Middle Grade Books for You!

Hello, all! My name is Foggy, and I started this blog to foster my love for middle grade reading! You don’t have to be in middle grade to like these kinds of books, and there’s so many to explore for a wide audience!

As stated, my name is Foggy, and I use he/they pronouns! I want to be a teacher for middle grade, and I’m passionate about fluency for all grades!

Feel free to request books to be featured, or request to find a book that might suit you! Please make sure to state what kind of book your looking for (chapter book, graphic novel, manga, poetry, wordless, etc), and the genre, as well as any plot or books similar that you’d like to find!

2024 Reads

Rules for this blog:

Please be respectful and kind! I will be posting all sorts of books, and they will be diverse. Any hate will be blocked and reported, and I will not give it attention.

My Sister The Freak by Dani Jones

Summary:

Mary Seaver lives in her own world. It’s not her fault if sometimes her enthusiasm creates chaos. To Mary, that’s what being 10 years old and a huge science fiction fan is all about. Allison “Al” Seaver is Mary’s older sister—and she’s everything that Mary is not: cool, calm, collected, and super popular.

So it makes sense that when aliens invade their hometown of Pleasant Valley, Mary’s trying to warn everyone about the end of the world while Al’s just hoping it will all go away before the spring dance. But when a secret emerges from their family’s past, Mary and Al find themselves turning to their most unlikely ally: each other.

Book Type: Graphic Novel

The Case of the Scarlet Snakebite by Christyne Morrell

Summary: When the wealthy Willoughby family checks into her mother’s bed-and-breakfast for the weekend, Amber Adler is certain a crime is going to be committed right under their roof. And she should know - she’s read every Agatha Christie novel in the library and her father is a world-famous detective. Sure, Amber has made a few false accusations (and once got the SWAT team sent to her math teacher’s house), but this time, she’s positive that one of their guests is up to no good.  So it comes as no surprise to Amber when someone steals a priceless ruby belonging to the crotchety Willoughby patriarch. But what she didn't expect was for her mother to be framed for it. Now, Amber must call on everything she knows about solving mysteries to find the stone and catch the real culprit before the family checks out-- and learn that sometimes, people are the greatest mystery of all.

Book Type: Novel

Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away by Ciera Burch

Summary:

Seventh grade has just started, but Olivia Gray already knows this year is different. Her brother ignores her for his crush, and all her friends talk about is who likes who, something Olivia has never cared about—even when Robbie, the most popular boy in school, asks her to the fall formal. After unknowingly rejecting him, Olivia goes viral on the social app KruShh. As the chatter about Robbie and dating grows, Olivia starts to feel left out to the point of feeling invisible—literally.

Seen only by her new librarian and a friendly kid named Jules, Olivia flickers in and out of sight whenever the topic of romance comes up. As she begins to realize she might be asexual, Olivia struggles to actually use the label because of the negative perception behind it. All she wants is to be normal, but can she really fit in without disappearing completely?

Book Type: Novel

Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Summary: Nan was all the family Mo ever needed. But suddenly she’s gone, and Mo finds herself in foster care after her uncle decides she’s not worth sticking around for.      Nan left her a notebook and advised her to get a hobby, like ferret racing or palm reading.      But how could a hobby fix anything in her newly topsy-turvy life? Then Mo finds a handmade cookbook filled with someone else’s family recipes. Even though Nan never cooked, Mo can’t tear her eyes away. Not so much from the recipes, but the stories attached to them. Though, when she makes herself a pot of soup, it is every bit as comforting as the recipe notes said.      Soon Mo finds herself asking everyone she meets for theirfamily recipes. Teaching herself to make them. Collecting the stories behind them. Building a website to share them. And, okay, secretly hoping that a long-lost relative will find her and give her a family recipe all her own.      But when everything starts to unravel again, Mo realizes that if she wants a family recipe—or a real family—she’s going to have to make it up herself.

Book Type: Novel

Each and Every Spark by Claire Swinarski

Summary:

Paris, present day. Penny Marks has never felt so alone. Forced to move to France for some fancy job her mom couldn’t turn down, she’s now miles away from her old life. If she hadn’t quit art after all that drama went down last year, she’d at least have something to keep her mind off the fact that life back home is moving on without her.

Paris, 1943. Marie Bonnet has never felt so afraid. When the German army seized power over France, she and her sister Heloise watched their father get taken away, leaving them on their own. Then Marie finds evidence that Heloise has secretly been working for the French Resistance—a group of rebels determined to take the Nazis down—and while it has danger written all over it, she's desperate to join. Any small act of uprising could help their country…but it could also cost them their lives.

Penny and Marie’s worlds collide when an old painting resurfaces in present-day Paris after decades of being hidden. Along with it is a note whose message may lead Penny to Marie…and the fate that awaited her.

Book Type: Novel

Opting Out by Maia Kobabe and Swati Srikumar

Summary:

Saachi is a storyteller. At school, she's surrounded by kids she's known forever -- including her best friend, Lyla, who shares Saachi's love of fantasy novels and creating new worlds.

But as seventh grade starts, kids are changing. Suddenly, it matters who you like and if you can find a boyfriend or girlfriend. Even Lyla seems more interested in hanging out with her new boyfriend than in writing and drawing with Saachi anymore. Saachi's not interested in any of that boy/girl stuff. Why can't things just stay the way they were?

Saachi also doesn't love all the ways her body is changing. What if she doesn't feel like a girl -- or like a boy, either? In a world where there is so much either/or, Saachi is going to need to find her own options . . . and create her own story.

Book Type: Novel

Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home by Zach Weinersmith

Summary: Eleven-year-old Sawyer Lee descends from an endless lineage of absolute go-getters: astronauts, scientists, champion athletes, spies, and other assorted people of action. To this heritage, he says "thanks, but no." His life's goal, if we must use that word, is to spend his days on his best friend Gary's couch, with roughly the ambition of a barnacle with the flu.  The problem is that Sawyer lives in the town of Ovelaville, where everybody (including his aunt Celia and other best friend Angela) is obsessed with doing whatever it takes to win the grand prize at the annual gourd festival, celebrating nature's dullest vegetable. As their schemes for total gourd domination grow, Sawyer is, to his horror, caught up in both an adventure and a mystery. And he knows it will take a regrettable amount of energy either to get to the bottom of things or convince everyone to give up on it, and find the way back to his happy place on Gary’s couch, with a cozy throw blanket, a steaming mug of chamomile tea, and an empty schedule.

Book Type: Graphic Novel

Stream by Aida Salazar

Summary:

It's finally summer―heck, yeah!

With eigth grade done, Elio Solis plans to lock in on his gaming and show the fellas what he's got.

Celi Rivera and her bestie are headed to Hawaii to sun, skate, and search content for her channel.

But those dreams end when a catfishing incident rocks their Oakland community. Suddenly, parents are nosing in posts, taking phones, and laying down lectures about screen-time safety and well-being. Suddenly, Celi and Elio find themselves sent to rural Mexico, without internet, electricity, or even running water save for a dying stream that could wipe out the whole pueblo in the coming summer rains.

Helping curanderas in a healing clinic... carting sticks to rehabilitate the arroyo... turn summer dreams to misery!

But day by day, in nature, beauty, and community, with crushes blooming, can they find their way to each other―and slowly back to themselves?

Book Type: Novel

You Are Now Old Enough to Hear This by Aaron Starmer

Summary:

The Toe Beast looms large in the Barnes family lore—a tale concocted by twelve-year-old Roman’s grandpa to explain his missing toe. But Roman has never actually heard the full story, and after his grandpa dies suddenly, it seems like he never will.

That is, until Roman is tasked with clearing out his grandpa’s house, and stumbles upon some strange things. An old mason jar full of formaldehyde, a mysterious handwritten book about a girl and a pack of dogs, a rusty metal bucket with peculiar abilities. And they all tie back to extraordinary secrets from the distant past.

By unraveling even more unbelievable stories that have been hidden from him, Roman is forced to rethink how he fits into his family’s history. Now it’s up to him to see his own story through to the end. Because the Toe Beast was only the beginning . . .

Book Type: Novel

Breakout by Christina Wyman

Summary:

Ellis Starr likes learning about active volcanoes. She does not like having acne that resembles them. But it’s not just cosplaying as a pepperoni pizza that has Ellis on the verge of erupting. Her mom’s hot-and-cold moods have the two of them butting heads nonstop―especially now that her mom is dating for the first time since her parents’ separation. Then there’s Ellis’s best friend, Aggy, whose own life―and skin―seems perfect. And who could forget that Ellis still needs to decide on a research topic for a big school project.

With eighth grade proving to be every bit as pesky as a new pimple, Ellis’s only bright spot is the time she spends with her aunt Lydia, whose adorable puppy, Rocco, is a natural stress reliever. (And perhaps the perfect subject for her project.) Maybe this season of breakouts can lead to a breakthrough about what Ellis needs to truly feel good in her own skin.

Book Type: Novel

Blood City Rollers: Move it or Bruise it by V.P. Anderson

Summary: Mina is ready to roll...but her new team is nowhere to be found. After a summer skating around town looking in every dark corner for the Blood City Rollers, Mina and her other human teammate Swan are finally reunited with their squad at an abandoned asylum. It's old, creepy, and has a basement full of zombies...perfect.  But if the asylum is going to be the new freaky forever home for the Vamps, they'll have to fight for it. A new team of outcast monsters are also looking for a new home, and the only solution to a turf war this bloodthirsty is a Sudden Death Scrimage.  Mina just wants to help her team win, but she can't help but feel like she still has to prove she belongs. And when the competition with Swan heats up, she'll have to learn that being a teammate isn't about being the best player...it's about being the best friend.

Book Type: Graphic Novel

Wilderness Hacks by Joslin Brorsen

Summary: 12-year-old Sadie Hahn didn’t plan to eat grubs on camera to win a contest. And she definitely didn’t plan to win first prize—a guest appearance on a Youtube show hosted by America’s favorite 13-year-old survivalist Radley Shaw. But she’ll do anything to cheer up her little brother Silas, who’s too young to qualify. Rad has millions of followers and exactly zero real-life friends, so the contest is a great chance for him to hang out with kids his own age. But it’s hate-at-first-sight when Silas throws a wrench in his plan and Sadie decides Rad is just a clueless poser who doesn’t know the first thing about survival. Disaster strikes when their scripted rafting trip turns into a real fight for survival. Lost in the mountains, Rad and Sadie must find shelter, build a fire, forage for food and try not to become food for a hungry predator. But can they stop bickering long enough to hack it in the wilderness? And will that be enough to keep them alive?

Book Type: Novel

X Marks the Haunt by Lindsay Currie

Summary:

Thanks to his mother’s job at a local graveyard, twelve-year-old Will Stone has some unique talents. For one, he knows exactly how a burial vault works and why they’re used. For another, he’s great at genealogy and can decode centuries old records. Not your normal every day after school activities, that’s for sure!

But when a centuries old crypt key is lost, his normally peaceful existence at Graceland cemetery is shattered. Trees wither and die. The lake becomes covered with a sinister green slime that threatens to choke out anything living in it. And suddenly, the graveyard’s reputation isn’t the only thing in jeopardy . . . Will and his friends' safety is, too.

Suddenly, Will is forced to consider that the lost key might be an even bigger problem than he originally thought. A dark force has been unleashed within the cemetery gates, and along with his friends Stash, Michelle, and Henry, Will must use his unique skill set to figure out which restless spirit is draining the graveyard of life, and how to end the haunting for good.

Book Type: Novel

Glory Be by Jamie Sumner

Summary:

Glory has the best dog in the world. Roux wags his tail so hard his whole round little body shakes. He touches his nose to hers like E.T. phoning home. Roux is always there for her—but now he’s gone. And Glory is worried her daddy had something to do with it.

Daddy’s been getting into trouble since the day Glory was born. Now it’s worse than worse. As she searches all over New Orleans for her lost pup, Glory discovers some things about her city and herself. Enough to make her wonder: How do you know when to hang on to the ones you love…and when to let go?

Book Type: Novel

Aku: Journey to Ibra by Micah Johnson

Summary:

Aku has always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. It’s easier to picture life among the stars than deal with the bully at school—or the pain of his grandfather’s mysterious disappearance. But when a strange space helmet shows up in his basement, Aku is pulled into something far bigger than he ever imagined.

The space helmet doesn’t just look cool—it teleports him to Ibra, a distant planet under siege. There, precious Lunaberries are being stolen by a ruthless space militia, and Aku’s grandfather may be the key to stopping them. With the help of his best friends and a few unlikely allies, Aku must dream bigger than ever before, find the courage to lead, and discover that bravery isn’t about having no fear—it’s about rising above it.

Book Type: Novel

Fear Files #1: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge

Summary: Nobody knows who started the Darkive. It's a database filled with first-hand accounts of strange, unexplained experiences. Ghosts; paranormal entities; weird anomalies. Each one is stored with a bank of evidence to prove the story. Are you ready to dive in? Adam didn't think his summer holiday could get any worse. His camping trip with his best friend, Sol, seems to be doomed. They've been arguing, and now they find themselves in a strange, abandoned town, where they are told to take part in a game of hide-and-seek. But the rules are hard to follow. And who, or what, are they hiding from?

Book Type: Novel