ML and I perused her yearbook together recently.  Under each picture of the fifth graders, were their names and what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Many made me laugh, especially the one who wants to be a worker’s compensation lawyer.  To know so young the specific area of law you want to practice. . . he must know a worker’s comp lawyer.  I’ve met people halfway through law school who are still unsure.  Some even after graduation.

Several students’ answers warmed my heart and reminded me of great books to recommend to these rising middle schoolers.

Bronte wants to be an author and illustrator.  ML worships her.  We’ve seen her artwork.  I read her poetry for the Poetry Celebration.  Look out Children’s Publishing World.  I’ve seen the future and it’s talented.

The synopsis for the recommendations for Bronte are straight from the publishers’ websites.  Each book involves art.  One a mysterious painting.  The other a young man whose passion is drawing.

Under The Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald – When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather’s painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath. That’s great news for Theo, who’s struggling to hang onto her family’s two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfather’s legacy of $463. There’s just one problem: Theo’s grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen.

With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo’s search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the city—and her grandfather—that she never knew. To solve the mystery, she’ll have to abandon her hard-won self-reliance and build a community, one serendipitous friendship at a time.

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel – The Boundless, the greatest train ever built, is on its maiden voyage across the country, and first-class passenger Will Everett is about to embark on the adventure of his life!

When Will ends up in possession of the key to a train car containing priceless treasures, he becomes the target of sinister figures from his past.

In order to survive, Will must join a traveling circus, enlisting the aid of Mr. Dorian, the ringmaster and leader of the troupe, and Maren, a girl his age who is an expert escape artist. With villains fast on their heels, can Will and Maren reach Will’s father and save The Boundless before someone winds up dead?

I’m working on some books for ML’s other favorite almost middle schooler.  She wants to own a restaurant.  A new book arrived at the library last week which looks promising for a future professional chef.