Middle Grade Must Reads – May 2026 (Part One)

The Big Bad Wolf Murder

I adore this author and series – the first book in the series The Beanstalk murder was one of my all time favourite books so I was looking forward to reading this one.

At twelve years old, Ruby Calvino is the youngest human player in the Tooth & Claw championships. It’s her fast legs and even faster mind that leaves her as the last player left during the final game, and she’s ready to claim victory. But when the undefeated Alarick— the wolf player hunting her— is finally upon her, he…drops dead?

With poison found in Ruby’s bag, all fingers (and paws!) point to her. Desperate to prove her innocence, she teams up with a young wolf accused of helping her commit the crime. But figuring out who killed Alarick certainly won’t be easy while on the run from cops and another vicious wolf.

Luckily, Ruby’s Tooth & Claw training just might come in handy!

A brilliant take on Little Red Riding Hood. 

This is a fast paced mystery that will grip the reader from the first chapter.

You are led on a murder mystery full of suspects, a list that will grow as the book goes on.

And when you discover the murderer you will need to re-read the chapter just like I did. 

This is a series that I hope goes and goes.

Murder at the Ivy Hotel

If this book is anything to go by 2026 is going to be an amazing year for MG books.

Twelve-year-old Meredith and ten-year-old Macy feel like the luckiest girls around. The Ivy Hotel in Dublin is old, beautiful and beloved, with a tight-knit staff that feel like family, and they get to call it home. Meredith and Macy’s mum is the General Manager, and their modest apartment is tucked away in a corner, but it has lots of perks. The girls make friends with long-term residents – like Colin, the quiet little boy who plays piano, and Agatha, the eccentric older lady who stays in a plush suite with her dog, Milo.

The girls love spying on fancy events, sneaky treats from the restaurant and knowing all the secret stairs and corridors that guests never see, where the staff move around invisibly, making sure everything runs like clockwork… This is going to come in handy. Because within the cosy walls of the Ivy Hotel, there is also danger, intrigue and threat. Just as the hotel’s new owners arrive, ready to sniff out any excuse to make cuts and fire staff, the girls are faced with their biggest task a murder to solve.

The child in me can think of nothing better than living in a hotel, all those secret nooks to explore, all the places to hide, having food prepared for you when needed.

But what if your parents worked there, there would be no freedom, too many adults keeping an eye on you, so many people to tell you off. 

Even though there are cons to it, I’d still love to live in  a hotel.

But the strange thing is that as an adult I wouldn’t want to stay in a hotel, I am more of a holiday cottage type of person.

I was so happy when this book turned up on my doorstep. I actually took this on holiday (to my quiet holiday cottage) and after a day of walking miles and miles ( way too far) and with sore muscles I didn’t know I had, I snuggled into bed with this book.

And to be fair the book didn’t take my aches and pains away but it did let me live out the fantasy of living in  a hotel.

The first thing to say about this book is that this needs to be a series, there are so many places the author can take these characters, so many mysteries to be solved.

This book is set in an upmarket posh hotel, probably the type of place I could never take my family.

The main characters Meredith and Macy live in the hotel in a flat because their mum is the general manager.

But now new owners are threatening to make staff changes and everyone’s job is one the line.

And when a guest is found dead it’s up to the girls not only to solve this mystery – because the police have got it badly wrong but they must also save the hotel.

The characters of the two girls are so believable – they are like chalk and cheese just the same way a lot of siblings are. But they pull together to save the day.

This is a great mystery that will leave the readers hooked and guessing right to the end.

Storm Quest: An Interactive Adventure Gamebook Story Featuring Sea Monsters, Puzzles, and Dice Based Combat

• Written by Andy Prentice
• Illustrated by Tom Knight
• Published by Usborne

I love these books, I am terrible at them though, and it doesn’t take long before I die.

So I was looking forward to giving this one a go.

Do you have what it takes to sail into the eye of the storm? Prepare for terrifying sea monsters, waves the size of mountains and a desperate race against time as you try to find the only thing in the world that can save the person you love the most. With an exciting dice-based combat system (complete with a link to an online dice-roller), beautifully illustrated puzzles to solve and a heartfelt story full of twists and turns, this interactive adventure will have you gripped from beginning to end.

This is the best one of these books that I have read. The storyline was adventurous.

But true to form after about 5 minutes I had had my head bitten off. So the next day I tried reading with my son, letting him choose our course,and we managed to read more of the book and we had a bigger adventure, we still died but it took longer.

This is a great book for sharing with family members and I am thinking off using this book in a library session with the older children.