Middle Grade Books
Recommended books for middle grade readers (ages 6-12).
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston
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Children's hardcover
$24.49 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $22.04
"These heroes come in all shapes and skills--I cheered for them throughout their exciting journey." --#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce
In a magical medieval world filled with dragons, shape-shifters, and witches, a twelve-year-old nonbinary hopeful knight battles for the heart of their kingdom. A thrilling middle-grade series opener that explores identity and gender amid sword fights and magic, and proves anyone can be a hero.
When their ex-hero dad is summoned back to the royal capital of Helston to train a hopeless crown prince, Callie lunges at the opportunity to finally prove themself worthy to the kingdom's "great and powerful." Except the intolerant great and powerful look at nonbinary Callie and only see girl. But Callie has always known exactly what they want to be, and they're not about to let anything stand in their way.
Trapped in Helston's rigid hierarchy where girls learn magic and boys train as knights, Callie discovers they aren't alone--there's Elowen, the chancellor's brilliant daughter, whose unparalleled power is being stifled; Edwyn, Elowen's twin brother desperate to win his father's approval; and Willow, the crown prince who was never meant to be king.
In this start to an epic series packed with action, humor, and heart, Callie and their new friends quickly find themselves embedded in an ancient war--and their only hope to defeat the threats outside the kingdom lies in first defeating the bigotry within.
Stellarlune
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Children's hardcover
$29.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $26.99
In this stunning ninth book in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Sophie and her friends discover the true meaning of power--and evil.
Sophie Foster changed the game.
Now she's facing impossible choices:
When to act.
When to trust.
When to let go.
Her friends are divided and scattered, and the Black Swan wants Sophie to focus on their projects. But her instincts are leading her somewhere else.
Stellarlune--and the mysterious Elysian--might be the key to everything. But finding truth in the Lost Cities always requires sacrifice. And as the Neverseen's plans sharpen into terrifying focus, it appears that everyone has miscalculated. The Lost Cities' greatest lie could destroy everything. And in the battle that follows, only one thing is certain: nothing will ever be the same.
The Power of the Pearl Earrings
- Linda Trinh 
, Clayton Nguyen
Children's paperback
$8.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $8.09
A charming early chapter book series that explores Vietnamese culture and identity through the eyes of the Nguyen siblings, with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in.
I touch my earrings and feel a rush of wind. I can almost hear Grandma N?i's laughter through them.
Spontaneous and energetic Liz, the middle Nguyen sibling, grew up hearing stories from her Grandma N?i about the fantastically fierce Trung Sisters, freedom fighters in ancient Vietnam. And with a new school year about to start, Liz is determined that her taekwondo classes will prove she is just as important and brave as the famous warriors. That is, until the new boy at school, Michael, threatens her plans by turning her best friend against her, telling her the things she can't do because she's a girl. Struggling with both her friendships and her place in her family, Liz finds help where she least expects it--in the pearl earrings her Grandma N?i left her as a gift, reminding her of her Vietnamese heritage. Armed with the earrings' mysterious power, Liz decides to show Michael exactly what girls are capable of.
The Secret of the Jade Bangle
- Linda Trinh , Clayton Nguyen
Children's paperback
$8.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $8.09
"Engaging and empowering." --STARRED review, Nonstop Reader
A charming early chapter book series that explores Vietnamese culture and identity through the eyes of the Nguyen siblings, with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in.
Organized and introspective nine-year-old Anne Nguyen misses her Grandma N?i, a lot. But even though Grandma N?i passed away, it doesn't mean she's disappeared.
When Anne and her younger siblings Jacob and Liz are given gifts passed on to them by Grandma, Anne soon realizes that hers--a beautiful jade bangle--has a secret power. One that might just give her the strength to stand up to her ballet teacher, who treats her differently than her white classmates, and embrace her Vietnamese identity through cooking Grandma's recipes. No matter how difficult things get, Anne learns that the love of her ancestors is always with her.
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen
- Marthe Jocelyn
Children's hardcover
$22.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $20.69
For young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, an opportunity to dig up fossils becomes even more thrilling when a corpse washes ashore in this fourth book in the Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series, inspired by the life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. For fans of Enola Holmes.
After an invigorating but not exactly restful trip to a Yorkshire spa during which she survived a near brush with death and foiled a murderer, aspiring writer Aggie Morton and her friend Hector are thrilled to have the opportunity to stay at a camp by the sea and watch real paleontologists at work. The famed husband and wife team of the Blenningham-Crewes are about to become even more famous with the recovery of the fossilized bones of an ichthyosaur from the sea by Lyme Regis. This news has already caught the attention of an American millionaire, a British museum and a travelling circus owner, who each want the bones for their own collections. Tensions are running high throughout the camp, from the cook, to the collectors, to the Blenningham-Crewes themselves, and become downright dangerous after Aggie and Hector make a discovery of their own: a body on the beach. Not a fossil, but a human body.
The Bad Guys in the Others?! (The Bad Guys #16)
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Children's paperback
$8.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $8.09
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!
"I wish I'd had these books as a kid. Hilarious!" -- Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants and Dog Man
They may look like Bad Guys, but these wannabe heroes are doing good deeds... whether you like it or not in this New York Times bestselling illustrated series.
OK. A lot of the stuff we said on the back of the last book was NOT TRUE. We now admit that The Bad Guys is WEIRD. We also admit that it features ALL the weird stuff we said it didn't. PLUS there's now a whole bunch of even weirder stuff involving an over-sharing bat, a really scary new character who lives in the woods, and a strangely confident little guy with a mullet. So, uh, don't relax, maybe FREAK OUT a little and have your MIND BLOWN by the BAD GUYS!
The Late, Great Endlings
- Deborah Kerbel ,
Children's hardcover
$21.95 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $19.76
?"This beautiful dedication to these special animals brings the reality and the irreversible finality of extinction to the forefront and calls on readers to act now, before so many other animals become endlings. Highly recommended for all collections."--Booklist, starred review The endlings: the last known survivors of a species. Something that you may not know: in each and every case of a disappearing species, extinction had a face. Over the past 500 years, thousands of species of plants and animals have become extinct. The Late, Great Endlings pays homage to some of the more well-known endlings of the past century with rhyming stanzas that accompany watercolor illustrations and factual descriptions of each animal, along with the circumstances that led to their species' extinction. Together, these portraits of animals, like the passenger pigeon, the Pinta Island tortoise and the Tasmanian tiger, are a poignant symbol of a world irreversibly altered by human development, habitat loss and climate change. Readers are invited to reflect on the interconnectedness of all life forms on our planet with an additional look at animals that are at risk of becoming extinct in our lifetime. Concluding on a hopeful note, the final page offers suggestions for what kids can do to change the course of this mass species extinction crisis.
I Am Me
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Children's hardcover
$19.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $17.99
Embrace individuality and being your authentic self in this companion to New York Times bestsellers I Am Human and I Am Love!
Sometimes I stand out in a crowd.
Sometimes I am not seen at all, and I feel alone.
I start to ask myself, why can't I blend in? Fit the mold?
But when I stop and look, I see nothing in this world is exactly the same.
Sometimes we hide who we really are to conform to the way we think we are supposed to be in the world. Sometimes we compare ourselves to others and feel we don't fit in. But when we realize we are something to be celebrated, and we proudly live out loud as our true selves, we can make our unique mark on the world--and share our joy!
From the New York Times bestselling team behind the I Am series comes a bighearted celebration of individuality, of being comfortable in our own skin, respecting others for who they are, living authentically, and loving ourselves. For anyone who's ever felt like too much or not enough, I Am Me is an affirming reminder that difference is what makes life beautiful--and that each of us matters, just as we are.
Ice Cycle
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Children's hardcover
$27.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $25.19
Pancake ice, floebergs, glaciers, icicles . . . cold temperatures create an astonishing variety of ice forms! From Maria Gianferrari, award-winning author of Play Like an Animal!,comes a beautiful collaboration between verse and science. Brief poems and ethereal illustrations introduce readers to the many different types of ice on land and at sea. Fascinating back matter provides additional information about water as a solid, liquid, and gas, as well as more details about the unique forms of ice mentioned in the poems. Celebrate winter with this evocative and atmospheric exploration of ice!
Fox and Bear
- Miriam Korner
Children's hardcover
$21.95 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $19.76
Fox and Bear live happily in the forest until Fox decides to make life more productive and efficient. When Fox's inventions set off a chain of events that complicates life in unexpected ways, Bear is faced with the difficult decision about how he wants to live. This a modern fable that raises existential questions for readers of all ages. The illustrations for Fox and Bear were created using recycled paper cut-outs and cardboard dioramas.
Diper Overlode (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 17)
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Hardcover
$17.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $16.19
In Diper Överlöde, book 17 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney, Greg Heffley is finding out that the road to fame and glory comes with some hard knocks.
When he decides to tag along with his brother Rodrick's band, Löded Diper, Greg doesn't realize what he's getting into. But he soon learns that late nights, unpaid gigs, fighting between band members, and money troubles are all part of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
Can Greg help Löded Diper become the legends they think they are? Or will too much time with Rodrick's band be a diper överlöde?
Infinity
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Children's hardcover
$26.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $24.29
The whole universe flows in eternal natural cycles, and this poetic journey captures the beauty of how nothing disappears and everything is infinite!
With all things that exist in the universe, when they come to an end, they start over. Nothing disappears completely; everything is transformed over and over again. When winter ends, spring sprouts. After the night, a new day dawns, and from the fruit that has fallen on the ground, a tree grows . . . These are the magical cycles of the universe, and this book shows some of them from the cycle of water and the life cycle of butterflies and humans to the phases of the moon and the seasons of the year. Each cycle is represented by a simple definition and an illustration that identifies the main phases, and is followed by an observation to link the concept and a quote for the reader to reflect upon before moving on. So whether you are following the migration of birds or discovering the powerful sequence of the food chain, you can trace the progression of science and nature in a way to better understand our existence. Welcome to an incredible journey through infinity!
o A circular die cut on the cover symbolizes the continuous process of transformation and encourages young readers to open up and discover these magical cycles
o The mix of science, poetry, and art is structured in a way that children will be drawn into these 11 natural cycles that are part of everyday life and the concept of cyclical time, where nothing disappears and everything is transformed
Anne
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Children's paperback
$16.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $15.29
In this modern graphic novel retelling of Anne of Green Gables from graphic novelist Kathleen Gros, foster kid Anne Shirley finally lands in a loving home and befriends a girl who she may have more-than-friends feelings for.
Anne Shirley has been in foster care her whole life. So when the Cuthberts take her in, she hopes it's for good. They seem to be hitting it off, but how will they react to the trouble that Anne can sometimes find herself in . . . like accidentally dyeing her hair green or taking a dangerous dare that leaves her in a cast?
Then Anne meets Diana Barry, a girl who lives in her apartment building, the Avon-Lea. The two become fast friends, as Anne finds she can share anything with Diana. As time goes on, though, Anne starts to develop more-than-friends feelings for Diana.
A new foster home, a new school, and a first-time crush--it's a lot all at once. But if anyone can handle life's twists and turns, it's the irrepressible Anne Shirley.
Scaredy Squirrel Visits the Doctor
- Melanie Watt
Children's hardcover
$23.99 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $21.59
Scaredy Squirrel is exactly the character kids need today -- a little bit anxious, a lot adorable and totally lovable. Join Scaredy on a hilarious adventure as he learns to brave the doctor for a check-up!
Scaredy Squirrel keeps himself in peak physical condition. He exercises, eats a balanced diet, sings opera (to keep his lungs in shape, of course) and brushes his teeth. You might think it's to stay fit, but no -- he'd rather keep a healthy distance from the doctor's office! After all, who'd want to expose themselves to the the aches and pains of pricking, poking and squeezing? It's a prescription for disaster!
Scaredy can't avoid the doctor forever though, and when he realizes that he needs to make a quick visit to Dr. Vet to get his health certificate, he does whatever it takes to keep safe while he waits at the clinic . . . including covering himself in bubble wrap. Things don't go according to plan, and Scaredy ends up discovering that his doctor's visit leaves him feeling better than ever!
Weird Rules to Follow
- Kim Spencer
Children's paperback
$12.95 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $11.66
?"Readers will be left with a rich image of Mia's world and the family and people that surround her as well as a strong sense of how culture and class impact people's experiences. A touching exploration of identity and culture."--Kirkus Reviews Mia knows her family is very different than her best friend's. In the 1980s, the coastal fishing town of Prince Rupert is booming. There is plenty of sockeye salmon in the nearby ocean, which means the fishermen are happy and there is plenty of work at the cannery. Eleven-year-old Mia and her best friend, Lara, have known each other since kindergarten. Like most tweens, they like to hang out and compare notes on their crushes and dream about their futures. But even though they both live in the same cul-de-sac, Mia's life is very different from her non-Indigenous, middle-class neighbor. Lara lives with her mom, her dad and her little brother in a big house, with two cars in the drive and a view of the ocean. Mia lives in a shabby wartime house that is full of relatives--her churchgoing grandmother, binge-drinking mother and a rotating number of aunts, uncles and cousins. Even though their differences never seemed to matter to the two friends, Mia begins to notice how adults treat her differently, just because she is Indigenous. Teachers, shopkeepers, even Lara's parents--they all seem to have decided who Mia is without getting to know her first.
