Middle Grade Fiction Book Reviews

A conspiratorial comedy of delectable proportions, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches from Outer Space! (A 21st Century Fairy Tale) by I. S. Noah is a whimsical and wise work of YA sci-fi for a new generation of compassionate leaders.

When Violet is burdened with babysitting her two younger brothers at the last minute, she begrudgingly brings them along on the hike she had planned for the afternoon. As if running into a scientist hunting for Bigfoot in the forest outside Bend, Oregon isn’t strange enough, her brothers stumble across a mysterious spaceship stashed away in a hidden cave. Even more […]

Expanding his Eudora Space Kid series with another interstellar romp, author David Horn crafts another hilarious and heartfelt adventure in The Greatest Matchmaker in Space! A wild and whimsical story set onboard the AstroLiner Athena means more adventures and mischievous plots by Eudora, a human adopted by alien parents on an intelligence-gathering mission across the stars.

Nothing gets past Eudora onboard her star-crossing home, and whether it is an impossible engineering puzzle to solve, or the personal problems of the highest-ranking man on the ship, she is ready to take on the challenge. However, inventing a foolproof scheme for falling […]

Boy from Three Worlds by Farida Mirza is a tender and acutely observed middle grade story of family and belonging, identity and self-hood, what it means to be a child and what it means to grow up, for an engrossing blend of social realism and adventure.

As the title indicates, the novel is about the meaning of home in a world where so many people find themselves torn between different countries, societies, customs, and worldviews. Within this swirl of cultures, the choices you make reveal who you are as an individual, and set your place within your family, bridging the […]

Elvia and the Gift of Passion, the third installment of Ruthy Ballard’s Tales by Moons-Light series, is a magical middle grade fantasy that follows plucky Elvia as she travels from Oregon to Africa to the two-mooned planet Urth, where a beautiful purple-skinned, fashion-obsessed Uppie takes her on the trip of a lifetime.

Ten-year-old Elvia Hill’s passion for adventure is endlessly thwarted by her overly protective parents, who won’t even let her ride a bike, but that changes when her mother wins a trip to go on a safari in Tanzania. Although they rarely let their daughter out of their […]