My Top Five Middle-Grade Books

Hey, everyone! Welcome to my blog. Thanks so much for taking a moment of your time to hang out with me. My name’s Dai; today I would like to share with you my top five middle grade books. Before I get to rambling about what the books I am sharing with you mean to me, let’s actually get to the books.

The first book I would like to tell you about today is called A Single Shard.

It’s by Linda Sue Parks, and it won the Newbery Award in 2002. I read this book maybe once… sometimes twice a year. The story takes place in twelfth century Korea and is about a tween-age boy called Tree-Ear who lives under a bridge with hardly enough food to keep him alive. Yet like any child, he has a dream of better. Every day, Tree-Ear walks past the potter Min’s estate and wishes that he could make pots like him. One day, his curiosity leads him to touch one of Min’s pieces– and break it. Tree-Ear, hoping that he’ll get to make pots, agrees to work for Min in payment for the piece. Needless to say, the job is full of heavy labor and is not what Tree-Ear expected at all. But at least he gets a good meal every day. When the magistrate requests a piece from one of the potters in Tree-Ear’s village, though, Tree-Ear is put through his biggest test: he must transport Min’s piece all the way to the magistrate’s palace.

The second book I would like to share is, of course, The Night Diary.

If you’ve read my post about the best coming-of-age books for girls, then you’ll know the emotional worth of this book to me as a quieter person. The Night Diary is a novel told from the main character, Nisha’s, journal entries during her family’s move out of Pakistan once the India-Pakistan partition, which was meant to limit religious disputes, is legitimized. Now Nisha’s family must move out of the Muslim nation Pakistan, and into the Hindu nation India. But Nisha’s mother was Muslim. Nisha wonders if her father remembers that at all.

The third book on my top five is Red, White, and Whole.

You can read my full review of this book on Goodreads. This book is about an Indian-American girl named Reha whose life is divided between her life at home, where she is Indian, and her life at her private middle school, where she is American. Reha just wants to have fun, that is, until her mother becomes sick. All of a sudden, Reha realizes how much her mother cares about her and wants her to succeed. She decides to focus on school and not on friendships or fitting in. In following her own life story, Reha learns that she is a hero, falls in love, and experiences loss in such a relatable way this book will stick with its readers forever.

The fourth book on my list is When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson, the author of the Newbery Honor-winning graphic novel Roller Girl.

I must admit that I am not a fan in the least of Roller Girl, so when I read this book, it redeemed Miss Jamieson in my eyes. When Stars are Scattered is the story of two brothers who have been placed in a refugee camp because of the war in their home country, Somalia. The story spans over several years and ends happily with the pair being relocated to America. This book taught me to be grateful for the ability to travel, to read, and to eat every day.

The fifth book on my top five list is Where the Red Fern Grows.

I know some people have a complex about tragic dog stories, but Old Yeller, Sounder, and Red Fern have a special place in my heart. They are all so much a contribution to American stories… But I’m starting to rant. This book is about a boy living in the Ozarks in the early 1900’s. The book begins with him wanting hunting dogs so much it seems like a illness. It takes years, but at last he is able to purchase two redbone coon hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann. From then on, the book is a story of coon hunting, tragedy, and fun. There is a frankly graphic death scene in this book that could be skipped over as a read aloud as well as description of a dog’s fatal injuries, therefore making this a bit of a more mature read, but besides that, it’s very enjoyable and relatable in many respects for us dog lovers. (Yes; I’m a dog lover.)

As much as I would like to go on naming more books and rambling about what makes these books so great, I said I’d be sharing five books and I did. I hope that you were able to relate with me on some of these books. My favorite books of today might change tomorrow, but these are the ones that resonate with me right now. Thanks so much for spending your time reading this post. I appreciate it, really I do. If you are interested in reviews on movies, books, and video games, don’t forget to subscribe for emails informing you of the releases of new posts. Send this link to someone you love (who loves book suggestions and book rants and stuff).

‘K, bye!

#booksforages812 #favoritemiddlegradebooks #middlegradebooks