Category Archives: Middle Grade 8-12

MMGM Review: Setting the Stage by Lindsay Champion

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Setting the Stage by Lindsay Champion

Setting the Stage (Cast vs Crew #1)
Lindsay Champion
Pixel+Ink
Published October 21, 2025

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About Setting the Stage

SERIES LAUNCH! The full story of a junior high musical production, told exclusively from the POV of the kids backstage. It’s High School Musical, from behind the scenes…without the high school.

Every cast depends on its stage crew. But what happens when they hate each other? SETTING THE STAGE is the first act in a trilogy that tells the whole story!

Eighth grader Ella Amani has been waiting her whole life to be the stage manager of the middle … Continue reading →

Review: When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

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When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

When Stars Are Scattered
Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Dial Books
Published April 14, 2020

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About When Stars Are Scattered

A National Book Award Finalist, this remarkable graphic novel is about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a former Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl.

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. … Continue reading →

MMGM Review: North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta

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North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta

North for the Winter
Bobby Podesta
First Second
Published September 2, 2025

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About North for the Winter

From Pixar star animator Bobby Podesta comes a middle-grade classic holiday story about Virginia, a girl who must help one of Santa’s reindeer back to the North Pole before Christmas.

What would you think if you saw a reindeer fly? When this happens to Virginia, she isn’t sure what to do – she’s just lost her mom, she’s in a new city, and everything seems so hard. But when she reluctantly confesses what she saw … Continue reading →

MMGM Review: The Beasts Beneath the Wind edited by Hanna Alkaf

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The Beasts Beneath the Winds by Hanna AlkafVersion 1.0.0

The Beasts Beneath the Wind: Tales of Southeast Asia’s Mythical Creatures
edited by Hanna Alkaf
Harry N. Abrams
Published October 21, 2025

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About The Beasts Beneath the Wind

A sweeping and magical story collection showcasing the mythical creatures of Southeast Asia, including work by two-time Newbery medalist Erin Entrada Kelly and National Book Award finalist Shing Yin Khor

A turtle the size of an island. A cricket that can possess you if swallowed. A giant who turns enemies to stone. The legends of Southeast Asia—or “the lands below the winds,” … Continue reading →

Review: Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen

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Twi Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen

Two Tribes
Emily Bowen Cohen
Heartdrum
Published August 15, 2023

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About Two Tribes

In her poignant debut graphic novel inspired by her own life, Emily Bowen Cohen embraces the complexity, meaning, and deep love that comes from being part of two vibrant tribes. Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in … Continue reading →

Review: Dead Ends!: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels by Lindsey Fitzharris and Adrian Teal

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Dead Ends: Flukes, Flops & Failures that Sparked Medical Marvels by Lindsay Fitzharris and Adrian Teal

Dead Ends!: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels
Lindsey Fitzharris
Illustrated by Adrian Teal
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published October 14, 2025

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About Dead Ends!: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels

From New York Times bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris, a riveting middle grade nonfiction book about medicine’s most fascinating failures and dead ends.

Beheadings! Bloodletting! Bodysnatching!Journey down a snaking road bristling with medicine’s most astonishing “dead ends.” Marvel at the diagnoses, experiments, and treatments that were frequently useless, and often harmful, but that sometimes led … Continue reading →