Dyslexia Reads – Middle Grade Fiction Resources
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Ally doesn't mean to get in trouble at school. It isn't her fault the letters won't hold still long enough to read. She has pretty much given up on herself. But a new teacher doesn't see her as a problem who won't finish assignments, Mr. Daniels manages to catch on to Ally's deep, dark secret. She can't read. And all those "pranks" were actually her acts of frustration or genuine tries. With the help of Mr. Daniels and some new friends, Ally starts to think that maybe she isn't dumb and perhaps there is some hope for her.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Dyslexia: This is a given. Kids with dyslexia will hopefully find hope from Ally’s story, and those who don’t, should gain some understanding of what it is like to have this condition. Make sure you read the author's note in the back about how this story was inspired by her own experiences in school.
- Teachers: I know, this is labeled a middle grade book, but this is a great teacher read. Mr. Daniels is a spectacular example of a teacher who is able to meet all the kids where they are and inspire them on to great things. (He borders on seeming a little too good to be true, but is still a great role model.) Get that extra encouragement to be the teacher your students need by meeting Mr. Daniels.
- Bullying/Poverty/Kids of Soldiers: The other students in Ally’s class - and her own family members - have a host of their own issues that are also addressed in marvelous ways.
- Contemporary Fiction Fans: This is a great read for those who like stories that feel real.
The Wild Book by Margarita Engle
Fefa struggles to read. The doctor says she has word blindness and she'll never be able to read, but Fefa's mother does not give up. Mamá gives Fefa a blank book to help her collect words. Fefa isn't sure about the book. She finds reading so hard she isn't sure she likes words. But when her brother is injured and becomes her tutor, some of the slippery words start to become a little more manageable, and eventually Fefa is able to save the entire family with her reading.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Dyslexia: Though they call it word blindness, Fefa obviously is struggling with dyslexia. It’s an amazing story of someone who overcame dyslexia before the modern interventions.
- Historical Fiction Fans/Cuban History: The Wild Book is historically just a little after the Cuban civil war and focuses on one girl with dyslexia and her family during a time when bandits were prevalent and kidnappings were common. I recommend reading the author's note at the end telling how this story is based on her grandmother's life as a little girl with dyslexia in Cuba and some of her real adventures, including the potential kidnapper.
- Reluctant Readers: This is a very approachable length at just over 120 pages and written in free verse poetry, so middle graders who struggle with words like Fefa or are reluctant readers may find this a bit easier to tackle.
- Novels in Verse/Quick Read: It’s hard to tell a story with developed characters and setting in just a few words, but Engle does so over and over again. If you’ve never experienced Margarita Engle’s free verse writing, you really need to. It’s also a good pick if you are looking for a quick read. Novels in verse just fly by.
May B. by Caroline Starr Rose
May's family rents her out to the next homestead over till Christmas to help the fancy new Mrs from the East out. Of course, this arrangement also helps out May's own family financially as well. May is reluctant to go. She'd rather continue to go to school, even if reading is a horrible struggle and Teacher says it's more of a lost cause. But true to her family, May does go and helps the Oblingers around their homestead. But Mrs Oblinger is so homesick she eventually runs away, and then Mr Oblinger goes after her...and neither one returns for a day, then two days, then much, much longer. May's days are suddenly too quiet, and her mind keeps replaying her failures at school whenever she isn't busy keeping herself warm and fed. And keeping herself warm and fed gets harder and harder as the days stretch into months. May is 15 miles from her family and no one else is anywhere close. Can she make it through till Pa comes back or is she just a hopeless cause all around?
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Novels in Verse/Quick Read: Told through free verse poetry, this is a very quick read, but that in no way diminishes the power of the tale.
- Dyslexia: Imagining what it would be like for a dyslexic young lady during pioneer days and the questions of self-worth such a child would face are quite thought provoking.
- Historical Fiction Fans: There are shades of Little House and other Western stories that historical fiction fans who love pioneer stories should enjoy.
- Survival Fans: The survival aspect of the tale is exciting, and the ending encouraging.
- Reluctant Readers: This is a good pick for struggling readers in that it is short, thrilling, and will hopefully encourage them.
Speech Impediment Reads – Picture Book Autobiography Resource
The Boy and the Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz, ill. by CáTia Chien
Alan is a stutterer. The only times he can speak clearly are when he is singing or when he is talking to animals. Alan loves animals, he talks to his pets every day. One day, he promises the jaguar at the zoo that he'll work to find his voice so he can help get the jaguar a better situation. Eventually, Alan does find his voice. He is still a stutterer, but he learns things to help him speak more clearly. That doesn't change his love for animals, and he goes on to become a naturalist and help create the first jaguar sanctuary in Belize.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Overcoming through Adversity Autobiography: This autobiography does a great job of showing a boy who grows to overcome his disability by embracing it, realizing it helps make him who he needs to be, and not letting it get in the way of helping the animals he loves. The back jacket flap gives further information on the author. And you can learn more about him and his nonprofit organization online at https://www.panthera.org/people/alan-rabinowitz-phd.
- Stuttering: A great inspirational book for kids who struggle with stuttering.
- Animal Lovers: Alan’s love for animals will appeal to other animal lovers. He's become a world-leading conservationist too. Someone those animal lovers can look up to.
Speech Impediment Reads – Middle Grade Fiction Resources
Paperboy by Vince Vawter
An eleven year old boy, growing up in Memphis in the late 1950s takes over his friend's paper route for one month of the summer and finds his life unexpectedly changed. Flinging papers comes easy for him, he's the best pitcher in the area for his age. It's the collecting part of the job that he finds daunting. Because words tend to get caught in his mouth and refuse to come out. He stutters something awful. Most people mistakenly think he's slow. But one man on the route isn't fazed by the speech impediment and opens his eyes to a hunger for learning. A beautiful woman on the route seems to be having problems he wishes he could help her with, and then there's the junk man, Ara T, who was supposed to sharpen his knife but never gave it back. Mam says Ara T is bad news and to keep clear, but he's determined to get his knife back and the situation comes close to causing harm to both himself and his beloved housekeeper.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:
- Stuttering: This story is told from the view point of the boy, and we don't learn his name until the very end. Vawter says in the afterward that the story is somewhat autobiographical, that he is himself a stutterer and grew up in Memphis. If you want to get inside the head of someone who struggles to get their words out, this book does a great job of conveying the frustration and fear and anxieties such a person goes through.
- Historical Fiction Fans: Yes, it is set in the South during the time of Civil Rights issues, but the boy and his personal growth take center stage in this.
- Mystery Fans: No, this isn’t technically a mystery but it has a lot of mystery elements that should appeal to mystery fans.
Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet
Noah's parents show up one day in the middle of March after school in a rental. They speed him off to the airport, informing him that his mom has been granted permission to do her doctoral research comparing speech defects and education in the US with East Germany. (And FYI, readers, it's 1989.) So they are off to Berlin and Noah will finally get to use that German he's been learning. Then his parents start getting weird. They tell him they've lied about his name, it's not Noah Keller on his birth certificate, it's Jonah Brown, so from now on he's Jonah. His parents have new - or old - names too. What?! And another thing about that birth certificate, the birthday is different too. And for that matter, if asked, he grew up in a different town from Oasis, Virginia. Mind spinning to remember all his new info and new rules (such as talk as little as possible about the past and don't talk about anything important in the new house) Noah is on a flight (yes, Noah, because he still thinks of himself that way). Upon arriving in Berlin, Noah's mom is soon off doing her research. His dad says he's going to write an amazing novel about a mink farmer crime sleuth while they're there. Noah wants to go to school, but because of his stutter, they at first deny him. Most kids would love not going to school, but Noah quickly grows bored...and lonely. There's no one for him to be friends with. But one day he meets a girl from the apartment downstairs, Claudia. There's mysteries about Claudia. Like where are her parents? Why does she live with her grandmother? Which gets Noah thinking about other mysteries, like why did mom burn the picture of her 4th birthday before they came, and why did they change their names to come here? East Germany is such a strange place, especially in 1989.
Activity Tie-ins/Target Audience:
- Stuttering: You slowly get to understand the role Noah's stutter has had in his and his family's life.
- Thriller Fans: You slowly get to understand what Noah’s family might be doing in East Germany, and you slowly start to figure out what's happened with Claudia's family. It is a slow build to a suspenseful end. It's not over the top crazy spy stuff, but it's not all roses and sunshine either. It's a fascinating look at what it would be like for a kid unwittingly going undercover and living in an oppressive regime.
- Historical Fiction Fans: The setting also gets a slow build, but the end of the chapters help a lot. At the end of each chapter Nesbet includes facts and tidbits of history about East Germany and life behind the Iron Curtain. It's usually directly related to something brought up in the chapter. Some even contain direct quotes of historic documents Nesbet translated from the German herself. This reads very authentically because Nesbet herself spent time doing doctoral research in East Germany's Berlin in 1989. She knows exactly how to describe life there.
- Great Friendship: The best part about this book beyond the authentic setting is most definitely Claudia and Noah’s friendship. It takes work and patience to build, and it takes some amazing, heartfelt loyalty towards the end to keep it going. It brings frustration, and nail biting, and even some happy tears.
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