Candy Bunny Reader

  It's been a while since I did an entry in this long running series of mine! Here are some more underrated books I've read over the years that I think need more love:  1. Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson -Ryanna spends the summer with her mom's side of the family for the very first time, and they go on a scavenger hunt to prevent their campgrounds from being shutdown. Also the author's middle grade debut!  2. Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin -set at an inn, a boy named Rendi helps his new friends restore the moon in the sky with help from a mysterious storyteller. Interwoven throughout the story are lots of Chinese folk tales!  3. Call the Name of the Night manga series by Tama Mitsuboshi --a short but heartwarming shojo manga series about a girl named Mira who comes to accept her magical powers. Great for cottagecore lovers!  4. Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything by Justine Winans --Bianca, their best friend Anderson, and crush Elaine solve a murder myste...

 TW: Mention of a parent dying This is Morgan Matson's middle grade debut, and I had a blast with it!   Firefly Summer is about Ryanna, who lives with her father, who is a famous movie director, and stepmother. One day they get a letter in the mail from Ryanna's maternal grandparents, the Van Camps, whom she's never met. They want her to come to their vacation house to meet the rest of her late mom's side of the family. The vacation house happens to be situated it what was formerly a summer camp site, that was also owned by the Van Camps. Ryanna's father is a little relunctant to send her at first since he had a falling out with his in-laws after his wife's death, but when he sees a note in the letter that it might be the last summer the Van Camps might be able to get together as a family, he agrees to send Ryanna. It coincidentally happens to be around the same time he has to go to Hungary to film a new movie, too.  When Ryanna gets there, things get off to a...