Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

Nonfiction is not promoted as well, and is harder to find. Please recommend titles you've found that have great kid-appeal.

I've noticed that although my middle grade readers think nothing of ploughing through a 700 page Harry Potter, they are a little more reluctant to pick up thick, text-heavy nonfiction. They much prefer the nonfiction picture book format which are written for older children. I think the photos and illustrations make the book feel somehow more accessible.

Here are a few of my favorites:

John Smith Escapes Again! by Rosalyn Schanzer
Vinnie and Abraham by Dawn Fitzgerald and Catherine Stock
Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick
The Endurance: Shackleton's Perilous Expedition in Antartica by Meredith Hooper and M. P. Robertson
We Stand As One: The International Ladies Garment Workers Strike, New York, 1909

If anyone is interested, I have a printable list with more titles like these on my website: http://mgking.us/wp-content/uploads/2...

Oh, I have to mention one more nonfiction title.

Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

This is the true story of two African children. One is a girl who spends eight hours a day walking to get water for her family. The other is of a young boy separated from his family who becomes a refugee from his war-torn country. The way their lives intersect at the end of the book is truly inspirational. I recommend reading this one with your children. It deals very honestly, although age-appropriately, with the difficulties of their lives. It made for some good discussion with my kids.

There's one on Rachel Carson by Eve Stwertka.

Rachel Carson

M.G. wrote: "I've noticed that although my middle grade readers think nothing of ploughing through a 700 page Harry Potter, they are a little more reluctant to pick up thick, text-heavy nonfiction. They much pr..."

I remember thinking, in about 6th grade, that non-fiction was boring. I think part of it was that we had so much non-fiction at school that, when I read for pleasure, I wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

I'm always on the search for excellent nonfiction books. Here are some of my latest finds:

The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919
In 1919 a tank holding 2 million gallons of molasses collapsed and unleashed a 25 foot wave of molasses through the oldest neighborhood of Boston.

We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850

I tend to not read kids' non-fiction (read my non-fiction in the adult section), though I should check out more of it. I did read a good graphic non-fiction (can't call it a graphic novel, can I?) recently: The Great American Dust Bowl

Graphic nonfiction! Hadn't really thought about that as a category before. I need to look for more of that. But it does remind me of another title I read recently: Drawing from Memory, an autobiography (with graphic elements) of the Caldecott winner Allen Say who grew up in Japan.

. This is the children's edition.

The Who Was series Who Was Walt Disney? Who Was Albert Einstein? Who Was Anne Frank? etc. is very popular... maybe slightly younger than MG, but the older kids love it anyway.
I also love We are the ShipWe are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Kadir Nelson also does a beautiful Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela

Laura wrote: "The Who Was series Who Was Walt Disney? Who Was Albert Einstein? [book:Who Was Anne ..."

When I work at the school library, the series that you show here gets checked out a lot. How could you not pick up those books?

Some excellent science titles:

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream

Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Thanks for putting a focus on middle-grade non-fiction. It's much easier to get my 11-year-old son to read n-f than fiction. Like a lot of kids, he loves The Who Was...? series, particularly Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? and Who Was Harry Houdini?, though he also enjoyed Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities and Thought Experiments. Glad to see him branching out from just the "soft sciences."

John wrote: "Thanks for putting a focus on middle-grade non-fiction. It's much easier to get my 11-year-old son to read n-f than fiction. Like a lot of kids, he loves The Who Was...? series, particularly [book:..."

I've seen the Who Was series -- very appealing to kids. When I worked in the school library, they got checked out a lot. I'll have to look for the Einstein book you recommend. Sounds like something my son would like.