Here’s the first draft of the list. Some explanations: I checked everything against my library’s catalog — I figured they’re a good standard (I love my library!) — and if it was shelved in the teen space or they didn’t have it, off the list it went. Also, for series, I put the first book, except for The Dark is Rising and Ramona Quimby, where I put what I thought was the best one, since they don’t necessarily need to be read as a series.
So. Your job: what is on here that doesn’t deserve to be? Is there any glaring holes? Let me know. (Otherwise, I’ll just have to chop the list down willy-nilly. Yes, I just used that in a sentence.)
- Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken
- How Tia Lola Came to Visit, by Julia Alvarez
- The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander
- The Underneath, byKathi Appelt
- Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babitt
- The Search for Delicious, by Natalie Babitt
- Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett
- The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynn Banks
- Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
- The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Holly Black
- Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie
- Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
- Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume
- The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
- Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko
- Ramona Quimby, Age 8, by Beverly Cleary
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary
- Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer
- Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins
- The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper
- Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
- Matilda, by Roald Dahl
- Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
- The Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo
- The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
- The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd
- The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau
- Half Magic, by Edward Eager
- Then there were Five, by Elizabeth Enright
- The Big Splash, by Jack Ferraiolo
- The Great Brain, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Harriet The Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
- The Ranger’s Apprentice, by John Flanagan
- The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester
- Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
- The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
- My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George
- Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, by Peggy Gifford
- The Liberation of Gabriel King, by K. L. Going
- The Thing about Georgie, by Lisa Graff
- The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
- Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- The Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale
- Rapunzel’s Revenge, by Shannon, Dean and Nathan Hale
- Penny From Heaven, by Jennifer L. Holm
- Journey to the River Sea, by Eva Ibbotson
- Toys Go Out, by Emily Jenkins
- The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norman Juster
- The Ordinary Princess, by M. M. Kaye
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
- The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling
- The Book of Story Beginnings, by Kristin Kladstrup
- Shipwreck, by Gordon Korman
- Schooled, by Gordon Korman
- The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E. L. Konigsburg
- The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg
- Savvy, by Ingrid Law
- A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
- A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeline L’Engle
- Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
- The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin
- Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
- In The Year of The Boar and Jackie Robinson, by Bette Lord
- Rules, by Cynthia Lord
- Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, by Lenore Look
- Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- Every Soul a Star, by Wendy Mass
- Saffy’s Angel, by Hilary McKay
- The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
- Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull
- Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit
- Rascal, by Sterling North
- The Borrowers, by Mary Norton
- The Silver Crown, by Robert C. O’Brien
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien
- Greetings from Nowhere, by Barbara O’Conner
- Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell
- A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
- The Bridge to Terebithia, by Katherine Patterson
- Hatchet, by Gary Paulson
- The Kingdom Keepers, by Ridley Pearson
- Clementine, by Sarah Pennypacker
- Rickshaw Girl, by Mitali Perkins
- Six Innings, by James Preller
- Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
- The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
- The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
- Hurt Go Happy, by Ginny Rorby
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling
- Yellow Star, by Jennifer Roy
- Becoming Naomi Leon, by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Magyk, by Angie Sage
- Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, by Brandon Sanderson
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznik
- Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
- Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo, by Obert Skye
- The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket
- The Changeling, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- The Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart
- Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, by Donald J. Sobol
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
- When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
- Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix-Up, by Melissa Thompson
- The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- So B. It, by Sarah Weeks
- Stuart Little, by E.B. White
- Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White
- Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Worry Web site, by Jacqueline Wilson
- Leepike Ridge, by Nathan D. Wilson
- Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia Wrede
- Dollhouse Murders, by Betty Wren Wright
- Millicent Min: Girl Genius, by Lisa Yee
- The Devil’s Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen
- Passager, by Jane Yolen
The Book Nut 
I didn't realize Chains was middle grade instead of YA. Cool. It's a great list.
LikeLike
Actually, Amanda, I went by my library and double-checked; Chains is in the YA section. Off it goes.
LikeLike
I can't wait to give my 4th grader this list! She also loves The BFG by Roald Dahl (but I don't think I would necessarily call its omission glaring). 🙂 For what it's worth, Al Capone Does My Shirts is on our YA shelves.
LikeLike
I like the BFG, too, Tricia; I'm thinking though that I need to limit the # of books by one author. I also figure that if a kid reads Matilda or Charlie, and liked them, they could discover BFG on their own.
And, interestingly enough, Al Capone is a JF at my library. Funny how these things can be somewhat arbitrary.
LikeLike
I haven't read enough middle grade fiction to really be able to comment on what should and shouldn't be there, but I am happy to see lots of books that I have loved over the years included.
LikeLike
Melissa, this is a great list! Here are few that I didn't see in your selections, that I have loved and reread many times. Your big question is going to be what to cut. Can you make it your top 125? 150?
Half Magic, by Edward Eager
The Twenty-one Balloons, by William Pene du Bois
The Ranger's Apprentice, by John Flanagan
Beauty, by Robin McKinley (also The Blue Sword)
Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia Wrede
The Ordinary Princess, by M. M. Kaye
(You may have thought of some of these- they may not all fit the age range you're looking for…) Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing what makes your final cut!
LikeLike
I agree, I think one book per author is a good way to scale down the list.
LikeLike
wow!! i'm with tricia. i want to print this out and keep it 🙂
LikeLike
I'd also make it one book per author, no matter how difficult. You could put something in the description that many of the authors have multiple books. Which leads to my other not-so-fun way to cut down lists is by removing authors that have don't have several good books. I know, I didn't say it was pretty.
I didn't see anything glaring in needing exclusion, though I've never heard of #92, #97, or #100.
LikeLike
Yeah, MR, I'm coming to that conclusion. That, and I tallied it last night: over 1/3 are fantasy books. I've got to pare that down, too. Sigh.
As for #97, you really ought to read Alcatraz. It's fun.
LikeLike
I'm getting in on this late, but I'd add to the list the following authors and books:
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Soup by Robert Newton Peck
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
The Light Princess by George Macdonald
Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
I know, too many votes, and I've added t your “paring down” problem. I do think that limiting it to one books per author is a good start.
Oh, and F. Scott didn't write The Great Brain, although he may have had one. It was (no relation as far as I know) John.
LikeLike
ARGH Sherry! That's a good list, too. And thanks for the catch on the Great Brain books. 🙂
LikeLike
What a great list! I added Sherry's to the list and got about 150 books. My kids and I have read about 50 of them, so we're not doing too badly so far and now we've got a good list to work from!
I would add The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. It is one of my kids favorite books.
LikeLike
Great list! I concur on the addition of Half Magic, Betsy-Tacy, The Moffats, and the Penerwicks which are all favorites of ours. I'd also add Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betsy MacDonald and All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.
LikeLike
Maybe the answer is to split the list, or just skew it slightly older. It's odd to see Coraline and Ramona Quimby on the same list. (Though in truth, really the Beverly Cleary books were the only two that I know that seemed out of step with the others.) It's the “just past Ramona” age that really needs a list like this!
Where is Daniel Pinkwater? Or the Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet?
LikeLike
Redsea — I thought about that, but I want it to be a fair overview of all MG books, which is why Ramona, Coraline, Clementine, and Alvin are on
there.
Which Daniel Pinkwater?
As for the Mushroom Planet… there's already a LOT of fantasy on the list. Some are going to have to be left off.
Chocolate: I remembered All-of-a-Kind Family and it's on there now. But I'd forgotten about Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. I don't know if she'll make it though.
LikeLike
My students would throw a fit if they learned that Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath wasn't on the list! We laughed for days after reading the scene where Primrose set the class hamster on fire 🙂
I'm going to post this list in my classroom in the beginning of the year and check off how many we read! Thanks!!
LikeLike
I have a 4th grader (& her friends) who loves, loves, loves Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat (as well as the sequal Home for Trouble Girls) by Lynne Jonell and The Sisters Grimm Series by Michael Buckley. These are great recent books that are often overlooked. I would also recommend: The Hundred Dresses (Eleanor Estes), A Crooked Kind of Perfect (Linda Urban), Tennyson (Lesley M. Blume), Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism (Georgia Byng), Charlie Bone series (Jenny Nimmo), and The Road to Paris (Nikki Grimes).
LikeLike