Wedged neatly between picture books and the YA genre, middle grade books are geared towards readers between the ages of 8-12 with no profanity, graphic violence, or sexuality. These books are typically more advanced than an early chapter book and make excellent read aloud selections when you’ve got a wide range of ages.
Because of the typically G-rated content of middle grade books, most of them cover topics around family, friends, adventure and experiences that happen to the characters. That makes it especially surprising when I see middle grade novels that tackle big topics. How can an author approach a difficult, painful subject in a way that is appropriate for younger readers?
Not all kids have the luxury of never experiencing illness or abuse, however, and these books might help them see themselves in fiction that’s appropriate for their age. These four selections do an incredible job of helping younger readers understand perspectives and experiences that they normally wouldn’t encounter in fiction at this age.
Fly With Me by Julie Hahn
Jessa is a normal middle school kid, dealing with friend drama and navigating life, when she begins to have strange dreams where she explores a Peter Pan-esque island. She reconnects with her friend, Sydney, who has been fighting cancer since a young age. She finds out that the kids in Dreamland are all sick and this is their refuge. Jessa doesn’t understand why she is there until she is diagnosed with Hodgkins’ Lymphoma. Shortly after, things start to go wrong with Dreamland and she works to find what’s happening in this safe haven.
You can tell that the author understands the difficulties of navigating friendships at this age, especially when the dynamics of friendships change as kids get older. Jessa has to make hard decisions about who is truly a good friend all while undergoing scary procedures. Hahn does a brilliant job of describing what the cancer treatment process looks like from a child’s perspective. Having the magical wonder and mystery of Dreamland added suspense and excitement to a story that would otherwise be too heavy.
OCDaniel by Wesley King
Daniel has some strange habits he calls Zaps: flipping light switches over and over, arranging water cups just so, and brushing his teeth until they bleed. These compulsions torment him and leave him feeling isolated and strange. Then it doesn’t help that a girl everyone has nicknamed Psycho Sara singles him out. Often bullied, he doesn’t want to make it worse by befriending Sara, but she convinces him to help her find out who killed her father.
I’ve never read a book with such a gentle approach to mental illness. Having kids in my life who suffer from some of the same things as Daniel and Sara, I found the descriptions incredibly accurate and compassionate. One child told me how wonderful it felt to read a book that described how he felt.
Readers: content warnings in this book include topics related to suicide.
My Life with the Liars by Caela Carter
Zylynn only remembers living with the Children Inside the Light, a cult in Arizona, so when she’s taken away just weeks before her 13th birthday by a man who calls himself her father, she’s shocked to realize that people don’t live the way she was raised. Soft beds, plenty of food, new clothes, and younger siblings she’s never met.
What makes this book so unique is Zylynn’s point of view. Through her perspective, we understand why she’s hoarding food, acting erratically and trying to go back to the cult. Most stories about cults and people who escape them are from the adult’s point of view. Or they’re told by adults reflecting back on their childhood. We get to be in Zylynn’s mind as she processes the fact that she was lied to and what she thought was normal was far from it.
At the top end of the age range for middle grade, this book might be confusing for a younger reader, but since the author never explicitly states that Zylynn was in a cult, you could approach that topic without having to delve too deeply. There is still plenty to discuss about safety, trust and consent.
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Set in the years up to World War II, Ada, a 10-year-old with a club foot, has never left her London apartment. Her mother is embarrassed by her disability and has told the neighbors that she’s feeble-minded as well as bodied. When children are being evacuated from London in anticipation of the German attack, Ada leaves with her brother, and without her mother’s permission, to a rural village in Kent and is taken in by Susan Smith, a single woman living alone.
Ada is deeply traumatized by the abuse she endured from her mother, though we only get snatches of it from Ada’s memory. She suffers from PTSD flashbacks and triggers that incapacitate her. Susan is also suffering from loss and is deep in her grief, but steps up to the responsibility of caring for Ada and Jamie. She exhibits compassion and unconditional love to the children, something they’ve never experienced. Susan continually reaches out to their mother to get surgery for Ada’s club foot, but is met with silence.
Not surprising that Bradley’s book won numerous awards, it’s an incredible depiction of war, trauma and healing. The sequel, The War I Finally Won, continues the story of healing for Ada and was a perfect conclusion to the series.
As teachers, parents and caregivers, we often want to shield kids from the weightier parts of life. But children also get cancer, are mistreated at home or school, and suffer from mental illness. These books are prime examples of how you can broach these topics in an age-appropriate way to help them see themselves, and understand others. It also helps adults remember what these experiences are like for children and to act more compassionately toward them.