Part 16: Crowdsourced List of Middle School Authors

Part 16: Crowd-sourced List of Middle School Authors

Click for goodreads' list of newer releases geared at middle grades

This compiled list of authors who write novels appropriate to a middle grade audience is a gem, because as previously noted, middle grade readers (generally 5th-8th graders) may often want to read inappropriately mature YA. These novels may have older teen protagonists and language that is appealing to younger readers, but not a good fit. This does not mean that these students can’t handle or don’t need gritty material, however, and books that handle it appropriately, with middle grade protagonists.

There are fewer works out there being written for middle grade readers than the vast number for older, 13-18 YA, so this is a great resource. I noticed that Lois Lowry made the list from a number of recommendations, and this stands out to me because when I read The Giver in the late 90’s, it was the first time I remember distinctly thinking how nice it was that such serious material had been presented to younger readers, with a twelve year-old protagonist. I wished I’d had it available to me when I was younger, as opposed to many other novels that had been geared at my age at that time, which I had considered tame and boring, often with deceptively daring covers and titles that tricked me into reading them. Upon further reading into Lowry’s motives, I did find that it was her intention to bring difficult subject matter to a younger audience, much like her later Number the Stars, which is also just a great introduction to narratives about the Holocaust for audiences as young as ten.

A number of other authors I would expect make the list for their writings about rough topics for middle grades, and some with whom I’m unfamiliar. Overall I’m glad to have this list as a resource, especially in light of our school district’s recent high-profile decision to remove a prominent YA novel from junior high campuses, citing language as a main, quantifiable objection. I will be using this list to read further and also in readers’ advisory with junior high students, which in our district is grades six through eight.