Category: MG Novels

middle grade novels (for 8-12 yo)

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.

cover of The Hike to Home
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Hike to Home

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The Hike to Home (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022) by Jess Rinker was a fun read with interesting connections to Arthurian legends, Freemasonry, and 19th-century mountaineer Annie Smith Peck.

12-year-old Lin Moser is miserable. After a life of traveling with her parents as part of the popular YouTube home renovation show, Moseying with the Mosers, she’s stuck in New Jersey while Dad renovates without cameras. Lin will have to go to actual school, while her mother is away on a twelve-month film residency. But rumors of a castle, combined with new friends, and Lin is off filming her own adventure. And, of course, there’s trouble along the way.

I love how this character was inspired by two strong women.

Jess Rinker writes fiction and nonfiction. Read about her here and check out all her books here.

cover of The Inquistor's Tale
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books, YA Novels

The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog (Dutton Children’s Books, 2016) by Adam Gidwitz and illuminated* by Hatem Aly is a differently told medieval tale that was very fun.

“The king is ready for war.” Against three children and their dog. The setting is a French Inn where travelers gather to discuss the strange events. Each person knows a part of the tale. Along the way, we meet the peasant girl named Jeanne, the young monk named William, and the Jewish boy named Jacob. Each has a special gift: visions of the future, supernatural strength, and healing. And, of course, there’s Gwenforte the dog, who has come back to life.

*this term is explained in the book.

This book is a Newbery Honor Book and Winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Adam has also written the Grimm series (Tall Dark and Grimm is on Netflix), the Unicorn Rescue Series, and some Star Wars books. Check them out here. Read about Adam here.

Read about the fabulous illustrator Hatem here. See all the books he’s illustrated here and I enjoyed looking at his sketchbooks.