I’m over at Working for the Mandroid talking about why middle grade matters. I always find it strange when I hear about people who didn’t start reading until they were older – starting with either YA or assignment books or adult books. I feel bad – they missed out on one of the best times for reading.
Watching kids read middle grade at the library, how engrossed and absorbed they are reminds me of how powerful middle grade books are. At that moment they exist in a multiverse. One that is made up of the slow fade of library books shelves and the chatter of toddlers into the magic of Camazotz, standing before “It” knowing that the battle for Father and Charles Wallace is still far from over. Or the worlds that meld from the sixth grade lunch room into the halls of Hogwarts, the moving staircases and the knowledge that you’re a wizard. If that child keeps reading, and grows up into a reader it will happen for them again, sure, but never with the power that it did then when they were 10 years old.
It’s that awesome time when you truly believe that if you shut the book, the White Witch will win. Everything hinges on staying in the story.
We’re all Bastian. We’re all part of the Never Ending Story
And I’m a HUGE nerd.
Many thanks to Leslie at Working for the Mandroid (because the world needs more robots). She gets the Starburst of Thanks. They’re delicious AND fruit flavored, folks.
Ally Malinenko 
I LOVE the Neverending story! 🙂 That was one of my favorite movies growing up for just the reasons you state!
It really is fantastic. Have you read the book? The movie is only the first half of the book. Bastian’s adventures in Fantasia are the rest.