Best Early Readers, Middle Grade and YA as Chosen by Experts!
We had the honor of going to our favorite bookstore for an educators evening. It is an amazing night where the staff at Children’s Book World in Haverford talk about their favorite books and why they love them. Last year, I picked up books that have become my kids’ absolute favorites. I have to say that whenever I go into the store, they help my kids choose books that are right on point. They listen and direct my kids to books they come to love but might never have known about. This past week, we got so many amazing recommendations that we could not put them all in one post. Here are the best new early readers and middle grade as chosen by the experts at Children’s Book World. If you have never been to this fantastic gem of a store, stop by and tell them we sent you.
*This post may contain affiliate links. We get a small commission if you purchase an item from an affiliate.*
Early Readers
Baby Monkey Private Eye by Brian Selznick
“Who is Baby Monkey? He is a baby. He is a monkey. He has a job. He is Baby Monkey, Private Eye! Lost jewels?Missing pizza? Stolen spaceship? Baby Monkey can help… if he can put on his pants!
Baby Monkey’s adventures come to life in an exciting blend of picture book, beginning reader, and graphic novel. With pithy text and over 120 black and white drawings accented with red, it is ideal for sharing aloud and for emerging readers. ”
Gossie & Friends Big Book of Adventures by Olivier Dunrea
Romp, tromp, and stroll around the barnyard with the lovable gaggle of Gossie & Friends. The first six stories from Gossie’s world are collected in this bright and sturdy bind-up, perfect for emerging readers. Olivier Dunrea’s relatable themes and expressive illustrations will draw kids into these stories, while bonus downloadable audio with page-turn signals helps guide those who are just beginning to decode text on their own. This value-packed volume includes Gossie, Gossie and Gertie, Ollie, Ollie the Stomper, Peedie, BooBoo, Gideon, Gideon and Otto, and Jasper and Joop.
“Beloved storyteller Kate DiCamillo and cartoonist Harry Bliss introduce some delightfully doggy dogs in a warm, funny tale of a timid pup who needs a friend.
Rosie is a good dog and a faithful companion to her owner, George. She likes taking walks with George and looking at the clouds together, but the closest she comes to another dog is when she encounters her reflection in her empty dog bowl, and sometimes that makes Rosie feel lonely. One day George takes Rosie to the dog park, but the park is full of dogs that Rosie doesn’t know, which makes her feel lonelier than ever. When big, loud Maurice and small, yippy Fifi bound over and want to play, Rosie’s not sure how to respond. Is there a trick to making friends? And if so, can they all figure it out together?”
Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters: The Questioneers Book by
An instant New York Times Bestseller!
“Rosie Revere is no stranger to flops and fails, kerfuffles and catastrophes. After all, engineering is all about perseverance! But this time, Rosie has a really important project to tackle—one that feels much bigger than herself.
Rosie’s beloved Aunt Rose and her friends, the Raucous Riveters—a group of fun-loving gals who built airplanes during World War II—need help inventing something new. And Rosie is just the engineer for the job!
After one flop . . . then another . . . and another . . . Rosie starts to lose hope. But thanks to some help from her fellow Questioneers Iggy Peck and Ada Twist, Rosie gets the job done. And, along with the Riveters, she rediscovers the meaning of home. ”
The Princess and the Absolutely not a Princess (Miranda and Maude #1) by Emma Wunsch
“A princess and a revolutionary form an unexpected friendship in this charming, illustrated chapter-book series, perfect for fans of Judy Moody and Clementine!
Princess Miranda does not want to go to school. She wants to shoe shop, plan parties, and decorate the castle.
Maude cannot wait for school. She loves rules and social justice and getting good grades. She also loves hard-boiled eggs, much to Miranda’s dismay.
When a tense first week of school results in Maude getting excluded from the Royal Birthday Party, Maude decides she’s found her first fight for social justice: a birthday boycott.
This hilarious, heartfelt chapter-book series teaches empathy, and reminds us that your very best friend could be one desk away.”
Pinky Bloom and the Case of the Missing Kiddush Cup by Judy Press
Fourth-grader Peninaaka Pinkyis a Yankees fan, an older sister, and Brooklyn’s greatest kid detective. With the help of her pet cat DJ, her best pal Lucy Chang, and her little brother Avi, Pinky unravels a vexing mysterywhat happened to the ancient Jewish Kiddush cup that went missing from a museum exhibit? Pinky and her team get to the bottom of things through a series of exciting and intriguing adventures.
Middle Grade
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
“Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn’t like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead . . . and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost.
So things are already pretty strange. But they’re about to get much stranger. When Cass’s parents start hosting a TV show about the world’s most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And when Cass meets a girl who shares her “gift,” she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil — and herself.
And she’ll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.”
The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
“Imani is adopted, and she’s ready to search for her birth parents. But when she discovers the diary her Jewish great-grandmother wrote chronicling her escape from Holocaust-era Europe, Imani begins to see family in a new way.
Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to find her birth parents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she’s black and almost everyone she knows is white. Then her mom’s grandmother–Imani’s great-grandma Anna–passes away, and Imani discovers an old journal among her books. More…”
No Fixed Address by Susin Neilsen
Twelve-and-three-quarter-year-old Felix Knutsson has a knack for trivia. His favorite game show is Who What Where When; he even named his gerbil after the host. Felix’s mom, Astrid, is loving but can’t seem to hold on to a job. So when they get evicted from their latest shabby apartment, they have to move into a van. Astrid swears him to secrecy; he can’t tell anyone about their living arrangement, not even Dylan and Winnie, his best friends at his new school. If he does, she warns him, he’ll be taken away from her and put in foster care. More…”
The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm
“Ellie’s grandpa Melvin is a world-renowned scientist . . . in the body of a fourteen-year-old boy. His feet stink, and he eats everything in the refrigerator–and Ellie is so happy to have him around. Grandpa may not exactly fit in at middle school, but he certainly keeps things interesting. When he and Ellie team up for the county science fair, no one realizes just how groundbreaking their experiment will be. The formula for eternal youth may be within their reach! And when Ellie’s cat, Jonas Salk, gets sick, the stakes become even higher. But is the key to eternal life really the key to happiness? Sometimes even the most careful experiments yield unexpected–and wonderful–results.”
Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser
“While Isa is off at sleepaway orchestra camp, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney are stuck at home in the brownstone with nothing to do but get on one another’s nerves. But when catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbor, their sleepy summer transforms in an instant as the Vanderbeeker children band together to do what they do best: make a plan. They will create the most magical healing garden in all of Harlem. More…”
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
“A lightning strike gave her a super power…but even a super genius can’t solve the problem of middle school. This smart and funny novel is perfect for fans of The Fourteenth Goldfish, Rain Reign, and Counting by Sevens.
Lucy Callahan was struck by lightning. She doesn’t remember it, but it changed her life forever. The zap gave her genius-level math skills, and ever since, Lucy has been homeschooled. Now, at 12 years old, she’s technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test–middle school! More…“
Captain Superlative by J.S Puller
“Have no fear, citizens! Captain Superlative is here to make all troubles disappear!”
The Creature of the Pines (The Unicorn Rescue Society) by Adam Gidwitz
“Unicorns are real. (At least we think they are.)
Are you ready to protect the creatures of myth and legend? Then you belong in The Unicorn Rescue Society. HURRY–THE CREATURES NEED YOU!
Elliot Eisner isn’t exactly thrilled with the first day at his new school. His class is going on a field trip to a creepy forest called the Pine Barrens. The trip is being led by Professor Fauna, the weirdest teacher
Elliot has ever met. And the only kid who will talk to Elliot, Uchenna Devereaux, isn’t afraid of danger. She likes danger. More…”
Lulu the Broadway Mouse by Jenna Gavigan
“Ratatouille meets Broadway in this charming new middle grade novel about a little mouse with big dreams.
Lulu is a little girl with a very big dream: she wants to be on Broadway. She wants it more than anything in the world. As it happens, she lives in Broadway’s Shubert Theatre; so achieving her dream shouldn’t be too tricky, right? Wrong. Because the thing about Lulu? She’s a little girl mouse. More”
“What can I do to help save endangered animals? How can I eat healthy? Why do I need to cover my mouth when I cough? What do I do if I’m being bullied?
With information on problems both large and small, Chelsea Clinton breaks down the concepts of health, hunger, climate change, endangered species and bullying, so that readers can understand the world around them, and how they can make a difference in their own lives, as well as in their communities and the world at large. More…”
Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit
“Adventure, danger, and a thrilling global mission await 12-year-old Cruz Coronado as he joins an elite school for explorers.
Cruz leaves his tranquil home in Hawaii to join 23 talented kids from around the globe to train at the Explorer Academy with the world’s leading scientists to become the next generation of great explorers. But for Cruz, there’s more at stake. More…”
“This witty, heartfelt story about perseverance in the face of adversity is perfect for fans of R. J. Palacio, Cammie McGovern, and John David Anderson.
Noah Savino has been stuck in a wheelchair for months. He hates the way people treat him like he’s helpless now. He’s sick of going to physical therapy, where he isn’t making any progress. He’s tired of not having control over his own body. And he misses playing baseball—but not as much as he misses his dad, who died in the car accident that paralyzed Noah. More…”
Young Adult
“When her best friend dies under mysterious circumstances, Sophie sets off to stay with her cousins on the remote Isle of Skye. It’s been years since she last saw them–brooding Cameron with his scarred hand; Piper, who seems too perfect to be real; and peculiar little Lilias with her fear of bones.Still, Sophie never expected the strange new rules the family now lives by: Make no mention of Cameron’s accident. Never leave the front gate unlocked. Above all, don’t speak of the girl who’s no longer there, the sister whose death might have closer ties to Sophie’s past–and more sinister consequences for her future–than she ever knew.A wondrously haunting and modern thriller, Frozen Charlotte drips with mystery and madness, secrets and survival, and the chilling sense that the impossible might be all too real.”
- Shy around girls
- Really into comics
- Decent at basketball
Bijan Majidi is not: A terrorist
What happens when a kid who’s flown under the radar for most of high school gets pulled off the bench to make the winning basket in a varsity playoff game? More…”
Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
“Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia’s family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess–a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.
For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She’s endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside. More…”
A National Book Award Finalist!
Black Wings Beating by Alex London
“The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.
Brysen strives to be a great falconer―while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She’s nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe. More…”
We are Not Yet Equal: Understanding our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden
“Carol Anderson’s White Rage took the world by storm, landing on the New York Times bestseller list and best book of the year lists from New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Chicago Review of Books. It launched her as an in-demand commentator on contemporary race issues for national print and television media and garnered her an invitation to speak to the Democratic Congressional Caucus. This compelling young adult adaptation brings her ideas to a new audience. More…”
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
“Dear Evan Hansen,
Today’s going to be an amazing day and here’s why…
When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family’s grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. More…”
