There’s a special kind of magic inside the pages of literature written for middle grade students.

Memorable characters, connectable themes and a strong sense of place all come together to provide a reading experience like no others…including adults.

Middle grade literature prompts adults to connect with their inner child, gain a new perspective of the world around them and better understand the middle graders in their own life, too.

Here are ten middle grade titles I think every adult should read:

Sticky Notes by Dianne Touchell

Foster Sumner is a ten year old boy going through a hard season of life when his father is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. This book accurately and lovingly captures the difficulties, and love, ahead.

Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden

Libby, Vincent, T. and Jack are four different children with four very different lives, but one message of hope connects them together and sets off a chain reaction of love and friendship.

Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed

Omar heads to Ghalib Academy Boarding School on a scholarship, the hopes of his family and village squarely on his shoulders. But those hopes are dashed when he learns things are not as fair as they seem.

A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser

June and Jameel are two biracial sixth graders staying at Huey House, a homeless shelter in the Bronx. Their friendship grows over music and a shared desire to confront the new, dangerous, housing policy.

Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff

Annabelle is a sixth grade student in a small town hoping for a bit of excitement in her final year of elementary school. And excitement she gets: a new friend, a family shocker, a new identity for herself and a realization that the world does not work in favor of all who live in it.

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

As Jade moves through her days as a Black teenager, we learn what deconstructs her identity and ability to fully love herself along with the family and bonds of love that piece her back together and remind her she has the power to make change if she only uses her voice.

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

Viji and her sister, Rukku, find themselves homeless after running away to escape a difficult home. They befriend Muthi and Arul, two boys in a similar situation, and bond together as a found family to look ahead to what happens next.

Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

Fig is a sixth grader who wants more than anything to see the world as her father does. She tries everything she can to understand her father, to save him from himself, and to find space in her life to discover who she is even as the walls are falling down around her.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Mia Tang helps manage the from desk of her parents motel as they make a life in America, along with the immigrants they hide so they can survive, too. Her courage, kindness, hard work and dream of being a writer might be the very combination of skills their family needs.

Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

Amina is working through a lot of middle school change and an act of violence against her mosque sends her reeling. She keeps it all bottled inside until her feelings are too big to contain and she finally uses her voice to stay true to who she is and share her gifts with others.

There you have it! A book list of ten titles to delight the middle grader in all of us.

Tell me: What are your favorite middle grade books? Share them in the comments below!