CJ Connor is a cozy mystery and romance writer whose main goal in life is to make their dog proud. They are a Pitch Wars alumnus and an Author Mentor Match R9 mentor. Their debut mystery novel BOARD TO DEATH is forthcoming from Kensington Books. Twitter: @cjconnorwrites | cjconnorwrites.com
I deeply believe that the books we read as children have the potential to change us more than at any other time in our lives. That’s likely why we hold middle grade classics with such reverence and can’t help but recommend them again and again to young readers.
There’s nothing wrong with reading (and re-reading!) a classic. But if that’s all you read, you and the kids in your life will miss out on the authors who are writing wonderful stories today. Not sure where to start? Here are five new middle grade book recommendations based on your favorite classic. Read ahead for clever mysteries, tense survival stories, whimsical fantasy, and more!
If you like The Westing Game, try…
Billions to Burn by Taylor Banks
Readers who devoured The Westing Game will have a lot of fun solving the puzzles in this book alongside its sleuth, a young New Yorker named Zeus Jones. Zeus has always taken his grandfather’s wild stories with a grain of salt, but he’s shocked to discover that the most exciting one may be true.
If Zeus follows the evidence, they may even lead him to a lost fortune linked to the artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Too bad his grandfather disappears the day he finds the first clue!
If you like Hatchet, try…
Off the Map by Meika Hashimoto
Imagine if Brian had a friend (or at least a frenemy) to help him build a shelter and survive in the wilderness. That’s Off the Map! In it, ex-BFFs Amos and Marlo are separated from their grownups at an Alaskan camping trip and have to work together if they want to make it back home.
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If you like The Secret Garden, try…
Candle Island by Lauren Wolk
Between its rich descriptions of nature and curious young heroine, Candle Island evokes similar feelings to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic. It stars Lucretia, a 12-year-old girl who moves to coastal Maine with her mother following a family tragedy. As she paints and befriends the local wildlife, she stumbles upon a secret room in her house that leads her to a wider mystery.
If you like Charlotte’s Web, try…
The Trouble With Sunshine by Yamile Saied Méndez
Like Wilbur and Fern, Dorani and her horse Sunshine share a close bond that changes them both. Following her mother Isa’s sudden death, Dori moves from Miami to rural Wyoming with her aunt.
Dori holds a lot of inner blame for Isa’s loss and doesn’t know how to keep going without her mom to guide her. But while caring for Sunshine, a wild horse with a traumatic past, Dori finds a way through her pain.
If you like The Hobbit, try…
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
This middle grade fantasy also stars a short fellow with furry feet whose adventure is thrust upon him rather than chosen. In this case, it’s a fox named Clare whose call comes when he is hit by a car. Stuck somewhere between the living and dead, Clare’s job is to usher souls to the Afterlife—until he meets the badger Gingersnips, whose inability to cross over may fulfill the beginning of a grim prophecy.
For more fresh spins on a middle grade classic, try these 8 Book Recommendations for Fans of The Babysitters Club.
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting the best new poetry collections of 2025 (so far)! From the from deeply personal to powerfully political, many of these collections reflect the zeitgeist and introduce some fresh voices in poetry. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
How is it that we’re already more than a quarter of the way through 2025? I’m ahead of my reading goals and still feel so far behind at the same time. I’ve packed in plenty of poetry, though, finding lots of wonderful and surprising voices emerging. It’s early, but totally time to check in with some of the best new poetry collections of 2025 so far.
It’s funny how timely these collections are. Keep in mind that publishing moves VERY SLOWLY, so books that have been released in the first quarter of 2025 were probably completed in late 2023 or early 2024, only seeing the light of day recently. So, these collections were written in the run-up to last year’s presidential election. Nevertheless, many of these collections feel like guttural reactions to the world right now. Amazing how prescient art and artists can be, huh?
These poetry collections run the gamut from deeply personal to powerfully political. Let’s face it, those two are often the same anyway, particularly when it comes to poetry. Most exciting to me are how many of these best new poetry collections of 2025 so far are fresh voices to the poetic scene. Let’s dig into those collections, shall we?
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English (US) · 