30 Exceptional Middle Grade Books Adults Will Love

In We Dream of Space, siblings Cash, Fitch, and Bird move through the daily trials of pre-teen life in the 1980s. All three siblings share a science teacher, Ms. Salonga, who is a failed applicant to the Teacher in Space program. Nonetheless, she builds lessons around the Challenger launch, with Bird becoming the most invested. This novel follows the siblings until the ill-fated launch day which changes their relationship forever. This character-driven slice-of-life novel shows how different families can be, addresses the struggles of navigating sibling relationships, and highlights what difference an enthusiastic teacher can make.

This story about a boy who embarks on a school project to complete his version of the seven labors of Hercules after his father’s death is moving and beautifully written. This author is a good choice for fans of classic feeling character-driven stories who don’t mind a tear-jerker.

When Skye’s brother, who’s been missing for the past couple of years, returns, Skye isn’t convinced that the boy in their home is Finn. He can’t seem to remember the memories they shared when they were younger or the special sibling code words they made up. So Skye decides to investigate for herself and the results are both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The Shape of Lost Things is a richly drawn, introspective mystery about an unbreakable sibling bond and a fractured family in repair.

It’s 2016, and Kareem is a Syrian-American football fan who really wants to play on his school middle school team but flunks his tryouts. The coach’s son, Austin, then tells Kareem that he can help him get in with the team if he helps him with his homework and some schoolwork, too. Kareem also generally wants to stay on Austin’s good side and so is afraid to stand up to him when Austin starts bullying a new Syrian immigrant whose family is friends with Kareem’s. Then things go haywire when Kareem’s mother has to go to Syria to get her parents to the US, and Trump’s order bans flights from Syria and some other predominantly Muslim countries. Kareem Between is a powerful coming-of-age story about standing up for what is right.

Kyra’s mother is a sober alcoholic trying to stay on the straight and narrow, and she has a great friendship with Lu even though she doesn’t have many other friends. But in the 7th grade, everything starts to change. Lu starts to make new friends and splits her time between both friend groups, eventually asking Kyra to join them sometimes. Kyra is also getting bullied for being bigger than most other 13-year-olds. Kyra is a great cook and finds solace cooking at home and helping her mom out with her cleaning jobs until her mom starts acting strange, and Kyra begins to suspect that she’s fallen off the sober wagon. How can Kyra stay afloat when her world seems to be crumbling? This is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about living with an alcoholic parent and figuring out life’s ups and downs as a tween.

Incredibly emotive and authentic writing from Saadia Faruqi in this book about a teenage boy whose father is living with schizophrenia. Mo’s mother is serving a UNESCO mission and has left Mo and his dad to move in with Mo’s aunt and her son. Mo quickly bonds with Rayyan, his cousin, and becomes his defender against a bully, Frankie. But as Mo’s father’s episodes worsen, he realizes the need to rely on others, allow his heart to be vulnerable, and find a way to love his father, even though he seems monstrous at times. This book is just phenomenal. I’ve followed Faruqi’s writing over the years, and this is her best work yet. Mo is realistically drawn with a distinct voice. He is angsty and tries so hard to seem tough, but readers will easily see through that tough exterior. The voice reminds me a lot of Jason Reynolds’ Ghost, and the focus on mental illness is much-needed, so honest and utterly moving.

Fern and her mother have been living on The Ranch under the thumb of a charismatic leader named Dr. Ben. One day, Fern’s mom sneaks herself and Fern across the country from NY to CA, where they live in a motel in her mother’s teenage neighborhood. Although it quickly becomes obvious to readers that Fern and her mom have escaped a cult, Fern is confused, misses the stability of living a regimented life, and worries about returning to the unstable lifestyle she and her mother had before The Ranch. As a result, she starts plotting — unbeknownst to her mother — to return to The Ranch. The Wrong Way Home is an unforgettable, propulsive story of a girl learning to trust her inner voice.

Sharkita’s (aka Kita) alcoholic mom is on her last chance to maintain custody of her kids, Kita, Lamar, and Lily. Kita is anxious about whether her mother’s well-being streak will end and when they’ll be shipped off again to foster homes, separated from each other. Throughout the book, that worry and her mom’s unstable behavior worries Kita, leading sometimes to panic attacks which she hides from her mother. Kita has also been teased for ages about her hyperdontia (the presence of too many teeth resembling shark teeth), and her mom has refused to help her get braces. The arrival of a new assistant principal brings light into Kita’s life as she and Kita’s friends Niecy and Chasity, help her learn to have fun — until her mom acts out again with terrifying consequences for Kita. Shark Teeth is a powerful exploration of the impact of generational trauma and a touching look at the impact of community and adults who look out for the kids in their lives.

This reimagined prequel to the classic Cinderella story is told from the perspective of Bess Wickham, a girl from a line of talented glassblowers. Unlike the rest of her reclusive family, Bess prefers nature and can communicate with animals. After discovering a sinister secret about her family’s craft, Bess leaves home, eventually finding the strength to defeat dark magic and help her cousin Estrella (Cinderella) find happiness. Lasky provides more depth into the classic tale by exploring the fairy godmother’s backstory and compassionate, complex personality. I appreciated the slightly darker tone–Glass is way more than “just another” Cinderella story.

Eight-year-old Duck, raised by a band of street urchins called the Crowns, infiltrates a bakery as an apprentice to steal bread and money. As she becomes close with the kind baker, Duck isn’t sure where her loyalties should lie. Alternate chapters are told from the perspective of a gloomy gargoyle, who feels useless after looking over the town for more than a century. Older readers will be astonished at Eager’s ability to craft such an emotionally powerful historical fantasy novel, filled with vivid language and unforgettable characters.

A feisty dragon named Aventurine has been warned to stay away from humans, and her dragon family thinks she is too young to fly and explore on her own. Like any tween worth her salt, Aventurine believes she can! When the human she tries to capture tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is turned into a skinny, flightless human – with a thirst for chocolate! Even without wings, claws, or fire, Aventurine is determined to find her way into a human city, work in a chocolate shop, and discover what an adventure it is to be human. First in a delicious series! If you like fearless girls with a love for chocolate, this is the perfect book series. With plenty of rich world-building, adventure, and food, this series will delight all the senses.

If you ever wanted to crawl into the cosy yet lush universes of Hayao Miyazaki, this book is it! Eva Evergreen is a witch with only a small dose of magic, so when she is called to serve in the quiet beach town of Auteri, Eva sets up a magical repair shop to do what she can. However, her little bit of magic may not be able to stop the magical storm that is brewing. Readers will fall in love with the charming town of Auteri, the thoughtful, determined characters, the important message of working hard and helping others with whatever you have, and the wonderful world-building of this book. And there’s a book 2! 

Weatherby is a new kid at the Boston School on a sailing scholarship and is immediately thrust into a world she knows nothing about. Old school phone booths, scrambled phone service at school, friends with kids who go to the country club.. and a boy who seems to hate her guts. It is told from two perspectives, Weatherby’s and Jack Hunt’s, a rich kid at the school who is also on the sailing team. When Jack, Weatherby, and their friends Pres, Iris, and Harper are contacted by what they think is the school’s famed secret society, they get sucked into a mission, only to unravel a deep secret about the Hunt family that involves Weatherby.

When Anna Hunt moves from Chicago to Wisconsin for her mother’s new job, she soon realizes that something’s off about her new eighth-grade class. One student, Rachel Riley, who was once popular is now treated as a social pariah. So when their English teacher assigns them an un-essay — which is an exploration of a topic in any other format besides an essay — Anna decides to investigate the question: What happened to Rachel Riley? This is a stellar middle grade mystery about sexual harassment, creativity, and standing up for something. 

Twelve-year-old Zoe Washington’s summer is off to a rough start. She’s not speaking to one of her best friends, for one. Her other best friend is away at summer camp, and the third one has moved away. But things get more complicated when she finds a letter in the mail from her incarcerated birth father. The only problem is that he’s in jail for something “very bad,” and Zoe has never met or spoken to him before. As she starts to write to Marcus, Zoe realizes that things might not be so black and white — not with her friend Trevor, and certainly not with Marcus. While she learns more about Marcus, she also spends part of her summer interning at a pastry shop. From the Desk of Zoe Washington is a moving, true-to-life middle-grade novel that highlights just how potent perseverance can be — even when you’re just twelve. 

In this exceptional debut novel, a boy and a typewriter work together to solve the mystery of his missing mother. The Brindley family has been through the wringer but seems to be on the mend after “Everything that happened before” when all of a sudden, their mother leaves the house in tears, witnessed only by her Olivetti typewriter, which she pawns immediately for the precise sum of $126. The pawn shop owner’s daughter accosts Ernest, the third out of four Brindley kids, right after he steals back the Olivetti, which he discovers can type back in response. The two work together, Ernest, reluctant, Quinn confident and opinionated, to retrace his mother’s steps and figure out why she ran away. This reads like an instant classic, and although some readers may be dubious about the talking typewriter element, it is excellently executed — better than many anthropomorphized animals and creatures have been in books. 

Grace is an overachiever because she feels like being smart is all she has. She doesn’t seem too good at social situations and can’t figure out fashion and styling like her friends. So she holds on to book smarts and finds worth in her grades — and in competing with her former best friend, Jonah. Their friendship exploded after his dad’s sudden illness and death. Now, it’s the end of 8th grade, and Jonah’s won the coveted top scholar spot, leaving Grace with no raison d’etre. She decides to compete in a half marathon, for which she finds out Jonah is training, so she has one last chance to beat him. She ends up learning a lot about what really matters in life. Keeping Pace is a swoony middle grade romance about battling perfectionism and overambition and balancing relationships with goals.

Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai is the companion title to fan favorite, Keep It Together, Keiko Carter. Jenna and Keiko have remained BFFs after their fall out with Audrey. But Jenna is having a hard time with several life issues. For one, she and her boyfriend have just broken up (but she’s still stuck in the same school newspaper as he is), and now her parents are divorcing. Jenna is coping by keeping her feelings shut in and brooding a lot — until she begins to write an investigative piece for the school newspaper contest. This realistic contemporary novel handles tough themes like the process and reality of parental divorce, a tween experiencing the fall-out of a breakup, kids managing busy school schedules, and keeping bonds of friendship alive.

13-year-old Sage’s life is irrevocably changed when her best friend dies in a car accident on her birthday. Now, she’s in grief group at school and trying to find her way through grief and the tagalong emotions it brings, while still trying to live somehow. I am always nervous about heavy subject-centered books like this one, but Watson’s writing is so gorgeous, I’ll go anywhere she takes me. I think this is a book we all need to read, whether you’ve lost someone you love or you love people who’ve lost someone. It’s a powerful manifesto on grief and community and thriving regardless of emotional pain. A searing exploration of the rollercoaster that is grief and the value of simultaneously holding joy and sadness.

Evocative, beautifully written verse novel about Anoop, an eighth grader who’s nervous about the new year because he’ll have no classes with his bestie and defender Jacob. Anoop is Indian Sikh, and his religion is misunderstood by many, especially in the wearing of his patka (and eventual turban). Their temple recently got police protection after an attack on a nearby temple, so Anoop and his family are worried. This verse novel takes us through a year of worrying about being bullied, avoiding bullies, getting to know family in India better, building his faith, and finding his tribe with forgiveness and wisdom from his Baba. It also touches briefly on the Indian Partition, which is an important part of world history. Not a new story by any means, but it wins with underexplored topics, gorgeous writing, and a relatable male character that comes to life vividly.

Set in the 1940s, this debut historical verse novel delves into the lesser-known history of German prisoners-of-war brought to work in the United States during WWII. Claire’s brother Danny is off fighting the war while she’s working in their family’s Midwestern apple orchard, where her father has hired a bunch of POW soldiers, including one named Karl. Over time, Claire and Karl begin a tentative friendship, even as the presence of enemies in their orchard causes tensions in their community. Told from Karl and Claire’s perspective, this story, the history behind it, and the important themes it highlights will appeal to adult fans of lyrically told historical fiction.

After 11-year-old Hurricane’s older sister is sent off to a treatment facility for TB in the 1930s (the same disease that took her mother’s life), she must move in with her aunt Claire in the city, leaving her beloved dog behind in their coastal Maine town. In the city, Aunt Claire is uptight, making motivational declarations in Latin and unable to abide Hurricane’s despondence and emotions. In contrast, her butler, Mr. Keats, is kind and welcoming and an excellent baker, making sweet treats and allowing quiet Hurricane to be herself while coming out of her shell. This book is incredibly atmospheric with the palpable Great Depression setting, electrification, and introduction of Hoovers and Fridgaires setting the tone for that time. It reads aloud beautifully with so many touching musings about life, grief, family, and being oneself no matter what the world around them pushes them to be. I adored the friendship between Hurricane and Theo and all the animals in this story. Just a delightful,l classic-feeling story that I can see winning plenty of fans!

This powerhouse Western is about a boy who goes with his dad to secure land during the Oklahoma land rush in the 1880s. They run into a veteran who joins their company, and Will has to defend himself from dangers along the way. I learned so much from this moving historical account that helps readers understand that time period while touching on themes like father-son relationships, community, and bravery. Heads up for gun usage (it is a Western, after all).

It’s 2020, and Matthew is sick of being inside with the pandemic raging outside. While reluctantly helping his great-grandmother sort through her belongings, he finds a picture of two girls. As she shares her experience during the Ukrainian famine, the story alternates between three narrators: Matthew, Helena, and Mila. A powerful, unforgettable account of historical events.

Kate Albus’s debut middle-grade book, A Place to Hang the Moon follows three orphaned kids in England during the WWII evacuation. Orphans William, Edmund, and Anna (aged 12, 11, and 9) are evacuated after their (not nice) grandmother dies. The kids are instructed not to disclose how well off their family is until they’re placed with a new family that feels like a forever family. In their new countryside dwelling, the kids are placed with several poorly matched families. The first family has twin boys that are just horrid and the second family is too poor (and couldn’t care less about them besides the money she’s paid to look after them). Through it all, the children take solace in each other, stories from William about their parents, and their love of books and the town library.

Sweet Michael Rosario is shy and anxious about Y2K. With the fast-approaching dawn of the year 2000, Michael is convinced that all the negative buzz about technological glitches and errors brought on by the date change have merit and has been shoplifting stock for his emergency pile. The only bright spot in his life besides his doting but BUSY (working three jobs) single mother is his babysitter, Gibby, whom he might have a crush on. One day, Gibby and Michael spot an unusually dressed teenager hanging around their housing complex and after a confrontation, they realize he’s a time traveler from the future named Ridge. This expansive sci-fi feels at once introspective and cinematic, leaping off the page like something made for a movie.

Alone is Megan E. Freeman’s debut survival middle-grade novel in verse. It follows 12-year-old Maddie, who gets abandoned by some twist of fate when her entire town is mysteriously evacuated. Left alone with no human in sight, she bonds with a Rottweiler named George, who is one of many abandoned pets. Soon after, they lose power and then water, and Maddie has to fend for herself using a variety of ingenious means and the town resources at her disposal, including an empty library, grocery store, neighbors’ homes — you get the picture. Maddie is alone for months and has to safeguard herself from wild animals, terrible weather, and dangerous intruders, on top of the fear and loneliness of being all by herself.

What if Nazi Germany won WWII? That’s the chilling question this time-travel thriller explores. Two sets of a friendship trio — one in 2023 and the other in 1944 — discover that they can communicate over a radio device present in both timelines. As the two groups figure out the differences in their timelines while trying to avoid making any changes to history, they discover that they’ve unwittingly made an enormously impactful change with shocking consequences. Westfallen is a chilling exploration of a terrifying alternate reality for fans of high-action time travel fiction.

In this gorgeous graphic novel, tweens Myunghee and Yunho’s paths intersect the day before they both escape the communist regime and converge again in China, where Yunho’s mother takes Myunghee in and along on their arduous, perilous escape plan. The Other Side of Tomorrow is a breathtaking, suspenseful, and gorgeously illustrated graphic novel about two kids escaping North Korea.

Cindy is a 12-year-old Taiwanese-American girl trying hard to hide her family’s secret that her dad no longer lives with them and has moved back to Taiwan. She also likes to draw and is pretty good at it. So when her teacher announces an art contest with the theme of What Does Family Mean to You? Cindy is torn about what to share without revealing her family’s secret. Then her Nai Nai dies, and she and her mom and sisters travel to Taiwan for the funeral, where they meet her dad and discover an even deeper secret. This is a moving memoir about trying to put the pieces together after your idea of family implodes.