Tag: middle grade novel

cover of Sam
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Sam

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Sam (DCB Young Readers, 2025) by Eric Walters is as disturbing as its cover. But it’s also a good story with a hopeful ending.

Orphaned Sam can’t stay out of trouble. When a run-in with high schoolers ends badly, Sam is sentenced to Johnson “Blue Gables” Juvenile Center for six weeks. There he’s assigned to read a book about another redheaded orphan, Anne of Green Gables, which of course, Sam thinks is stupid. But despite himself, he gets interested in the story.

When I started reading this book, I didn’t even like the main character. However, the writing was so good, I pressed on. And my opinion of Sam changed as he did. I’m glad I persevered.

Read about this prolific Canadian author here. Here’s a list of many of his novels.

cover of The Trouble with Heroes
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Trouble with Heroes

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The Trouble with Heroes (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2025) by Kate Messner is a compelling read.

Finn Connelly is about to fail seventh grade. He’s not a hero like his dad was. He’s never been in the news like Dad, until now. For vandalizing a cemetery. The daughter of the dead woman will drop the charges, if he will climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks this summer. And he has to bring along the dead woman’s dog!

I love the first two lines: “If I were a better kid, this story would start with my seventh-grade diploma. Instead, is starts with this.” What follows is a news clipping with the headline “Local Cemetery Vandalized.” How could you not read on after that?

See this prolific author’s books here and also sign up for her newsletter on the same page. And, yes, Kate has climbed all those mountains that her character Finn climbs!!!

cover of Stay, Girl, shows a beagle running to a girl
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Stay, Girl

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Stay, Girl (Crow & Pitcher Press, 2024) by Angelica R. Jackson was a compelling read.

It’s 1953 in Sacramento, CA and 13-year-old Bet’s dying mother makes her promise to go to her Uncle Earl. The moment Mom dies, Bet packs up a few things and steals hidden money from her crooked stepfather, and is on the run. She plans to only stay a few days with her uncle and then go on to Oregon, but a small injured dog needs some care, so Bet decides to stick around a bit longer.

I enjoyed the details of small town life in this story and was rooting for Bet to have a real home in Amberfields, CA. And, of course, the dogs were fun.

Besides being a writer, Angelica has also rescued some dogs, which you can read about here. Read about the author here and see her other novels here.

cover of Alone
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Alone

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Alone (Aladdin, 2021) by Megan E. Freeman is a fascinating near future novel-in-verse that shouldn’t be missed.

Twelve-year-old Maddie wakes up in her small Colorado town and finds herself completely alone. No family. No friends. No neighbors. Not even strangers. Maddie discovers a rottweiler named George, and must keep them both alive without electricity, running water, or anyone to help.

This was a hard to put down story. I love that we along with Maddie don’t know what happened.

And it has won many awards:
Alone is a “New York Times bestseller, winner of the Colorado Book Award, the High Plains Book Award, the California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Japan, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Vermont Children’s Book Awards, an NCTE Notable Verse Novel, and named on dozens of ‘best of’ book lists.” Wow!

Just this month, a companion book set in the same story universe, has come out. It’s called Away. I’m really looking forward to it.

Read about Megan here.

cover of The Nerviest Girl in the World
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Nerviest Girl in the World

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

If you like historical fiction and humor, you’ll love The Nerviest Girl in the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020) by Melissa Wiley.

When Pearl’s three big brothers get hired to be “real cowboys” in Mr. Corrigan’s moving picture reels, she is fascinated. After hanging on to a runaway horse herself, Pearl is hired, too. But if her mother finds out, her dangerous career as a stunt girl will be over.

I love Pearl’s conversations with the ostriches–yes, they raise those too on their cattle and sheep ranch. I love Pearl’s conflicts with her nemesis. And I love her bravery. It’s great getting a look at what people thought about this new form of entertainment, too.

This book is a Junior Library Guild selection and Brave Writer Arrow book.

Melissa Wiley is also the author of a number of easy readers and the Martha and Charlotte books about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s great-grandmother and grandmother. Read about Melissa here and see her books here.