Mercy (1996) is a novel by Jodi Picoult. Cameron MacDonald, a police chief in a small town, arrests his cousin for killing his wife, who was dying of cancer, on her request. The story follows the arrest and subsequent trial. The book explores themes of power dynamics in romantic relationships, the weight of familial duty, and mercy and the law.Jodi Picoult is a prolific author and a New York Times bestseller. Her list of awards... Read Mercy Summary

David Richards’s gritty, allegorical novel, Mercy Among the Children, won the 2000 Giller Prize for Canadian literature. The novel, set in rural New Brunswick in the latter half of the 20th century, chronicles three generations of the Henderson family and their sufferings. The tale is told by the scruffy, young Lyle Henderson, who has faltered from the humble roots of his saint-like family. Richards explores biblical themes through the small-town lives of the impoverished family.Plot... Read Mercy Among the Children Summary

Metal Slinger is a 2024 romantasy novel by American author Rachel Schneider, who has previously written three other adult romance titles. Metal Slinger is her first fantasy romance, and the title first became popular on the social media platform TikTok. The novel is slated to be the first in a duology. As the first installment in the Fire & Metal series, Metal Slinger examines themes such as The Tension Between Love and Betrayal, The Corruptive... Read Metal Slinger Summary

Methland: The Death and Life of a Small American Town is a nonfiction book published in 2009 by American journalist Nick Reding. Focusing on the small town of Oelwein, Iowa, Reding traces the beginnings of America’s meth epidemic to its current prevalence in the rural Midwest. Methland is a blend of sociology, economics, memoir, and history that provides a perspective that is ultimately hopeful about America’s ability to solve its meth problem, even if the... Read Methland Summary

Danny Lopez arrives in National City, a suburb just south of San Diego. The area’s proximity to the border makes it heavily Hispanic. Danny has come to spend the summer with his father’s family while his mother and sister are in San Francisco with his mother’s new boyfriend.From the start, it’s clear Danny does not fit in. He is from a beach community in northern San Diego County,where he plays baseball and attends Leucadia Prep... Read Mexican WhiteBoy Summary

Mexikid, originally published in 2023, is a middle grade graphic memoir about a family road trip that took place during author Pedro Martín’s own childhood. During the trip to bring his grandfather back from Jalisco to California, Pedro learns more about his Mexican heritage, his family, and his grandfather’s life. In Mexikid, Martín employs tropes of a traditional coming-of-age narrative. It portrays Pedro’s growing ability to take on responsibilities and understand both himself and others... Read Mexikid Summary

Mick Harte Was Here (1995) by Barbara Park is a work of fiction written for middle grade readers. It explores 13-year-old Phoebe Harte’s experience of losing her beloved younger brother, 12-year-old Mick Harte, who dies from a traumatic brain injury after he his crashes his bicycle. Park’s novel has received numerous accolades, including (but not limited to) the IRA-CBC Young Adults’ Choice award (1995), the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year award (1995)... Read Mick Harte Was Here Summary

Middlesex is a 2002 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides that tells a multigenerational, epic tale of a Greek family who immigrates to the US. The narrator, Calliope (or Cal) tells the story of how his grandparents, Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides, flee their homeland during a time of war and uncertainty, settling in the US. They harbor a family secret that changes the course of the narrator’s life: They’re brother and sister, and carry a genetic mutation... Read Middlesex Summary

Midnight at the Blackbird Café is a novel by Agatha Award-nominated author Heather Webber, who writes primarily romance, mystery, and paranormal mysteries under the pseudonym Heather Blake. Published in 2019 and set in Alabama, the novel follows Anna Kate Callow, a prospective medical student who returns to her mother’s hometown and runs the family café while she explores the truth behind her father’s death. The novel integrates elements of Southern Gothic style with a touch... Read Midnight At The Blackbird Cafe Summary

Midnight at the Electric, published in 2017, is a speculative fiction novel written by Jodi Lynn Anderson and is the recipient of multiple awards and nominations. Anderson is an American children’s author who has worked as an editor for HarperCollins and a writing instructor at the University of North Carolina. Midnight at the Electric follows three protagonists across three different timelines. One of these, Adri Ortiz, lives in 2065 and has been accepted into a... Read Midnight at the Electric Summary

Midnight for Charlie Bone is a 2002 children’s fantasy novel by British author Jenny Nimmo and the first book in her Children of the Red King series. The story follows Charlie Bone, a young boy who discovers that he has the supernatural ability to hear the voices of people in photographs. Once his power awakens, Charlie learns he is one of the “endowed,” descendants of the mysterious Red King who possess abilities ranging from shape-shifting... Read Midnight for Charlie Bone Summary

Midnight Rider (2005) is a historical fiction novel by Joan Hiatt Harlow set during the tumultuous period of 1774-1775 Massachusetts, just before the American Revolution. The novel follows 14-year-old Hannah Andrews, an orphaned girl who becomes an indentured servant in the Boston household of British General Thomas Gage, where she gradually transforms from an apolitical youth into a committed patriot and messenger. As Hannah navigates her conflicted loyalties between personal gratitude to her loyalist employers... Read Midnight Rider Summary

Midnight’s Children is a 1981 magical realism novel by British American novelist Salman Rushdie. The story follows Saleem, a child born at the moment of India’s independence who possesses strange powers. The novel won many awards, including the Booker of Bookers Prize, which was awarded to the best all-time winner of the Booker Prize on the award’s 40th anniversary. Midnight’s Children has been adapted for theater, radio, and film. This guide uses the 2006 Vintage... Read Midnight's Children Summary

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer was first published in 2020 as a companion novel to Meyer’s 2005 novel Twilight. A young adult fantasy romance, Midnight Sun retells the story of Twilight from the vampire Edward’s perspective. In 2008, the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun were leaked. This delayed publication of the full novel until after Meyer completed the full Twilight Saga—including Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2008), and Breaking Dawn (2008)—as well as... Read Midnight Sun Summary

“Mid-Term Break” is one of the best-known poems by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, featured in his 1966 debut collection Death of a Naturalist, published when Heaney was only 27. It describes the poet’s childhood memory of returning home from school following the death of his younger brother in a car accident. The poem’s use of regular stanza forms and tight control of meter mark it as a typical example of Heaney’s formalist style, which... Read Mid-Term Break Summary

Liz Tomforde’s Mile High is a contemporary romance novel originally self-published in 2022. The novel is the first installment in Tomforde’s Windy City series, which occupies the sports romance subgenre. Mile High traces the developing romance between the professional hockey “bad boy” Evan Zanders and a down-to-earth flight attendant named Stevie Shay. The more time the unlikely pair is forced to spend with one another on the Chicago Raptors’ private jet, the more the couple’s... Read Mile High Summary

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017) is Jason Reynolds’s spin on the well-known Spider-Man character Miles Morales. Reynolds is the first author to write the character outside of his original creator Brian Michael Bendis. Officially added to the Marvel canon by Marvel Press, this novel is an adored addition to the complicated lore of Spider-Man by fans and casual readers alike.Content Warning: Miles Morales: Spider-Man depicts harmful beliefs about slavery and incarceration. It also includes scenes of... Read Miles Morales: Spider-Man Summary

Stacy McAnulty’s middle-grade novel, Millionaires for the Month (2020), uses a high-concept premise to explore real-world social and emotional themes. When seventh graders Benji Porter and Felix Rannells “borrow” $20 from a lost wallet, they discover that the wallet belongs to tech billionaire Laura Friendly. Instead of giving them a simple reward, she presents them with a challenge: They must spend $5,368,709.12 in 30 days, according to a strict set of rules. If they succeed... Read Millionaires for the Month Summary

Mike Lupica’s 2009 novel, Million-Dollar Throw, is about Nate Brodie, a 13-year-old quarterback who is the star of his eighth-grade football team. The novel is geared towards middle schoolers, with simple language and a straightforward plot. Although it can be considered a sports novel due to its heavy emphasis on the play-by-play actions of Nate Brodie’s football games, it is also a novel about friendship, enduring hardship, and sacrifice. Nate Brodie’s nickname is “Brady” because... Read Million Dollar Throw Summary

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s debut children’s novel, Millions (2004), is a critically acclaimed story that blends humor, suspense, and reflection on faith and family. The novel centers on two brothers, Damian and Anthony Cunningham, who are grappling with the recent death of their mother. Their lives are upended when a bag containing over £200,000 in stolen cash literally falls into their laps. The story is set in a fictional near future where the United Kingdom is... Read Millions Summary