38 of the Best Middle Grade Books of 2025

38 of the Best Middle Grade Books of 2025 Book List, Curated by The Children’s Book Review

2025 brings a spectacular collection of middle grade novels bursting with imagination, heart, and adventure!

This year’s selections showcase acclaimed authors like Katherine Applegate and Kwame Alexander alongside exciting new voices—all delivering unforgettable stories that span magical archipelagos, dragon havens, historical journeys, and contemporary life. These books celebrate friendship, courage, identity, and resilience while proving that middle grade literature captivates readers of all ages with its extraordinary power to inspire.

Here are thirty-eight of the best middle grade books of 2025:

Thimble-born from tip to toe, Pocket Bear was designed during WWI to fit into a soldier’s jacket pocket as a good luck charm. Now, over a century later, Pocket serves as unofficial mayor of Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured, where he and his feline friend Zephyrina have seen it all in this unforgettable tale of bravery, loyalty, and kindness.

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Twenty-eight poems send delightful shivers down the spine in this collection that encompasses magic realism and influences from fairy tales, folklore, and ghost stories. Written from a place of wonder, empathy, and curiosity, these poems explore what makes a person scared, sad, or laugh—if you’ve ever wanted to spend time in a witch’s garden, this is the book for you.

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In 1941, Iran is a neutral country occupied by British and Soviet forces. When Babak and his little sister lose their father, they devise a plan: Babak will take up his job as teacher to the nomads. With a chalkboard strapped to his back, they set off on a treacherous journey, meeting a Jewish boy hiding from a Nazi spy in this National Book Award winner.

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It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after Emancipation, and Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush. They set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands to the place where land is free. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries danger.

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“Hello, I’m the earthworm, and today I’m giving my talk about the anaconda.” Who needs another book by humans? This is a book of oral presentations given by animals, for animals, and about animals. The cleaner fish will talk about his friend the shark, the zebra about black-and-white animals, and the mole about the daddy long-legs.

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J and K are the most creative fifth graders at DAPS. J loves to draw and his wordless stories are J-ENIUS! K loves to write and his stories are K-LASSIC! When they both enter the annual creative storytelling contest, it’s the beginning of one of the most intense rivalries the world has ever seen in this hilarious illustrated collaboration.

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It’s been four years since rain fell on the Oklahoma panhandle, and the closeness between the Stanton twins has dried up as much as the land. When Daddy leaves to find work in California, saving the farm falls on Howe’s unwilling and Joanna’s uneven shoulders. With the worst Dust Bowl storm bearing down, they must work together or lose everything.

Check out our interview about Where Only Storms Grow with Alyssa Colman.

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The Odenburgh, an old apartment building, is the last of its kind in a swiftly changing neighborhood. When eleven-year-old Prue’s grandpa is suddenly served an eviction notice, she refuses to leave the last place she lived with her sister, Lina. Launching a plan to save their home, Prue and the building itself join forces to bring residents together.

Read our full review of Once for Yes.

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In Whetherwhy, everyone has magic grown from the changing seasons. When Juniper discovers she is an Enchanter born with magic in her bones, she must study at the Thistledown Academy. As monsters creep from shadows and dangers lurk, the twins realize there is more to enchantment than they ever imagined.

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Twelve-year-old Roberto Alvarez is born on US soil—el futuro. When the Lemon Grove school board creates a separate “Americanization” school for Mexican children, the Comité de Vecinos risk everything and choose Roberto as lead plaintiff in a lawsuit. This inspiring novel in verse is based on the true story of the US’s first successful school desegregation case.

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Half-siren Elvira Vance must investigate when a chupacabra and the crown for the Marfa Monster Festival disappear. As the daughter of the founder of a trailer park inn for monsters, Elvira collects clues from humans, banshees, vampires, and ghosts, but when more creatures start disappearing, she must use her siren powers to solve the mystery.

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Twelve-year-old Simi Singh’s life in Northern India is filled with love and ordinary worries until a rock carrying a threatening note crashes through their window. Her Sikh father and Muslim mother’s interfaith marriage is becoming a target. When their petition to reunite in America is denied, Simi and her mother must attempt a perilous desert crossing.

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Oliver and his mom finally have a place to call home, but Oliver’s fresh start feels like a dead-end at his fancy new school. When he discovers a mysterious mail slot and slips in a wish, it suddenly comes true—pizza, rare sneakers, everything he wants! But when he discovers his wishes don’t come for free, the adventure that follows is extraordinary.

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After making the buzzer-beating shot at the state championships, Derrick Chan becomes the star of his school. But there are parts of Derrick no one knows about—the toenail polish under his sneakers, secret lip-sync performances, and feelings for his best friend. When his eccentric grandmother introduces him to beauty pageants, Derrick must decide how much of himself he’s ready to show.

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Bunns Rabbit

Written and Illustrated by Alan Barillaro

Ages: 8+ | 336 Pages

Publisher: Candlewick (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-1536214673

When Bunns is born with small but perfectly functional rabbit ears, the warren buzzes with auguries of bad luck. Sheltered in her family’s burrow, Bunns listens to her mother’s heartsong—Thump, thump, thump. But when she ventures into the meadow, she finds a world beyond the warren where myths, riddles, magic voyages, and important new friends await.

Listen to Alan Barillaro discuss Bunns Rabbit on this episode of the The Growing Readers Podcast.

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Twelve-year-old Becky has great expectations placed upon her as the rabbi’s daughter. When playing the flute keeps a secret from her parents, Sara, her “perfect” sister, reveals an even bigger secret, forcing Becky to make an impossible choice in this beautiful coming-of-age novel.

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Dragonborn

Written by Struan Murray

Ages: 8+ | 336 Pages

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers (2025) | ISBN-13: 979-8217113217

Twelve-year-old Alex Evans is about to wake up to her true self as a dragon. A new school and life await on the legendary island of Skralla, where she’ll train alongside young dragons who are wild, untamed, and skilled at transforming. As dark factions rise, Alex must unlock her power before the greatest dragon of all rises to wage war.

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Jin is a Stone Lion charged to watch over humans and protect the Sacred Sphere, but his perfect kick accidentally knocks the sphere out through the gate. Stuck outside, Jin must find help from unlikely allies, including a girl who can hear a mysterious voice and a worm who claims he is a dragon.

Listen to Grace Lin discuss The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon on this episode of the The Growing Readers Podcast.

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Max Bretzfeld is back in Berlin, where his most dangerous mission begins: to infiltrate the Funkhaus, the center of Nazi radio and propaganda, while searching for his missing parents. With Nazi intelligence watching him and the lines between lies and truth becoming blurred, Max will need every tool at his disposal to survive.

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Busted

Written by Dan Gemeinhart

Ages: 8+ | 352 Pages

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-1250378361

Twelve-year-old Oscar Aberdeen is the youngest resident of Sunny Days retirement home by more than a half-century. When his grandpa is served an eviction notice, Oscar needs cash fast. Enter Jimmy Deluca, who makes Oscar an offer: bust him out of Sunny Days and he’ll share hidden riches. In this humdinger of an adventure, the ultimate odd couple goes from escape to rollicking escapade.

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Mo is used to his father’s fits of rage and finds safety inside his head with cherished folktales. With Mama gone, Mo and Abbu move to Texas to live with his aunt and cousin Rayyan. Still, even in a warm home where he begins to see a future, Mo knows the monster within his father can break out and destroy their fragile peace.

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Workhouse orphan Scilla Brown dares to climb the Earl of Havermore’s garden wall to steal a peach. When she’s caught and mistaken for a boy, she grabs onto something more: a temporary job. If she can keep up her deception, she’ll have a soft bed and food—maybe even peaches—in this shimmering debut set in 1850s Lancashire.

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In ancient Chang’an, Han Yu sells steamed buns and dreams of Venice. In Depression-era Chinatown, Luli gazes from her parents’ restaurant roof, dreaming of dim sum. When plague strikes Chang’An and financial crisis threatens Luli’s family, both must venture into danger-filled adventure to save what they love most in this breathtaking dual story.

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Viola and Wilmur have been waiting for their parents for fifteen years in the colorless town of Caveat. When Captain Cadence Chase breaks down their door, they cut a deal: Chase can take their mysterious book if she takes them too. Setting sail into the treacherous world beyond, the friends must uncover the facts behind legend before the truth tears them apart.

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Connor has Tourette’s Syndrome, and every day has been a challenge. At his new high school, he forms a friendship with a girl who also has Tourette’s and meets a music teacher who encourages him to take up the drums. But when his absent father reappears, and a bully escalates, Connor feels ready to explode.

Listen to Dusti Bowling discuss The Beat I Drum on this episode of the The Growing Readers Podcast.

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Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest, where leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall. Long ago, he chose to become an Usher of wandering souls rather than cross into the Afterlife. When a badger soul named Gingersnipes can’t leave Deadwood, Clare’s quiet life is upended in this heartbreaking and marvelously funny tale.

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Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who died two years ago. Caught vandalizing a cemetery, Finn is offered an unusual deal: climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in a single summer—with the dead woman’s dog. In three wild months of misadventures, Finn begins to find his way on the trails.

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On a gloomy November night, eleven-year-old Tiphany Stokes saves an old lady from collapsing. An antique doll named Gretel watches, longing for Tiph to rescue her from a shop window. Though none realizes it, their worlds are about to change in this captivating coming-of-age story that’s touching, funny, and beautifully layered.

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A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn’t built for her. Through therapeutic horseback riding, Bea begins to feel like herself again and finds her voice and the bravery to demand change in this powerful novel in verse.

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Graciela—once an ordinary girl—now makes sea glass and assists her friend in the deepest recesses of the ocean. When a hand-wrought harpoon with the power to spear a sea ghost is reunited with its vengeful creator, unlikely allies Graciela and mortal boy Jorge must work together to keep evil spirits from wreaking havoc.

Listen to Meg Medina discuss Graciela in the Abyss on this episode of the The Growing Readers Podcast.

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Twelve-year-old Opal has a secret: she’s deathly afraid of fire. Still, she’s preparing to become a fourth-generation lookout on Wolf Mountain. When Mom makes the long trek to town, and Gran goes missing, Opal must be braver than she’s ever been as she faces down a fire on her own in this riveting survival story in verse.

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In Great Mountain, Mississippi, all eyes are on thirteen-year-old Henson Blayze, a football phenom with seemingly superhuman talents. But when a horrifying incident forces Henson to speak out about injustice, and he says he might not play football anymore, the town is divided—and Henson must decide what kind of greatness he’s destined for.

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Christopher Forrester wakes to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leaps for joy! But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago, and rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx and a death-defying plan. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side and a ravenous hunger for justice.

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A couple hundred years ago, a volcano called Tambora erupted with a force that changed history. It tore apart the island, and the sun refused to shine. From this riot of thunder and lightning, Mary Shelley conceived of Frankenstein. This is the story of a volcano that changed the world and a creature that changed us.

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A’s lockdown is over, but his world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t go well, and most days he barely leaves his bedroom. At weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings, A discovers that SOSAD is run by an actual demon who feeds off pain. But how is one trans kid supposed to save his friend—and the world?

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Candle Island

Written by Lauren Wolk

Ages: 10+ | 352 Pages

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-0593698549

Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine, to escape memories of the car accident that killed her father. Lucretia dedicates her summer to painting, exploring, and caring for an orphaned osprey chick, but Candle Island has secrets of its own—a hidden room, a mysterious boy—and they will catch Lucretia in their wake.

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Neshama

Written by Marcella Pixley

Ages: 10+ | 368 Pages

Publisher: Candlewick (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-1536236613

Anna sees ghosts and has always been treasured by her Bubbe, who loves her shayna neshama—her beautiful soul. But when a ghost named Ruthie appears at Bubbe’s house by the sea, Anna begins to uncover long-hidden secrets. When it becomes clear that Bubbe’s life is in danger, Anna must face the horrible truth: she alone can save her family.

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Thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons during the Siege of Boston. With her father missing, she’s alone and adrift while desperately seeking employment. When the smallpox epidemic sweeps through Boston, Elsbeth finds work caring for a wealthy family, but as the epidemic and revolution rage on, will she find her father?

Listen to Laurie Halse Anderson discuss Rebellion 1776 on this episode of the The Growing Readers Podcast.

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Away

Written by Megan E. Freeman

Ages: 10+ | 480 Pages

Publisher: Aladdin (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-1665959728

After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they grow curious about the mysterious threat and begin to investigate, they discover there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told in this companion novel to the bestselling Alone.

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