It’s Middle Grade March and I wanted to share a few of my favorite middle grade books with you. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve discovered how much I love middle grade, and not just to read aloud to my kids.
I love reading middle grade for a lot of reasons. Middle grade novels are meant for younger readers, so that means they typically go pretty fast—perfect for when you’re pressed for time yet don’t want to be reading the same book forever. They also feel hopeful, even when they address serious topics; you won’t walk away feeling worse than you did before.
Here are some excellent middle grade books to read if you’re looking to give this genre a try (or already love it!).
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser. The Vanderbeeker children, twins Isa and Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney, have lived in their brownstone on 141st Street their whole lives. Their neighbors have become like family to them, so when their grumpy landlord and upstairs neighbor decides not to renew their lease, the family is devastated. The children go on a mission to win over their landlord, Mr. Beiderman, to try to convince him to let them stay. I fell in love with this quirky family and was rooting for them from the start. The sibling relationships were so well-written; they bickered and fought of course, yet they were all dedicated to the same cause. There was so much love in this story—it was a heartwarming adventure. I read this aloud to Jona, who loved it as well.
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. This is a middle grade graphic memoir that tells Omar Mohamed’s story of growing up in a Kenyan refugee camp after he and his brother flee Somalia. It manages to capture the hardships of Mohamed’s life as a refugee, while weaving in humor and hope throughout. This book was excellent and I think anyone would love it, even if they’ve never tried graphic novels or middle grade before.
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson. ZJ’s father is a professional football player, and more than that he’s ZJ’s hero. When his dad starts acting strangely–forgetting things, becoming violent when he’d never been that way before–ZJ doesn’t understand, and he wants his dad back. This was a short, but powerful story about fathers and sons, and the price of success as a professional athlete. I also highly recommend Brown Girl Dreaming by the same author if you haven’t read it.
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds. I listened to this on audio, narrated by a full cast, which I recommend. It tells the story of a bunch of different kids who are all walking home from the same school, and each chapter is one child’s (or group of children’s) walk home. It felt almost like short stories, but they were all connected to each other because of the school. The audiobook felt so immersive; I loved feeling like I was part of their neighborhood.
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. I heard excellent things about the audio version of this middle grade novel, and it did not disappoint. It begins with a mysterious tale of a boy named Otto, three sisters, a witch, and a harmonica. Music, specifically Otto’s harmonica, carries the rest of the story forward and ties the separate tales together. We meet three other children, all of whom are facing tremendous challenges, yet who discover the joy of music and share it with that same harmonica. It is a beautiful story, and the audio version captures it (and the music within it) perfectly.
Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden. Jack is trying to save his small rural school while coping with the grief of losing his brother. Libby tries to bring joy to the world through art, but nothing she does seems to please her parents. T left home and lives on the street, sure that their family won’t accept them. Finally Vincent is obsessed with puffins and Katherine Johnson, the math genius, and is tired of getting teased and shoved into lockers at school. The stories of these four children eventually connect, and the result is this beautiful and heartwarming, yet relevant and honest, novel. I loved it.
To Night Owl from Dogfish by Meg Wolitzer and Holly Goldberg Sloan. This is the sweet story of two girls whose dads fall in love and send them to the same summer camp (against their will), in the hopes of them creating a bond. The girls have other things in mind, and their summer camp experience turns into quite an adventure. This one gave me Parent Trap vibes, which I loved.
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich. Omakayas is a young Ojibwa girl living in Minnesota in the mid 1800s. She lives with her parents, grandmother, older sister, and two younger brothers, and The Birchbark House shows a year in her life. Often compared to the Little House on the Prairie books but from a Native American perspective, The Birchbark House takes us through Omakayas’s daily life. I read this aloud to Jona and we both found the story fascinating in a similar way that we’ve both enjoyed learning about daily life of people from another time from the Little House series. I also liked that this story touched on both the more trivial parts of Omakayas’s life, such as the chores she dreaded most, to the more profound, including loss and grief.
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Ada lives in a one-room apartment with her mother and brother, and her mother is so ashamed of Ada’s twisted foot that she doesn’t let her go anywhere. When her brother is sent out of London during World War II, she sneaks out to go with him. In the country, they meet Susan Smith, who takes them in against her will. Despite a rocky beginning, they form a deep bond and Ada’s life is forever changed.
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. When Suzy finds out that her best friend drowned and died during her summer vacation, she can’t accept the fact that sometimes things “just happen.” Instead, she convinces herself that it must have been the result of a rare but deadly jellyfish sting. Once told she talked too much, Suzy deals with her grief by silently embarking on a plan to prove her theory of her friend’s death, and as a result assuage the guilt she feels about their relationship before she died. I highly recommend this one.
