Check out these amazing book lists, organized by category:
- Action & Adventure Books
- Animal Books
- Books for Reluctant Readers
- Classic & Timeless Books
- Contemporary MG
- Diverse Books
- Early MG & Chapter Books
- Fantasy & Paranormal
- History & Historical Fiction
- Humorous
- Mystery, Suspense, & Horror
- Nonfiction
- Poetry & Verse
- Seasonal & Holiday
- The Truly Unique
Action & Adventure Books
- DESTINATION: BOOKS!: Let these titles take you around the world
- MYTH CONCEPTION: New spins on old mythological stories and characters
- OUT LOUD: Books that make great read-alouds
- RELUCTANT READERS: Our kid experts put in their two cents
- ROAD TRIP!!: Eye-opening journeys
- SURVIVAL STORIES: Kids making it on their own
- TIME TRAVEL TITLES: Books that aren’t always in the here and now
- WORLDS APART: Books that take place on faraway islands
Animal Books
- ANIMAL STORIES: Creating Compelling Animal Characters (NEW)
- CHICKENS: Books that feature chickens
- DRAGONS: A Magical Treat
- HOORAY FOR MICE: A “Mischief” of Mice Stories!
- HORSE BOOKS: For your ‘horsie’ kid
- HORSES, HEARTS AND HEALING: Can’t get enough of those horse books!
- MONKEYING AROUND: Books about Monkeys, for your monkeys
- NO DEAD DOGS: Middle grade books in which devoted canine companions survive and thrive!
Books for Reluctant Readers
- GRAPHIC NOVEL ROUND UP: Graphic-based novels for middle-grade readers
- HI-LO BOOKS: High-interest, Low-level books for older readers
- I JUST WANT HER TO READ SOMETHING!: Learn how “-ology” books attract reluctant and distracted readers
- LET’S GET GRAPHIC… NOVEL
- READER: IMPOSSIBLE
- RELUCTANT READERS: Our kid experts put in their two cents
- SHOW ME THE MONEY: Money makers and fortune seekers
- TWEENS AND MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS
Classic & Timeless Books
- BOOKS THAT SHAPED MIDDLE-GRADE: A list of influential books that have shaped the American middle-grade book experience
- CLASSIC TALES RETOLD: For a new spin on an old classic fairy or folk tale, read these…
- MYTH CONCEPTIONS: New spins on old mythological stories and characters
- SNUGGLE UP AND READ: Books to read by the fireplace on a cold, winter day
- THE TIMELESS INTRIGUE OF GREEK MYTHS: Greek Myths
- WHAT MAKES A MIDDLE-GRADE NOVEL TIMELESS?: Several experts chime in on timeless books
Contemporary MG
- CHANGING THE WORLD: One book at a time
- ORDINARY KIDS, EXTRAORDINARY STORIES: Contemporary realistic fiction at its best
- VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!: Books that feature/include characters with learning differences
- SHOW ME THE MONEY: Money makers and fortune seekers
Diverse Books
- ARE MULTICULTURAL BOOKS DEAD? MAYBE…MAYBE NOT.
- BEYOND BOLLYWOOD: South Asian American middle-grade fiction
- DESTINATION: BOOKS!: Let these titles take you around the world
- FAVORITE TITLES FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Celebrate the month with these suggestions
- FREEDOM SUMMER 1964: Looking back with a new generation
- HONORING ASIAN/ASIAN AMERICAN THEMED MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS
- LIVING LINCOLN’S WORDS: Books that exemplify the values of Abraham Lincoln
- M IS FOR MULTICULTURAL: Go global in your reading!
- MULTI-ETHNIC FAMILIES IN MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS
- ONE WORLD, MANY STORIES
- PICTURE THIS: Picture book windows to the world
Early MG & Chapter Books
- BIG KID BOOKS IN THE MIDDLE GRADE SECTION: Great picks for the younger MG reader
- BOOKS THAT HELP KIDS TAKE THE LEAP INTO MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS: Some titles that help kids with the transition from pictures to words
- EARLY CHAPTER BOOKS: A list of books on a new reader’s bookshelf
- HI-LO BOOKS: High interest, low level books for older readers
Fantasy & Paranormal
- ALL ABOARD THE FANTASY TRAIN: Titles for Harry Potter Fans
- AUDIOBOOKS: Great sounding middle grade books, perfect for those long summer drives!
- CLASSIC TALES RETOLD: For a new spin on an old classic fairy or folk tale, read these…
- DRAGONS: A magical treat
- A FANTASTICAL MIDDLE-GRADE MONDAY: A sampling of fantasy titles for a Monday or any day
- MAGIC (REALISM) FOR MUGGLES: Books people who hate fantasy will love
- MAGICAL REALISM: Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary
- MG BOOK-TO MOVIES: Middle-grade books that went on to make great films
- MYTH CONCEPTIONS: New spins on old mythological stories and characters
- NOT SO SCARY MONSTER MIDDLE GRADE: Monster books for boys and girls
- REALISTIC GIRLS AND FANTASTIC BOYS?: Includes a list of fantasy books with a girl protagonist
- SERIES GUIDE FOR FANTASY FANATICS
- SPINE-TINGLING READS: Spooky stories just right for Halloween night
- UNDER THE FANTASY UMBRELLA: Different Subgenres of Fantasy
History & Historical Fiction
- CHILD LABOR BOOKS: Fiction and nonfiction titles
- FREEDOM SUMMER 1964: Looking back with a new generation
- GETTING WILD-ER: Little House on the Prairie
- HOLIDAY TRADITIONS AND GIFT GIVING: The perfect books for your Holiday gift list
- HOLOCAUST REMEMBERANCE: Fiction and nonfiction titles
- MEMOIR AND MIDDLE GRADE
- PEOPLE OF COURAGE: Taking a stand for Freedom
- IN PRAISE OF HISTORICAL FICTION: Including suggestions from readers!
- READING AND WRITING BOSTON: MG books set in Boston. Cool Beans!
- SOMETHING WORTH FIGHTING FOR: Books about war
- A TASTE OF TITANIC: A few books to get you started
Humorous
- DARK HUMOR: A different brand of humor
- HUMOR AIN’T JUST IN THE BATHROOM: Books to make kids LOL
- OUT LOUD: Books that make great read-alouds
- RELUCTANT READERS: Our kid experts put in their two cents
Mystery, Suspense, & Horror
- CLEVER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS: A few good books for young mystery fans!
- IT’S A MYSTERY!: Books with a mysterious twist
- OUT LOUD: Books that make great read-alouds
- SCARY STORIES: Try these!
- SPINE-TINGLING READS: Spooky stories just right for Halloween night
Nonfiction
- ANYTHING FOR A VOTE: Books on politics, the White House, and the presidency
- AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: Autobiographies of Middle-Grade Authors
- BIOGRAPHIES: Before they were famous
- BIOGRAPHIES: The World Through Others’ Lives
- CHILD LABOR: Nonfiction and fiction
- DON’T BLOW YOUR TOP: Books about Mount St. Helens
- GETTING WILD-ER: Little House on the Prairie
- A HOW-TO WORLD: Books that teach you how to do just about anything!
- MEMOIR AND MIDDLE GRADE
- NONFICTION: The Nonfiction Family Tree
- THE NUMBER CRUNCH: Non-fiction for Math Lovers
- PLANET PAMPERING READS: Ecology, Recycling, Eco-friendly fun
- REAL GIRLS: The good, the bad, and the ugly of nonfiction
- REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11: Books that share the 9/11 experience
- SPRING INTO HAIKU: Resources for writing the art of the Haiku
- S.T.E.M. BOOKS: Making Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fun!
- A TASTE OF TITANIC: a few books to get you started
- TRENDS IN NON-FICTION: Check out these browseable and narrative non-fiction titles in response to the new Common Core
Poetry & Verse
- BIG STORIES IN SMALL PACKAGES: Choosing a novel in verse
- CHAPTER AND VERSE
- POETRY? EW!: Conquering your fear of poetry
- POETRY THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH: Books with silly verses
- SPRING INTO HAIKU: Resources for writing the art of the Haiku
Seasonal & Holiday
- BOOKS FOR HAPPY CAMPERS: Summer Camp Stories
- CRAFTY WAYS TO SPEND LATE SUMMER DAYS
- COZY WINTER READS: Curl up with one of these books with wintry settings
- EARTH DAY 2014: Inspiring a new generation of stewards
- EARTH DAY: The Original Earth Day
- EARTH DAY: Planet Pampering Picks, Part 2
- ELEVEN (BOOKS for) BIRTHDAYS: Some book suggestions for gift-giving
- FATHER’S DAY: Books with great fathers in them
- FAVORITE TITLES FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Celebrate the month with these suggestions
- GROW A GARDEN IN A BOOK: Books with flourishing gardens
- HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Creepy stories to give you a scare
- HAPPY PI DAY: Books that involve math
- HAPPY U.N. DAY: Changing the world, one book at a time
- HOLIDAY TRADITIONS AND GIFT GIVING: The perfect books for your Holiday gift list
- LEMONS = LOOT: Books for Summer
- A LIST OF LOVE: Books For Valentine’s Day
- PEOPLE OF COURAGE: Taking a stand for Freedom
- PLANET PAMPERING READS: Ecology, Recycling, Eco-friendly fun
- POLITICS: READING TO LIGHTEN UP ELECTION DAY
- REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11: Books that share the 9/11 experience
- ROAD TRIP!: Eye-opening journeys
- A SALUTE TO VETERANS: Books for Veterans’ Day
- SPRING: SPRING INTO CHANGE: BOOKS TO INSPIRE: See how these characters’ physical changes influence their stories
- SUMMER: Low-Tech Lemonade and Simpler Times
- WINTER: COOL OFF WITH A REFRESHING READ: Books with lots of snow
- WINTER: SNUGGLE UP AND READ: Books to read by the fireplace on a cold winter day
The Truly Unique
- ART AND LETTERS: Books inspired by works of art
- AUDIOBOOKS: Good Reads for the Road
- AUDIOBOOKS: Great sounding middle grade books, perfect for those long summer drives!
- BEST BOOKS FOR MIDDLE-GRADERS? Ask you independent bookseller
- BOOKS BY COLOR: A list of books based on the color of their covers
- BOOK FEAST: Enjoy a literary feast with these character-inspired cookbooks
- CELEBRATING STORIES ABOUT AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS
- CELEBRATING SEUSS: Dr. Seuss books and their middle-grade equivalents, in honor of Read Across America Day
- COMING OF AGE: a discussion and list of this interesting genre
- DESTINATION: BOOKS!: Let these titles take you around the world
- FAVORITE MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS: Author Mindy Alyse Weiss shares her favorite titles of the past few years
- FAVORITE NOVELS BY NEW AUTHORS, or authors new to the MG genre
- FOUR HAPPY ENDINGS
- I LAUGHED. I CRIED. I READ A BOOK. Books that engage your emotions
- LISTS STEMMING FROM FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKENWEILER: Mini lists – New York, Museums, Art Mysteries, Runaways, Trains, Miniature Protagonists
- LIVING LINCOLN’S WORDS: Books that exemplify the values of Abraham Lincoln
- MAKING ROOM FOR EVERYONE: Gender Nonconforming and Transgender Characters in Middle-Grade Novels
- MG BOOK-TO MOVIES: Middle-Grade Books that went on to make great films
- OCEAN READS FOR MIDDLE-GRADERS: Books based in the sea
- OUR FIRSTS: Author Jonathan Rosen shares his family’s list of the books that made them into readers
- OUT LOUD: Books that make great read-alouds
- READING AND WRITING BOSTON: MG books set in Boston. Cool Beans!
- THE READING FAMILY: Great read-aloud books for the whole family
- SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: Fun books to read when you’re sick (or distracting yourself from ongoing dental work)
- SPRING INTO CHANGE: BOOKS TO INSPIRE: See how these characters’ physical changes influence their stories
- THE THING ABOUT BIRTHDAYS: Middle-grade books where birthdays push the plot
- TIME TRAVEL TITLES: Books that leave the here and now
- WHAT THE MIXED-UP FILES AUTHORS THINK ABOUT… CHARACTERS LIKE US: Learn about some of our authors by reading about characters just like them
- WHO’S WATCHING THE KIDS? Stories About Nannies
