by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
We recently had the chance to chat with Jill Hames, director of the James L. Hamner Public Library and host of the Connections podcast. Our agenda? To think about classics--like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, Wilson Rawls's Where the Red Fern Grows, Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and Fred Gipson's Old Yeller--and develop a list of books that we could recommend to fans of these tried-and-true options. (For the record, we endorse these books! We just don't want them to be the ONLY books that kids read.) Here are some recommendations that will appeal to middle-grade readers:
Katherine Applegate’s Crenshaw (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Take a look at Ashley's post.
Holly Black and Cassandra Clare’s The Magisterium series (book 1, The Iron Trial, Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Here's Jen's review of the series.
Kathryn Erskine’s Seeing Red (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed's When Stars Are Scattered (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Check out Jen's review.
Sara Pennybacker’s Pax with Jon Klassen, illustrator (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Jason Reynolds’s As Brave as You (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Jason Reynolds’s Ghost (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) (and the Track series, Bookshop.org) - We discuss this book on our Jason Reynolds episode.
Jewell Parker Rhodes’s Ghost Boys (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Here's Jen's post about the book.
Aisha Saeed’s Amal Unbound (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - We discuss this book on our 2018 Global Read Aloud episode.
Nic Stone’s Dear Martin (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Check out our teaching materials here.
Clare Vanderpool’s Navigating Early (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Beth Vrabel’s Caleb and Kit (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Check out our episode "Worth All the Tears," where Sara talks about this book.
If you'd like to listen to a trailer of the episode, click here.
#bookishfaves #middlegrade #socialjustice #socialissues #contemporary #historical #fantasy #graphicnovel
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
Loving what you see here? Please comment below (scroll ALL the way down to comment), share this post using the social media buttons below (scroll down for those as well!), and find us on social media to share your thoughts! Want to support Unabridged?
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
We are proud to partner with Bookshop.org and have a curated Unabridged store as well as affiliate links. We're also honored to be a partner with Libro.fm and proudly use affiliate links to support them and independent bookstores.