This week for MMGM I’m clearing my shelves a bit. As part of the Sizzling Summer Reads Giveaway I’m letting go of a bunch of stuff. Comment below and let me know if you are a follower and which one you’d like to win to enter. I will draw one name for each book available so there’s incentive for making your choice. Don’t forget to click on the Sizzling Summer Reads badge to find a list of other blog you can visit for more giveaways. And visit Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays with Shannon Messenger for more middle grade reviews, interviews and general fun.

Two ARCS of  THE MERITS OF MISCHIEF: THE BAD APPLE BY T.R, Burns

(From Goodreads) Quirky and irreverent new middle-grade series about a group of kids being trained to cause trouble! For all of his 12 years, Seamus Hinkle has stayed out of trouble, but on one fateful afternoon in the Cloudview Middle School cafeteria, Seamus accidentally does the unthinkable—a substitute teacher is dead, and Seamus is to blame. Unable to return to Cloudview, Seamus’ parents take him to the most infamous of reform schools: Kilter Academy. But when Seamus’ parents drive off, headmistress Annika Kilter shows her true colors: she’s not interested in reforming delinquents, but quite the opposite—the mission of Kilter Academy is to foster troublemaking, and she’s decided Seamus is her star pupil! Together with his new mischief-making friends, Seamus lives every young boy’s dream of getting points for getting in trouble! But soon Seamus discovers that Kilter Academy may have more plans in store for its students than just turning out troublemakers…

LUCY UNSTRUNG by Carole Lazar

Teens who get pregnant and raise their babies are often in the news. But what about those children who are growing up with parents scarcely half a generation older than themselves?

In this wise and funny first novel by Carole Lazar, Lucy is a sensible, perhaps even rigid, thirteen year old who is convinced that Grandma, God, and the Catholic Church are on her side. She tries hard to make her twenty-eight-year-old mother see the error of her ways. It’s not that her mother is wild – in their household even a fancy coffee causes a scene – but she has had to put off her own teenage years and she’s chaffing at the restraints on her life. Lucy is faced with the loss of her family, her home, her school, and even her best friend. As she struggles to preserve what she can from her past life, she finds that while Grandma, God, and her church are still there for her, there are problems she has to solve for herself

OUT ON A LIMB by Gail Banning

Rosie and her family’s financial problems find them living in the most unexpected of places — a treehouse, on the estate of Great-Great-Aunt Lydia. Not that Rosie minds, at first. The treehouse is awesome — bigger than some apartments, with a great view, and full of fresh air. Plus it’s located in a fancy neighborhood. But after a summer of fun on the treehouse grounds, things get complicated. Rosie’s new school friends all live in mansions; suddenly the treehouse looks pretty pathetic. How can she seriously expect to fit in when her “house” doesn’t even have running water? One little lie seems to help, at first, but pretty soon Rosie is keeping secrets from her family, bribing her little sister, and lying to her new best friend. As the school year drags on, every day presents a new challenge. When things finally reach the boiling point — thanks to the famous “spring rummage sale” fundraiser — Rosie learns that lying is not the answer, and that sometimes help comes from the least likely places. Gail Banning’s lively characters, exciting story, and exploration of deeper issues make Out on a Limb a memorable read.

And finally WICKET SEASON (signed!) by me, Gabrielle Prendergast

In Winnipeg, Harry was a cricket star. With few West Indians in the community and few people who played the sport, he always stood out from the crowd. But when he moves to Toronto’s Little Jamaica to stay with his grandfather, Harry is suddenly just another West Indian kid who loves cricket. There are even girls who are more talented than him. Harry is determined to make the cricket team at his new school, but he’ll really have to step up his game. To prove his commitment to the sport, he volunteers to coach Kanga cricket – cricket for beginners, akin to little league baseball. At first, all he wants to do is impress the coach. But soon, Harry realizes that being a part of a bigger community can be more rewarding than standing out on your own. [Fry reading level – 3.4]