Middle Grade

Dream On

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by Shannon Hale, illustrated by Marcela Cespedes
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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
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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.

Audiobook: Deep Dark

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by Zohra Nabi
Read by Sarah Ovens
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense parts, jump scares, and neglectful/bad parenting. It would be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore if it existed in physical form.

Cassia Thorne has spent half of her life in a debtor’s prison in London, eking out what living she could while her father slowly descended into madness. She has made her way as a flute player at the Bartholomew Fair, but this year, she has hopes of something grander: to write and sell the songs that everyone sings. But, her quest for a grander life is waylaid when her friend’s younger brother goes missing. And suddenly Cassia is thrust into the underworld of London, a world of monsters and greedy men, a world where poor children go missing solely because no one will think to go looking for them.

Can Cassia help before it’s too late?

I pitched this one to my coworkers as Dickens with a kraken, and they all agreed: who wouldn’t want to read that? I do have to admit, I was a little disappointed there was an actual monster; I was kind of hoping for a straight-up historical mystery. That said, Nabi did a fantastic job weaving both the speculative aspect of an actual monster in the tunnels under London with the historical elements of class and the way poor people had to scrape to make it.

Ovens was a fantastic narrator, though, keeping the story moving forward, and keeping me engaged enough to keep wanting to listen. I’m sad there isn’t a physical publication of the book in the US; I can think of a handful of kids who would love this one.

But it’s fantastic on audio.

The Trouble with Heroes

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by Kate Messner
First sentence: “If I were a better kid, this story would begin with my seventh-grade diploma.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is PTSD and the death of a parent. (But not the dog.)

Finn Connelly is angry. So angry that he kicked over the tombstone in the local graveyard of his small town. Except, it turns out that the tombstone was the one of a locally famous mountain hiker. And her daughter offers Finn a deal: hike all 46 of the Adirondack HIgh Peaks, taking her mother’s dog, by Labor Day and she’ll dismiss the charges. Finn doesn’t have a choice: he and his mother can’t afford to replace the tombstone. So, it’s off to the mountains for reparations.

At first it’s not fun – he doesn’t like the “nannies” that have been assigned to accompany him on the hikes, he doesn’t want to wear hiking boots, he doesn’t like the dog…. but as the summer goes on, Finn finds out that maybe nature is healing. And he’s got healing to do – his father was a first responder on 9/11 and died couple years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Finn has yet to process that death. And, maybe, hiking the mountains will help.

This one was absolutely stunning. I loved the verse format – it’s partially because Finn needs to finish an ELA assignment to write 20 poems on heroes – and felt that it helped with the emotional impact of the book. Because this book packs an emotional punch. It’s funny and heartwarming, and yet the grief and loss is palpable. I just hope it’s one of those books that kids will actually like.

Because I loved it.

Audiobook: All the Blues in the Sky

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by Renée Watson
Read by Bahni Turpin
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: This talks pretty explicitly about the violent death (due to a hit-and-run) of a beloved friend. It may touch some nerves with sensitive readers. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Sage’s thirteenth birthday party was supposed to be a fun afternoon and evening with her best friend. Except that, on her way to Sage’s party, her best friend was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver. Suddenly, Sage’s world is turned upside down as she deals with the tragic death of her closest friend. It’s not easy: she’s dealing with survivor’s guilt, with the sympathy (and pity) of her classmates, and just learning to make new friends. It’s not an easy journey, and even as she grieves, new, good things come into her life.

Watson is a remarkable writer, and is able to capture so much emotion and pain and sadness in so few words. Sage’s pain and heartbreak and grief came through the page (well, audiobook) loud and clear. Some of that, though, is Turpin’s excellent narration. She’s long been one of my favorite narrators, mostly because she captures the essence of the characters and the words so well. I felt Sage’s pain. And yet, the book was hopeful. Sage was beginning to work through the grief and guilt, good things were happening. And when more bad news came, Sage was better equipped to deal with it. I know kids shouldn’t “have to” deal with things like this, but the truth is they do. And having a book that can help them see what the grieving process might look like is an incredibly helpful thing.

It’s also an excellent book for its own sake.