Intro Hi and welcome to Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect middle grade kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.  I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a teacher, a mom of two daughters, and totally into binge-watching the Netflix series The Crown. I’ve seen them all twice now. This is Episode #13 and today we are all about celebrating some of the best middle grade books published in 2016. Main Topic - The Top 20 Middle Grade Books of 2016 2016 has been a phenomenal year. For middle grade books. (Not so much for anything else, really!)  And for me, 2016 has been a standout year not only for the amount of books I’ve read, but for the quality of those books.  I’ve already exceeded my sixty book goal and I’m up to 75 at the time of this recording but not only that, I don’t think I’ve rated a book less than three stars all year. Maybe I’m doing a better job of picking things I’d like, but I just think there’s been some exceptional books published this year. So - just to give you some context of where this top 20 list comes from, here’s a bit of information. In the past year, I’ve read 60 middle grade books as of 12/19. Of those 60 - 31 were published in 2016 - so just about half of what I’ve read was new.  I will say that this year was light for me with nonfiction. I gotta work on that next year. So this list is all fiction and unlike other “Best of” lists out there, I did not separate out novels in verse or graphic novels. Everything’s all together. Alright here we go - these are my Top 20 middle grade novels of 2016. #20 - Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eager I’m not typically a huge fan of the magical realism genre but this novel took me on such a sweet journey last spring. I loved the sparse dangerous beauty of the New Mexico desert and the poignant story of Carol and her family caring for the grandfather who’s losing himself in dementia. This was a debut novel, and I can’t wait to see what else this author has in store! #19 - Rookie of the Year by Phil Bildner This novel is the second in the Rip & Red series - the first was A Whole New Ballgame. If you are into the Kidlit community, if you consider yourself a member of the Nerdy Book Club, then you are going to love this book because the teacher, Mr. Acevedo- he’s one of us. If he existed, we’d be following him on Instagram and bumping into him on #TitleTalk chat the last Sunday of the month on Twitter. This book is fun, warm and diverse without being about diversity. It’s simply great, and I can’t wait for book #3. #18 - Sticks & Stones by Abby Cooper Such a memorable book with a main character that you just want to wrap up in your arms and hug. Elyse suffers from a rare disorder where the words others use to describe her are imprinted on her skin - including her own thoughts about herself. This is a book about friendship, and courage, and learning to be kind to yourself. #17 - Like Magic by Elaine Vickers This is one of several fantastic books that came out this year that featured friendship trios, but these three girls took awhile to come together. Jade, Grace, and Malia each end up at the same library, at different times, and find something they need in this mysterious secret treasure box that the librarian has tucked away in the Lost & Found drawer. I think what I loved so much about this book was how it spoke to the power of libraries and librarians to bring people together. And how libraries can be sanctuaries for children and a place to find yourself. #16 - Eleven and Holding by Mary Penney First - this book made me laugh. The main character, Macy, is a riot. It was heartfelt but not saccharine and it had lots of mysteries to solve. And is it weird to say that I had a mini crush on Switch - the skateboarding bad boy? Yeah, that’s probably weird. Let me rephrase that. My 12 year-old self would totally have fallen for that kid. #15 - Wish by Barbara O’Connor 12 year-old Charlie is sent to go live with her aunt and uncle in