Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

Here's hoping you've found some great summer reads! What were your favorite middle grade selections from the month of July? Recommend them to the group, so we can add them to our Want To Read shelves.

My own favorite from last month is the second book in the Section 13 trilogy, The Fourth Ruby by James R. Hannibal, which has some of the most fascinating world building I've seen in a contemporary adventure/quest series. Secret societies (and secret ministries) can be the best!

A couple of rereads top my list for July.
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
Nowhere to Call Home by Cynthia DeFelice

My favorite reads of July were Worst-Case Collin by Rebecca Caprara and Skyborn: Sparrow Rising by Jessica Khoury. Worst-Case Collin is told in verse and is a very emotional read about grief and mental health. Sparrow Rising was a fun book with fantastic characters and worldbuilding.

I read a lot of really good books this month. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Ghost by Jason Reynolds, Carry On Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, and Crossover by Kwame Alexander and a favorite reread The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan.

Lots of MG books last month, but some of the newer ones were quite disappointing. In fact, my favourites last month were two rereads, the Newbery Award winning The Summer of the Swans (which I first read in 1975 when I was nine years old and in German translation) and Gudrun Pausewang’s German language (and unfortunately not available in English) Der Streik der Dienstmädchen.

Two of my standout middle grades in July were:

The Double Life of Danny Day
Weird Kid

I can't wait to tell my 5th graders about them when school starts!

Sandy wrote: "I read a lot of really good books this month. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Ghost by Jason Reynolds, Carry On Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, and Crossover by K..."

That is an awesome month! Wow!

These are the best books I read this month:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
and A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon

I'm almost done with the book I have chosen as my best read for July, it's Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

I read a wonderful book that I think is being republished this September, although it was listed as published in 2017 by Goodreads - maybe in the original language, I'm not sure.
The Cat Who Saved Books is a brilliant take on people, books, and youngsters who suffer from isolation and turn to books instead. Loved it.

I didn't do very well with MG books in July, but I read a good one The Girl and the Ghost that would be right up Halloween's street. It's setting involves the paranormal beliefs and superstitions in Malaysia, which was what made me pick it up.

The best book I read in July was Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things.

Justine wrote: "I didn't do very well with MG books in July, but I read a good one The Girl and the Ghost that would be right up Halloween's street. It's setting involves the paranormal beliefs and..."

I really enjoyed reading this book too and thought it was unique and creepy.

Michelle wrote: "Two of my standout middle grades in July were:

The Double Life of Danny Day
Weird Kid

I can't wait to tell my 5th graders about them when school starts!"

I too liked "Weird Kid" and think it will be an easy sell to my students. Thanks for bringing attention to "The Double Life of Danny Day" too! I will have to check it out.