Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Top Ten Tuesday: Best 2021 Books For Tweens

 

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This week, we’re talking about the new middlegrade books that are coming out between January and June 2021. The books on this list are for kids ages 8-14, but I think they’ll be loved by a wide variety of readers. I’m a proper adult, and I’m looking forward to reading them. This is going to be a long list. Let’s stop dawdling and get into it.


 


2021 Middlegrade Book Releases

 

 

 

 

January

 




Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt

 

Historical Fiction

January 5, 2021



Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students from wealthy backgrounds. In a parallel story, Matt Coffin has wound up on the Maine coast near St. Elene's with a pillowcase full of money lifted from the leader of a criminal gang, fearing the gang's relentless, destructive pursuit.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: Gary D. Schmidt is one of those authors who I should have read by now, but I haven’t been able to because his books are always checked out of the library. I need to know what the hype is about! His new book sounds intriguing because of the parallel storylines. I wonder how they intersect.

 

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Root Magic by Eden Royce

 

Historical Fantasy

January 5, 2021



It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven—and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going train them in rootwork.

Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of her family for generations—especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make for the people on their island. But Jez soon finds out that her family’s true power goes far beyond small charms and elixirs . . . and not a moment too soon. Because when evil both natural and supernatural comes to show itself in town, it’s going to take every bit of the magic she has inside her to see her through.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I love when books mix magic with real events. Adding the supernatural to real life can only make life better, right? Novels like this are great for kids because the kids are learning history, but there’s enough magic and weirdness in the story to make it not feel educational. Goodreads calls this book “wondrous,” and “an unforgettable tale of courage, friendship, and Black Girl Magic.”

 

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Alone by Megan E. Freeman

 

Adventure / Survival Novel-In-Verse

January 12, 2021



When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.

With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.

As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I love novels-in-verse because they’re super quick to read. They get to the point faster than prose novels, and there aren’t many words on a page, so you feel like you’re flying through the pages. This one has a promising mystery. Where did everybody go? Also, I can’t pass up a survival story.

 

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The Ambassador Of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt

 

Contemporary Fiction

Series: When Zachary Beaver Came To Town #2

January 12, 2021



Decades after the Vietnam War and Toby's life-changing summer with Zachary Beaver, Toby's daughter Rylee is at a crossroads—her best friend Twig has started pushing her away just as Ben, a new kid from New York, settles into their small town of Antler. Rylee befriends Ben and learns that Ben's father was a first responder on 9/11. The two unlikely friends soon embark on a project to find Zachary Beaver and hopefully reconnect him with Rylee's father almost thirty years later.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: This is one of my most-anticipated releases for all of 2021. It’s a companion novel to When Zachary Beaver Came To Town, which came out in the 1990s and was a middle school favorite of mine. I read it approximately one billion times. The author is spectacular at capturing the boredom and gossip and drama that occurs in small towns. I’m excited to meet the next generation of characters from Antler, Texas.

 

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365 Days To Alaska by Cathy Carr

 

Contemporary Fiction

January 19, 2021



Eleven-year-old Rigel Harman loves her life in off-the-grid Alaska. She hunts rabbits, takes correspondence classes through the mail, and plays dominoes with her family in their two-room cabin. She doesn’t mind not having electricity or running water—instead, she’s got tall trees, fresh streams, and endless sky.

But then her parents divorce, and Rigel and her sisters have to move with their mom to the Connecticut suburbs to live with a grandmother they’ve never met. Rigel hates it in Connecticut. It’s noisy, and crowded, and there’s no real nature. Her only hope is a secret pact that she made with her father: If she can stick it out in Connecticut for one year, he’ll bring her back home.

At first, surviving the year feels impossible. Middle school is nothing like the wilderness, and she doesn’t connect with anyone . . . until she befriends a crow living behind her school. And if this wild creature has made a life for itself in the suburbs, then, just maybe, Rigel can too.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: A few years ago, I read a memoir called Still Points North. It’s a vivid and hilarious memoir. I recommend it. It’s about the author’s early childhood in remote Alaska. Her parents divorced when she was seven, and she was forced to move to Baltimore with her mother. 365 Days To Alaska sounds like the fiction version of Still Points North. If I like one book, I’ll probably like a similar one, right? I’m interested to see how they compare.

 

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While I Was Away by Waka T. Brown

 

Memoir

January 26, 2021



When twelve-year-old Waka’s parents suspect she can’t understand basic Japanese, they make the drastic decision to send her to Tokyo to live for several months with her strict grandmother. Forced to say goodbye to her friends and what would have been her summer vacation, Waka is plucked from her straight-A-student life in rural Kansas and flown across the globe, where she faces the culture shock of a lifetime.

In Japan, Waka struggles with reading and writing in kanji, doesn’t quite mesh with her complicated and distant Obaasama, and gets made fun of by the students in her Japanese public-school classes. Even though this is the country her parents came from, Waka has never felt more like an outsider.

If she’s always been the “smart Japanese girl” in America but is now the “dumb foreigner” in Japan, where is home? And who will Waka be when she finds it?

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I love memoirs, and I don’t know very much about Japan. Being dumped in a Japanese public school would be stressful! I’m interested to see how the author handles it.

 

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February

 

 

 

 

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

 

Contemporary Fiction

February 2, 2021



It's September 11, 2001. Brandon, a 9-year-old boy, goes to work for the day with his dad . . . at the World Trade Center in New York City. When two planes hit the towers, Brandon and his father are trapped inside a fiery nightmare as terror and confusion swirl around them. Can they escape—and what will the world be like when they do?

In present-day Afghanistan, Reshmina is an 11-year-old girl who is used to growing up in the shadow of war, but she has dreams of peace and unity. When she ends up harboring a wounded young American soldier, she and her entire family are put in mortal danger. But Reshmina also learns something surprising about the roots of this endless war.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I loved the author’s other book, Refugee. It’s harrowing and intricately plotted. I’m hoping for more of the same. Goodreads calls Ground Zeroa breathtaking, multifaceted, and resonant look at this singular event in US history—and how it still impacts us today.”

 

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The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold

 

Historical Fantasy

February 2, 2021



It’s 1985 and ten-year-old Gabrielle is excited to be moving from Haiti to America. Unfortunately, her parents won’t be able to join her yet and she’ll be living in a place called Brooklyn, New York, with relatives she has never met. She promises her parents that she will behave, but life proves to be difficult in the United States, from learning the language to always feeling like she doesn’t fit in to being bullied. So when a witch offers her a chance to speak English perfectly and be “American,” she makes the deal. But soon she realizes how much she has given up by trying to fit in and, along with her two new friends (one of them a talking rat), takes on the witch in an epic battle to try to reverse the spell. 

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I think a lot of kids will be able to relate to Gabrielle. Everybody wants to fit in, but that’s hard to do when you’re learning a new culture and language. According to the early reviews I’ve seen for this book, the characters are funny, and the plot is like a fairytale, complete with an evil witch. I’m intrigued.

 

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Strong As Fire, Fierce As Flame by Supriya Kelkar

 

Historical Fiction

February 24, 2021



Meera's future has been planned for her for as long as she can remember. As a child, her parents married her to a boy from a neighboring village whom she barely knows. Later, on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, she prepares to leave her family to live with her husband's—just as her strict religion dictates. But that night, Indian soldiers mutiny against their British commanders and destroy the British ammunition depot, burning down parts of Delhi. Riots follow, and Meera's husband is killed. Upon hearing the news, Meera's father insists that she follow the dictates of their fringe religious sect: She must end her life by throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

Risking everything, Meera runs away, escaping into the chaos of the rebellion. But her newfound freedom is short-lived, as she is forced to become a servant in the house of a high-ranking British East India Company captain. Slowly through her work, she gains confidence, new friends, new skills—and sometimes her life even feels peaceful. But one day, Meera stumbles upon the captain's secret stock of ammunition, destined to be used by the British to continue colonizing India and control its citizens.

Will Meera do her part to take down the British colonists and alert the rebellion of the stockpile? Or will she stay safe and let others make decisions for her? It really comes down to this: how much fire must a girl face to finally write her own destiny?

 

Why I’m excited to read it: The plot sounds more mature than other middlegrade books, which I would have appreciated as a kid. Most children’s books were too tame for me. I love the questions this novel asks. I think they’re very relevant to modern times. Will you risk your own comfort and safety to make life better for others?

 

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March-June

 

 

 

 

Bridge Of Souls by Victoria Schwab

 

Contemporary Paranormal

Series: Cassidy Blake #3

March 2, 2021



Where there are ghosts, Cassidy Blake follows. Unless it's the other way around?

Cass thinks she might have this ghost-hunting thing down. After all, she and her ghost best friend, Jacob, have survived two haunted cities while traveling for her parents' TV show.

But nothing can prepare Cass for New Orleans, which wears all of its hauntings on its sleeve. In a city of ghost tours and tombs, raucous music and all kinds of magic, Cass could get lost in all the colorful, grisly local legends. And the city's biggest surprise is a foe Cass never expected to face: a servant of Death itself.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: Victoria Schwab is one of my favorite authors. I’ll read anything she writes. The Cassidy Blake series is fun and creative. Each book introduces the reader to the haunted history of a different city. I would have adored these books as a kid because they blend two of my favorite things: history and spooky stuff.

 

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The Gilded Girl by Alyssa Colman

 

Historical Fantasy

April 6, 2021



Miss Posterity’s Academy for Practical Magic is the best kindling school in New York City—and wealthy twelve-year-old Emma Harris is accustomed to the best. But when her father dies, leaving her penniless, Emma is reduced to working off her debts to Miss Posterity alongside Izzy, a daring servant girl who refuses to let her magic be snuffed out, even if society dictates she must. Emma and Izzy reluctantly form a pact: If Izzy teaches Emma how to survive as a servant, Emma will reveal to Izzy what she knows about magic.

Along the way, they encounter quizzes that literally pop, shy libraries, and talking cats (that is, house dragons). But when another student’s kindling goes horribly wrong, revealing the fiery dangers of magic, Emma and Izzy must set aside their differences or risk their magic being snuffed out forever.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I like the premise: magic is only for those who can afford it. If magic was real, that’s probably how it would work in our world. There’s potential for some interesting social commentary. The plot sounds fun, too. According to Goodreads, this novel is “Heartfelt, fast-paced, and utterly absorbing.” I hope so.

 

Buy it on Amazon

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Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

 

Contemporary Fiction

May 4, 2021



Junie Kim just wants to fit in. So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying silent or speaking out.

Then Junie’s history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire her grandma’s fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her grandpa’s unwavering compassion during wartime. And as racism becomes more pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her ancestors and finds the courage to do what is right.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: This book got my attention because it’s been compared to Inside Out And Back Again by Thanhha Lai, which is an excellent novel-in-verse about Vietnamese immigrants. Inside Out is loosely based on the author’s own life. It sounds like Finding Junie Kim will be similar because the story was inspired by the life of Ellen Oh’s mother in Korea.

 

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The Shape Of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

 

Contemporary Fiction

May 11, 2021



Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year.

Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did.

On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—and stop him.

In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: Well, I was not expecting the wormhole! I wonder if the characters will actually be able to create it. I’m interested in this book because of the complicated relationship between the friends. It’s probably hard to maintain a friendship with someone whose brother murdered your sister. Jasmine Warga’s novels are loved by the book community and tend to get very good reviews. I’m excited to see what the hype is about.

 

Buy it on Amazon

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Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland

 

Historical Fantasy

May 18, 2021



Ophelia Harrison and her family used to live in a small house in the Georgia countryside. But that was before the night in November 1922 and the cruel act that took her home and her father from her. Which just happened to be the same night that Ophie learned she can see ghosts.

Now Ophie and her mother are stuck living in Pittsburgh with relatives they barely know. In the hopes of earning enough money to get their own place, Mama has gotten Ophie a job as a maid in the old manor house where she works. Daffodil Manor, like the wealthy Caruthers family who owns it, is haunted by memories and prejudices of the past—and, as Ophie discovers, ghosts as well. Ghosts who have their own loves and hatreds and hungers and desires, ghosts who have wronged others and ghosts who have themselves been wronged.

And as Ophie forms a friendship with one spirit whose life ended suddenly and unjustly, she wonders if she might be able to help—even as she comes to realize that Daffodil Manor may hold more secrets than she bargained for.

 

Why I’m excited to read it: I adored the author’s zombie thriller, Dread Nation. I’m confident that she can write creepy ghosts just as well as she can write creepy zombies. There’s an old manor house in Ophie’s Ghosts. I can’t pass up that setting! I love old houses, especially when they’re full of secrets.

 

Buy it on Amazon

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Are you looking forward to any middlegrade book releases in 2021?







19 comments:

  1. There really are a ton of incredible middle grades books coming out. Warga's was on my radar, but there were a few more on your list that really appealed to me.

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  2. I love that you chose books for tweens! I'm really looking forward to Root Magic, Ophie's Ghosts, and the Bridge of Souls! It seems like there are so many amazing middle grade books coming out in 2021, and I'm trying to pace myself, but goodness, I want to read them all haha.

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  3. You're not the only proper adult who loves middle grade! It's such a fun genre, isn't it? Of the ones you listed, I'm most excited for OPHIE'S GHOSTS, although I'm also pumped for ALONE and FINDING JUNIE KIM. I hope we both love these :)

    Happy TTT!

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  4. This list is perfect because I love middle grade and I always seem to miss a good chunk of new releases. Root Magic is one I've had my eye on, I love the premise. The Gilded Girl and Finding Junie Kim also sound great!

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  5. Middle grade books always have the most gorgeous covers! Root Magic and Alone both seem right up my alley!

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  6. Root Magic sounds like it's going to be really good.

    My post.

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  7. I also decided to share some middle grade books that I can't wait to read -- Bridge of Souls and Ophie's Ghost made my list. =P Root Magic sounds so good.

    Happy readings!
    Tânia @MyLovelySecret

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  8. What a great list of MG books all with such attractive covers. ALONE stood out to me because I like both survivalist stories and those written in verse. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. These all look like so much fun! Alone sounds super intriguing already and I REALLY want to read the Cassidy Blake series.

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  10. Bridge of Souls was on my list this week too!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/05/top-ten-tuesday-297/

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  11. I'm in Heaven! I love this post. I'm going to have to bookmark it to come back to for ideas. Many great ideas. They all sound good, actually. I can't even single one out I like best.

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  12. I've been so looking forward to Root Magic, too! I mean, sometimes you can just tell when a book is going to be special, and that's been a big one for me.

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  13. I don't read a lot of middlegrade, but I'm looking forward to when my niece is older and starts reading books like these!

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  14. There's so much good middle grade stuff out there, seems like. Whenever I'm at the bookshop and I stroll through that section I always see so many books I wish I would have had when I was younger. Although, like you point out, a lot of them are fun for adults too. I love that so many of them have a mysterious vibe too.

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  15. There's so many wonderful books on here and I have just discovered how amazing MG is last year! I have added some of these to my TBR. Thank you, for an awesome post!! :)

    My Top Ten

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  16. Ground Zero and The Shape of Thunder are on my list too! I loved City of Ghosts, and I have Tunnel of Bones that I need to read ASAP. I love MG books as well and I really want to read more of them this year.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  17. Another list of Middle Grade books! :) Great picks.

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  18. Wow this is an incredible list! I just added Alone to my daughter's wishlist, because I think it would be her cup of tea for sure. I also am really interested in The Shape of Thunder, Fierce as Fire, and Ophie's Ghost, so THANK YOU for putting them all on my radar! Also, these covers are just... perfection, right?

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  19. Bridge of Souls is going to be fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

    Lauren @ Always Me

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