In my seemingly eternal quest to finish a rough draft of my own middle grade novel, I continue to turn for inspiration to the books I enjoy reading. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is one of those books.

I am no illustrator but I do enjoy writing picture books, which is probably why I like this book so much. Adam Rex is blessed with a talent for story-telling using both written word and illustrations—his story is original, imaginative, and often hilarious. The format of this book harkens back to children’s novels of the 60s and 70s, peppered with black and white sketches and illustration notes, but it functions more like a modern children’s picture book, with cartoon strips and ‘photographs’ supplementing the plot rather than reflecting it. Don’t skip over the images—though you may be tempted because the book is a real page turner—you’ll miss important story details if you do.

The main reason I keep coming back to this book is because the plot is smart and the dialog funny. The story line posits a pair of unlikely heroes who run away from—and later defeat—colonizing aliens. The narrator, Gratuity Tucci (Tip for short), and her alien sidekick, J. Lo, are so good together that this daring duo are high on my list of all-time favorite odd-couples.

Art, voice, and a kickass sense of humor blend to make this one of my favorite reads, and a source of inspiration anytime I think that the plot of my own middle grade novel might be too bizarre. I remind myself that there’s always room for original stories, like The True Meaning of Shrekday, that take the mainstream and tweak it until we can’t stop grinning.

Sundee Frazier has written a book that I’m excited to read to my kids. We’re going to have some great conversations! Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It is about 10 year-old, bi-racial Brendan Buckley’s experiences when he meets his estranged white grandfather. Brendan’s mother is white and his father is black, and black and white are complimentary colors in Brendan’s world. Brendan’s life is largely unproblematic until he discovers a deeply hidden family secret involving his white grandfather.

Brendan is a born scientist (which is very cool. He taught me stuff I didn’t know about rocks, minerals…and he threw in some Tae Kwon Do, as well!), so once he’s discovered the family secret, he has to know more. When he looks for evidence of the problems in his family, he has complete confidence that he will be able to draw logical conclusions from the facts. But racism (and its effects) is a wily foe, and using the scientific method to understand it doesn’t work out quite the way Brendan expects.

I won’t give away the whole story here–you’ve got to read it yourself! But I think the thing I like the most about the book is that it shows how racism wounds all families–black, white, and biracial alike.

I really enjoyed reading The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup. It had many of the conventions of children’s literature that I like–adventure, time travel, likeable kids fighting tyrannical adults. But I got most excited about the book’s theme: that the stories we tell ourselves determine the choices we make.

The plot revolves around a magical book called The Book of Story Beginnings into which the children write their own story beginnings. The story beginnings take on a life of their own, becoming real and pulling the children into living (thus creating) the middle and end of their stories.

I won’t give away more of the story, but suffice it to say that, as the author of a couple of unfinished novels, I could relate to the struggling protagonists who lose themselves in their story and try to find their way to a satisfying ending.

Susan Patron’s book, The Higher Power of Lucky, won the Newberry Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. That’s why I read it. I’m not sure I would have read it otherwise. At first, the title confounded me, and then, when I read the summary and figured it out, I have to admit, I did this dismissing thing, thinking that anyone writing a book with a 12-step theme is sure to get it wrong. I can’t tell you the number of bad stories I’ve read with a recovery or 12-step theme. And I’m in a 12-step program, so you’d think I’d be more willing to forgive writers whose hearts are in the right place, but who can’t quite pull it off. But I’m not. I’m a demanding reader, even of my recovery material, and I don’t have patience for poor writing or themes that don’t resonate.

So, imagine my total surprise when I couldn’t put The Higher Power of Lucky down. Susan Patron has gotten it right. Viewing 12-step recovery through the eyes of a child works beautifully to capture the messiness, the magic, the irony, of how 12-step recovery works. I’ve read gobs of 12-step books (official 12-step literature only, if you please), but they are only hollow echoes of the actual meetings themselves. The meetings are where the real stories are told. And the best meetings are like those Lucky listens to–meetings where stories are told about hitting rock bottom, finding a higher power, and turning your life over. Although the details of Lucky’s journey to recovery from her painful childhood were not the same as my own, her spiritual journey was the same as mine. It is the same as every person whose life is transformed by the power of the 12 steps.

But The Higher Power of Lucky is not a testament to 12 step recovery. It is an entertaining, beautifully written story about a girl named Lucky. It deserved to win the Newberry Medal. Like many of the stories I hear told in 12-step meetings, it is powerful, bitter-sweet and real. But unlike the stories told in 12-step meetings, this story can be heard by anyone. You should go read it now.