Apr 22 2026
Back when I was growing up in Malaysia, the private school I went to for a good part of my primary and secondary schooling essentially gave up on teaching after the General Certificate of Secondary Education exams, and organized fun extracurricular activities for us instead. One of these was trips to the nearby zoo, and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/22/hafsas-way-by-aisha-saeed/
Apr 21 2026
The Genie Game by Jordan Ifueko comes out today! It’s extremely exciting to have the start of a new middle grade series from this beloved author. Joining it this Spring, we also have The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale, a cozy new standalone from C.M. Waggoner, and A Long and Speaking Silence, a new installment in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/21/more-spring-speculative-fiction-by-beloved-authors/
Apr 20 2026
with beautiful colors by Steve Hamaker. I’m ngl, I want to incorporate that Magic Mistletoe spell into my next character sheet, somehow, some way, lol. I super loved the first Table Titans Club graphic novel but also have a terrible memory, so will freely admit that I spent a good portion of this novel feeling …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/20/table-titans-club-sneak-attack-by-scott-kurtz/
Apr 09 2026
For whatever reason, I had this book’s publication date misfiled, but oh what a perfect time to read it, as the Artemis II mission reminds millions of people worldwide why so many of us initially fell in love with the idea of outer space. And space is, obviously, the setting for Ami Moon And The …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/04/09/ami-moon-and-the-galactic-peacekeepers-by-frances-lee/
Mar 30 2026
This fifth installment of the PAWS graphic novel series for Middle Grade readers is too cute! Jumping into a series on its fifth installment can always feel a little disorienting, so I do recommend reading the earlier books in the series first to get a better understanding of who some of these unintroduced characters are. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/30/the-trouble-with-leo-by-michelle-assarasakorn-nathan-fairbairn/
Mar 23 2026
with colors by Jessie Zheng. So every once in a while, I wade through the cesspool formerly known as Twitter (bear with me, I swear this is going somewhere relevant) to peek at sports banter and celebrity gossip. Occasionally, posts on other topics will cross my feed, usually the fascist-coded, algorithm-pushed bullshit that reminds me …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/23/shy-cat-and-the-stuff-the-bus-challenge-by-dian-day-amanda-white/
Mar 16 2026
Oh gosh, I don’t even know how to write about this book, but I strongly suspect that it was just not For Me, as I struggled to empathize with the main character (not a problem I ordinarily have!) And I get it, middle school friendships are hard and occasionally stupid and definitely prone to sudden …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/16/olivia-gray-will-not-fade-away-by-ciera-burch/
Mar 12 2026
Every time I think parts of my Malaysian Muslim upbringing were strict, I run up against really weird shit from other Muslim cultural denominations and I’m all “wow.” Which isn’t to run them down at all! And perhaps nowhere is this sort of reflection more appropriate than in a book about a twelve year-old Muslim …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/12/hail-mariam-by-huda-al-marashi/
Mar 03 2026
Hello, dear readers! I don’t usually do excerpts of Middle Grade books here, so I have a delightful treat for you today with this magic-tinged adventure novel. The third book in Kimberly Behre Kenna’s Brave Girls series is titled Lola Gillette And The Summer Of Second Chances. Our title heroine is so desperate to complete …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/03/03/lola-gillette-and-the-summer-of-second-chances-by-kimberly-behre-kenna-excerpt/
Feb 26 2026
Lol, idk why I didn’t realize this was part of a series when I first picked it up. I do think that this is one of those books that very much benefits from readers going in already knowing the rest of the lore, if you’re an adult. Younger readers who are more ready to accept …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/26/escape-room-game-zero-by-christopher-edge/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire