Hey there! It's Olivia-Savannah here from Olivia's Catastrophe and today I’m here to recommend you
some middle grade books. And that is because there is a middle grade themed readathon that is going
on at the mument. This is a readathon hosted by Cara from Wilde Book Garden, Yvette from BookCave,
Kelly from Cozy Reader Kelly and also Kier from Kier The Scrivener.
But I’m here to recommend you some books for if you're planning to join the readathon. So
I’m going to recommend you some middle grade books according to the prompts that they have going on.
First prompt is -- they're all based around an author -- and the first one is
Jason Reynolds which is to read a book that has to do with a story that's outside of the
character's mardjinnalisation. So for that one I’m recommending something that's a bit off season
but that is The Christmassaurus by Tom Fletcher. And this is a middle grade Christmas themed novel
with a boy in the wheelchair as the main character. But his disability has nothing
to do with the actual storyline. He just happens to be a boy that uses a wheelchair.
And in this one he really wants a dinosaur for Christmas and he puts it in his wishlist. And
even though his dad doesn't think that's possible a Christmasaurus might happen to show up and drama
might ensue. Because that dinosaur is lost. And I really loved reading this one. I read it on
Christmas Eve last Christmas and it was the best thing to read the day before Christmas. It was so
fun. The disability representation was done very very well. But it's not on own voices and I just
want to make that very clear. Then for Grace Lin it's to do with reading a book that has to do with
folklore, fairytales, mythology. And for that one I’m recommending Rumaysa by Radiya Hafiza.
And this one is a middle grade novel that is about a retelling of three of the stories of Snow White,
Cinderella and also Sleeping Beauty. But it connects them and it gives them a feminist spin on
these fairytales. We have a Muslim main character and it was so nice to see that culture kind of
woven into some of the stories. And I really liked how it focused on friendships rather than romance
whereas some of the oridjinnal fairytales really do focus on that. I like the way it connected all
of the stories. It was a very quick read. I raced through it in one day and it was a lot of fun.
This is an ARC copy so the finished cover doesn't look like this, just so you know. Jacqueline
Woodson, which is to read a book by prolific author you've never read from before. And at
the time that I read Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson I hadn't read anything by Renee
Watson before. I’ve read my second book this year but I still thought I would recommend this middle
grade because it's fantastic. And this one follows a Black young child and she lives with her mum and
dad. But it turns out that her mum is pregnant. And right before her new sibling is going to come
she really really wants to go to New York with her dad. And she gets the opportunity to do so but her
mum has a secret mission for her: she should try and get her dad to talk to her grandfather because
apparently they've been estranged for years. And it's about what happens when she goes to New York.
And I absolutely love this middle grade. I think it's one of those ones I would have loved when I
was younger in particular. Not only do we have a Black character, so she's talking about you know,
being Black and being Black in America. But she's also looking at some of the Black history
as her dad shows her around New York City. I had no idea there was so much within that city. And
it all sounds fantastic. I love the complex family dynamics and how it unpacks that and talks about
that. And I really liked our main character. How much she was learning, how much she was
growing. And I thought this was a fantastic middle grade novel. Roshani Chokshi, which
is to read a book by an author who you've only previously read young adult or adult fiction by.
And for that I’m recommending Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. This one is a middle grade novel
in verse and we're following our main character who is a refugee. She goes from her own country to
America somewhere. And it's all about her and her mum traveling there and what she's experiencing.
The islamophobia that she's experiencing when she moves over and how people are not kind to
refugees. But also what it's like for at school trying to learn a new language, trying to make
new friends while she's still worrying about her dad and her brother who are back home and didn't
travel with her and her mum. I thought this was a fantastic middle grade novel. Again, I raced
through it in a single day because I couldn't put it down. I’ve read a young adult novel by Jasmine
Warga before which I actually also thought was fantastic and brilliantly done. But this again,
was just so heartwarming so uplifting. And I liked how well it was focusing on the refugee story and
it was focusing on her identity. It still has a middle grade ‘I’m at a new school trying to
make new friends. I’m trying to get into a new hobby’ storyline going alongside it as well. For
Tahereh Mafi the prompt is to read a book that's going to take you out of this world. And I have
to recommend The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Strout. My ring light does not like this cover but
it's very shiny and beautiful and eye-catching. And this one is a fantasy book where we follow
Nathaniel. And he is a young sorcerer. And he conjures up this djinn who is a bit above his
level. And a whole load of trouble is going down in the magical system. And he's also in trouble
with this djinn. So all of that gets tangled up together. And this book is just so much fun. It's
the first one in a trilogy but it's my favourite one of the trilogy so far. I’ve only read two of
them. And I think the humour in this is a plus. I just love the jokes. I just love the banter that
Nathaniel and the djinn have. And the footnotes which are from the djinn's perspective are just
bonus points. It's just such a fun book and format in terms of what's in it. And the creativity
totally pulled me out of this world. Then for L.M. Montgomery the prompt is to read a classic or read
one of your childhood favourite middle grades. And unfortunately, I was trying to think of a middle
grade classic that I would recommend and I could think of literally none of them because I either
find them boring or I find them problematic in some way. At least, so far. So I’m gonna recommend
one for my childhood. And that is the BFG by Roald Dahl. And I know that Roald Dahl also has some
problematic middle grades so you know, take it or leave it. But I did really enjoy this one when
I was younger. I think it's just such a creative story. It's about this little girl who lives in a
world where these giants exist. And the giants are scary, they're horrible. You try and avoid them.
But she meets the BFG which is a big friendly giant. And it's about what happens when she does.
I found this story so creative and magical and captivating when I was younger. And I really
like the friendships that form in this one. And just the wild ride that the story goes on. So I
still very much recommend it. Kacen Callendar, and the prompt for this is to read a queer book
that's middle grade. And when I was thinking about the middle grade that I’ve read unfortunately,
I haven't read quite a lot of queer middle grade so I was disappointed for myself in that aspect.
I’ve read you know, young adult that's queer, adult that's queer. But not enough middle grade.
And I did recently get Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow. Which is what I’m looking forward to
reading. But meanwhile I’ll recommend Alessia and Atlantis by Nathalie Laine because it has a male
male couple in this one who are just casually in this world. Who are just casually you know,
looking after this young girl who happens to be in their world. And it's all accepted and
there's no homophobia and it was very nice to see that in the middle grade novel. And this one
follows Alessia who is this young girl who gets sucked into the sea and into this magical world.
And she's always been looking for clues about her missing father. When she gets sucked into this
world she finds out that her long-lost father used to be from Atlantis so she continues her search
in this magical world. I found this one very fun and enjoyable. I liked how the plot went
in directions that I didn't expect. I liked how much this one focused on empathy as a quality and
how you can deal with that as a child. And what it means. And I think the friendships that formed
in this one were also very beautiful to follow. So I had a lot of fun reading this middle grade
novel. Katherine Applegate, and that's to read a book with animal as a main character or animal as
supporting characters. And for that I’ve chosen The Creature Keeper by Damaris Young. And I read
this one at fairly recently. It's about a young girl who goes to work at this certain estate
where there's lots of magical animal creatures. And as well as that there's something going on at
this manor underneath it all. And it's about these sounds that she hears underneath the house and
people who might not be as eager for these magical animals to coexist in the neighbourhood with them
as she is. And while this wasn't per se the one for me because I’m not a big animal fan in books,
I do think if you are an animal fan in books you are going to enjoy this one. The magical animals
alongside the real animals was an absolute joy to learn about. It was so nice to see how much
she truly cared for animals. And she learns a lot about the problems with animal enclosures
and taking animals out of their environment to keep track of them. There's also a very
nice friendship that forms in this one again. So that was also very nice to see. A very fun story.
Kwame Alexander, the prompt is to read a novel in verse. And I’ve already recommended Other
Words for Home but another one I would recommend is Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
And this one is about a young Black girl who grows up in historical America. And it's just about
her experience growing up and what she does, how she travels, the people that she meets and such.
And I really enjoyed reading this one. It's been a couple of years since I read it. I was much
younger then, but I remember it having an impact on me just because it was teaching me about some
of the recent history to do with being Black in America and growing up as a child in America. And
all of her dreams as well. And I thought it was beautifully written. And I definitely need to get
back to reading more Woodson novels. Francis Hardinge. It's about recommending a book that
challenges some assumptions about middle grade. And I think the biggest assumption about middle
grade is that you should not be reading it as an adult and it's only for younger readers. Which I
definitely don't agree with. And for that book I’m recommending The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The
Horse by Charlie Mackesy. And this one… it’s like an all age picture book which is about these four
characters just going on a journey together. And it's very dip in dip out. It's not what I
would say a book where you have to start from the beginnning and read to the end, although I did.
But you can just read a page here and there every single day. And it's the most uplifting and
heartwarming thing that you could possibly read. And it's one of these books that it's definitely
a good gift to give to anyone. Anyone who's having a hard time but also just anyone who could do with
some value… some words of affirmation. And I think it's a brilliant one to give to everyone.
It's a picture book everybody can read it. I like giving it to people who aren't readers because
it's so easy to read. The only thing is that -- I think you can tell from the writing on the top of
the title -- the writing is done in a way that can be hard to read. I’m not sure how dyslexic
readers would be with this style of writing and I would say it's just one of the downsides of
the book. The writing that they've chosen. But otherwise I would really recommend it. Hena Khan
is to recommend that book that has themes of family. And I could only go with The Chocolate
Box Girls series by Cathy Cassidy. This is the third book in the series because my shelves are
quite chaotic. I couldn't find the first one. It's on there somewhere! So I just thought I would show
you the third one. Which is actually the one with the youngest main character so it definitely fits
for the middle grade series. But in this series we follow these two families that are coming together
because the mum and dad are going to be in a relationship. So the mum has four daughters from
a past relationship and the dad has a daughter from a past relationship. And they start dating,
they decide to combine their households. And it's about what happens when they do. How it is for the
young daughter to join this family of four already established sisters. What it's like
moving to Scotland to live with them. A lot of the books focus on the children unpacking the divorce
that their mother has gone through. But each and every book has a different theme and focuses on
a different thing. So Cherry Crush, which is the first one, definitely focuses on the
families coming together and what it's like to blend family. But there's also one that
focuses on cyberbullying. This one looks at animal abuse. And they all just tackle a different topic
very very well. I loved this family so much. All of the sisters have a place in my heart.
I think it does the setting very well too. And all of these characters have such interesting hobbies
and passions, including the parents too! And it's just so nice to see everybody pursuing what
they're so interested in. And this series is one of my favourite middle grade series. I couldn't
recommend it more. Anna Meriano, recommend a book that has a trope you love. And I wouldn't per say
say this is a trope but it's a theme. And I don't even think I should tell you the theme because
it might be a bit of a spoiler for this book. But I really like The Space We're In by Katya
Balen. And I also will say that it has a lot to do with complex family dynamics so I would
say that is a trope that is in this book as well. And this one follows these two brothers:
Frank and Max. And Frank is the older brother. He's still a child though. And he has a younger
brother called Max who is autistic and severely autistic. And it's about the family and how they
work with Max. The mum is a stay-at-home mum and the dad goes to work. And it's about their family
dynamics how they get on with doing so. But Frank also needs his own time to grow, his own space to
grow. While the parents seem to be very focused on his younger brother. And it's about navigating
that and what happens for this family. And I really love this book. I think it does a very good
job of showing family. It does a very good job of showing love and moving through hard times. Again,
the friendships in this were just so great. And I loved seeing it. But overall the brother
relationship is definitely what stole the show for me here. And they go through their ups and
downs and I liked seeing that process. There you have it! That's a stack of middle grade that I
really recommend everybody read. And I hope you will be joining in with this readathon and reading
some wonderful middle grade books. Thank you so much for watching this video. Please let me know
in the comment section down below: have you read any of these or what's a middle grade novel that
you really really recommend? Give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Hit the subscribe
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time I have a new video. And you know what they say: onwards and upwards. Excelsior!