Middle Grade

Queso, Just in Time

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by Ernesto Cisneros
First sentence: “I’m at the crosswalk leading to school.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 10, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is bullying, and talk of a dead parent. It will be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Quetzalcoatl Castillo – Queso for short – wishes more than anything he could have his dad – who died in an armed robbery – back in his life. He feels alone, he feels unmoored, and he just wants to spend time with his father when he was happy – before he had PTSD, before he was shot and killed. And then, one night, a set of magical circumstances happens, and Queso is sent back to 1985 to see his father when he was 13. Once there, he realizes that his father has ADHD, and isn’t being given what he needs. So, he endeavors to help his dad – and enjoys being his friend – to better his life, and maybe live out his dreams.

On the one hand, this was a silly time travel book where everything is made better and no timelines are irrevocably changed. There was a part of me that expected Queso’s dad to be alive when he went back to the present. (Spoiler: he isn’t.) There are some fun 1980s moments, and I didn’t mind all the references to games and pop culture from that time period. It also was a good reminder how much education has changed in the past 40 years.

On the other hand, I got stuck in the math. I was 13 in 1985. I would have had to have a kid at 40 for my kid to be 13 now. Not implausible, but still. I got mired down in the math of it all. I don’t like it when I can’t figure out the timeline, or it doesn’t work to my satisfaction; I’m unable to let it go to fully get behind the story.

That said, I did end up enjoying the story (even if the ending is a bit… problematic).

Red River Rose

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by Carole Lindstrom
First sentence: “‘Hurry up, Delia, I want to stop at the ferry on the way,’ said Rose, trying not to tug her sister’s arm too hard.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 17, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.R

Rose is a Métis girl living her beset life in Batoche, Saskatchewan in 1885. She helps take care of her sister, she goes hunting with her father and uncle, she enjoys watching the ferry on the river. However, one day, she overhears the elders talking about how the Canadian government want to come take their land – and that they should resist. Rose agrees: she doesn’t want to lose the only home she’s ever known, but as a 12-year-old girl, how can she help her people stand up against the government?

In the author’s note at the end, Lindstrom mentions that she wanted this to be a Native Little House on the Prairie, and I think she succeeded. It has the same quiet tone, an engaging and relatable heroine, and an insight into what life might have been like for the Métis in 1885. It was a bit simplistic (but it’s for kids!), but overall, I loved the storyline, I loved how Rose wanted to help her family and her neighbors, and I admired her willingness to take chances. Lindstrom created a great heroine, and I would love to experience more of her story.

It’s an important book – there always needs to be more stories of historical events from the Native perspective – but it’s also a good one.

Audiobook: Busted

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by Dan Gemeinhart
Read by: Mark Sanderlin
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some implied swearing (cleverly “quacked” out), minor crime, mafia dealings, and disobeying of parents. It’s in the Middle Grade section of the bookstore.

Oscar Aberdeen is a good kid. He’s got lots of grandparents to make sure he’s a good kid, since he lives at Sunny Days retirement home. He doesn’t want anything to change; he’s happy the way it is. But a new owner comes in, and raises the rent on Oscar and his grandpa. And so when new resident (and possible “bad news”) Jimmy Deluca asks Oscar to help him escape Sunny Days (he’s restricted) and accomplish his bucket list for $10,000 to help Oscar stay at Sunny Days, Oscar doesn’t refuse. That’s what starts the worst (and best) day of Oscar’s life.

This was an absolute delight to listen to. Gemeinhart knows how to write to middle grade readers, and knows how to make a story fun. It’s got heart – it’s about being a good person and doing the good thing and being a good friend – and it tackles tough issues like cancer and dying and deadbeat parents and losing one’s home. But it’s fun, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.

Highly recommend this one. (Maybe I should get around to reading his other books, too!)

Dream On

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by Shannon Hale, illustrated by Marcela Cespedes
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some bullying and depictions of panic attacks. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Cassie is a pretty happy kid. She has a best friend, she likes playing imagination games, she loves her 4th grade teacher, and even though her family is big and they don’t have much money, she’s pretty content. But then things start to change: a third girl comes in between Cassie and her friend, and she tries too hard to keep the friendship together. She discovers a sweepstakes letter that says she’s won the Grand Prize – a trip, or furniture, or money! – and she sends in some magazine subscriptions to get it (ah, that’s a throwback!). She doesn’t like it when her mom tells others that Cassie is “too sensitive”. What seemed good now seems to be falling apart.

The thing I like best about Shannon Hale is that she just gets the Big Emotions that young kids can have. This is a book about Cassie and her Feelings, and I just felt the empathy Hale has for her character. She’s able to validate these emotions, to make them seem more substantive, to make the kids who have them feel seen. It’s remarkable.

I did enjoy the story, and choosing to place it in a time where there wasn’t cell phones or internet is a good choice (though how many kids today will know about those silly sweepstakes junk mailers?). I liked the art well enough, but found myself wishing for LeUyen Pham’s drawings instead (I don’t know why; maybe it’s because Hale and Pham make a great team?). In all, though, it’s a good graphic novel for the younger elementary reader.

Hurricane Heist

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by James Ponti
First sentence: “My life was filled with countless embarrassing athletic failures.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Others in the series: The Sherlock Society
Content: There is talk of murder, some intense situations, and friendship drama. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

It’s time to go back to school, and Alex, Lina, and Yadi don’t want to give up on solving mysteries. Thankfully, a hurricane hits their town just as school starts, which unearths a body buried in a pool. A body that was connected to an unsolved jewelry heist that happened when Alex’s grandfather was 12. The body of one of the grandfather’s friends. So, of course, they need to tackle solving the case: who stole the jewels, who killed Ignacio, and who framed him for the theft of the jewels.

Much like the first one in this excellent series, this one is a super-tight mystery, with humor and a bit of an undercurrent of drama (between Lina and Alex’s sister, Zoe), but mostly a focus on the hurricane that hits, its aftermath, and solving the mystery. (I do love that Grandpa comes along as adult supervision. That’s really fun.) It’s fun, it’s exciting, and I think it’s perfect for kids who want a mystery.

Audiobook: The Library of Unruly Treasures

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by Jeanne Birdsall
Read by Sorcha Groundsell
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is talk of neglectful parenting and some mildly harrowing moments. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

When Gwen MacKinnon is sent to live with her great-Uncle Matthew (whom she has never met) because her mother is off to Costa Rica with her boyfriend and her father got kicked out of the house of his third (soon-to-be-ex) wife, she doesn’t know what to expect. Probably nothing good, since nothing good ever happens. But what she finds when she gets there is a delightful human being in Matthew, a boon companion of a dog named Pumpkin, and the Lahdukan – who are NOT faeries, don’t even think that. The Lahdukan are convinced that Gwen is their new kalba (Matthew’s grown-up daughter Nora is their current one) and that Gwen is destined to help the MacKinnon clan and the Stewart clan (which is helpfully housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston) join together. Gwen, however, has her doubts: she’s never succeeded at much of anything. How can she succeed at leading not one, but TWO Lahdukan clans?

Oh, this was charming. I probably would have enjoyed it had I read it – I do love Birdsall’s writing (especially the way she writes dogs!) – but I adored it on audio. Groundsell is a delightful narrator, and she captures everything – from charming Uncle Matthew to Gwen’s anxieties, to Julia, the 6-year-old who lives upstairs, to the myriad personalities of the Lahdukan. It was one of those books that made me happy every time I turned it on, and one I didn’t want to stop listening to.

I think, too, that Birdsall did just the right amount of fantasy to make it work. She didn’t create new huge worlds, just added a fantastical element (but they could be real!) to this one. It came across just as charming and just as perfect as the Penderwicks books did. Which means, honestly, I’ll read pretty much anything Birdsall writes.

Highly recommended for kids of all ages (this one would make a great read-aloud!).

Audiobook: Graciela in the Abyss

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by Meg Medina
Read by Elena Rey
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some pretty intense and scary moments, as well as emotional abuse by parents. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Graciela accidentally died in the sea a long time ago, and woke up to be a ghost. She’s pretty content living her life until a series of things happen: her spirit guide, Amina, gets called to be a part of the ocean’s governing body; a spirit-killing harpoon gets unleashed (by accident) by a boy named Jorge; and then Graciela and Jorge have to destory the harpoon and save the sea.

Kind of. I think? The plot for this one kind of is immaterial – it’s all about Graciela’s growth. She starts the book selfish and annoying, and by the end she’s a decent human being. (At least, by the end I didn’t want to smack her as much.) Jorge was an abused child who just wanted to make things right. It’s a lot for a middle grade book.

And I had to move the narration up to 1.3x becuase it was sooooo slow at a slower speed. Like mind-numbingly slow.

I wish I had better things to say. I respect Medina and I’ve liked her books up to this point, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

The House with No Keyes

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by Lindsay Currie
First sentence: “West holds his end of the banner up against the wall and laughs.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: September 30, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Others in the series: The Mystery of Locked Rooms
Content: There are some intense moments. It will be in the Middle Grade (ages 8-12) section of the bookstore.

It’s a few months since the Deltas – Wes, Hannah, and Sarah – have solved the mystery, won the treasure, and opened up (with help) the Delta Game escape house. They’re mostly happy – there is some small friendship issues- with the way things are. But, then they get an invitation to try a new escape house: The Mystery Mansion. The personal invite says that if that can beat the house in under two hours, they will win $10,000. And it turns out that the kids – individually, not collectively – need the money. But, as they get into the house, there is definitely something suspicious going on.

I’m not sure this sequel needed to exist, but honestly, it was fun being back in an escape room with the Deltas. Currie has a gift for creating fun rooms (I wish they existed, even though I’d be crap at doing them), and it’s interesting to see how the kids figure out how to solve the rooms.

It was a fun read, and I’m sure fans of the first book will be glad to have another one to read.

Audiobook: Return to Sender

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by Vera Brosgol
Read by Michelle H. Lee
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments and it begins with a dead parent. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Oliver has moved a lot in the past year after his dad passed away. He has desperately wanted two things: his own bedroom and to grow up and follow his dad’s dream by opening a restaurant. He gets his first wish when his mom’s great-aunt passes away and leaves the apartment to her. Except there’s something weird in the apartment: A mail slot in the wall that goes nowhere. But, when Oliver slips in an accidental “wish” (for pizza!) and it comes true, he realizes what he’s got: his own personal wish-fulfiller. But, as his wishes get more and more grand, he starts realizing that the consequences of his actions are bigger and bigger.

I’ve enjoyed Brosgol’s graphic novels in the past, and I know she’s a good storyteller, but I didn’t know what to expect out of a prose novel from her. I didn’t need to worry (I didn’t, really): she’s an excellent writer, and this has everything that a middle grade novel needs. It reaches the kids where they are at, it’s funny and fast-paced, and it’s got a huge heart. I loved that at its heart it’s about the butterfly effect – how our actions have consequences, for good or ill – and about the disparity between rich and poor, and how unfair it is that rich people don’t often see the consequences of their actions. There’s a silly villain, there’s action and tension, and it’s just a lot of fun.

This one is good whatever way you read it: in the print version, Brosgol has included illustrations; in the audio version, Lee is an excellent narrator who makes the story that propels the story forward.

I hope many kids find this one, because it’s fantastic.

J vs. K

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by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft
First sentence: “J loved to draw.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at work.
Release date: May 6, 2025.
Content: The chapters are short, and it’s a mix between prose and comics. It will be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but it could probably skew younger for an advanced reader.

J is a fifth grader with a passion for drawing. He’s great at it and loves doing it. In fact, all his classmates at Dean Ashley Public School think he’s the greatest, so he is sure he could win the annual creativity contest the school holds. The only problem: K, a new kid, who is just as gifted at writing as J is at drawing. There’s no way either one of them will let the other get the best of him. That is, until they learn that maybe working together is the best way to go.

There’s not much to this story, and yet I had a grand time with it. It helps that Craft and Alexander are gently ribbing each other in commentary throughout the novel, that it’s a silly reason for two gifted, brilliant authors to work together, and to show that while there’s nothing wrong with competition, maybe working together is the better way to go. It’s based super loosely on Craft and Alexander’s real-life friendship/rivalry, which makes the whole thing that more hilarious and fun.

It’s a very silly book, but I loved it.