Take Five: Gun Violence in Middle Grade Fiction

Grim list? Yes. Often grim world? Yes.
I’m currently working on an article for an upcoming issue of School Library Journal. It’s on school shootings in middle grade and YA books. When I brainstorm an article, I always think BIG. My lists of books I’d like to use and authors I’d like to contact is huge. As I continue to write up thoughts and look at my lists, I start to narrow it down to a focus, to a more reasonable number of books and authors (though, sorry SLJ editors, still always come in way over word count). This list of recent-ish middle grade titles looks at gun violence in places that include schools but also take place in other spaces. Is this the most cheerful list I’ve ever made? No. But for parents, for young readers, for those of us who work in schools, it’s an important list. We need to not only be able to reach for these books when someone may need something that mirrors their experience; we need to read them to bear witness to the fictional stories of young people affected by gun violence so we may better and more deeply understand what they may be going through, thinking about, and worrying about. With more mass shootings than we have days in a year, we don’t exactly get the opportunity to sit with these stories, to see beyond the headlines. These books allow for that.
All descriptions from the publishers.

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore (ISBN-13: 9781524701246 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books Publication date: 09/19/2017, Ages 10-14)
A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother’s death in this outstanding debut novel that celebrates community and creativity. Winner of the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent and soon to be a major motion picture directed by Michael B. Jordan!
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It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.
His path isn’t clear—and the pressure to join a “crew,” as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape—and an unexpected bridge back to the world.
David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge—of adolescence, of grief, of violence—and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors.

The Golden Hour by Niki Smith (ISBN-13: 9780316540377 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication date: 11/23/2021, Ages 8-12)
From the author of The Deep & Dark Blue comes a tender graphic novel, perfect for our time, that gently explores themes of self-discovery, friendship, healing from tragedy, and hope for a better tomorrow.
Struggling with anxiety after witnessing a harrowing instance of gun violence, Manuel Soto copes through photography, using his cell-phone camera to find anchors that keep him grounded. His days are a lonely, latchkey monotony until he’s teamed with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project.
Sebastian lives on a grass-fed cattle farm outside of town, and Manuel finds solace in the open fields and in the antics of the newborn calf Sebastian is hand-raising. As Manuel aides his new friends in their preparations for the local county fair, he learns to open up, confronts his deepest fears, and even finds first love.

Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (ISBN-13: 9781368082853 Publisher: Disney Publishing Group Publication date: 01/31/2023, Ages 8-12)
For fans of Kate DiCamillo and Jack Gantos, a hilarious, wrenching, hopeful novel about finding your friends, healing your heart, and speaking your truth.
Simon O’Keeffe’s biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he’d do anything to forget: the one starring Simon as a famous survivor of gun violence at school.
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Two years after the infamous event, twelve-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone—the only place in America where the internet is banned. Instead of talking about Simon, the astronomers who flock to the area are busy listening for signs of life in space. And when Simon makes a friend who’s determined to give the scientists what they’re looking for, he’ll finally have the chance to spin a new story for the world to tell.
From award-winning author Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says is a breathtaking testament to the lasting echoes of trauma, the redemptive power of humor, and the courage it takes to move forward without forgetting the past.

The Reckoning by Wade Hudson (ISBN-13: 9780593647776 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books Publication date: 01/02/2024, Ages 8-12)
A powerful contemporary novel about an aspiring 12 year-old filmmaker whose world is turned upside down when his grandfather is slain in a senseless and racist act of violence. From the author of the award-winning memoir, Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South and co-editor of Recognize! An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life.
“A powerful reminder to never stop speaking the truth.” –Kirkus Reviews
Lamar can’t wait to start his filmmaking career like his idol Spike Lee. And leave behind his small town of Morton, Louisiana. But for now, Lamar has to learn how to be a filmmaker while getting to know his grandfather.
When Gramps talks about his activism and Black history, Lamar doesn’t think much about it. Times have changed since the old Civil Rights days! Right? He has a white friend named Jeff who wants to be a filmmaker, too, even though Jeff’s parents never let him go to Lamar’s Black neighborhood. But there’s been progress in town. Right?
Then Gramps is killed in a traffic altercation with a white man claiming self-defense. But the Black community knows better: Gramps is another victim of racial violence. Protesters demand justice. So does Lamar. But he is also determined to keep his grandfather’s legacy alive in the only way he knows how: recording a documentary about the fight against injustice.
From the critically acclaimed author and the publisher of Just Us Books, Wade Hudson comes a riveting, timely, and deeply moving story about a young Black filmmaker whose eyes are opened to racial injustice and becomes inspired to follow in his grandfather’s activist footsteps.

Every Story Ever Told by Ami Polonsky (ISBN-13: 9780316570978 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication date: 10/29/2024, Ages 8-12)
In this life-affirming novel of trauma and recovery, a girl searches for a path forward after being forced to confront the reality of gun violence, for fans of Dusti Bowling and Jasmine Warga.
Stevie Jane Cohen-Kaplan’s sheltered suburban life is shattered by a mass shooting at a festival in her town. In the aftermath, her brain feels broken. She can’t bear to visit her mom, recovering in the hospital under Stevie’s dad’s watchful eye, or to be pent up in her grandparents’ nearby Manhattan apartment.
To escape the apartment and her own thoughts, Stevie starts adventuring around New York City with her best friend, Avi, and a new therapy dog (in training). The trio starts chasing stories—about a neighbor’s life after the Holocaust, Stevie’s grandfathers who died of AIDS long before she was born, and even about her own mom’s activist upbringing. These stories may not bring Stevie all the way back to “normal,” but can they help her find a new version of herself?
Written with compassion and care, Every Story Ever Told places readers at the center of their own story and within a larger human tapestry, as one girl tries to make sense of the unthinkable.
Filed under: Take 5

About Amanda MacGregor
Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on BlueSky at @amandamacgregor.bsky.social.
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