The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

Corinne lives on a Caribbean island with her father, the other people in her village believe in evil spirits called Jumbies who live in the forest, but Corrine doesn't think they're real. At least she doesn't until she meets them. This book uses Haitian folklore to weave a really great fairytale coming of age story, laced with horror and peril, but ultimately about the power of one young woman. 

For ages 10-12.

Published by Algonquin Young Readers April 28, 2015

Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire

Egg & Spoon, is like The Prince and the Pauper on a train, but with girls, in Tsarist Russia. 

It's a reinvention of Baba Yaga as a wisecracking time traveler bound by her own peculiar set of social conventions. (Doctor Who much?)

It's a very Russian tale of tortured intellectuals, hunger and fear.

It's a very Russian tale of imperial pomp and courtly excess in which a Faberge egg can be lost in a treasure room and life sized Matryoshka Dolls can be discarded to float down the Volga and find lives of their own.

It's a cavalcade of Russian myth from Baba Yaga's chicken legged house to the Ice Dragon of the North via The Firebird.

It might also be a parable about global warming and positive action and the redemptive power of kindness.

In short, it is epic in scope, rich in everything, funny, clever and thought provoking.

Just read it, it's extraordinary.

Egg & Spoon is being marketed as a teen book, but there's not much here that an advanced middle grade reader couldn't handle. Although be advised it may put them on the road to Dostoyevsky.

Published by Candlewick September 2014

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

When we meet Molly and her younger brother Kip they looking for work in the Victorian English Countryside. Molly is 14 years old and the driving force behind their search. She knows the truth about what happened to their parents, but she's not ready to share that with Kip. 

They find work with The Windsor family, even though the local people are superstitious about the sourwoods surrounding the Windsor's home. The Windsor's seem sickly, the house is in disrepair and money is tight. There is something evil in the house and it wants to give you your heart's desire.

When I picked up this book, I was expecting a fairy story. What I got was a terrifying fairy tale in the true Grimm tradition. The writing is as twisty as a tree root, pulling the reader through many emotions toward an exciting and satisfying ending. 

Not every kid is going to love this book, but I can imagine that it will be very meaningful for some people. 

For ages 11+ (one of those rare books that effectively stand on the cusp between middle grade and teen)

Published May 20, 2014 by Amulet Books