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Set in Massachusetts, Found Sound by Meg Wolitzer and Charlie Panek begins with Felix Frank almost missing his fifth grade graduation since it’s easier to ignore the world than to listen to it. As a middle child, Felix feels like his parents don’t ever listen to him. His younger brother, Miles, is a genius who is always inventing something, and his older brother Dylan is now 20 but left home on unsettling terms. This leaves Felix feeling somewhat guilty as well as ignored. After a septic tank explosion causes the closure of the Fun in the Sun program that Felix had signed up for, heRead More →

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Readers of Carl Hiaasen and Katherine Applegate will likely enjoy the Mystery on Macaw Mountain by María José Fitzgerald. Set in 2007 in Copán, Honduras, Fitzgerald’s novel for middle grade readers features two pairs of siblings who are cousins. Teresa Paz-Murcia (aka Tessa) is a ten-year-old fourth grader who is animal obsessed and super organized. Her brother, Nico, on the other hand, is an accident-prone, thrill-seeking twelve-year-old who is better at remembering feelings than faces. Both are involved in the macaw-reintroduction project by default, as their mother is hoping to ceremoniously release the birds to the world-famous archaeological park where she digs up Mayan relics.Read More →

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Jaxon Averett’s parents have passed away and his grandma Averett develops Alzheimer’s, rendering her unable to care for her grandson any longer. As a result, the state houses Jaxon with his Aunt Helga and Uncle Clive Grimmitz, who already have six children of their own—all of whom have “inherited the Grimmitz genetics for cruelty” (9). According to Jaxon, “life in the Grimmitz home is a crash course in the game of survival” (9). In order to escape the inhumane treatment, Jax writes an escape declaration and forms his own country, the Free State of Jax. Such is the background that forms the plot of JenniferRead More →

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In her novel for middle grade readers entitled What Happened Then, Erin Soderberg Downing writes about family and the generational trauma that gets passed down. Twelve-year-old Avery knows she’s best in small doses. “Every time I try to fade, I fail . . . and flare instead. In a crayon box of colors, I’m the shocking pink and laser lemon” (5). Although she wishes to be less exuberant and less talkative, she hasn’t yet mastered moderation. “I know I’m too much. Too loud, too annoying, too big for any room I step into. . . . I wish I could edit and refine myself, likeRead More →

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In The House of Found Objects: A Bea Bellerose Mystery, Jo Beckett-King introduces middle grade readers to her twelve-year-old brainiac detective. When Bea’s parents travel to New Orleans for a conference, rather than allowing their daughter to remain in New Jersey, they send her to Paris to visit Aunt Juliette. Yet, Aunt Juliette, a journalist for a weekly news magazine in France, is too busy to play tour guide. And Grandma Sylvie, aka Mamie, is too burdened by her antiques business to share the sites. When Bea’s mom and dad first told her they were sending her to France, they’d made the trip sound likeRead More →

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Carter Peregrine lives in Sterling, North Carolina, with his mom and little brother, Martin. Carter’s FOMO has him addicted to screens, so when the boys join their father in Colorado for a skiing vacation during spring break, no screens allowed, Carter is certain he’ll miss out on the latest viral videos. While “babysitting” his younger brother on the bunny slope, Carter cheats and pulls out his phone. Entirely oblivious to his brother’s path, Martin plows into Carter, breaking both of Carter’s legs. Now what? Carter’s dad gives his son something to think about: “If you hadn’t been staring at your phone, you just might haveRead More →

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Targeted for middle grade readers, Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson features twelve-year-old Kaylani McKinnon. Given her focus on being strategic about #operationFREEDAD, Kaylani has no time for frivolity. So, when her mother suggests a summer of fun at the vacation home of a family friend in Martha’s Vineyard, this Brooklyn-based girl is resistant. After all, she has pre-law camp to consider if she hopes to get her wrongfully accused dad out of prison. When Kaylani arrives, she is even more certain that this place is not her jam. As the ferry docks in the town of Oak Bluffs, Kaylani feels like DorothyRead More →

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Given the past two years, with a war waging between Russia and Ukraine, Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger is an especially relevant novel for middle grade readers. This historical fiction text tells the story of the annexation of Crimea in 2014—a time when “Russkyi mir, the violence and blood and criminality and corruption,” threatened Ukrainian’s language, culture, and tradition. The stars of this story are Sofiya, Ilya, Cedric, Anna, and Petro, twelve-year-old classmates who have to decide whether they will work together as well as determine the degree to which nationalism plays a role in identity. Additional characters serve as significant support staff inRead More →

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Xavier T. Fletcher is an odd duck. At ten-years old, he’d rather sit silently watching birds than play catch or go fishing with his brother, Nicholas, and his father, Arnold. When his father unexpectedly loses his job, forcing the family to move to Nana Susan’s farm, Xavier should be ecstatic, but he is unsure. After all, Nana Susan’s goat, Cal Ripken Jr., bit him five years ago, and Xavier hasn’t fully recovered from the traumatic experience. Furthermore, “the idea of going forth to explore real nature, all wild and dangerous and free, feels a bit unnerving to Xavier. But as you may know, sometimes theRead More →