Middle Grade Books
Recommended books for middle grade readers (ages 6-12).
Across the Rainbow Bridge
- by K. Crossley-holland
Children's hardcover
$24.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $22.49
In a dramatic companion volume to Norse Myths, a Carnegie Medal winner revisits an ancient world of magic, mythology, and mountain trolls.
Step back into a sweeping landscape of green glades and glaciers where dwarves, frost giants, and ghosts roam and where gods and goddesses work their magic for Middle Earth, sometimes crossing the great rainbow bridge to come to the aid of humans. Five gripping new tales by Kevin Crossley-Holland plumb Norse mythology as never before, while Jeffrey Alan Love's illustrations give the epic figures bold new life. Eerie, lyrical, and arresting, this must-have companion book to Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki is the ideal gift for fantasy and mythology fans as well as newcomers to Viking lore.
Daughter of the Deep
- by Rick Riordan
Children's hardcover
$24.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $22.49
New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan pays homage to Jules Verne in his exciting modern take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
"If you have ever craved a story that will leave your heart racing, your lungs gasping from the numerous twists and turns, your soul heaving from the effort of now carrying an ensemble cast, you will find all that and more in these pages."--New York Times best-selling author Roshani Chokshi
Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family's she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.
But wait, there's more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.
Rick Riordan's trademark humor, fast-paced action, and wide cast of characters are on full display in this undersea adventure.
Complete your middle grade action-adventure collection with these titles:Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick RiordanArtemis Fowl by Eoin ColferRick Riordan Presents: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani ChokshiRick Riordan Presents: City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda
The Golden Hour
- by Niki Smith
Children's paperback
$16.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $15.29
From the author of The Deep & Dark Blue comes a tender graphic novel, perfect for our time, that gently explores themes of self-discovery, friendship, healing from tragedy, and hope for a better tomorrow.
Struggling with anxiety after witnessing a harrowing instance of gun violence, Manuel Soto copes through photography, using his cell-phone camera to find anchors that keep him grounded. His days are a lonely, latchkey monotony until he's teamed with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project.
Sebastian lives on a grass-fed cattle farm outside of town, and Manuel finds solace in the open fields and in the antics of the newborn calf Sebastian is hand-raising. As Manuel aides his new friends in their preparations for the local county fair, he learns to open up, confronts his deepest fears, and even finds first love.
This title will be simultaneously available in hardcover.
Dungeons & Dragons
- by Madeleine Roux
Children's hardcover
$15.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $14.39
From New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux and acclaimed artist Tim Probert comes an all-new original Dungeons & Dragons middle grade series!
Welcome to Dungeon Academy, where monsters and creatures train for the dark world that awaits just beyond the dungeon walls! But Zellidora "Zelli" Stormclash is a bit--different. She's the one thing monsters and creatures of the Forgotten Realms fear the most: Zelli is a human!
Knowing she'll never be accepted, Zelli's parents disguise her as a minotaur in hopes she'll blend with the academy's monstrous surroundings. Zelli does her work, keeps to herself, and becomes "invisible" to everyone.
While in History of Horrible Humans class, Zelli learns of the great human adventurer, Allidora Steelstrike, who oddly resembles her. Could Zelli also be a Steelstrike? Seeking answers to her true lineage, Zelli embarks on a dangerous adventure.
But she won't be alone. A vegan owlbear, a cowardly kobold, and a shapeshifting mimic will join Zelli on her quest for truth in a world that holds no place for them. And who knows? Perhaps these monstrous misfits may discover some truths of their own . . .
Get ready for humor, heart, magic, and adventure as middle graders and beyond learn to embrace who they are, accept others' differences, and discover that making mistakes is OK--as long as you learn from them.
Tidesong
- by Wendy Xu
Children's paperback
$15.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $14.39
*Indie Next List pick*
Perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli and The Tea Dragon Society, this is a magically heartwarming graphic novel about self-acceptance and friendship.
Sophie is a young witch whose mother and grandmother pressure her to attend the Royal Magic Academy--the best magic school in the realm--even though her magic is shaky at best. To train for her entrance exams, Sophie is sent to relatives she's never met.
Cousin Sage and Great-Aunt Lan seem more interested in giving Sophie chores than in teaching her magic. Frustrated, Sophie attempts magic on her own, but the spell goes wrong, and she accidentally entangles her magic with the magic of a young water dragon named Lir.
Lir is trapped on land and can't remember where he came from. Even so, he's everything Sophie isn't--beloved by Sophie's family and skilled at magic. With his help, Sophie might just ace her entrance exams, but that means standing in the way of Lir's attempts to regain his memories. Sophie knows what she's doing is wrong, but without Lir's help, can she prove herself?
5 Worlds Book 5
- by Mark Siegel
Children's paperback
$17.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $16.19
Oona and her friends face their ultimate challenge in the final installment of the graphic sci-fi fantasy series that's Star Wars meets Avatar: The Last Airbender!
In the epic conclusion to the 5 Worlds series, the final battle looms as Oona, Jax, and An Tzu travel to the treacherous world of Grimbo (E)! There, Oona must light the last beacon to save the 5 Worlds, but first she has to find it! When Jax saves an old friend, Oona is given a clue to the green beacon's location.
Unfortunately, the journey to lighting it on this strange, watery planet is the most dangerous yet. Meanwhile, Stan Moon has one more trick up his sleeve as his frightening powers and mysterious connection to An Tzu continue to grow. How can Oona ever hope to beat him? Can she count on her friends or will a terrible betrayal mean the 5 Worlds will be lost to evil forever?
The 5 Worlds series: #1: The Sand Warrior, #2: The Cobalt Prince, #3: The Red Maze, #4: The Amber Anthem, #5: The Emerald Gate
Marshmallow & Jordan
- by Alina Chau
Children's paperback
$21.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $19.79
Jordan's days as star player for her school's basketball team ended when an accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. Now, she's still the team captain, but her competition days seem to be behind her...until an encounter with a mysterious elephant, who she names Marshmallow, helps Jordan discover a brand new sport.
Will water polo be the way for Jordan to continue her athletic dreams--or will it just come between Jordan and her best friends on the basketball team? And with the big tournament right around the corner, what secret is Marshmallow hiding?
The Brightest Night (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #5)
- by Tui T. Sutherland
Children's paperback
$16.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $15.29
The graphic novel adaptations of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series continue to set the world on fire!One will have the power of wings of fire . . .
Sunny has always taken the Dragonet Prophecy very seriously. If Pyrrhia's dragons need her, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight to end the war, she's ready to try. She even has some good ideas how to do it, if anyone would listen to her.
But shattering news from Morrowseer has shaken Sunny's faith in their destiny. Is it possible for anyone to end this terrible war and choose a new SandWing queen? What if everything they've been through was for nothing?
Buried secrets, deadly surprises, and an unexpected side to scavengers are all waiting for her in the shifting sands of the desert, where Sunny must decide once and for all: Is her destiny already written?
Or can five dragonets change their fate and save the world . . . the way they choose?
Batman and Robin and Howard
- by Jeffrey Brown
Children's hardcover
$13.50 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $12.15
Sidelined by a crime-fighting field trip gone wrong, Damian Wayne must refocus his attention on his life as an average student and learning how to be a team player--especially when he meets his match in his new rival, Howard.
To Damian Wayne, there is nothing more important than protecting the streets of Gotham City as Robin. But when he makes a critical mistake while out on patrol, Damian finds himself benched. And what's more, Damian's dad, Bruce Wayne--a.k.a. Batman--decides that starting over in a new school will be just the distraction Damian needs from his superhero routine.
Certain that Gotham Metro Academy has nothing to teach him, Damian is completely unprepared for the challenge he finds in Howard--the smartest and most athletic kid in school. The boys' rivalry is instantaneous and fierce...and both are sure only one of them can be the best in their class.
What follows is a funny story of rivalry, friendship, and mystery from bestselling author and illustrator Jeffrey Brown.
Cat Kid Comic Club
- by Dav Pilkey
Children's hardcover
$15.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $14.39
Cat Kid Comic Club is back in session in this groundbreaking graphic novel narrative by Dav Pilkey, the worldwide bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of Dog Man.Flippy, Molly, Li'l Petey, and twenty-one baby frogs each have something to say. Naomi and Melvin don't see eye to eye and Poppy perceives the world differently than her siblings. Will the baby frogs figure out how to work together and appreciate one another's point of view -- both inside and outside the classroom?
The shenanigans are nonstop and the baby frogs' minicomics are funny and full of heart. Creating stories within a story, author and illustrator Dav Pilkey uses a variety of techniques -- including acrylic paints, colored pencils, Japanese calligraphy, photography, collage, gouache, watercolors, and much more -- to portray each frog's perspective. The kaleidoscope of art styles, paired with Pilkey's trademark storytelling and humor, fosters creativity, collaboration, independence, and empathy. Readers of all ages will relish this joyful graphic novel adventure.
The School Between Winter and Fairyland
- by Heather Fawcett
Children's hardcover
$21.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $19.79
A fresh and exciting twist on magical boarding schools, the well-loved Chosen One trope, and the nature of true heroism--from the author of The Language of Ghosts and Ember and the Ice Dragons. Perfect for fans of middle grade fantasies including the Serafina series by Robert Beatty and Neil Gaiman's Coraline.
Twelve-year-old Autumn Malog is a servant at the enchanting Inglenook School, where young magicians study to become the king's future monster-hunters. Along with her Gran and three too many older brothers, she works as a beastkeeper, tending to Inglenook's menagerie of terrifying monsters.
But when she isn't mucking out the wyvern stalls or coaxing the resident boggart to behave, Autumn searches for clues about her twin brother's mysterious disappearance. Everyone else thinks he was devoured by the feared Hollow Dragon, but Autumn is convinced she's heard--and glimpsed--him calling to her from within the castle walls. But who will believe a lowly servant?
So when Cai Morrigan, the "Chosen One" prophesied to one day destroy the Hollow Dragon, comes to her for help, Autumn agrees on one condition: Together, they'll search for her brother and uncover the dark truth at the heart of enchanting Inglenook School once and for all.
Big Shot (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 16)
- by Jeff Kinney
Children's hardcover
$17.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $16.19
In Big Shot, book 16 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney, Greg Heffley and sports just don't mix.
After a disastrous field day competition at school, Greg decides that when it comes to his athletic career, he's officially retired. But after his mom urges him to give sports one more chance, he reluctantly agrees to sign up for basketball.
Tryouts are a mess, and Greg is sure he won't make the cut. But he unexpectedly lands a spot on the worst team.
As Greg and his new teammates start the season, their chances of winning even a single game look slim. But in sports, anything can happen. When everything is on the line and the ball is in Greg's hands, will he rise to the occasion? Or will he blow his big shot?
See the Wimpy Kid World in a whole new way with the help of Greg Heffley's best friend in the instant #1 bestsellers Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal, Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure, and Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories!
The Nightsilver Promise (Celestial Mechanism Cycle #1)
- by Annaliese Avery
Children's hardcover
$23.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $21.59
The first in a brand-new, richly-immersive, magical fantasy trilogy from debut author Annaliese Avery, perfect for fans of Philip Pullman, Cornelia Funke, and Diana Wynn Jones.
Defy your stars, rewrite the future.
In the empire of Albion, the Great Dragons of old are long gone--hunted for centuries by cruel emperors fearing the power they possessed. Now governed by the science of Celestial Physicists, everyone's life is foretold by the track of stars on their wrist.
When Paisley Fitzwilliam receives her track, she discovers that she is destined to die before the end of her fourteenth turning. Then, when her mother goes missing, Paisley is the only one left who can protect her Dragon Touched brother, Dax, from being exposed as a descendant of the Great Dragons and taken by the Emperor's men.
But an ancient power stalks the sewers of London--the Dark Dragon is rising, intent on restoring the Great Dragons of old at any cost, even if that means tearing Paisley's family apart.
To save her brother, Paisley must trust her instincts and forge new friendships as she attempts to outrun fate itself. Her journey will take her across the floating boroughs of London Above, through a vault guarded by Dragon Walkers, and into the dark sewers of London Below in order to unlock an ancient secret that will not only defy her stars, but will change the course of history forever.
Stuntboy, in the Meantime
- by Jason Reynolds
Children's hardcover
$16.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $15.29
From Newbery Medal honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a hilarious, hopeful, and action-packed middle grade novel about the greatest young superhero you've never heard of, filled with illustrations by Raúl the Third!
Portico Reeves's superpower is making sure all the other superheroes--like his parents and two best friends--stay super. And safe. Super safe. And he does this all in secret. No one in his civilian life knows he's actually...Stuntboy!
But his regular Portico identity is pretty cool, too. He lives in the biggest house on the block, maybe in the whole city, which basically makes it a castle. His mom calls where they live an apartment building. But a building with fifty doors just in the hallways is definitely a castle. And behind those fifty doors live a bunch of different people who Stuntboy saves all the time. In fact, he's the only reason the cat, New Name Every Day, has nine lives.
All this is swell except for Portico's other secret, his not-so-super secret. His parents are fighting all the time. They're trying to hide it by repeatedly telling Portico to go check on a neighbor "in the meantime." But Portico knows "meantime" means his parents are heading into the Mean Time which means they're about to get into it, and well, Portico's superhero responsibility is to save them, too--as soon as he figures out how.
Only, all these secrets give Portico the worry wiggles, the frets, which his mom calls anxiety. Plus, like all superheroes, Portico has an arch-nemesis who is determined to prove that there is nothing super about Portico at all.
Out of My Heart
- by Sharon M. Draper
Hardcover
$22.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $20.69
Melody faces her fears to follow her passion in this stunning sequel to the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling middle grade novel Out of My Mind.
Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older, and a year braver. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing's out of her reach, not even summer camp. There have to be camps for differently-abled kids like her, and she's going to sleuth one out. A place where she can trek through a forest, fly on a zip line, and even ride on a horse! A place where maybe she really can finally make a real friend, make her own decisions, and even do things on her own--the dream!
By the light of flickering campfires and the power of thunderstorms, through the terror of unexpected creatures in cabins and the first sparkle of a crush, Melody's about to discover how brave and strong she really is.
