The best middle-grade books to make you feel good about the world

By M. Tara Crowl

Who am I?

As a shy, dreamy kid, I relied on middle-grade books to learn about the world and feel less alone. That’s why I eventually started writing them. Growing up can be hard. Being grown-up can, too. Fiction can thrill, educate, and stimulate, and I love it for those reasons. But sometimes, I want a book to assure me things are going to be okay. In case you’d forgotten that the world can be scary and unpredictable, the last couple of years probably reminded you. I continue to find comfort in middle-grade books that make my heart feel full, tender, and hopeful. I needed books like these back then, and still need them today.

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The books I picked & why

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

By Kate DiCamillo, Bagram Ibatoulline (illustrator),

Why this book?

No one brings the middle-grade warm and fuzzies like Kate DiCamillo. I love all of her books, but I can’t read this one without crying, which might be why it’s my favorite.

Edward is a china rabbit. After his life with his first owner comes to an unhappy end, he is passed from owner to owner, discarded, and mistreated. Through it all, he learns and grows. His journey is devastating, but the story’s conclusion is triumphant. Highly recommended when you’re feeling unwanted or rejected, or if you’re in the mood for a good cry.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

By Kate DiCamillo, Bagram Ibatoulline (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Incredible Journey meets The Mouse and His Child, an enchanting tale that begs to be read aloud.

The magical story of the adventures of a lost toy rabbit from a New York Times bestselling author, twice winner of the Newbery Medal. Abilene loves her blue china rabbit, but Edward Tulane is extremely vain and only loves himself. On a voyage from New York to London, Edward falls overboard and from there finds himself on an amazing journey. He travels with tramps, works as a scarecrow, comforts a dying child ... and finally learns what it is to truly love.

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Toys
Rabbits

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Merci Suárez Changes Gears

By Meg Medina,

Why this book?

Attending a private school on scholarship among wealthy classmates, Merci Suárez never feels like she belongs. Her family has always been close, with three generations living in houses nestled next to one another, but lately, things aren’t easy at home, either. Merci’s grandfather is acting in ways she doesn’t understand, and she knows the others are hiding something from her.

I love Merci’s spirited, spunky personality and loving family. She navigates conflicts with courage, pluck, and honesty. The way she faces challenges gives me the confidence to take mine on.

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

By Meg Medina,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Merci Suárez Changes Gears as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the Newbery Medal
A New York Times Bestseller

“The realistic portrayal of a complex young Latina’s life is one many readers will relate to. . . . Medina cruises into readers’ hearts.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

Merci Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, as strong and thoughtful as Merci is, she has never been completely like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don’t have a big house or a fancy…

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American history

Anne of Green Gables

By L.M. Montgomery,

Why this book?

There’s a reason this book remains popular more than a hundred years after it was published. Loquacious, red-haired, accident-prone Anne is entertaining, but also earnest, brave, and kind. She’s true to herself, and ultimately, no one on Prince Edward Island can resist that.

Since I first read this book, I’ve been inspired by Anne’s passion and fascination with the world’s beauty. As she navigates tragedies large and small, she grows from a wild child to a graceful young adult. It feels like an assurance that with a pure heart and true intentions, somehow, things will work out.

Anne of Green Gables

By L.M. Montgomery,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Anne of Green Gables as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Anne of Green Gables is the classic children's book by L M Montgomery, the inspiration for the Netflix Original series Anne with an E. Watch it now!

Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are in for a big surprise. They are waiting for an orphan boy to help with the work at Green Gables - but a skinny, red-haired girl turns up instead. Feisty and full of spirit, Anne Shirley charms her way into the Cuthberts' affection with her vivid imagination and constant chatter. It's not long before Anne finds herself in trouble, but soon it becomes impossible for the Cuthberts to…

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Meet the Austins

By Madeleine L'Engle,

Why this book?

The Austins live in rural New England, where the four children take joy in nature, do chores cheerfully, and have a club committed to nonconformity. The family’s faith and interests in the arts and sciences are weaved seamlessly into their daily life. And although death is discussed throughout, themes of light and love permeate.

This isn’t the most well-known of L’Engle’s books, but it’s a feel-good portrait of domestic life. If I had read it when I was young, I’m sure I would have wanted to be an Austin kid. Reading it as a mother, I want to crack the parents’ code.

Meet the Austins

By Madeleine L'Engle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Meet the Austins as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book one of the Austin Family Chronicles, an award-winning young adult series from Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, about a girl who experiences the difficulties and joys of growing up.

“Beautifully written, with integrity and warmth, and young people are bound to identify with the characters, each a person in his own right, and to read absorbed from first page to last. Thoroughly recommended.” ―Chicago Tribune

For a family with four kids, two dogs, assorted cats, and a constant stream of family and friends dropping by, life in the Austin family home has always been remarkably steady…

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Coming soon!

The List of Things That Will Not Change

By Rebecca Stead,

Why this book?

Bea is a kid with big feelings who’s navigating major changes. After her parents’ divorce, she finds stability in a list of constants: that each of her parents will always love her; that she’ll always have a home with each of them; that they are still a family.

I felt Bea’s waves of elation and anger so intensely that some moments made me feel like my heart might burst. Ultimately, the love and support she receives from the adults in her life helped me remember my own things that will not change.

The List of Things That Will Not Change

By Rebecca Stead,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The List of Things That Will Not Change as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2020
Nominated for the Carnegie Medal

Sonia and I have a lot in common. Our parents are divorced. Our dads are gay. We both love barbecue potato chips. But she is different from me in at least one way: you can't tell how she's feeling just by looking at her. At all.

When Bea's dad and his wonderful partner, Jesse, decide to marry, it looks as if Bea's biggest wish is coming true: she's finally (finally!) going to have a sister.

They're both ten. They're both in fifth grade. Though they've never met, Bea…

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Coming soon!

5 book lists we think you will like!

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8,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Alzheimer's disease, toys, and Canada.

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And, 3 books we think you will enjoy!

We think you will like Into the Wild, Braiding Sweetgrass, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude if you like this list.

Into the Wild

By Jon Krakauer,

From the list on the spirit of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.

By Stephen Benz Author

Why did Stephen love this book?

Perhaps no one—including Kerouac—embodies this characteristic restlessness more purely than Chris McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild. McCandless’s story has captured the imagination of legions of readers, myself included (not everyone is on board; there are those who consider McCandless a fool). I’m sure I’m not the only one who read the book in one sitting, unable to set it down. What’s so mesmerizing about McCandless’s story, for those who can’t resist it, is his utter belief (saintly in its way) that the physical journey is in fact a quest, a kind of soul-searching that leads to enlightenment. That his journey ends badly somehow seems to validate his belief. McCandless dared to go to the limits, even if it meant there was no return.

Into the Wild

By Jon Krakauer,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Into the Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Krakauer’s page-turning bestseller explores a famed missing person mystery while unraveling the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.

"Terrifying... Eloquent... A heart-rending drama of human yearning." —New York Times

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all…

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Braiding Sweetgrass

By Robin Wall Kimmerer,

From the list on helping Christians navigate the climate crisis.

By Kyle Meyaard-Schaap Author

Why did Kyle love this book?

This may seem like a strange choice. Kimmerer is a poet, a botanist, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Band of Oklahoma, and—as far as I know—not a Christian

But the beauty and poignance of this book had me in tears often. Kimmerer has a way of training our modern, Western eyes to encounter creation not as inert raw material meant for little more than firing our industrial machines, but as sacred kin shot through with the glory of God.

Her indigenous wisdom is a crucial counterpoint to the prevailing post-Enlightenment worldviews and ideologies that most of us swim in every day, and it helps us get closer to the Hebrew cosmologies and anthropologies of the Bible. Cosmologies and anthropologies which are, after all, indigenous themselves.

Braiding Sweetgrass

By Robin Wall Kimmerer,

Why should I read it?

31 authors picked Braiding Sweetgrass as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Called the work of "a mesmerizing storyteller with deep compassion and memorable prose" (Publishers Weekly) and the book that, "anyone interested in natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love," by Library Journal, Braiding Sweetgrass is poised to be a classic of nature writing. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer asks questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces indigenous teachings that consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take "us on a journey that is…

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Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

By Ross Gay,

From the list on nature books to help us disconnect from modern life.

By Jacqueline Raposo Author

Why did Jacqueline love this book?

Poet Ross Gay is a shape shifter who observes the struggle of living in a human body such with compassion and intelligence and artistry that he not only describes such struggles, but also transports us inside of the elements that create them. In this meditation on love and life and loss, we are soothed by the garden, the beehive, the orchard; by the mourning doves and dung-filled dirt and knots of dead bees that he reaches for to nourish and calm and heal. Gay is very much alive to the living and the dead around him. This collection of poems brings us back to life with gratitude transformed.

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

By Ross Gay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award, poetry category. Winner of the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Finalist for the 2015 National Book Award, poetry category.Finalist for the 2015 NAACP Image Awards in Poetry.

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is a sustained meditation on that which goes away - loved ones, the seasons, the earth as we know it - that tries to find solace in the processes of the garden and the orchard. That is, this is a book that studies the wisdom of the garden and orchard, those places where all - death, sorrow, loss - is…

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Poetry

The best middle-grade books to make you feel good about the world

Who am I?

I wrote...

Eden's Wish

What is my book about?

The books I picked & why

Why this book?

Why should I read it?

What is this book about?

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Why this book?

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What is this book about?

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Why this book?

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Why this book?

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What is this book about?

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Why this book?

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Alzheimer's disease, toys, and Canada?

And, 3 books we think you will enjoy!

Who am I?

Stephen's book list on the spirit of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road

Why did Stephen love this book?

Why should I read it?

What is this book about?

Explore

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Genres

Who am I?

Kyle's book list on helping Christians navigate the climate crisis

Why did Kyle love this book?

Why should I read it?

What is this book about?

Explore

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Genres

Who am I?

Jacqueline's book list on nature books to help us disconnect from modern life

Why did Jacqueline love this book?

Why should I read it?

What is this book about?

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Genres