Middle Grade Books About Grief and Death

A 2020 ILA Teachers’ Choice * A Parents' Choice Award Gold Medal Winner * Amazon Top 20 Children's Book of 2019 * A Junior Library Guild Selection

Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.

Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished ― the very same park where she, her mom and her sisters buried a treasured memory box ― she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it.

Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all... but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her “once upon a time” into a “happily ever after.”

Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent

A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother’s death in this outstanding debut novel that celebrates community and creativity. 

David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge — of adolescence, of grief, of violence — and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors.

Praised by Newbery Medal–winning author Katherine Applegate as "graceful" and "miraculous," this Schneider Family Book Award–winning novel tells how one girl's friendship with a homeless dog mends a family's heart.

With beautiful, spare writing and adorable animals, A Dog Called Homeless is perfect for readers of favorite middle-grade novels starring dogs, such as Because of Winn-Dixie and Shiloh.

Newbery Medal Winner * ALA Notable Children's Book

A modern classic of friendship and loss!

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia.

One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

Halfway to Harmony is an utterly charming story about change and growing up.

Walter Tipple is looking for adventure. He keeps having a dream that his big brother, Tank, appears before him and says, “Let’s you and me go see my world, little man.” But Tank went to the army and never came home, and Walter doesn’t know how to see the world without him.

Then he meets Posey, the brash new girl from next door, and an eccentric man named Banjo, who’s off on a bodacious adventure of his own.

What follows is a summer of taking chances, becoming braver, and making friends ― and maybe Walter can learn who he wants to be without the brother he always wanted to be like.

2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award for Best Middle Reader Winner * 2021 First Horizon Award Winner * 2022 Best Book Award for Children's Fiction, American Book Fest

Melanie knows she's special. She understands the secret language of old houses and can make jewels out of broken glass. Her imagination can do anything - except make friends. But then, she meets Sabrina.

If only she could share it all with Mom. Sabrina thinks they can track her down, and Melanie wants to believe, but sometimes it's easier to pretend. Her new life feels like a house of cards, until one day it all comes crashing down and she finds herself with no choice but to face the truth... and let go.

National Book Award Finalist * ALA Schneider Family Book Award * 2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Book * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * Amazon Best Books of 2018 * Kirkus Best of Children's 2018 * New York Public Library Best Books 2018 * and MORE

Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason’s learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard.

An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe the story Mason has told about that day.

Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny. But will anyone believe him?

2015 National Book Award finalist

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason.

Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory -- even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe... and the potential for love and hope right next door.

2018 ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults * Chicago Public Library 2017 Best Fiction for Older Readers * 2019–2020 Young Hoosier Book Award *. and MORE

Sofia lost her mother eight months ago, and her friends were 100% there for her. Now it's a new year and they're ready for Sofia to move on. But being a motherless daughter is hard to get used to, especially when you're only fourteen.

An uplifting, heartfelt tale of bravery and strength in the face of loss and grief, perfect for tweens, teens and adults alike.

An Amazon Best Book of the Year * A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * A National Public Radio Best Book of the Year * And MORE

In the tradition of Out of My Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and discovering the true meaning of family. 

This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book * Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction * A School Library Journal Best Book * and MORE

When eleven-year-old Langston's father moves them from their home in Alabama to Chicago's Bronzeville district after his mother has died, it feels like he's giving up everything he loves.

But Langston's new home has one fantastic thing. Unlike the whites-only library in Alabama, the Chicago Public Library welcomes everyone. There, hiding out after school, Langston discovers another Langston--a poet whom he learns inspired his mother enough to name her only son after him.

When Georgia finds a secret sketch her late father—a famed artist—left behind, the discovery leads her down a path that may reshape everything holding her family and friends together.

Caroline Gertler’s debut is a story about friendship, family, grief, and creativity.

A Kirkus Best Book of 2019

It’s been almost a year since Rain’s brother Guthrie died, and her parents still don’t know it was all Rain’s fault. In fact, no one does—Rain buried her secret deep, no matter how heavy it weighs on her heart.

So when her mom suggests moving the family from Vermont to New York City, Rain agrees. But life in the big city is different. She’s never seen so many people in one place — or felt more like an outsider.

With her parents fighting more than ever and the anniversary of Guthrie’s death approaching, Rain is determined to keep her big secret close to her heart. But even she knows that when you bury things deep, they grow up twice as tall.

Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist * Carnegie Medal Longlist Title * A Bank Street Best Book of the Year * A Children's Book Review Best Book of the Year * and MORE

Ethan had been many things. He was always ready for adventure and always willing to accept a dare, especially from his best friend, Kacey. But that was before. Before the accident that took Kacey from him. Before his family moved from Boston to the small town of Palm Knot, Georgia.

Palm Knot may be tiny, but it’s the home of possibility and second chances. It’s also home to Coralee, a girl with a big personality and even bigger stories. Coralee may be just the friend Ethan needs, except Ethan isn’t the only one with secrets. Coralee’s are catching up with her, and what she’s hiding might be putting both their lives at risk.

After Kitty’s mother dies on an inappropriately sunny Tuesday, all Kitty wants is for her life to go back to “normal” — whatever that will mean without her mum. Instead, her dad announces that he, Kitty, and her sister are moving from their home in London to New York City, and Kitty will need to say goodbye to the places and people that help keep her mother’s memory alive.

New York is every bit as big and bustling as Kitty’s heard, and as she adjusts to life there and befriends a blue-haired boy,  she starts to wonder if her memories of her mum don’t need to stay in one place — if there’s a way for them to be with Kitty every day, everywhere.

An ALA Notable Book * An ILA Teachers Coice * A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year * and MORE

Inspired by the work of folk artist James Hampton, Shelley Pearsall has crafted an affecting and redemptive novel about discovering what shines within us all, even when life seems full of darkness.

Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching new novel from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.