Middle-Grade Novels
by Wilson Rawls
Deep in the Oklahoma Ozarks, a circus train derails, releasing dozens of monkeys into the woods. Hearing of the promised reward money for anyone who returns the escaped animals, 14-year-old Jay Berry Lee determines to catch as many as he can. He's got his eye on a new pony and a .22 rifle, both of which will come in mighty handy for a boy in the late 1800s.
With his crippled sister Daisy watching on, Jay tries many different ways to catch the monkeys, but they outsmart him repeatedly, especially their clever leader, Jimbo. Will he finally succeed and round up the missing primates?
This is a heartwarming story about sacrifice, sibling love, and God's care. While not strictly "Christian" fiction, the characters exhibit faith and a morality grounded in biblical principles.
Please note: At one point, Jimbo convinces Jay Berry and his dog Rowdy to drink some sour mash from a bootleg still, which in turn gets the two tipsy.
Daisy tells Jay Berry a story about Thor, the god of Thunder, but confesses that it is just a story like The Little Red Hen.
The family stumbles upon a ring of mushrooms that they believe is a fairy ring. They each make wishes inside the ring. Later, they admit that the wishes were really prayers that God answered.
Ben Washington is the Newbie on the Block
by Jasmine Mullen
Ben loves his life in Atlanta. He's surrounded by a big family, lots of friends, and neighbors who look just like him. But when his dad inherits a bookshop in Radnor Falls, Wisconsin, Ben's life is turned upside down. He moves with his family to the smallest, whitest town he's ever seen.
Ben dislikes everything about the move — the new house, the new neighborhood, and especially the new school, where everyone calls him LeBron, incorrectly assuming he can play basketball simply because he's black.
He eventually makes friends with an outlier named Kenny, and together they try to solve a mystery about a reclusive neighbor. Ultimately, Ben learns valuable lessons about being a good friend and about trusting God in challenging situations.
With themes of bullying and racism, this illustrated Christian fiction would be a good book for a struggling older reader who desires more mature content but needs fewer words per page.
Please note: Although they had never celebrated Halloween prior to moving to Wisconsin, Ben and his family attend a Trunk-or-Treat party at their new church.
At one point, Ben lies to his neighbor, but quickly recognizes the falsehood.
One scene has Ben and the class bully hurling insults at each other, including, "Talk to me when your teeth stop being too big for your face."
by E. Nesbit
While playing in a gravel pit near their new country home, five siblings accidentally uncover the Psammead, a magical creature that has been sleeping for centuries. The Psammead grudgingly agrees to grant the children one wish per day, with the caveat that the wishes will disappear at sunset.
Over the course of the summer, the children make a series of foolish wishes that end in disastrous ways. They soon learn a valuable lesson: getting what you want isn't always as wonderful as it seems.
This novel, originally published in 1902, is the first in the "Psammead Trilogy" and has been delighting children for over 100 years.
Please note: The final chapters include a few outdated and rather disparaging remarks about Native Americans. The children assume that all "red Indians" scalp people.
by Marie McSwigan
In 1940, the Nazis invade Norway, and the adults of the small village of Riswyk are determined to keep their national wealth—millions of dollars in gold bullion—out of enemy hands. The adults, led by twelve-year-old Peter Lundstrom's uncle Victor, a sea captain, and his father, a banker, devise a plan. A group of children, including Peter and his friends, will use their sleds to move the gold. The plan is to transport it brick by brick, from a hidden cave down the snowy mountainside, past German soldiers, to a fjord where Victor's ship, the Cleng Peerson, is waiting.
Will the enemy discover their plan? Will the children have to surrender the gold they've been helping to hide?
Parents, Be Aware
by M.G. Leonard
Darkus Cuttle's father, Dr. Bartholomew Cuttle, vanishes from a locked room at the Natural History Museum, leaving no trace. Grief-stricken, Darkus moves in with his eccentric Uncle Max and finds himself living next door to two quarrelsome cousins and their enormous beetle infestation. One of the beetles, a giant rhinoceros beetle named Baxter, becomes Darkus's loyal and intelligent companion.
Darkus soon realizes the beetles are not ordinary and are in danger from Lucretia Cutter, a wealthy and cruel fashion designer who wants to use the beetles for her "living jewelry." Darkus teams up with a few friends to investigate his father's disappearance and confront Cutter, who has a sinister plan involving the insects and his father.
Things to know: While the story is action-packed and full of intrigue, there is quite a lot of crass and mildly foul language, including "kissing his butt," "heck," "bloody h*ll," and "freakin'." While the book has been reprinted for an American audience, the audio recording contains the original UK text, which includes the word "d*mned." Additionally, some of the bully kids in Darkus' school smoke and rebelliously misbehave, rarely getting caught or punished.
Just for you, Mom
by Amanda Dykes
Robert and Roy Bliss are twin brothers living in Ansel-by-the-Sea, a tiny coastal town in Maine. When Roy is drafted into service during World War II and eventually dies, leaving a deep chasm of grief and unanswered questions, Robert puts an ad in the paper asking folks to send a rock in the post in honor of any of their lost loved ones. Hundreds of packages arrive from all around the country.
That one short advertisement will not only turn the tide of a family, but of an entire country.
Decades later, while caring for her aging great-uncle Robert, Annie Bliss finds a towering wall of boxes holding nothing but rocks. As she begins to unpack them, she unearths her family's past and the rift that tore the brothers apart. Determined to repair what still feels broken, she begins to finish what was started so many years ago, one rock at a time.
This dual-time historical fiction explores themes of hope, faith, grief, and healing.