Middle Grade and YA Mystery Books Cool Enough for 7th Graders

When Oli finds a girl buried alive in the same spot where her murdered sister was discovered, she’s convinced that the two disappearances are linked. She and the newly discovered girl start to trace clues, leading them to uncover a sinister serial kidnapper, murky family history, and friends who aren’t what they seem. This one took me on a WILD ride, and I was invested from start to finish, although the ending still left a couple of questions unanswered.

Weatherby is a new kid at the Boston School on a sailing scholarship and is immediately thrust into a world she knows nothing about. Old school phone booths, scrambled phone service at school, friends with kids who go to the country club.. and a boy who seems to hate her guts. It is told from two perspectives, Weatherby’s and Jack Hunt’s, a rich kid at the school who is also on the sailing team. When Jack, Weatherby, and their friends Pres, Iris, and Harper are contacted by what they think is the school’s famed secret society, they get sucked into a mission, only to unravel a deep secret about the Hunt family that involves Weatherby. The Liars Society is an intriguing, fast-paced, and tightly-plotted middle-grade mystery for younger middle-school readers who are hungry for some thrilling, suspenseful mysteries but aren’t old enough for traditional YA.

When Anna Hunt moves from Chicago to Wisconsin for her mother’s new job, she soon realizes that something’s off about her new eighth-grade class. One student, Rachel Riley, who was once popular is now treated as a social pariah. So when their English teacher assigns them an un-essay — which is an exploration of a topic in any other format besides an essay — Anna decides to investigate the question: What happened to Rachel Riley? Of course, the teacher rejects Anna’s topic despite her lawyer mom’s protests. But with some hesitant help from Rachel and some other schoolmates, Anna pieces together the mystery. What Happened to Rachel Riley? is a stellar middle grade mystery about sexual harassment, creativity, and standing up for something.

Hope Smith hates rich people, especially the Winterton family, particularly now that she’s learned that her dad was a Winterton. But thanks to a pressing need for money, Hope, her twin brother Gordon and her mom must compete in the Winterton’s charity spelling bee. After winning the preliminary round, the Smiths are whisked to Winterton Chalet to compete in the official Winterton Bee against their long-lost relatives. Hope wants to get in and out, but deceased matriarch Jane Winterton had other plans for this final family showdown—she set up a clue hunt throughout the manor. With tensions at an all-time high, a fortune at stake, and long-simmering family secrets about to boil to the surface, anything could happen. I’m halfway through this now, and it’s impossible to put down! Hand it to kids who love a treasure hunt, spelling bees, and twin stories.

Chokecherry, Colorado, is a small town where everyone knows everyone and all the kids have been together since kindergarten. There are a few new kids — one of whom is Jewish — whose parents work as paleontologists digging for dinosaur fossils in town. The small town is thrown into an uproar when a swastika is painted in the school building — and multiple swastikas continue to pop up throughout the school. Told from the POV of multiple kids, including Dana Levinson (the one Jewish kid), Michael Amoroso (a Latino boy), and Caroline (the seventh-grade class president) as they deal with the impact of the swastikas and work to create six million paper links to represent the Jews killed in the Holocaust.
Linked is a propulsive, compelling new middle grade release by veteran Gordon Korman combining serious issues with his trademark humorous characters

Rebellious teen, Milan, has been pulled out of yet another private boarding school when she’s in a plane crash with her mom. Her dad had died six months earlier in a car crash (with Milan in the car). Before her mom dies, she tells Milan that both crashes were not accidents and that someone is after their family. Forced to survive on her own while fleeing from the assassin on her tail, Milan has to find a way to live while staying off the radar and solving the mystery behind her parents’ death. This survival thriller kept me on the edge of my seat and is exceptional on audio!

Mia and her parents have moved to Vermont the summer after seventh grade to help look after her grandma. Before the move, Mia broke her arm falling off a balance beam in gymnastics. Since then, she’s packed up everything related to the sport she once loved, deciding to call it quits. However, both Mia and her parents are in for a shock when they reach Vermont. Mia’s grandmother, for one, doesn’t seem to need any care. In fact, she’s started a cricket farm! The only issue is that Mia’s grandmother is convinced that someone is trying to sabotage the farm — and there’s some evidence to back up her claims because weird disruptive things keep happening. Mia and her new friends find themselves caught up with solving the mystery of her grandma’s farm debacles while trying to develop business strategies to promote the farm and cricket demand. As Mia gets into day camp and begins making new friends, readers start to realize that there might be more behind Mia’s decision to quit gymnastics. Chirp is a worthy addition to the strong lineup of middle-grade books about consent and sexual harassment.

Viv and Noah have grown up together — Viv’s mom works for Noah’s wealthy family — and have an obvious near-sibling rivalry. Viv also resents Noah’s family’s influence and the fact that her mother has to work for them. The story opens with the two getting into a squabble right before school. They’re literally in Viv’s mother’s car about to be driven and Viv does end up smacking Noah and provoking a nosebleed (he’s prone to those). However, her mother’s bloodstained car seat becomes an issue when Noah fails to return from school. Viv’s mother, Lin, becomes one of the main suspects in Noah’s kidnapping. Viv is sure that Noah is sulking and deliberately trying to upset his parents. But when she goes in search of him, they both become embroiled in a bigger, life-threatening mystery. I would definitely recommend this one! Murder at Twilight is a compulsively readable middle-grade mystery. 

Max and his community are reeling from a night out gone wrong. Max and his friends Joey and Will went out with two older boys, but Will ended up unconscious and in a coma, and Joey won’t speak to Max anymore. Max also has ADHD and is over six feet tall at 11, which means he stands out in his class. Frustrated that he can’t figure out what happened to Will, Max teams up with an inquisitive classmate, but the truths he unravels aren’t pretty. Can Max get to the bottom of this mystery? A Perfect Mistake is a pitch-perfect middle grade mystery about honesty, peer pressure, and standing up for what’s right.

Emilia Bassano loves words, and although she plays several musical instruments, what she really wants to do is act on the stage. This is a book with a fascinating premise — it features real-life historical characters in a fictionalized setting. In fact, one of Emilia’s friends is THE William Shakespeare. Most interestingly, though, is what happens when Emilia uncovers a plot to kill the queen and is sent to save the queen. Perfect for theater kids who love a good historical mystery.

What happens when two girls who love basketball become best friends at school, only to find out that their dads can’t stand each other — and not because they coach the city’s rival basketball teams but because of something that happened years ago when THEY were middle schoolers? That’s the premise of this book. I loved this story because it’s told from both girls’ perspectives and also goes back in time every few chapters to tell us what happened to their dads from each one’s perspective! 

Wren’s is part Caucasian and part Cherokee and her Cherokee mother has been missing for a while despite her police Chief’s father’s efforts to find her. As Wren tries to hold on to the hope of her mother’s return, she begins to notice a string of animal abuse incidents in her town as she volunteers for a local animal shelter. Suspecting that her missing mom and the abuse incidents may be connected, Wren begins investigating on her own. This story is a great fit for readers looking for a slower paced mystery starring an Indigenous protagonist. The writing is accessible and Wren is an easy character to root for. Heads up for mentions of animal abuse.

Two kids, Colin and Nevaeh find letters belonging to two best friends in the 1970s and have to solve the mystery that tore that friendship apart even as a feud between their parents threatens to tear their friendship apart. This reminds me of Eulberg’s The Best Worst Summer and is a great choice for 7th graders looking for less intense mysteries.

This historical mystery combines the literary prowess of author Ruta Sepetys with Steve Sheinkin’s narrative skills as we follow two siblings during WWII in England trying to find their missing mother and help the British army defeat the Nazis. With two teenage protagonists, this one straddles the line between middle grade and YA, although the content is more middle grade than YA. It is gripping, hard to put down, and brilliantly plotted. Hand to fans of fast-paced mysteries, whether or not they love historical fiction.

British teen Pippa Fitz-Amobi has decided to do her senior capstone project on a local murder case that was closed 5 years ago. Five years ago, high schooler Andie Bell went missing, and her boyfriend Sal Singh sent his father a text admitting to the crime, after which he was found in what seemed like an apparent suicide. But Pip doesn’t buy it. With the help of Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, she investigates the events surrounding Andie’s disappearance and Sal’s murder. This is a thrilling teen murder mystery free of language and sexual content, with a clever, likable protagonist.

Rich kid Alice Ogilvie and her new tutor, Iris Adams, are forced to work together when one of Alice’s former besties (who stole her boyfriend) is found murdered with Alice’s ex-boyfriend as the prime suspect. As the two girls collaborate in this funny, cozy mystery, they end up finding a warm friendship with each other — and the shocking culprit.

Avery is a high schooler living in her car when she discovers she’s been named heiress to the fortune of Tobias Hawthorne, a man she never knew. There’s only one condition: She has to live in the family home with Hawthorne’s kids and grandsons (one of whom was heir apparent) for a year — while solving some intriguing riddles along the way. I didn’t love this one as much as many teens do, but it is a huge favorite, and I like that there’s barely any strong language. It’s also a traditional mystery with little to no gritty elements.