Middle Grades Books

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  I am David (Jeg er David) (1965) by Anne Holm

  Lena Green

  David, who seems to have been the only child in a men’s prison camp, grew up without family or history and knows nothing about any other kind of human society, except what he learns from the adult prisoners and what he observes after he escapes. His experiences, and the questions he wonders about, encourage exploration of concepts such as family, belonging, identity, freedom, goodness, evil, resilience, language, and education. This book can be considered a philosophical novel for children. Though somewhat dated, it remains a gripping account of a child on the verge of adolescence responding to adversity with courage and hope.

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  My Octopus Teacher (2020) directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed

  Peter Shea

  My Octopus Teacher combines a carefully structured love story with astonishing information about undersea life, documenting a year of encounters between a photographer and an octopus. It is important as a non-standard love story and as a reflection on the possibility of deep connection with non-human creatures.

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  Rivers and Tides

  Peter Shea

  The documentary Rivers and Tides presents an unfamiliar take on the work of the artist, the role of a work of art in human life, and, ultimately, on the relationship between human beings and natural objects and forces. In following artist Andy Goldsworthy as he talks through the work he is doing, one has an opportunity to ask basic questions about some deeply held beliefs – to which there are, as he shows, plausible alternatives.

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  Safiyyah’ s War (2023) by Hiba Noor Khan & The Grand Mosque of Paris (2009) by Karen Gray Ruelle & Deborah Durland DeSaix

  Maughn Rollins Gregory

  Suppose that somebody takes over your city and begins harming your friends and neighbors. How do you respond? When is it your responsibility to act, and what kinds of risks should you take? How do these new moral demands change your relations to your neighbors, people in authority, and even your family? How do you stay sane and resolved when your safety is under constant threat? Telling the story of how the Muslim community in Paris risked their lives to save hundreds of Jews when Germany invaded France in World War II, this middle-grades novel and picture book also tell about how adults and children find their way around and through many ethical and political quandaries.

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  Vovchyk who Rode a Bomb (2019) by Yuri Nikitinsky

  Hanna Klymenko-Syniook

  Today some people have been denied the feeling of safety; others have lost their families, homes, and even the towns, and villages of their local homeland. Many now find themselves in occupied towns, and many more have been forced to move into the unknown, in search of the refuge provided by relatively safe regions, or abroad. And how many have been compelled to escape a second time to save their children? In the humorous and tragic story “Vovchyk who rode a bomb” and the philosophical adventure story “If Bodya were here,” Nikitinsky depicts war as it is seen by children, and in the language of children. I advise parents and children to read this book together—not because it is frightening and painful, but because the joint experience is valuable in a time of insecurity in a fragile world.

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  Wildful (2024) by Kengo Kurimoto

  Maughn Gregory

  Kengo Kurimoto’s graphic novel Wildful explores the transformative power of nature and deep attention. Poppy is struggling with her mother’s depression after her grandmother’s passing. Initially absorbed in digital distractions, Poppy is drawn into the wilderness when her dog, Pepper, chases a fox. She meets Rob, a boy who teaches her to observe nature with curiosity and respect—tracking animals, noticing patterns, and sitting in silence. Poppy learns that being in nature can assuage generational grief through a renewed sense of wonder and connection.

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  Eyes and the Impossible (2023) by David Eggers

  Peter Shea

  The Eyes and the Impossible joins the genre of talking animal stories, deepening that genre, suggesting new ways that the animal point of view could help humans understand their strivings for limitlessness and their temptations to retreat into a safe world. The dog narrator, Johannes and his animal friends and colleagues are all open to the world beyond their cozy home; they are willing to take great risks to learn something new. The book models the adventure of learning and growing up, without sacrificing the power of a great story.

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  Force of Nature (2024) by Ann E. Burg

  Maughn Rollins Gregory

  Rachel Carson launched the modern environmental movement with books that combined detailed observations of the natural world, scientific research, and philosophical reflection on humanity’s relationship with nature — all conveyed in poetic language. Ann E. Burg’s fictional biography-in-verse Force of Nature shows how these habits of observation, questioning, reflection, and expression began in Carson’s childhood, and invites readers to follow her lines of inquiry. Can we provide for human well-being without sacrificing the well-being of non-human life? Can we provide for the well-being of certain human populations without sacrificing the well-being of others? Can we indulge our wonder about, and need to learn about nature without changing it? What role should ordinary citizens have in shaping the directions and applications of scientific research? What difference can one life, one voice make? Rachel Carson may not have offered definitive answers to these questions, but her life and writing articulated them powerfully.

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  Leak (2021) by Kate Reed Petty

  Maughn Rollins Gregory and Megan Jane Laverty

  Aspiring 12-year-old journalist Ruth is looking for her next big story when she and her friend Jonathan discover dead fish and strange black slime at the lake near their town. Through a frustrating, risky, and sometimes funny journey, she learns about scientific and journalistic objectivity and the importance of both - and of community support - in environmental activism.

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  Out of the Fires (2023) by Carrie Lara

  Peter Shea

  After a fire destroys his home and neighborhood, a young boy must learn what it means to be resilient. Things may never be "normal" again, but he discovers that he is strong―even when hard things happen. The book, written as a journal, includes drawings, news clippings, and coping strategies to help children cultivate resilience after a natural disaster.

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  Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence (2023) by Sonja Thomas

  Maughn Rollins Gregory

  When twelve-year-old Mira Williams’s companion and confidant, the cat Sir Fig Newton, contracts diabetes, her parents say she may have to give him to someone who can afford his treatment. The resources Mira will need to save Fig and keep him close include ingenuity, family ties, friendships, and the kind of faith she finds can be compatible with science. Thomas’ novel shows a teenager’s sophisticated engagement with complex questions of race, faith, science, and relationships.

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  Standing Up to Mr. O. (1998) by Claudia Mills

  Gareth B. Matthews

  Fifth-grade Maggie's refusal to dissect a worm in science class is the first step on a philosophically-complicated path of moral awakening that will lead to conflict with her family, her friends, and her school. Claudia Mills’ middle-grades novel Standing Up to Mr. O. is an ideal text to introduce a discussion of moral issues concerning the treatment of animals. Almost all the points one would want to include in such a discussion are raised here, and they appear in a way that makes them immediately accessible both to teenagers and to their parents and teachers.

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  The Wolves of Yellowstone (2022) by Catherine Barr

  Samantha Piede

  When wolves were eliminated from Yellowstone National Park in the early 20th century, the park's ecosystem began to deteriorate, leading to elk overpopulation, overgrazing, and environmental collapse. The degradation of the park spawned a rewilding project, in which wolves from Canadian packs were reintroduced to the park. The process and effects of this rewilding is captured in Catherine Barr's The Wolves of Yellowstone, which takes on the philosophical complexity of not only ecological interconnection, but the ethical complications involved trying to restore a species that is not universally lauded by locals.