Best New Middle School Books
New middle school books introduce young readers to exciting adventures, relatable characters and stories that reflect the challenges and discoveries of growing up.
Explore engaging reads that keep tweens turning pages while helping them discover new favorite authors and genres.
Be sure to check out even more best new books from the present and past years!
You can find these new middle school books of 2018 according to Amazon at your local library or purchase through the affiliate links provided for your convenience.
Best New Middle School Books (2018)
Looking for new middle school books to add to your reading list?
These engaging titles offer a mix of captivating stories, memorable characters and fresh perspectives that appeal to middle-grade readers and encourage a lifelong love of reading.
National Book Award Finalist * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * 2019-2020 Nebraska Golden Sower Award * Amazon Best Books of 2018 * Kirkus Best of Children’s 2018 * and More!!
From the critically acclaimed author of Waiting for Normal and All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Leslie Connor, comes a deeply poignant and beautifully crafted story about self-reliance, redemption, and hope.
Caleb Franklin and his big brother Bobby Gene are excited to have adventures in the woods behind their house.
Caleb dreams of venturing beyond their ordinary small town. T
hen Caleb and Bobby Gene meet new neighbor Styx Malone. Â
Styx has secrets – secrets so big they could ruin everything.
From Robert Beatty, the author of the award-winning Serafina books!
Set in 1900 in the Great Smoky Mountains, it’s the story of an orphaned girl – gentle of heart, but brimming with the ancient forest powers of her people–who must struggle to survive in a changing world.
The formerly glorious god Apollo, cast down to earth in punishment by Zeus, is now an awkward mortal teenager named Lester Papadopoulos.
In order to regain his place on Mount Olympus, Lester must restore five Oracles that have gone dark.
But he has to achieve this impossible task without having any godly powers and while being duty-bound to a confounding young daughter of Demeter named Meg.Â
From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be.
Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately.
Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return.
Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature!
Jacqueline Woodson’s first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories.
In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of India’s partition, and of one girl’s journey to find a new home in a divided country.Â
Told through Nisha’s letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl’s search for home, for her own identity…and for a hopeful future.
Enthralling characters, a unique setting and a gripping adventure!
Building on the success of her critically acclaimed novels The One and Only Ivan, Crenshaw, and Wishtree, while also returning to her action-packed fantasy roots of Animorphs, the Endling series is Katherine Applegate at her finest.
National Book Award Finalist
Newbery Medalist Christopher Paul Curtis brings his trademark humor and heart to this story of a boy struggling to do right in the face of history’s cruelest evils.
Twelve-year-old Aru Shah, who has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school.
One day, schoolmates show up at Aru’s doorstep to catch her in a lie.
They don’t believe her claim that the museum’s Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it.
The captivating and heart-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestselling and #1 Kids’ Indie Next Pick Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, as heroine Morrigan battles a new evil.
Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster.
Together, these two outcasts carve out a new life — saving each other in the process.
Lyrically told by one of today’s most powerful storytellers, Sweep is a heartrending adventure about the everlasting gifts of friendship and wonder.
The compelling story of a girl’s fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude.Â
Eleven-year-old Isabella’s blended family is more divided than ever in this thoughtful story about divorce and racial identity from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper.
An NPR Book of the Year * A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A lightning strike gave her a super power…but even a super genius can’t solve the problem of middle school. A celebration of friendship, Stacy McAnulty’s smart and thoughtful middle-grade debut reminds us all to get out of our comfort zones and embrace what makes us different.
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year.
Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?
When witches kidnap her dad, Mup is swept up in a wild tide of magic that carries her to another world.
Can she reunite her family and find her way back?
From the New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander comes Rebound, a dynamic novel in verse and companion to his Newbery Award-winner, The Crossover, illustrated with striking graphic novel panels.
Simultaneously heartwarming and delightfully spooky, The House in Poplar Wood is a story about a boy’s desire to be free, a girl’s desire to make a difference, and a family’s desire to be together again.
The poignant – and funny – story of a girl trying to be brave and find her place in the world after she’s sent to live with scheming relatives.
