Seven Notable New Middle Grade Books, March 2025

Who wants a good middle grade book? I’ve been struggling to get hooked on a good book lately, maybe you have, too.

But hooray, hoorah, and good news! I found seven new middle grade books that I like — and recommend six of them. (*The last book on this list I wanted to share but it’s not actually as middle grade as the publishers would like you to believe.)

I hope you and your readers will find at least one good book to read next from this list.

New Middle Grade Books, March 2025

Story Spinners: A Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates written and illustrated by Cassandra Federman
REALISTIC GRAPHIC NOVEL
Anyone with a sibling will LOVE these sister dynamics and this sweet story about storytelling, family, and communication. Hilarious and sweet, this is a must-read gem about sisters Kennedy and Devon, whose main language is bickering. When their baby sister wakes them up crying during the night, the sisters decide to get her back to sleep with a made-up fairy tale, hoping that this will make their parents happy enough to return their taken-away devices. But, of course, the sisters have VERY different ideas about how the story should go. In the end, they compromise on an exciting princess-pirate-adventure-fantasy with garbage trucks and spiders…and baby sister goes to sleep!

One Wrong Step written by Jennifer A. Nielsen
HISTORICAL FICTION
Wow–this is a suspenseful, exciting, well-written story that started slow but hooked me BAM! about 30% through and I couldn’t put it down. Just as England is about to enter WWII, a 12-year-old boy named Atlas narrates the journey he and his father take when they climb Mount Everest, which no one has summited before, although Atlas isn’t allowed to go beyond a certain point. I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but I promise, it’s a compelling story about growing up, man vs. nature, man vs. self, and of course, climbing the hardest, tallest mountain in the world. I love the maps of their progress and that each chapter begins with an important vocabulary word related to climbing or the chapter’s content.

Dinosaur Pie written by Jen Wallace, illustrated by Alan O’Rourke
FUNNY (Lower MG, ages 7 – 10)
Written in voicey first person, this is the hilarious adventure of Rory, a boy who eats a dinosaur pie and…TURNS INTO A DINOSAUR! And can’t turn back. It’s frustrating (and funny) because he can’t communicate, and no one knows what to do. His mom complains to the grocery store that sold the pie. She takes him to the doctor. Will Rory be a dinosaur forever? Rory’s best friends are fantastic characters who help him while providing more entertainment for readers. Love the unique, entertaining plot!

Octopus Moon written by Bobbie Pyron
REALISTIC / VERSE
Pearl shares her experience with depression in first person voice. As someone who has had depression, this story feels true in a raw, powerful way, which makes me want to cry for anyone who has felt this darkness in their lives. Pearl can’t muster up the energy to care or pretend anymore, which leads her to therapy. She learns about depression and that it often runs in her family, which she notices with her grandfather and his “headaches”. Pearl feels hopeless, but she learns the only way through is through. She learns depression lies and tries to do small goals. She also stands up to her dad, who doesn’t think, like many people, that depression is an illness. This is a powerful depiction of what depression can feel like!

Speechless written and illustrated by Aron Nels Steinke
REALISTIC / GRAPHIC NOVEL
Based on the author’s life, Mira doesn’t speak at school. At all. She has social anxiety and selective mutism. But she’s fine at home, where she makes stop-motion animations for her channel, which is popular with other kids. When her former friend-now enemy moves in with her family, and she’s partnered with a kind boy in her class on a school project, Mira has to reckon with her big feelings and either grow up or stay the same.

Alice Eclair Spy Extraordinaire: A Recipe for Trouble written by Sarah Todd Taylor
HISTORICAL FICTION MYSTERY
This is an enjoyable, cozy-feeling mystery with adventure, puzzles, and intrigue set in 1930s France about plucky Alice, who is not just a talented baker but also a super detective who gets an important secret assignment from her uncle. Her mission? Find the slippery eel enemy agent on board a train called the Sapphire Express. Alice gets a job on the train as a baker and starts investigating when she’s not dessert baking. With many suspects and puzzles, she’s not sure who to trust, and an unexpected twist leads to a savory plot with a yummy ending.

Whale Eyes written by James Robinson, illustrated by Brian Rea
MEMOIR
The first part of this book is solidly middle grade, but in the second half, when our author goes to college and gets deeper into his adult thinking, is NOT. It’s for only mature kids or adults because the content is about an adult– it’s not inappropriate, it just wouldn’t appeal to a middle grade readers. That said, I like the interactive writing and experiential approach, as well as learning about James’s life, and I like how instructive the writing is in many areas. James shares his personal experiences with having a vision disability, what disability means to him, his passion for documentaries that began from homeschooling, and some of those examples of his passion projects. Teens and adults might like this the most.