Mature Middle-Grade Books for Older Middle Schoolers

Brothers Seth and Isaiah (aka Ice Pick) love each other and live on a farm. Ice loves photography and animals and wants to be a vet. His brother runs track and has won a scholarship to college, so Ice feels pressure to make their last year at home together memorable. This is also the year that Ice wants to kick his shyness to the curb, especially now that he’s a member of the Yearbook team and has been befriended by Zurie, an expressive girl he’s kind of crushing on. But when an accident renders his brother brain damaged, Ice turns all his focus to helping Seth be himself again despite a bleak prognosis. Between Two Brothers is a heartrending story about a family navigating a tragedy and the power of the bond between brothers.

After a series of unfortunate incidents with potatoes, Ben Hardy is sure he’s cursed. So you can imagine his terror when his family moves to Idaho and his school’s mascot is a potato! When Ben accidently causes the mascot to sprain his ankle, the coach insists that he replace the injured mascot. As the new kid, Ben is scared to tank his social status and lose his new friends and potential friendships with the cool kids, so he decides to hide his identity as the mascot. But soon, one lie leads to another and Ben’s lies threaten to topple all the good things in his new life in Idaho. My Life As a Potato is a humorous, thought-provoking story about staying true to yourself and finding your tribe as the new kid in town.

So Done follows two friends, Metai and Jamila, living in a low-income Housing Project. Although inseparable from childhood, things change when Jamila returns from a summer in the suburbs. Both girls are dealing with secrets, and Mila appears to be different after her time in the suburbs, throwing herself into dance auditions for their new afterschool program. I LOVED this book! It explores the turbulence that can be common in tween friendships and highlights the importance of stepping up to pursue your goals and the need to speak up even when you’re afraid.

In Dough Boys, we reunite with the kids of Pirates Cove, this time through the eyes of Rollie and Simp. The boys work as lookout boys for Coach Tez’s crew of drug dealers, but both feel differently about the gig. Rollie is getting more interested in music and his love for drumming and is less enthusiastic about working for a drug lord. Simp, on the other hand, is working to rise in rank. He’s especially interested because he loves playing for Tez’s basketball team and hopes to play for the NBA in the future. Unfortunately, basketball is now connected with drug dealing. The disconnect between the boys’ desires eventually begins to wear on their friendship. It doesn’t help that Tai, who Simp kinda likes, is more into Rollie than him. Or that the new kid, Chris, is becoming closer friends with Rollie, to Simp’s dismay. But when the opportunity to audition for a popular band comes Rollie’s way, he’s forced to evaluate his current place in life. Paula Chase’s Dough Boys is an emotion-charged middle-grade novel about two boys navigating their changing friendship while caught up with a local drug ring.

ZJ’s dad is a popular pro American footballer. He has an awesome crew of male friends who feel like family. Life seems pretty good until his dad comes home early from a game with an awful headache. The headache is joined by disturbing symptoms like forgetfulness, aggression, spacing out, and general confusion. The book is set in 1999-2000, when there was just a growing awareness of CTE. ZJ’s mom is worried because she knows a few other football friends of his dad who have had the same symptoms. As ZJ tries to get through each day, not knowing whether it’ll be a good day for his dad or a bad one, he finds comfort in family, comfort, and community. Before the Ever After is a brilliant, true-to-life portrayal of a child coping with his famous father’s deterioration due to CTE. 

13-year-old Nikki Doyle feels one step closer to her pro basketball player dreams when she gets signed on to an elite-level club team. But her mother doesn’t have enough to pay for the club, and so Nikki offers to watch her little brother after school so they can save on daycare money. Unfortunately, playing for the club isn’t nearly as easy as Nikki expects. Shorter than her teammates and suddenly no longer point guard on the new team, she feels out of place. What’s more, her new busy schedule means she can’t hang out with the team as much as she’d like. On top of that, a new genetics project at school reminds Nikki that her biological father was a sperm donor. Between juggling all her responsibilities and proving herself a valuable member of the team, it feels like everything is on the line for Nikki. Nikki on the Line is a fantastic, dynamic, and highly relatable middle grade book about identity, the ways family can be different for everyone, and pursuing a love of basketball.

Eve, Sophie, and Nessa are three different girls in Ford middle-school whose lives are changed when their names appear on “The Prettiest” list posted online by someone called “LordTesla.” Sophie is the Queen Bee of middle-school who loves makeup and has a legion of female followers. However, she’s also hiding the fact that she lives on the poorer side of town and mostly shops at thrift stores and Goodwill. Sophie is distraught to be placed at the number two position on the list. Eve is the bookworm and poetry aficionado who’s started wearing her brother’s sports jerseys to hide her changing body. Her life suddenly changes when she’s thrust into the spotlight as number one and everyone suddenly notices that she has a “body.” Her best friend, Nessa is a theater geek with a melodious voice. Nessa who’s a bigger girl, experiences a slew of emotions — indifference, annoyance, disgust at beauty standards — when she realizes her name didn’t even make the list. The three girls band together in an unlikely friendship to find the person who made the list and make him face the consequences of his actions. The Prettiest is a powerful look at female objectification and sexual harassment in middle school. 

I liked this book about a girl in treatment for anorexia. The author does a fantastic job depicting the experience of struggling with an eating disorder and how non-linear the healing process can be. The story feels authentic and is highly insightful about the therapy process. I also liked the diary-style format.

This book focuses on Monique (Mo) and Rasheeda (Sheeda)’s friendship and how it changes over a summer when both girls are drawn into different pursuits. Mo is off at a ballet intensive with Mila, while Sheeda is stuck at church (with her church “friends”), feeling like she has no life. At the ballet intensive, Mo comes face to face with her competitive attitude, which is fueled by feelings of not “fitting in” with the mostly white, skinny ballet dancers. Even though she makes a couple of friends (who basically lovingly force her to befriend them), she’s insecure at times, afraid to be vulnerable because everything feels so different. On the other hand, Sheeda is desperate for something new. Unfortunately, she falls into a risky situation with Mo’s brother, whom she happens to have a crush on. Will Mo and Sheeda’s friendship survive the summer? I adored this book. Turning Point by Paula Chase is a compulsively readable upper middle-grade book (more mature than the average but not quite YA) that explores a horde of important themes.

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. 

It’s 2020, and Matthew is sick of being inside with the pandemic raging outside. While reluctantly helping his great-grandmother sort through her belongings, he finds a picture of two girls. As she shares her experience during the Ukrainian famine, the story alternates between three narrators: Matthew, Helena, and Mila. A powerful, unforgettable account of historical events.

Annabelle is a fantastic swimmer who happens to have learning difficulties. She’s happy to finally be getting something right when she’s moved up to the high school team in the summer. However, things get a bit complicated when an older boy starts showing her attention and her estranged father seems to want to return to her life. In Up for Air, Laurie Morrison perfectly captures the issues of competitive female friendships, the desire to be liked and accepted by an older crowd, and the search for identity.

Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai is the companion title to fan favorite, Keep It Together, Keiko Carter. Jenna and Keiko have remained BFFs after their fall out with Audrey. But Jenna is having a hard time with several life issues. For one, she and her boyfriend have just broken up (but she’s still stuck in the same school newspaper as he is) and now her parents are divorcing. Jenna is coping by keeping her feelings shut in and brooding a lot — until she begins to write an investigative piece for the school newspaper contest. She also starts hanging out at a cute Broadway-themed Diner where she meets a schoolmate Rin Watanabe with whom she argues a lot but begins a tentative friendship. Can Jenna find time for all the things in her life, while addressing her hurt feelings and opening up to those who love her? This realistic contemporary novel handles tough themes like the process and reality of parental divorce, a tween experiencing the fall-out of a breakup, kids managing busy school schedules, and keeping bonds of friendship alive.

Thirteen-year-old Genesis grapples with intense self-hate worsened by her father’s verbal abuse and her grandmother’s backward ideologies about skin color. Readers first meet Genesis when she brings her “friends” home for the first time. In an embarrassing turn of events, they arrive to meet all her belongings in the street. The landlord has put Genesis’s family out because her gambling, alcoholic father defaulted on the rent, again. Things seem to look up for their family when they move into a posh neighborhood. Genesis makes new friends, joins the school choir, and even gets a helpful math tutor. Yet, her self-hate follows her. Genesis Begins Again is a remarkable middle-grade debut with a strong message about colorism, self-love, and the power of music

It’s the summer of 1979. 14-year-old Beverly Tapinski leaves home and arrives at the Seahorse Court RV community in Florida. She’s grieving the death of her (and the Three Rancheros’ dog, Buddy) and has left her friend Raymie without even saying goodbye. Beverly’s alcoholic mother, Rhonda, doesn’t care much about what happens to her. All alone and away from home, Beverly meets an older, eccentric woman named Iola. Iola takes Beverly in, and the two begin to build a friendship despite Beverly’s initial resistance. She also gets a job as a busgirl at a fish place, even though she hates fish. Then she meets 16-year-old Elmer, who wants to study engineering at Dartmouth. Beverly, Right Here is the perfect finale to Kate DiCamillo’s wonderful series. This book is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

Twins Luisa and Fernando find their paths diverging as they enter sixth grade. Luisa will attend middle school in the US just across the border from Fernando’s school in Mexico. There, they face different but equally pressing challenges that threaten to tear them apart. Twin Cities is a fascinating look into Mexican culture, life as a twin, and finding your own identity.

After his best friend dies in a hit-and-run, 13-year-old Isaiah feels lost, especially because his other best friend seems reluctant to spend time with him. Isaiah is a sensitive boy with a love for rock music and a serious green thumb but he worries his sensitivity and hobbies make him less manly. When he’s involved in yet another tragic incident, his parents send him off to his aunt and uncle in Salisbury, North Carolina, where he comes to terms with his grief and gains a new level of self-acceptance. This is much different from Williams’ debut; more gentle and lyrical in the verse format. Her writing expertly combines the adventurous tone of Isaiah and his friends’ hijinks with the moving depiction of his grief and the hopefulness of his healing and recovery. Older middle schoolers who love verse novels and male friendship stories will enjoy this one.

12-year-old Wren lives with her mom after her parents’ divorce. Her dad has moved to New York City and married his lover (with whom he was unfaithful to her mother) who is now expecting twins. Wren is also a special effects makeup aficionado. Caught up in a new school, navigating new friendships, and balancing her relationships with her parents — whose relationship with each other is strained — Wren notices her mom has begun behaving strangely. Violets Are Blue is an engaging middle grade book with a relatable, creative protagonist dealing parental substance abuse.

Well, That Was Awkward is a Cyrano De Begerac-esque retelling that follows four middle-schoolers: Gracie, A.J., Sienna, and Emmet. While all four have been friends for a while, the two girls, Gracie and Sienna are best friends, as are both boys. Things get awkward when Gracie begins to notice A.J (as happens in that middle-school age). Unfortunately, though, A.J likes her friend Sienna — who Gracie thinks is more attractive than Gracie herself. But because Sienna is painfully shuts-down-and-cant-speak shy, Gracie handles most of the text conversations between A.J. and Sienna — unbeknownst to A.J. Of course, this setup doesn’t last long, and things erupt into a messy situation. Tweens and teens who like stories with friendship and romantic drama will love this one!

Keiko is thrilled that her two BFFs, Jenna and Audrey, are reuniting with her after their first ever summer apart. But when Jenna returns from Texas, she doesn’t seem to fit back in seamlessly anymore — probably because they stopped texting each other after a while. It doesn’t help that Audrey seems boy-crazy and has never really gotten on too well with Jenna anyway. As Jenna and Audrey’s friendship deteriorates over the fall, Keiko feels torn between both girls. She also rekindles some old friendships that threaten her relationship with Audrey. As a result, confrontation-averse and peace-making, Keiko is forced to decide whether or not she will stand up for herself in her friendship with Audrey. On top of everything else, Keiko’s family seems to be changing: her mom is working later and later and seems to be avoiding coming home — and her little sister seems to be keeping a secret. Will Keiko keep it all together? Keep It Together, Keiko Carter is a strong middle-grade debut, perfect for anyone who enjoys middle-grade books about friendships.

Middle-schooler Jamie Bunn ended seventh grade with a crash. Now, she’s front and center of a major school scandal and has been sentenced to volunteer at her local library for the summer. In addition to her shame and guilt, she has to come to terms with eclectic library patrons, her nemesis, Trina, and her crush, Trey. Throughout her time at the library, Jamie forms new bonds with library employees Lenny and Sonia, as well as the director, Beverly. Unfortunately, just when Jamie begins to feel at home, she discovers that the mayor has plans to shut down the library. This is a sweet middle-grade debut that pays (much-deserved) homage to libraries and all they do for people and communities

In Summer at Meadow Wood, Vic and her little brother have been sent off to summer camp for eight weeks. Although summer at Meadow Wood seems to be a regular occurrence, Vic is convinced that the reason they’ve been “shipped off” this time is different. Besides, things are going poorly between her parents. As a result, she’s not excited to be there. Still, she tries to make it work, reconnecting with her friends in Yarrow camp while trying to be a good camp sister to a younger camper, Vera. When her mom says she doesn’t have money to pay for canteen for Vic and her brother, Vic starts working at the farm with one of the camp owners, Earl. She also goes with him to the market, for which she gets paid. Eventually, Vic learns more about the state of her parents’ relationship and forms closer bonds with everyone at camp and even a certain boy at the market. Summer at Meadow Wood is an excellent follow-up to Tan’s debut novel, set in the same universe.

Red, White, and Whole is Rajani LaRocca’s newest middle-grade verse novel. The year is 1983, and 13-year-old Reha is caught between two cultures: her Indian family and community at home and the all-American experience at school and with her white “school best friend.” But it’s not all rosy. Her mother doesn’t approve of Reha acting more American than Indian. She makes all of Reha’s clothes herself and is upset when Reha says she would like to go to the school dance. Reha is understandably frustrated at her mother’s lack of understanding, but she’s about to have more problems. Her mom is diagnosed with leukemia, and Reha’s life is turned upside down. Between school, family issues, and navigating her affection for a boy in her neighborhood, Reha has her plate full. Red, White, and Whole is a heartwarming and heartbreaking verse novel about mothers and daughters, the eighties, and straddling two cultures.

Beatrice lives with her Mawmaw (her grandmother) and her mom in Bardstown, Kentucky. Her father died in an accident months before she was born. The book is set the summer before seventh grade and Beatrice is trying to figure out who she wants to be. Although she has two great girlfriends, she’s curious about what life would be like with the popular girls. She’s also crushing on a boy named Rodney, while wishing her more athletic frame (from her Mawmaw) will blossom into a more “womanly” figure. Then, her mom starts dating a not-so-nice guy who thinks they should move to a bigger city. Reckless, Glorious, Girl is a quintessential coming-of-age story about a girl whose community of women helps her find herself.

Bryan loves comics and hanging out with his mom — and even his big sister sometimes — with no drama. His dad has a temper and has been in jail for some misdemeanor. Now, though, he’s on parole, and it seems like things may be looking up. But when a new boy his age, Mike, worms his way into Bryan’s family, it appears Bryan may have a new friend. However, Mike is a bit of a daredevil and gets Bryan into skipping school and riding on top of trains. Mike is also jealous when Bryan befriends other people and tries to egg him into starting fights. Mike’s idea of manhood is not being “soft” but being ready to fight whenever. This is a true-to-life representation of the lives of some boys that explores the search for personal identity and shows that kids need support and guidance. 

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.

Efrén’s life changes drastically after his mother gets deported. With his father working long hours to care for the family financially and also raise funds to bring his mother back to the States, Efrén has to take charge of the home front. He cares for his younger twin siblings, Max and Mia, while balancing schoolwork and school politics, as well as his issues with his best friend, David. I enjoyed this fantastic debut — especially because of how it ends. It highlights the challenges facing families of undocumented immigrants who must exist with parts of their hearts on the other side of the border.

Half-marathon training brings overachieving friends-turned-rivals Grace and Jonah together during one life-changing summer. This young romance is swoony with authentic dialogue and a powerful message about perfectionism and ambition.

Four eighth-grade buddies and a new tag-along (whom they’re reluctant to include) discover a posh underground bunker in the wake of a hurricane in their small town. CJ, Evan, Jason, Mitchell, and Ricky quickly begin to hang out at the fort for different reasons. One of the boys is escaping an abusive step-parent, another is dodging his big brother and his bully of a friend, yet another loves to study there, while one just wants to stop hiding the hideout from his new girlfriend. When things get intense for the boys, their safe space becomes at risk of exposure — but maybe that’s the only way they can stay safe? The Fort is a realistic, suspense-filled, and heartwarming middle grade book about male friendships, history, and domestic violence.

In this companion to A Song Called Home, Kyra’s mother is an alcoholic in recovery. She could always count on having her best friend, Lu — until now. Lu has new friends and splits her time between both friend groups, eventually asking Kyra to join them sometimes. Kyra is also getting bullied for being bigger than most other 13-year-olds. Already, Kyra does so much at home: cooking, and even helping her mom out with her cleaning job. But then her mother starts acting weird, leading Kyra to believe that she’s relapsed. I loved how the author shows readers that recovery is not linear and I enjoyed watching Kyra feel safe in her own skin. Hand to fans of Sumner’s Maid for It and readers who love books featuring food and cooking.

A First Time for Everything is Dan Santat’s new graphic memoir about his school trip to Europe at the end of middle school. Middle school Dan is shy and socially awkward. He spends most of his time helping his mom, who has Lupus, and gets made fun of a bit by some girls in his grade. Thankfully, his parents are determined that he sees the world, and they support his Europe trip. As they visit Germany, France, Switzerland, and England, Dan is swept up in many, many firsts, making for a life-changing trip. A First Time for Everything is a stellar, relatable graphic novel about growing up, wading through the awkward tween years, and finding one’s voice.

Thirteen-year-old Elio is in love for the first time, and his dreams come true when Camelia, his crush, becomes his first girlfriend. The mishaps in that first relationship and an association of males teach him plenty about consent, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and respect for women. This book, written in lyrical, accessible verse, feels akin to Judy Blume, but for boys, as Salazar writes candidly about Elio’s morning erection, nocturnal emissions, and the way he feels “down there” when he’s around Camelia. Still, the text remains appropriate for tweens and young teens looking for more information than they might be getting from their parents about vital sex ed.

This is a hilarious, sweet, romantic comedy about Eve and Andrew (never Andy), who’ve been besties like their mothers their whole lives. But the summer before 8th grade, something changes. Andrew starts to notice how nice Eve smells, and Eve realizes that Andrew is getting some boy muscles. Before they know it, the two are in a relationship. Soon after, though, things start getting weird. Classmates snicker around them and even their mothers are all gushy about their new relationship. Fully under the public eye, Eve and Andrew realize that maybe being friends is better, but who’s going to break up with the other if neither of them wants to hurt each other and both want their friendship to stay intact? So they both start a campaign to do everything each hates, led by bad advice from friends to incite the other to break up with them. This was just such a romp of a story and the only prank-related story I’ve actually enjoyed.

Wen is a first-gen daughter of Chinese immigrants living in Australia. Her dad is angry because he hasn’t been able to re-qualify as a medical professional in Australia, and he tries to control Wen and her mother’s lives. Wen plans to go to a high school far away from their town — she and her best friend at school, another first-generation immigrant kid. But when a tragedy occurs in Henry’s family, Wen and her mother must step up to support him if they want to achieve their dreams. Tiger Daughter is a brilliant new middle grade book about chasing dreams, unwavering friendships, and the value of community, especially in immigrant communities.

When Rory moves to Cincinnati, Ohio, with her dad after her parents’ separation, she meets Abby, a tall fellow basketball lover, and the two become fast friends. Imagine their shock when they 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. Bishop takes us through the girls’ lives as they dig into what happened between their dads, telling the story from multiple perspectives: the girls’, their dads’, and a ball-playing nun in their lives. Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up is a fast-paced and compelling book about true friendships, family secrets, forgiveness, and basketball.

Greer, Joya, and Kiki are three best friends born just after Hurricane Katrina. Now 12 years after the catastrophe, they’re dealing with personal life struggles. Greer feels responsible for an accident that left her sister paralyzed from the waist down and has stopped running track–something she loved dearly before the accident, Kiki is grappling with an absentee father, and Joya is trying to help her financially strained family. Kiki decides that the three girls will sign up for a triathlon to get Greer back into running, but the plan ends up changing all three girls’ lives. The Hurricane Girls is a warm, stirring, and sparkling middle grade book about female friendships, body image, sports, and self-forgiveness.

Fern and her mother have been living on The Ranch under the thumb of a charismatic leader named Ben. One day, Fern’s mom sneaks herself and Fern across the country from NY to CA, where they live in a motel in her mother’s teenage neighborhood. Although readers will know that Fern and her mom were in a cult, Fern is confused, misses the stability of living a regimented life, and worries about returning to the unstable lifestyle she and her mother had before The Ranch. Fern feels so real and relatable, and all the characters in this story feel well-rounded. Set largely in the atmospheric Driftbay area, this propulsive story of a girl learning to trust her inner voice is unforgettable and has excellent discussion potential in the classroom.

13-year-old Rain is dealing with several issues. First, her best friend has been acting like a frenemy lately. Then, she’s just so sad all the time and can’t stop feeling negative about her body — thinking she’s ugly and too big. Her single source of solace is her family. When the thoughts become too tough to handle, her mother and brother Xander, especially, bring light to her day, even without knowing her challenges. But when Xander gets beaten up in a racially motivated attack during a potential college visit, Rain feels the walls closing in on her. Can she and her family find their way back to normalcy? Rain Rising is a powerful debut middle grade verse novel about mental health, body image, family, and healing.

Raj and Iqbal are two best friends, one Hindu and one Muslim, who lived in Singh just before India’s partition. After the country’s independence, Raj and his family are forced to flee, encountering many hardships along the way as they struggle to resettle in Bombay. Raj is not great at math and prefers to be in the kitchen (the place of the women, according to his father), much to his father’s chagrin. But that love for food ends up saving them as his mom starts using food as a source of income. There’s plenty of sibling strife as Raj feels far from his older brother and, at times, jealous of his little sister Maya, who goes missing during the partition. While The Night Diary is more introspective, this book truly digs deep into what really happened to families during this time of grand migration and is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn about that time period. It is unflinching, beautifully written, and doesn’t shy away from hard events. Good for older tweens and adults as it deals with some violence, traumatic events, etc. Highly discussable for themes of prejudice, colonialism, world history, sibling rivalry, and so much more.