Middle school opened a door to a world of literary wonders and empowerment. I devoured the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in a single week (very upsetting for 5th grade me), and decided to become a writer when I read The Face On The Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney in the 6th grade. It’s crazy how literature can change a life. Especially as a girl, reading novels written by women inspired me to want to create my own stories. Because if they could do it, I knew I could do it, too. Which is why it is so important to encourage young girls to read books that will enrich their values and fuel their creativity.
As young children we read picture-books with moral lessons that make us understand how the world works and how we fit in it. Middle school is a drawn-out transition into teenhood, different kinds of relationships, responsibilities, expectations, and this scary place called high school. That is when you discover novels have a different lesson to teach you: and that is how to navigate change and growth. Relating to others makes us feel a little less alone.
Middle school is scary; puberty starts, crushes get complex, friendships fluctuate and get redefined, academics get harder, and teachers start talking about c-o-l-l-e-g-e (terrifying and confusing when you still get snack time). Novels can help children understand difficult feelings, changes, the people around them, and discover personal goals and dreams. Which is why I have compiled a list of 5 middle grade books you should get your middle schooler(s) or even add to your classroom if you’re a teacher.
Dork Diaries by Rachel Renée Russell
In the 7th grade I begged my mom to get me this book series. As I said before, I read the Diary of A Wimpy Kid books when I was in 5th grade, and I absolutely adored them. However, I had been lent one of the Dork Diaries books and I fell in love with the art. I begged and begged until my mom caved and got me the series. I started my own diary when I read it, and I would draw some of the scenes of my day just like the protagonist would draw in her diary. Not only did it encourage me to journal but to improve my art by drawing almost everyday. The Dork Diaries currently has 16 books, all following Nikki Maxwell as she navigates the start of a new school, making new friends, dealing with a mean girl, and getting a new crush.
My Sister The Vampire by Sienna Mercer
Who doesn’t like a good vampire story? I still get asked if I’m team Jacob or Team Edward (plot twist, I’m team Charlie; poor man’s life was a horror movie). My cousin was the one that introduced me to this series. My mom had gotten her the first few books in the series and I got curious when I saw the pretty covers, so my cousin lent them to me after she read them. Maybe that’s why I love vampires and plot twists so much now.
Currently, My Sister The Vampire is an 18 books series, each book being relatively short. The first book follows bubbly, perky Olivia Abbott as she moves to a new town. She is eager to join the cheer team and make new friends. At school she meets a girl named Ivy Vega, who is totally opposite to her and totally gothic. However, when they both look past the glitter and the thick, dark eyeliner, they realize they are identical twin sisters. Beyond their new discovery, Olivia finds out her sister is a vampire, and Ivy isn’t the only one in town.
Grimmtastic Girls by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Fairytales never lose popularity. There are so many retellings I wouldn’t be able to count them all. No one is ever too old for fairytales. There’s always a way to reimagine stories and carry them with us in every phase of our lives. Grimmtastic Girls changed the way I saw the childhood stories my grandma used to read to me. Full of references and a fun magical system, Grimmtastic Girls is an 8 books series about friendships and facing your fears. The first book follows Cinderella in her first week of school. Her mean step sisters are making her life impossible at Grimm Academy, giving her terrible advice and making her look bad in front of her new friends. When she overhears them plotting a villainous deed that could ruin the Prince’s ball, Cinderella and her new friends, Red, Snow, and Rapunzel, must thwart The Steps’ wicked plans.
The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel by Melissa de la Cruz
If you were a Disney Channel kid, you definitely know about Descendants. The Isle of the Lost is the prequel to the Descendants movie. In this story all the villains from Disney fairytales were banished to the Isle of the Lost, where they can never leave. Their children are also stuck there, and Mal, the daughter of Maleficent, is one of them.
When her mother tells her that the key to true darkness is located inside her scepter in the Forbidden Fortress on the far side of the island, Mal concocts a plan to retrieve it in order to prove herself to her mother with the help of her “friends.” However, in their quest, the four young villains begin to realize that just because you come from an evil tree, doesn’t mean you also have to be evil. This novel is followed by Return to the Isle of the Lost (2016), Rise of the Isle of the Lost (2017), Escape From the Isle of the Lost (2019) and its most recent addition (2024) Beyond the Isle of the Lost.
True Confessions by Janet Tashjian
This last book followed me to a terrible camping trip one very hot spring day in Puerto Rico. My homeroom teacher lent me this book, and I read it over the weekend huddled by a flashlight. I couldn’t put it down even when my camp counselor tried to get me to do more “fun outdoorsy stuff.” But guess what? I don’t like camping and I still adore books, so I win.
Tru Confessions follows Trudy, a twelve-year-old girl who dreams of having her own television show and ‘curing’ her developmentally disabled twin brother Eddie. So when a teen video competition is announced on the local TV, Tru knows this is her chance to make her dreams come true. But the more she gets into making her video documentary about Eddie, the more Trudy begins to understand his special needs and the complexity of her relationship with him.
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