When’s the last time you read a middle-grade novel?
My reply to that question is: “I just finished a middle-grade (MG) novel last week, and I started a new one today.” It’s obvious that my renewed interest in this genre has logically followed my ongoing attempts to complete and publish a MG novel-in-verse (a novel written in poetic form).
Like picture books, MG novels are not just for kids. Personally, I love the MG genre and have stacks of these books in my home. I have an already-read-this pile and a waiting-to-be-read pile. And then, there’s that one lone book on my nightstand that I’m currently reading. (It’s called Homesick: My Own Story and was the recipient of a Newberry Honor Award in 1982—just in case you’re wondering.)
Here are a few of the award-winning MG classics that I read (or reread) in 2024: Jacob Have I Loved, The Fledgling, Anne of Green Gables, Miss Hickory, A Long Way from Chicago, and Misty of Chincoteague. Perhaps you recognize some of these titles.
And now, please allow me to introduce you to a few MG novels that you may have missed.
Stow away with Hayden and Chloe on an enchanted boat ride!
(The) siblings hitch a ride on the boat carrying nurses across the Chesapeake Bay to Smith Island.
Join Hayden and Chloe on their grand adventure as they explore the island, meet the locals, … bake a Smith Island layer cake, pick crab meat, and even hunt for buried pirate treasure!
Will Smith Island surrender its secrets?
- Michele Davidson
Nan’s recommendation: This is an especially good choice for folks who love the Chesapeake Bay area. (The author is a sweet friend from Cape Charles, Va.)
The sun is shining and today feels like an adventure … because I have a bicycle and friends and a city just waiting to be explored.
With their new teacher’s help, the kids in class 5D ride to school together in a bicycle bus. … Everyone loves their new way of getting to school.
But there’s a narrow stretch on Fisher Road with no white line to separate the cyclists from the traffic. Zoe and Max decide they need to make it right, even if that means breaking a few rules.
- Steven Herrick
Nan’s recommendation: This is an excellent choice for the bicycle enthusiast and those interested in the environment or pursuing an active lifestyle. It’s a novel-in-verse and a quick read.
Grady’s hoping a mysterious inheritance will lead him to a buried treasure. But what if it’s a dead end?
When Grady and his dad learn that the town oddball … left something for them in her will, … Grady just knows this could be the chance of a lifetime.
But Grady soon learns that there’s more at risk than he bargained for, and solving this mystery just got a lot more dangerous.
- Taryn Souders
Nan’s recommendation: Do you like an action-packed (but not too scary) who-dun-it with a cast of interesting characters? Then, you’ll love this exciting mystery. (The author is my friend and an amazing, award-winning MG writer.)
One year, one classroom, and one unique group of students
(The) unforgettable students in this fifth-grade classroom reveal there is more to them than last night’s homework. Here, their complicated lives at home and at school come together as they share their private feelings about birth and death, a missing bicycle, a first kiss, recess, report cards, fitting in, and family.
Using a rich array of traditional poetic forms, … the award-winning Helen Frost weaves the stories of the kids and their teacher in “Room 214.”
- Helen Frost
Nan’s recommendation: Less than 100 pages, this is the perfect book for the reluctant reader. It’s a novel-in-verse and is written in free verse—no rhyme and no strict rhythmic pattern.
Only after she escaped from fear did she really find her strength.
Ada is ten years old and has never left her one-room apartment. Her cruel mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So, when her little brother, Jamie, is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada sneaks out to join him.
… In the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the hands of their mother?
- Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Nan’s recommendation: This will have great appeal to folks who like WWII novels. Because of the biological mother’s cruelty to her children, I feel the book is best suited for older kids.
Have I convinced you to give a MG novel a try again—or to put one into the hands of a pre-teen in your life? You may be surprised how entertaining, educational, and fun they are to read—for young people of all ages.
I suppose that some (or many) of you are thinking the same thing right now: Well, bless her heart. Nan is reading books for kids. She must have entered her second childhood.
If this supposition is true (notice that I’m not denying it), I must tell you that I’m enjoying myself immensely. Care to join me?”
Happy reading, friends.