Middle Grade due to release in 2021!

Middle grade fiction is defined as novels with characters aged 8-13 or novels intended for that audience age range. Please don't add YA or NA— there are other lists for those.

We ask authors to please refrain from voting or inviting their fans to vote on this list.

Middle Grade Novels by Year:
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Young Adult Books by Year:
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
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552 books · 391 voters · list created January 17th, 2019 by Jasmine (votes) .
106 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jasmine 10200 books
301 friends
Rainbowheart 2033 books
155 friends
Jan 5124 books
130 friends
Daiane A. 5031 books
37 friends
Nick 796 books
0 friends
Day 1613 books
16 friends
Dany 1163 books
741 friends
Shannon 339 books
62 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-29 of 29 (29 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Removed African Town. This is a 2022 release.


message 2: by Laina (new)

Laina SpareTime 67, Drone Chase by Pam Withers is YA, not MG.


message 3: by Amy (new)

Amy #35, Brave Like That, while a lovely book, was a 2020 release not a 2021. :)


message 4: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Thanks for the heads up, Amy. I removed Brave Like That.

Also removed Drone Chase, the book Laina pointed out. The MC is 16, so doesn't appear to be middle grade.


message 5: by Laina (new)

Laina SpareTime 11, Miss Peregrine 6, is not a middle grade book


message 6: by Becky (new)

Becky B Laina wrote: "11, Miss Peregrine 6, is not a middle grade book"

I removed it.


message 7: by Becky (new)

Becky B Dragon Fire by McMann removed, it was published in 2020.


message 8: by La La (new)

La La Thirty Talks Weird Love is YA


message 9: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart The MC is 13 and in middle school. That qualifies as MG according to the list rules.


message 10: by Christine (last edited Apr 07, 2021 10:30AM) (new)

Christine These titles now have 2022 publication dates:

Ellen Outside the Lines
Goldenpaw
Just Right Jillian
In the Key of Us
Recess All-Stars
Resilience (by Jasmine Warga)
Throne of Sand

Mae Respicio's Everything Starts with Nothing now has a new title: How to Win a Slime War (it comes out September 14th).


message 11: by Laina (new)

Laina SpareTime Rainbowheart wrote: "The MC is 13 and in middle school. That qualifies as MG according to the list rules."

I don't think that's the right choice either. It's clearly a YA book with a younger protagonist - Room, for instance, isn't a children's book despite its 5 year old protagonist. This is not aimed at a middle grade audience.


message 12: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart The cover is very middle grade, but I looked at the publisher's website and it appears they have it in the YA category, not the MG one.

https://cincopuntos.com/product-categ...


message 13: by Fm (new)

Fm Shipp 186-the Stolen Prince of Cloudburst was first published in 2020.


message 14: by Fm (new)

Fm Shipp 237-Stand Up, Yumi Chung is also 2020.


message 15: by Keaton (new)

Keaton 262 - The Explorers Code came out in 2020


message 16: by Laina (new)

Laina SpareTime 142 Maizy Chen's Last Chance is 2022


message 17: by Laina (new)

Laina SpareTime 353 Girl in the Lake is 2022


message 18: by Becky (new)

Becky B While I Was Away by Waka Brown is a memoir. It is nonfiction.


message 19: by T.J. (new)

T.J. Burns 143 - Amina's Voice (Amina's Voice #1) by Hena Khan shouldn't be on this list -- It was published in 2017.


message 20: by aadya (last edited Dec 20, 2021 12:20AM) (new)

aadya T.J. wrote: "143 - Amina's Voice (Amina's Voice #1) by Hena Khan shouldn't be on this list -- It was published in 2017."

Yes, but Amina's Voice ISN'T on the list. Amina's Song is on the list and that's the sequel to Amina's Voice and it was published in 2021, so it CAN be on the list.


message 21: by Laina (new)

Laina SpareTime jojo wrote: "Yes, but Amina's Voice ISN'T on the list."

It is, it's on the second page.


message 22: by aadya (last edited Dec 20, 2021 05:11AM) (new)

aadya Laina wrote: "jojo wrote: "Yes, but Amina's Voice ISN'T on the list."

It is, it's on the second page."


Oh oops, sorry, my bad. My fault completely.


message 23: by Lisa (last edited Dec 24, 2021 08:46PM) (new)

Lisa Castellano People have added Amina’s Voice (150s) Catching Fire (297), and 7th Most Important Thing- (250s) all books published prior to 2021.


message 24: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart I did some major cleanup on this list and removed Timid, Coral, Sardines, Resilience, Dog Star, Plain Jane, Call Me Iggy, Secret Book Club, Recess All-Stars, Just Right Jillian, The Magic Paintbrush, The Girl in the Lake, Maizy Chen's Last Chance, Between the Lighthouse and You, and Untitled by Ernesto Cisneros. These were all pushed to 2022 or later or have release dates that are currently unknown.

Also deleted a ton of books that were published prior to 2021 and removed Capsule, which is a YA, not MG, and Why Does My Shadow Follow Me, which is non-fiction, not a novel.


message 25: by Cherie (last edited Apr 03, 2024 06:28PM) (new)

Cherie I did some cleanup, wanting to make sure everything was still accurate. Removed:

Not published/unknown release
- The River Of Limbo: How It All Began (279)

Chapter Book or Below Middle Grade
- Captain Dom's Treasure (319)
- Maggie Sparks and the Monster Baby (319)
- Aven Green, Sleuthing Machine (371)
- Butler for Hire! (383)
- The Scrumptious Life of Azaleah Lane (391) (also published 2020)
- Farah Rocks Florida (406)
- Starla Jean (418)
- Pasture Bedtime (Charlie's Rules, #1) (420)
- Home Sweet Forever Home (The Invincible Girls Club, #1) (441)
- Stella Díaz Dreams Big (Stella Díaz, #3) (487)

YA
- The Bone Houses (279) (also published 2019)
- Hello Cruel Heart (409)


message 26: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Just curious, what is the rationale for deleting books like Stella Diaz?

MG is for ages 8 to 13, and Stella is 9 and in the fourth grade. The series isn't intended for beginning readers. Same for several of the others that got removed.


message 27: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Also really confused about the removal of Pasture Bedtime. Charlie is 11 years old! I can't see any ambiguity about that book at all.

Farah Rocks Florida also has an 11 year old MC in sixth grade.


message 28: by Cherie (new)

Cherie I looked up each of these books on Amazon and the age ranges for the audiences started with age 6, which is below middle grade.

I looked up the Farah Rocks Florida again and I must've mixed it up. I'm sorry for the confusion. Please feel free to add it back!


message 29: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart I have seen Amazon sometimes miscategorize, not often, but it does happen.

Maybe Jasmine can clarify since she's the list creator, but the description of the list says "novels with characters aged 8-13 or novels intended for that audience age range" which would include most of the books above.

I agree books intended for kids age 7 or below would not belong, but in my understanding, middle grade has a large range. There's no way some of these books could be read by a first grader unless he or she was very advanced.


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