Take Five: March 2025 Middle Grade Novels

Today I’m sharing 5 new middle grade titles coming out this month. My TBR grows ever taller, but March means spring break in a few weeks, so I’m hoping to get a bunch of reading done then. Hopefully something on this list will get added to YOUR reading list!

All descriptions from the publishers.

The Trouble With Sunshine by Yamile Saied Méndez (ISBN-13: 9781546122746 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/04/2025, Ages 9-12)

A heartwarming story about grief and new beginnings, by Pura Belpré Award-winning author Yamile Saied Méndez.

THE TROUBLE WITH SUNSHINE IS IT COMES EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU DON’T DESERVE IT.

Dorani’s mom, Isa, taught her to be bold and challenge the rules if they don’t seem fair. People are more important than rules. But she never taught Dorani how to do it all without her. So, when Isa dies on the way to speak with the principal about Dori’s latest revolution, Dori loses her voice. Her grief and guilt become the loudest parts of her.

Moving from vibrant Miami to quiet, middle-of-nowhere Wyoming with her aunt feels like the punishment she deserves. She spends most of her time with their newest horse, Sunshine. Sunshine was involved in an accident that’s left her skittish and hard to care for. Tia Ivette knows her behavior comes from fear, and she is trying everything to make Sunshine brave again. But Dori knows grief can feel like fear… and grief is just love with no place to go.

Speaking up for Sunshine reminds Dori that the very best parts of her mother live on through her, and so when she starts to notice that the rules at her new school unfairly target specific students, she knows just what her mother would do…

Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna (ISBN-13: 9781250899835 Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Publication date: 03/11/2025, Ages 8-12)

From the bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches comes an action-packed, enchanting middle grade fantasy about a neurodivergent heroine, a mysterious school, and a world of magical creatures. perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Roshani Chokshi.

“Thrilling, funny, and suspenseful.” – Craig Kofi Farmer, Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award-winning author of Kwame Crashes the Underworld

★ “Fast-paced and engaging… This is a beautiful, inclusive work that’s also a terrific story.” – School Library Journal

Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen has always felt like she doesn’t fit in. She’s British-Indian in a mostly white town in England, her parents won’t talk about their pasts, and she has ADHD.

Oh, and she talks to books. More importantly, the books talk back.

When her family is attacked by a monster she believed only existed in fairytales, Vanya discovers that her parents have secrets, and that there are a lot more monsters out there. Overnight, she’s whisked off to the enchanted library and school of Auramere, where she joins the ranks of archwitches and archivists.

Life at Auramere is unexpected, exciting and wonderful. But even here, there’s no escaping monsters. The mysterious, powerful Wild Hunt is on the prowl, and Vanya will need all her creativity and courage to unmask its leader and stop them before they destroy the only place she’s ever truly belonged.

A Study in Secrets by Debbi Michiko Florence (ISBN-13: 9781665950473 Publisher: Aladdin Publication date: 03/11/2025 Series: Last Chance Academy #1, Ages 8-12)

Only Murders in the Building meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in this action-packed novel about a girl pulled into a mysterious treasure hunt at her new boarding school.

Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi “Meg” Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she’s been expelled from school—apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in the middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can’t make it work there, she’ll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.

At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don’t get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. And after learning her dad has plans to sell their family home—with all its memories of Mom—Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip to convince Dad to stay.

Thanks to her mom, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. And as they get deeper in the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realize the anonymous creator has their own agenda…and LCA isn’t quite what it seems.

The Girl and the Robot by Oz Rodriguez, Claribel A. Ortega (ISBN-13: 9781368081856 Publisher: Disney Publishing Group Publication date: 03/25/2025, Ages 8-12)

An out-of-this-world story about friendship, empowerment, and . . . running from federal agents?

E.T. meets cult classic The Iron Giant in this middle grade light sci-fi from Emmy Award-winner Oz Rodriguez and New York Times best-selling author Claribel A. Ortega, perfect for fans of Witchlings.

With a little heart, you can fix anything.

Mimi Perez fixes things. Phones, tablets, speakers, printers. She gets it from her dad—helping him at the family e-repair shop was always one of Mimi’s favorite things to do. But ever since Papi was deported, there’s a lot more than electronics that need fixing in Mimi’s world. Things too big for any twelve-year-old to handle on her own.

Mimi hustles around her Brooklyn neighborhood trying to earn enough money to finally fix her family. There’s no time for school or friends, but Mimi knows it will all be worth it the day Papi comes home. Then her ex-friends approach her with a proposition: enter a robotics competition with them, and they could win $50,000. It could be her chance.

Not part of the plan? A mysterious robot crashing to earth. From space.

The robot is scared, alone, and broken, and federal agents are after her. Mimi does what any street-smart electronics repair person would do: she takes the robot home, fixes her up, and in the process, makes herself a friend.

Suddenly, Mimi is anything but alone. She’s part of a robotics team. She’s sheltering a robot. She’s dodging federal agents. And keeping all of it a secret from her mom.

Join a girl and a robot on their life-changing sci-fi adventure in this coming-of-age story that celebrates kids in STEM, first-gen communities, and the power of friendship.

Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker by Heidi Heilig (ISBN-13: 9780063348363 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 03/25/2025, Ages 8-12)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets Indiana Jones! A young adventurer races to break the family curse by repatriating the artifacts her famed ancestor “saved.” Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan, Kwame Mbalia, and Rena Barron.

Cincinnati Lee’s great great (great?) grandfather is famous. His adventures discovering ancient artifacts have been made into movies, and his work is widely respected by museums across the world. The thing is, in that line of work, you’re bound to get cursed. And that leaves your great great (great?) granddaughter to break the curse by returning the artifacts you “preserved.”

Cincinnati’s own adventure begins in the Cosmopolitan Museum in New York City, where her single mom works and Cincinnati has grown up. Soon she learns about the ancient Spear of Destiny—and its potential to right all the wrongs in her family’s past. Or bring about the end of the world. It all depends on whose hands it falls into. Cincinnati must beat two relic hunters to the spear, and her quest will take her to surprising locations throughout the city and even across the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, she’ll make a new friend (which is not the easiest thing to do), make some enemies (surprisingly easy to do), and ultimately learn what makes the world worth saving. Acclaimed author Heidi Heilig makes a dazzling middle grade debut with an irrepressible hero, a compelling cast of friends and enemies, nonstop action, and a thoughtful approach to viewing our responsibilities to each other and the world around us.

Filed under: new books