Best Books 2024: Publishers Weekly - Middle Grade : Publishers Weekly

Best Books: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010
Summer Reads: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion

Ann Bausum, illus. by Marta Sevilla (Peachtree)

Via humorous text brimming with infectious passion, Bausum breaks down the lucky confluence of events that led to the preservation of William Shakespeare’s plays. Sevilla’s vivid blue and orange folk art–inspired illustrations accompany intriguing scholarly facts surrounding the challenges of authenticating the bard's writings, the printing and binding process, and the maintenance and current whereabouts of the original folio.

Read the Full Review

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Beti and the Little Round House

Atinuke, illus. by Emily Hughes (Candlewick)

Drawing on her own childhood experiences, Atinuke introduces young Beti, who lives with her family in their “little round house” and whose penchant for turning ordinary outings into epic adventures reads like a cozy hug. Lush and luminous storytelling brings to life the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Beti’s world, while Hughes’s muted pastel illustrations mirror the cheerful warmth of this gentle work.

Read the Full Review

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Bye Forever, I Guess

Jodi Meadows (Holiday House)

Delightfully snarky narration chronicles the trials and tribulations of an eighth grader’s vibrant online persona becoming entangled with the IRL perils of middle school. Meadows’s earnest and good-humored middle grade debut is a winning exploration of tween friendship as well as a pitch-perfect paean to fan culture and the thrill of finding one’s community.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Carnival Chaos

Tracey Baptiste (Freedom Fire)

When flames begin shooting from their mouths after they eat mango anchar, three Brooklyn cousins must harness their newfound powers to save carnival festivities from disaster in Baptiste’s exuberant series launch. Lively text centers Afro-Caribbean experiences with heartfelt humor, culminating in an adventure that emphasizes the high spirits of the festival season and its importance to the tweens’ culture.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Felix Powell, Boy Dog

Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow)

After curious eight-year-old Felix magically becomes a dog, beguiling descriptions recount his pooch Mary Puppins’s efforts to guide him in the ways of canine cavorting. Short, well-paced, suspenseful chapters convey the joy of running on four legs and the subtleties of tail wagging, while Kelly’s b&w drawings enhance the congenial ambiance, making for an engaging and just-right romp.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Impossible Creatures

Katherine Rundell, illus. by Ashley Mackenzie (Knopf)

A boy with an affinity for animals, a girl who can fly when the wind blows, and a secreted-away world in need of saving propel this dazzling, realms-roving trilogy opener. Rundell deploys epic stakes, bonds both tender and devastating, and fierce kid characters for a fresh, lore-informed narrative about the kinship of living things and the marvels of being alive.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Island of Whispers

Frances Hardinge, illus. by Emily Gravett (Amulet)

The son of the Ferryman must embark on a perilous quest following his father’s murder in this elegiac fantasy about grief, compassion, and the importance of living life fully. Hardinge’s spare, evocative prose and otherworldly tone are heightened by black, white, and light blue illustrations from Gravett that are by turns bold and ethereal.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Max in the House of Spies

Adam Gidwitz (Dutton)

Following Kristallnacht, irrepressible German Jewish 11-year-old Max is sent to England via the Kindertransport, where he endeavors to become a British spy to rescue his parents. Imbuing the narrative with plentiful charm, Gidwitz conjures a compelling duology starter that boasts triumphs, perils, mystical intrigue, and a cliffhanger ending that expertly builds momentum for the sequel.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Mishka

Anoush Elman and Edward van de Vendel, trans. from the Dutch by Nancy Forest-Flier, illus. by Annet Schaap (Levine Querido)

Elman and van de Vendel’s sensitively written story, informed by personal history, gently illuminates the disorienting effects of one refugee child’s experience leaving Afghanistan for the Netherlands. Simple, affecting narration features distinctive and sympathetically rendered characters whose individual arcs organically converge into a moving novel that’s complemented by Schaap’s warmly childlike full-color artwork.

Read the Full Review

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better

Mylisa Larsen (Clarion)

Compassionate characterizations personify Larsen’s intimately written story that centers a 14-year-old yearning for stability and support after his mother’s mental health takes a turn. Numerous plotlines teeming with absurd and unsettling twists are seamlessly connected by the protagonist’s bird observations and transcriptions of his diary-esque audio files, which add further texture to this emotionally wrenching read.

Read the Full Review

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Shark Teeth

Sherri Winston (Bloomsbury)

At last reunited following a period spent in separate foster homes, 12-year-old Sharkita and her two siblings seek normalcy while living with their mother in Winston’s stirring telling. Driven, complex, and emotionally intelligent Sharkita ferries this potent and powerful story about strength in the face of neglect and the bravery to demand what is best for one’s family and oneself.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools

Dan SaSuWeh Jones (Scholastic Focus)

Jones uses urgent prose to chronicle the history of Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in Oklahoma, starting with his grandmother’s kidnapping from the Ponca reservation in 1885. Extensive research, interviews with key figures, quotes and stories from survivors, and relevant experiences from the author’s childhood inform this visceral and empathetic unraveling of Indigenous history in the U.S.

Read the Full Review

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood

Robert Beatty (Disney Hyperion)

As an amnesiac 13-year-old works to stop a once-in-a-lifetime flood, she learns it may cost her the only home she’s ever known. Through the protagonist’s passionate narration, Beatty combines sensorial descriptions and pulse-pounding action to pay tribute to the beauty and dangers of the natural world in a thoughtful and quietly magical adventure about finding where one belongs.

Read the Full Review

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back

Ruth Chan (Roaring Brook)

Chan recounts her youthful experience of replanting her roots when her family moves from Toronto to Hong Kong in this earnest 1993-set graphic novel memoir. Nuanced character interactions and expressive cartooning across simply plotted panels depict her struggle to connect with her peers and navigate intense loneliness alongside nightly talks with her father that encourage her to persevere.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

Weirdo

Tony Weaver Jr., illus. by Jes and Cin Wibowo (First Second)

The Wibowos’ rich color palettes, embellished with superhero comic emanata, shift to convey the mood as a young Weaver contends with childhood bullying—until a move to a new school helps him find community with like-minded “weirdos.” It all culminates in an uplifting debut graphic novel memoir of belonging that realistically depicts the many small steps required in becoming one’s own hero.

Buy this book

PREVIOUS

LIST

NEXT

© PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

X

X

Loading...