers Weekly Read more About the Author K. E. Ormsbee lives in Oregon, where she writes, podcasts, and makes music. She is also the author of the Water and the Wild series and The House in Poplar Wood. She invites you to visit her online at keormsbee.com. Read more Customers Review: This book may be targeted toward middle school aged people, but as a full fledged adult, I DEVOURED this book!! It had allll the things. Cool premise, amazing and complex characters, beautiful writing and just the perfect ending. Although, I hope it’s not the end of our time with the Sardines!
The tag line on this book is Action-Packed and full of heart. Fans of Stranger Things will love this story. I never watched stranger things but i pretty sure that is spot on. This is the story of friendship, betrayal and forgiveness. A strange blue light has visited this small town and 5 friends have gained special powers. One friend leaves and continues to allow others to bully his friends.
Each character in this story has their own uniqueness they bring to the table. You have a character in here that will pretty much appeal to just about any one who reads. It has adorable book references which i felt are totally spot on. They also take a sport that lots of kids aspiring to be a part of. Skate boarding only in this story they are on glo boards which can float.
The descriptions of the races is spot on and i really felt like i was part of the whole race. The encounters with bullies hits home i sure for just about anyone who dealt with them and the dynamics with not so great parents as well. Their just about something in here that everyone can identify with. It a great story and though it sits at 400 pages i don’t think that it feels like it that long. It reads at a great pace and the mystery around the powers and why the kids have them is very intriguing. This is a must read middle grade.
What I Loved:The friendships in this book were wonderful and made me really connect to the characters. I loved that it had 4 main characters and their point of view was shown throughout the book. Their friendship was heartwarming and made Midnight on Strange Street so wonderful.How I Felt:Although this book is targeted towards middle-grade readers, it’s a really fun read for an adult that loves sci-fi as well!The Writing: Written from the POV of four main characters, I was concerned that this would become confusing and difficult to follow, but it didn’t! The writing was done so well and made the story flow seamlessly.The Characters: The four main characters were so wonderful. They had complexity and depth making them relatable and enjoyable. I loved that they each had a special power related to their glowboards. This was a special twist that was fun to learn about.The Plot: Avery, Dani, Lola, and Bastian are all glowboarders in their small Texas town. Glowboarding is a new style of skateboarding where the boards are powered by this mysterious substance, Glow. While the book is really focused on the glowboarding events, there is a bigger, global war, that is brewing. I believe that there could be a book 2 where this would be expanded on, but we will see!Overall, this was a fun story with a great science-fiction aspect for middle-grade readers. At 400 pages, it’s an investment for a young child to read, however, I flew through the pages and found that the size of the book, was not a deterrent and didn’t feel like 400 pages.To Read or Not To Read:This is a good book for young readers that enjoy reading chapter books. If you enjoy getting to know characters and books about friendship and a sporting event, Midnight on Strange Street is perfect.I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book for free. I am leaving my honest, unbiased review voluntarily.
The Sardines is a group of teenagers who live near each other and love glowboarding together. Avery Miller recently moved into the neighborhood after her parents’ divorce. She is looking for a fresh start from the bomb sirens and talk of the war in Los Angeles. Dani Hirsch is the leader of the Sardines. She knows that their team is the best at glowboarding but, they are just yet to prove it. She is focused on the team winning the big race in the summer and nothing will distract her.Bastian Gil is tired of being bullied because he is different. He and his twin sister, Lola can share thoughts but, he feels that is normal. Lola wants everyone to have fun and just glowboard for fun. She doesn’t like it when the team fights. As the Sardines prepare for their big race, they start to realize that they have magical powers that make them different from everyone else. As they start to grasp their abilities, they soon realize nothing will be the same again.I thought the novel had an interesting premise but, I was disappointed in the delivery. I felt like the novel was very predictable and was detailed without adding anything to the story. I wished more time was spent talking about each of the children and if other people received special powers. For example, why were they picked and how did they get it? Overall, it would be an entertaining read for people who like kids with superpowers finding themselves but, I was expecting more mystery and surprises.
Stranger Things meets the fun and friendship of Disney Channel original movies. I’ve never skateboarded in my life, but I wish glowboarding was real so I could give it a shot! Read this if you like your MG novels to have action, mystery, and otherworldly intrigue. “ |
5 reviews