Category: MG Novels

middle grade novels (for 8-12 yo)

cover of out of my heart
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

out of my heart

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

out of my heart by Sharon M. Draper (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2021) is an amazing book that I wish EVERYONE would read! Such a satisfying story about persistence and friendship. Can you tell I loved it?

Twelve-year-old Melody can’t walk, talk, or feed herself, but she’s smart and she wants to go to camp. She researches and finds a camp for kids with special needs and convinces her parents to let her go. It’s scary–she’s not been away from her parents for so long–and they are going to have her swim and go horseback riding. Can she do all that?!

It’s a sequel to out of my mind, but it’s been so long since I read that book, I didn’t remember much, so this book definitely stands alone. Readers kept asking to know what else happened to Melody in the first book, that Sharon wrote a sequel. Both book promote so much understanding about those who are differently abled. out of my heart was a CCBC Choice (Cooperative Children’s Book Council).

Sharon is an award winning author and teacher. Read about her here. Check out her books here.

cover of Where the Watermelons Grow
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Where the Watermelons Grow

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Where the Watermelons Grow (Harper, 2018) by Cindy Baldwin is such a heartbreaking story, yet filled with hope.

Twelve-year-old Della Kelly’s mama is doing strange things again. Is the sickness that got her hospitalized four years ago back? Della decides she’s going to do everything she can to help her mama get better. But will it be enough?

This was author Cindy Baldwin’s debut–an amazing debut. Since then she’s published three other books. I recommended her Beginner’s Welcome here. See all of her books here and read about Cindy here. You can also read a couple of her short stories here.

I love what Cindy says about the book: “With Where the Watermelons Grow, the story idea arose out of two inspirations: The first was when I was singing the song ‘Down By the Bay‘ to my baby and started wondering what could be the story behind the song. The second was my desire to write a story about a disability that does not end with a magical cure. Although I don’t have schizophrenia, I’m a disabled parent myself, and many of the experiences of the Kelly family were inspired by things my own family went through.”

This novel was a Washington Post KidsPost Summer Book Club Selection, an Indies Introduce and Indie Next title, a Bank Street Best Book of 2019, an AudioFile Earphones Award Winner, and an Oregon Spirit Book Award Honor book.

cover of Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise (Henry Holt and Company, 2019) by Dan Gemeinhart was so good! The voice of 12-year-old Coyote is so real. I also love the mysteries that are revealed as I read and all the characters I met along the way.

Coyote lives in a converted school bus with Rodeo, her dad. “But don’t tell him that, okay?” she tells the brothers giving away kittens. She is tired of all the aloneness and secretly adopts the quietest kitten and names him Ivan. At the end of chapter one, Coyote says, “I had a kitten. Which definitely meant I had a problem. But, heck, I already had problems. And now I also had Ivan. And that sure seemed like an improvement either way.”

Don’t you want to know more?!

Dan is the author of six books (so far!). Read the book titles here. Read more about him here.

This book was a 2020 ILA Teachers’ Choice, 2019 Parents’ Choice Award Gold Medal Winner, Winner of the 2019 CYBILS Award for Middle Grade Fiction, and an Amazon Top 20 Children’s Book of 2019. A sequel, Coyote Lost and Found, is coming out in 2024. Read more about this one and Dan’s other books here.

cover of Shouting at the Rain
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Shouting at the Rain

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

I loved Shouting at the Rain (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2019) by Lynda Mullaly Hunt so much! It had such good lines that I want to savor, such as, “The sun is always in the sky–it just gets hidden sometimes.”

Delsie never really thought of herself as an orphan until her friend wants to use her as inspiration. Then when Delsie’s summertime friend shows up, she’s not really interested in Delsie and what they used to do anymore. It’s not comfortable being on the outside looking in at friendships nor whole families.

The book is a Junior Library Guild Selection and a NY Times bestseller. Don’t miss this good story!

Read about Lynda here and check out her other two books here.

Cover of BOB
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

BOB

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

BOB (Fiewel and Friends, 2018) by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead is an unusual story with mystery and magic told in two points of view.

Ten-and-a-half-year-old Livy hasn’t visited her grandmother in Australia for five years and she feels bad she can’t remember anything about the house nor the three objects Gran says she used to love. Well, except for maybe a wrong chicken. And Mom’s leaving her here.

Bob has waited five years for Livy to return. It’s a long time to hang out in a closet.

But the more time Livy spends with Bob, whom others mysteriously can’t see, the more she begins to remember. Including her promise to get Bob home.

This is such a lovely story of friendship. I love how they both share lists.

The book also is a Chicago Tribune Best Children’s Books of the Year, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, won the Golden Cowbell Book Award (Switzerland) and Cartwheel Book Award for Best Non-human Character, plus has been nominated for fifteen state book awards.

About the Authors

Wendy is a NY Times bestselling author. Read about her here and see all her 29 books here! Not only is she prolific, but she writes in different categories and genres.

Check out Rebecca’s six books here and read about her here. She is a Newbery Medal Winner.

These co-authors have a new book coming out in August–read more here about The Lost Library.