Middle Grade

The Hotel Balzaar

We named The Puppets of Spelhorst one of our Best Middle Grade Books of 2023—which is why we can’t wait for two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo to return to her Norendy Tales series with The Hotel Balzaar. While her mother does housekeeping work at the Hotel Balzaar, Marta listens to seven tales told by an enigmatic countess with a parrot companion, all the while searching for clues that might lead to the truth behind her father’s disappearance.

The Bletchley Riddle

By Steve Sheinkin

Ruta Sepetys, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Salt to the Sea, has seen her books win a plethora of prizes as well as be adapted to film and translated in 40 languages. Meanwhile, Steve Sheinkin has received a Newbery Honor and thrice been a finalist for the National Book Award. The formidable pair is sure to mesmerize middle grade readers with The Bletchley Riddle, a historical novel that follows a pair of siblings at Bletchley Park in 1940, when it served as the center of British code breaking efforts in World War II.

Black Star

By Kwame Alexander

Readers continuing Kwame Alexander’s Door of No Return trilogy, as well as those starting with Black Star, will be gifted with a reading experience that is equal parts difficult and beautiful.

Felix Powell, Boy Dog

By Erin Entrada Kelly

Prize-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly leans into magical realism as she plays out a fantasy many children have likely had: What is it like to be a dog?

The Night Librarian

By Christopher Lincoln

Full of humor, friendship and just the right amount of danger and villainy, Christopher Lincoln’s beautifully designed The Night Librarian is bound to delight readers of all ages.

How It All Ends

By Emma Hunsinger

How It All Ends simply gets the weirdness tweens and teens can feel when shoved into a new situation; the strange and hilarious mundanity of high school; and the inner strength it takes to be who you are in the face of all that chaos.

Onyx & Beyond

By Amber McBride

Amber McBride stunned us with her young adult debut, Me (Moth), then did so again with her first foray into middle grade, Gone Wolf—”There is nothing quite like it,” we declared in a starred review. Needless to say, we’re eager to see what the incisive National Book Award finalist will do in her next middle grade offering, Onyx & Beyond.

Amber McBride stunned us with her young adult debut, Me (Moth), then did so again with her first foray into middle grade, Gone Wolf—"There is nothing quite like it,” we declared in a starred review. Needless to say, we’re eager to see what the incisive…

Inkworld

By Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke has delighted audiences across the globe with her spellbinding novels, and Inkheart and its sequels are arguably the most beloved entries on a legendary bibliography. Fans of Meggie and Mo’s storytelling exploits will be thrilled to learn that the original trilogy is getting a follow-up with Inkworld, in which the conniving Orpheus returns to get back at our iconic heroes.