This story is perfect for mature late elementary/early middle school readers. The references to popular books (including Hatchet) and common teen jargon will be familiar to most readers. Kid-friendly events hold kids’ interest; for example, what tween doesn’t want to witness a food fight that starts with someone’s mind?

Midnight on Strange Street lends itself to read-aloud opportunities. It can also be a great springboard for engaging research projects about natural resources, properties of rocks and minerals, and even extra-terrestrial life theories.

About The Book

Title: MIDNIGHT ON STRANGE STREET

Author: K.E. Ormsbee

Pub. Date: January 21, 2020

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 400

AVERY MILLER is looking for a fresh start, away from all the bomb sirens and talk of war in Los Angeles. She expects to find a haven in Callaway, Texas, where the cool new substance “glow” was first discovered. What she doesn’t count on is making friends with glowboard skaters Dani, Bastian, and Lola, aka the Sardines. . . .

DANI HIRSCH, captain of the Sardines, knows for a fact they’re the best glowboarding team in Texas—if only they could prove it. Nothing will distract Dani from leading the team to victory at this summer’s big race. Not even food explosions in the school cafeteria, or a mysterious midnight message, or secretive government workers in Callaway. . . .

BASTIAN GIL is sick of the bullies who tease him for being a Sardine, for being different. Sure, he and his twin sister, Lola, can share thoughts. That’s just twin telepathy, though—nothing too weird, right? But when Bastian finds he can do even stranger things, he starts to wonder if maybe he really is different from the other kids at school. . . .

LOLA GIL wants life to go back to normal, to a time before big glowboard races and government investigations. But the more the Sardines discover about themselves—like how they can share thoughts and move objects with their minds—the more Lola begins to fear there was never anything normal about her. . . .

When the Sardines receive an ominous, otherworldly message, they must decide if they’ll use their newfound powers to stop an impending disaster—one that could have more to do with the war, their bullies, and glowboarding than they can possibly imagine.

About K.E.:

K.E. Ormsbee writes books, cooks food, & records podcasts in Austin, TX. She is the author of the WATER AND THE WILD fantasy trilogy (Chronicle Books and Gumption Press), folk mystery

THE HOUSE IN POPLAR WOOD (Chronicle Books), and the upcoming sci-fi adventure MIDNIGHT ON STRANGE STREET (Disney-Hyperion, January 2020).

She also writes Young Adult novels as Kathryn Ormsbee: LUCKY FEW, TASH HEARTS TOLSTOY, and THE GREAT UNKNOWABLE END (Simon & Schuster).