Middle Grade Must Read – February 2026 (Part Two)

Nora Nightsky

I was lucky enough to have been sent a sample booklet of this book which left me wanting to read the entire book.

Nora Nightsky is a star – literally. Her glamorous mum is the

North Star, and their dazzling family works hard, bringing to life

the Little Bear constellation and sprinkling magic down to earth

to grant human wishes.

But Nora is nowhere near as shiny as her perfect brother and sister.

She prefers a cosy black hole! She doesn’t think much of wish-granting

Neither. Why can’t humans solve their own problems!?

Then one day, a girl wishes on Nora for the first time, asking

for a pet. Rebelling against the rules, Nora sneaks down to Earth

with her best friend Leap, a cute hare constellation, to give this

‘Olivia’ a piece of her mind!

Nora agrees to help Olivia get a pet – through determination,

a cunning plan and PLENTY of mischief. But can she do it before

she runs out of stardust and is trapped on Earth forever…?

So I was lucky when the entire book came through my letterbox, and I read it straight away.

My first impression was that my year 2 children at school were going to love this book. This is ideal for newly independent readers, the short chapters, the illustrations and it’s a fun read.

The idea of having a star as a main character was brilliant, and unique.

The family dynamic is also interesting and I’m sure there will be plenty of children who will see their family in this book ( well apart from them being stars) 

This is a great first book in the series and I look forward to reading the next one.

Diary of a Wicked Witch

• Written by Ben Miller
• Illustrated by Elisa Paganelli
• Published by Simon and Schuster

Once upon a time was only the start . . . welcome to the Fairytale Woods. The wicked witch is on trial in a hilarious secret diary 

The wicked witch has gone one cackle too far and is faced with a four week wickedness management class, or a lifetime in jail.

Spending all her time with stuck-up witches and her ex-best friend, now a total goody two-shoes, leading the course isn’t Wendoline’s idea of a good time, but she’ll do anything it takes to get her powers back. Even with a pompous king and queen to impress, a smarmy Prince Charming to prove wrong, and her own daughter, Rapunzel, to win over, Wendoline is not buying into the whole using magic for good thing, not when being WICKED is just so much FUN. There’s potions, curses, and a whole heap of trouble to miss out on . . . with 100% wickedness guaranteed, what could possibly go wrong?

Come down to the Fairytale Woods and discover what your favourite characters are really thinking 

This is part of the Fairy Tale Woods series – this series I use in my story sessions for years 2 and 3 at school. Our favourite being The Diary of a Big Bad Wolf.

This book is told through a series of diary entries with some entries being only 1 sentence long.

These diary entities are witty, sometimes mischievous but all told through the eyes of the main characters – this time being The Wicked Witch. But the question is, is she really as wicked as people think.

The design of this book is brilliant – peel back the flyleaf to discover a hidden illustration, and a map.( love a map)

The illustrations are warm, funny and fit the book perfectly.

I am looking forward to seeing which fairy tale character will be next.

The Strange Disappearance of Imogen Good

• Written by Kirsty Applebaum
• Published by Nosy Crow

It has been a while since I have read a book by this author so I took this on holiday with me and read it in one day

Fran doesn’t want to stay with her aunt and uncle and her annoying cousin, Imogen. Imogen is rude and unfriendly and, it turns out, missing… But her parents don’t seem to know who Fran means – don’t be silly, we don’t have a daughter, you know that. So it’s up to Fran, and Imogen’s best friend, Bex, to find out what’s happened to her.

Except Bex doesn’t know who Imogen is either. All Fran knows is that it’s got something to do with the hidden garden at Stillness Hall and the twelve statues that belong there. Could a mysterious old tale, a story of enchantment and death, hold the answers?

This hooked me straight in.

After reading this book I wondered( and hoped)that this is the first of a series.

I came away with the unlining message that us adults should listen to children more, and that bullies will never win.

I didn’t think I was going to like the character Imogen but she did warm up to her – it was strange because we don’t actually meet Imogen until half through the story and we only have the other characters opinion of her.

This is  a great mystery for MG readers, full of imagination and hope.