Category Archives: Middle Grade & Children’s

This tag contains all books tagged as Middle Grade fiction and relevant non-fiction.

The Dragon Warrior by Katie Zhao

The Dragon Warrior by Katie Zhao

As a member of the Jade Society, twelve-year-old Faryn Liu dreams of honouring her family and the gods by becoming a warrior. But the Society has shunned Faryn and her brother Alex ever since their father disappeared years ago, forcing them to train in secret.

Then, during an errand into San Francisco, Faryn stumbles into a battle with a demon–and helps defeat it. She just might be the fabled Heaven Breaker, a powerful warrior meant to work for the all-mighty deity, the Jade Emperor, by commanding an army of dragons to defeat the demons. That is, if she can prove her worth and find the island of the immortals before the Lunar New Year… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blood depiction
  • Bullying

Himmler’s Cook by Franz-Olivier Giesbert

Himmler’s Cook by Franz-Olivier Giesbert

“History is a bitch. She has taken everything from me. My children. My parents. My great, true love. My cats. I don’t understand the stupid veneration that the human race feels for her.”

Aged 105, Rose has endured more than her fair share of hardships: the Armenian genocide, the Nazi regime, and the delirium of Maoism. Yet somehow, despite all the suffering, Rose never loses her joie de vivre. As she looks back over her long life—one of survival and, sometimes, one of retribution—she recalls those unique experiences that added such spice to her life, whether it was being a confidante to Hitler, a friend to Simone de Beauvoir or cooking for Heinrich Himmler.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Antisemitism
  • Child sexual slavery
  • Rape
  • Child sexual abuse
  • Cheating
  • Attempted abortion
  • Pregnancy from rape
  • Death of a husband
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Genocide
  • World War Two & the Holocaust
  • Animal death

Cape by Kate Hannigan 

Cape by Kate Hannigan and illustrated by Patrick Spaziante

Josie O’Malley does a lot to help out Mam after her father goes off to fight the Nazis, but she wishes she could do more—like all those caped heroes who now seem to have disappeared. If Josie can’t fly and control weather like her idol, Zenobia, maybe she can put her math smarts to use cracking puzzles for the government.

After an official tosses out her puzzler test because she’s a girl, it soon becomes clear that an even more top-secret agency has its eye on Josie, along with two other applicants: Akiko and Mae. The trio bonds over their shared love of female superhero celebrities, from Fantomah to Zenobia to the Black Cat. But during one extraordinary afternoon, they find themselves transformed… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Racism
  • Death of father mentioned
  • Fire
  • Bullying
  • Japanese internment camps
  • World War Two

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel — a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring — they’re swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course.

Now it’s up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak’s missing parents while they’re at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Explosion
  • Gun & sword violence
  • Near drowning incident

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf 

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf

I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother’s legacy. I am yours to command.

Suraya is delighted when her witch grandmother gifts her a pelesit. She names her ghostly companion Pink, and the two quickly become inseparable.

But Suraya doesn’t know that pelesits have a dark side—and when Pink’s shadows threaten to consume them both, they must find enough light to survive . . . before they are both lost to the darkness.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Death of a child
  • Bullying

City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

Ever Barnes is a shy orphan guarding a secret in an amazing puzzle box of a building. Most of the young women who work at the building’s Switchboard Operating Facility, which connects the whole city of Oskar, look the other way as Ever roams around in the shadows. But one of them, Lisa, keeps an eye on the boy. So does the head of the Switchboard, Madame Alexander . . . a rather sharp eye. Enter Hannah, the spunky daughter of the building’s owner. She thinks Ever needs a friend, even if he doesn’t know it yet. Lisa and Madame Alexander are each clearly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hospitalisation for injury & blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Death from a fall
  • War themes, including a missile strike
  • Child homelessness & poverty

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Parental abandonment (theme)
  • Cheating recounted
  • Nightmares & hallucinations
  • Self-sacrifice (on-page) & suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend & boyfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Explosions
  • Fire
  • Death from a fall
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • War themes & battle scenes (on-page)
  • Animal death

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson isn’t expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to diabolical. In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Cheating recounted
  • Nightmares & hallucinations
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister recounted
  • Death of a brother (on-page)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Fire
  • Death from a fall recounted
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal cruelty

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. And now it’s up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. Who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Parental abandonment
  • Nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Torture
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Disappearance of a friend
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident mentioned
  • War themes

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson finds his seventh-grade school year unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson—a six-foot-three, mentally challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any “normal” friends. But things don’t stay quiet for long…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse
  • Nightmares
  • Blood & injury depiction including mentions of cannibalism
  • Explosion
  • Knife violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Drowning mentioned
  • War themes
  • Animal death
  • Bullying
  • Homelessness