I went on an emotional journey with this book. Not just with the characters, but with how much I liked it. I took a little bit to find my footing in listening.

This book in the beginning is quite fantastical. It felt to me like it was setting up another world, but in the end the world you find yourself in isn't that different than the real world. That is to say: I didn't love the first half of this book, but the second half picked up the pace and worked for me.

This is a dark humor middle grade book and will only work for more literary readers.

Book elements: Slaughterhouse, Bullying, Outcast, Orphans, What is *magic*, Identity, Self actualization, What a soul needs, Middle school kisses

Thanks to Macmillan Kids, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for the book. All opinions are my own.

“This story, like all stories, is about choices.”
This quote is from the first chapter of Midnight Children and the theme of choices resonates throughout this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star middle grade book.

Ravani Foster lives in Slaughterville with his mom and dad. He is a small boy who is kind hearted, sensitive and bullied by other boys in town. He has no friends, except his birds. One night seven children move in across the street from him at midnight and they have a big secret. Ravani is determined to make a new friend. When his new friends are in danger Ravani must help to keep them safe.

This is such a delightful story of friendship, family, love, sacrifice and caring you can not help but cheer for the main characters. At the end of the story the author wraps it up with thi amazing quote,

“A found family is every bit as beautiful as a born family. Even more so, perhaps. Stories are about choices, after all, and to choose to be a family is as wonderful a story as can be told.”

If you are looking for a great book to buddy read with your child or a Christmas gift to give, this is a great book. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @macmillan.audio allowing me to listen to this wonderful book. It is now available everywhere.

PS…. A long time ago @trureads wanted to know if I ever read a book with some unusual chapter headings… I can finally say YES. Midnight Children has some very unusual and interesting chapter headings.

Really enjoyed this story. It kept the attention of myself and my older children. The narrator was great.

While very different from Gemeinhart's previous work, this magical story tugged at my heart strings and showed what found family really means.

I definitely liked the story, and you always gotta love a nice HEA, but I think middle grade just isn’t for me right now. I found the story predictable and there were times when the story kinda bored me. The narrator was great though.

The premise of the book is why I wanted to read it. Runaway orphans, magic and a kid that gets bullied. This would bring in a lot of middle school readers. Unfortunately the characters fell flat. Just because the book is aimed at middle school doesn’t mean you don’t need to add depth to the characters. There was a lot of telling how the character was feet and doing versus showing. The narrator did an amazing job reading the book.

The whole tone of this book suggests magical realism. It feels like a place stuck in time, outside of the real world. The plot is one of children managing on their own, taking care of themselves, but also barely getting by. It's a celebration of the ability of children but also emphasis on taking care of them.

My children and I listened to this in the car while driving. When we got home they insisted we put it on in the house. All four of us loved the main character, and his mother was super relatable to me as a mom. The parts about the slaughterhouse in the beginning were a bit much, but I am glad we got through them to get to the good parts.

I've been a fan of Dan Gemeinhart's books for awhile now and so have my students! This one certainly did not disappoint. I noticed a few reviews criticizing the darker nature of this story and while that it isn't for everyone, it is for me! I love a unique mystery and Dan does it well!

I absolutely loved this book:

Amazing characters
Excellent representation and valuing of non-biological families.
Adventure and mystery mixed with humour and tenderness.
I will absolutely offer this book in my classroom. I have purchased a physical copy.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio-ARC of The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart, narrated by André Santana.
A sweet story of loneliness, bullies, and friendship that stays with the reader long after the last page. Dan Gemeinhart has a way of creating endearing characters. His storytelling catches you in the first paragraph and weaves seamlessly through the book. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Erin Entrada Kelly. André Santana's narration works well with the story. He adds the perfect dramatic impacts when needed, and changes tone and volume to accompany each situation.

Really not vibing with this one. The first 12% has been almost entirely descriptions of the slaughterhouse. So like, lots of blood and dead cows and pieces of dead cows... It all feels …unnecessary.

I haven’t connected to any of the characters and haven’t been interested in what plot there has been thus far. Mostly I’m just grossed out by the slaughterhouse and just want to stop reading and wash out my brain because ew. It's way too intense for me as an adult that can and sometimes does read bloodier books. I can't imagine reading this - or worse, listening to it via audiobook, where the descriptions go on and on and you can't really skip - as a child, which is presumably the audience it's aimed at as it's a middle grade book. There's no way my sensitive child would be able to handle it.

Also the bullying is intense and very uncomfortable.

I listened to the audio and the narrator was all right, but didn't stand out to me. I wouldn't seek out other books that he narrated, though I wouldn't actively avoid them either.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an audio arc for review.

There was so so so so much to love about this book: the characters, the beautiful writing, the plotline that was impossible to put down, and all of the emotions I felt while reading. I absolutely loved The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by this author and I liked this one just as much if not more.

The audiobook was fabulously narrated, especially all of the children's voices, and I found parts of it to be very humorous. Other parts were absolutely heartbreaking and I would shy away from sharing this with very sensitive children though I can't wait to share it with my 11 year old.

If you enjoy stories about not quite fitting in, found family & determined children, as well as stories about amazing parents who really come through for their children, I can't recommend this one enough. It was just beautiful. Would be a great fall read but could be read at any time. It would make an amazing movie a la the tween type movies (The Goonies etc) of the 90s!!

Thank you so much to the publisher for an ALC and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved all of Dan Gemeinhart’s books. This one was just okay for me though. It was darker than what I was hoping for. Hard to get past the slaughter talk.

The Midnight Children is an enjoyable middle grade book that delivers friendship, family and adventure. One night Ravani Foster sees a truckload of children emptying. There are seven in all and they are all carrying suitcases. Ravani wants to know more and he soon starts an unlikely friendship with one of them named Virginia.

It doesn't take long for the "evil villain" to begin looking for the seven children. Hopefully they can all outsmart the villain and manage to stay out of his clutches. Now, I had this book as an audiobook ARC and as I was listening to the narrator, I was completely pulled in. In fact, before I realized it, I heard the narrator say "epilogue". Yes, this book was that captivating and enjoyable. Middle Grade is still rather new to me, as is the name Dan Gemeinhart, but I do know that I will be reading more of his books in the future.

Many thanks to Henry Holt and Co. and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please also enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/sDS1epIEqVk

I didn’t like this one as much as I liked Coyote. I loved the themes of found family, of “every story is about choices,” but I don’t know. This one didn’t connect with me in the same way. I wish we knew more about each of their stories. And was the hunter a vampire? I’m so confused. I don’t know. I just didn’t love it.

Dan Gemeinhart is one of my auto-buy middle grade authors. Each and every one of his books is utterly fantastic.

The Midnight Children, his newest release, is set in the odd town of Slaughterville, and introduces us to Ravani, a lonely, bullied child who longs for the gift of a true friend. One night, Ravani wakes up and sees a van deposit seven strange children with suitcases into the vacant house across the street, under the cover of darkness. He makes it his mission to meet and befriend these secretive children, but especially the golden haired girl named Virginia. But these children are keeping an enormous secret, and they’re being pursued by a dangerous man known as The Hunter.

This is Gemeinhart at his absolute best—and I’ve read them all. It’s like The Boxcar Children for a new generation, but with magic and a bit of horror tossed in to liven things up. If you love books by Jonathan Auxier or N.D. Wilson, The Midnight Children is an absolute must read.

The audiobook is fantastic, especially for kids who may be intimidated by chapter books but love fast-paced, engaging adventure tales.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my complimentary ARC and ALC.

I loved Dan Gemeinhart's last book, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, so much that I've recommended it to multiple library patrons, librarians, and even friends. So when I found out about this book, I couldn't wait to dive in. The writing immediately gripped me. There's something eerie, something chilling and different, to the style. What gave me pause was the extent to which the slaughterhouse in the town is described. There's a saying I learned when I was getting my masters in writing for children: "Go there, but take care." This is beyond exemplified in his previous book, which manages to tackle heavy topics beautifully. The descriptions in this book don't always take care, I'd suggest this one to brave readers. I'd recommend it to someone who liked a Tale Dark and Grimm.

This was a fun book to listen to throughout my busy work day. I haven't read this author before and was in the mood for a quick Middle Grade read.

I love found families and this was such a sweet read. I absolutely adore Virginia and the way she took Ravani under her wing (to a degree) and helped him realize he really is "gold". Their adventure, and Ravani's later found courage and belief in himself, warmed my heart.

The narrator did an amazing job with this one and I actually ended up finishing this in one day. Definitely recommend this one. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Midnight Children was a heart-warming read about friendship, adventure and perhaps a bit of magic. Dan Gemeinhart did an amazing job of creating characters that were easy imagine and love. It was wonderful how all of the children who arrived in Slaughterville impacted all they came into contact with. I cant lie I was a bit grossed out by the slughterhouse imagery but i think that was the point.
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In the dead of night, a truck arrives in Slaughterville, a small town curiously named after its windowless slaughterhouse. Seven mysterious kids with suitcases step out of the vehicle and into an abandoned home on a dead-end street, looking over their shoulders to make sure they aren't noticed.

But Ravani Foster covertly witnesses their arrival from his bedroom window. Timid and lonely, Ravani is eager to learn everything he can about his new neighbors: What secrets are they hiding? And most mysterious of all...where are the adults?

Yet amid this shadowy group of children, Ravani finds an unexpected friend in the warm and gutsy Virginia. But with this friendship comes secrets revealed—and danger. When Ravani learns of a threat to his new friends, he must fight to keep them safe, or lose the only person who has ever understood him.