Take Five: Short Middle Grade Novels

As part of our Mind the Middle project focusing on middle grade books, I’m going to try to do weekly Take Five lists, which is to say, five books on a certain theme. 

When kids at school say there are “no good books” to read, I send them to two places: graphic novels or the list of short books/books under 250 pages. Because if you’re telling me there are no good books, which is, of course, SO FALSE that it makes my head want to explode, what you’re really telling me is you don’t enjoy reading or find reading either boring or intimidating. So why not try things where you may feel engaged and successful? Even as a an adult who reads lots of books (258 last year), I get a lot of joy out of picking up a graphic novel or a short novel because I know I’ll get through it quickly and feel good about that. In my case, it also means I can move onto the next thing even faster, too. Now, do kids even bother to take my advice? Not really. BUT it’s nice to know short books to attempt to direct them to.

This post delves into backlist more than others have, mostly because I’m pulling them off of the list I made for my school. And if you like backlist suggestions, stay tuned this summer where I’m going to work through the past decade of middle grade for suggestions!

These Take Five lists can help you with collection development, displays, reading lists, and more. I have a pretty giant list of potential Take Five themes, but if there’s something you’re desperate for a list for, let me know! All descriptions come from the publishers.

Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes (ISBN-13: 9781629797403 Publisher: Astra Publishing House Publication date: 10/04/2016 Pages: 120, Ages 8-12)

This emotionally resonant novel in verse by award-winning author Nikki Grimes celebrates choosing to be true to yourself.

Garvey’s father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading—anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey’s life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus, Garvey finds a way to accept himself, and a way to finally reach his distant father—by speaking the language of music instead of the language of sports.

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold, Charles Santoso (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9780062445827 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 03/14/2017 Series: Bat Series #1 Pages: 208, Ages 8-10)

The first book in a funny, heartfelt, and irresistible young middle grade series starring an unforgettable young boy on the autism spectrum.

For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises—some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat’s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter.

But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he’s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet.

“This sweet and thoughtful novel chronicles Bat’s experiences and challenges at school with friends and teachers and at home with his sister and divorced parents. Approachable for younger or reluctant readers while still delivering a powerful and thoughtful story” (from the review by Brightly, which named A Boy Called Bat a best book of the year).

Elana K. Arnold’s Bat trilogy is a proven winner in the home and classroom—kids love these short illustrated young middle grade books. The trilogy is A Boy Called Bat, Bat and the Waiting Game, and Bat and the End of Everything.

Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis, Traci Sorell (ISBN-13: 9781620148396 Publisher: Lee & Low Books Publication date: 09/24/2019 Pages: 224, Ages 9-13)

American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner – American Indian Library Association

When Regina’s Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and her family must relocate from Oregon to Los Angeles, she goes on a quest to understand her identity as an Indian despite being so far from home.

Regina Petit’s family has always been Umpqua, and living on the Grand Ronde Tribe’s reservation is all ten-year-old Regina has ever known. Her biggest worry is that Sasquatch may actually exist out in the forest. But when the federal government enacts a law that says Regina’s tribe no longer exists, Regina becomes “Indian no more” overnight—even though she lives with her tribe and practices tribal customs, and even though her ancestors were Indian for countless generations.

Now that they’ve been forced from their homeland, Regina’s father signs the family up for the federal Indian Relocation Program and moves them to Los Angeles. Regina finds a whole new world in her neighborhood on 58th Place. She’s never met kids of other races, and they’ve never met a real Indian. For the first time in her life, Regina comes face to face with the viciousness of racism, personally and toward her new friends.

Meanwhile, her father believes that if he works hard, their family will be treated just like white Americans. But it’s not that easy. It’s 1957 during the Civil Rights era, and the family struggles without their tribal community and land. At least Regina has her grandmother, Chich, and her stories. At least they are all together.

In this moving middle-grade novel drawing upon Umpqua author Charlene Willing McManis’s own tribal history, Regina must find out: Who is Regina Petit? Is she Indian, American, or both? And will she and her family ever be okay?

The Littlest Voyageur by Margi Preus, Cheryl Pilgrim (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9780823442478 Publisher: Holiday House Publication date: 03/24/2020 Pages: 176, Ages 7-10)

A red squirrel stows away on a canoe to fulfill his dream of joining a group of voyageurs—men who paddle canoes filled with goods to a trading post thousands of miles away.

A Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award

It is 1792 and unbeknownst to a group of voyageurs traveling from Montreal to Grand Portage, an intrepid squirrel, Jean Pierre Petit Le Rouge, sneaks onto their canoe. Le Rouge is soon discovered because he can’t contain his excitement—mon dieu he is so enthusiastic. The smells! The vistas! The comradery!

The voyageurs are not particularly happy to have him, especially because Le Rouge rides, but he does not paddle. He eats, but he does not cook. He doesn’t even carry anything on portages—sometimes it is he who has to be carried. He also has a terrible singing voice. What kind of voyageur is that?

When they finally arrive at the trading post Le Rouge is in for a terrible shock—the voyageurs have traveled all those miles to collect beaver pelts. With the help of Monique, a smart and sweet flying squirrel, Le Rouge organizes his fur-bearing friends of the forest to ambush the men and try and convince them to quit being voyageurs.

Written by a Newbery honor author, the book has over 20 black-and-white illustrations.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Ferris by Kate DiCamillo (ISBN-13: 9781536231052 Publisher: Candlewick Press Publication date: 03/05/2024 Pages: 240, Ages 8-12)

“Kate DiCamillo’s new children’s novel is a balm for the soul.” – The New York Times

The beloved author of Because of Winn-Dixie has outdone herself with a hilarious and achingly real love story about a girl, a ghost, a grandmother, and growing up.

It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans—wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?

As Charisse likes to say, “Every good story is a love story,” and Kate DiCamillo has written one for the ages: emotionally resonant and healing, showing the two-time Newbery Medalist at her most playful, universal, and profound.

Filed under: Take 5