Many of the titles on this list of my favourite early middle grade books from 2024 are book club reads. Some, the children enjoyed thoroughly; others, I enjoyed more than the children did!
On the whole, I recommend these books for ages nine and up. In no particular order, here are my top ten early middle grade reads from 2024.
No Talking
Even though I don’t usually like books that follow a boys vs girls sort of dynamic, I thoroughly enjoyed No Talking by Andrew Clements! For me, his books are particularly useful because there’s just so much I can do with them at a book club. With easy, readable text that is humorous and engaging, they are perfect for all kinds of readers; plus, my book clubbers love them. No Talking was no different!
Kushti Kid
So many books by Vibha Batra have featured on my lists of favourite books! Her unique characters and writing style make each book special. Kushti Kid is another one that challenges stereotypes and deals with heavy themes in the lightest possible way. We’ll be reading this at my book club next month!
Birds on the Brain
I just got back from two wonderful weeks in the forest, and I was amazed that nearly everyone was on the eBird app! We too counted the birds we saw, from peacocks to plum-headed parakeets. As a result, I could not stop thinking about Birds on the Brain by Uma Krishnaswami , which revolves around Bird Count India. With Reeni, the protagonist of the story, we go on a journey, discovering many little birds that live around us. I loved this book, which features characters that I met several years ago in Book Uncle and Me!
Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter
Arundhati Venkatesh is another writer who deals with big subjects—like fighting for our rights and mathematics, for example—with humour and lightness. Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter is an especially welcome book because children love reading about the same characters over and over again. After three hOle books about Petu Pumpkin and his friends, it was lovely to read a book for slightly older readers featuring the same five boys, now slightly older!
The Worst Witch to the Rescue
The Worst Witch to the Rescue by Jill Murphy is part of a series I started reading as a child! This one was published much more recently (only seventeen years ago). It is a delightful book featuring a beloved character that my book clubbers fell in love with too, enough that some of them set out to read the rest of the series! It’s imaginative and full of adventure, perfect for young readers.
The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella
The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella by Asha Nehemiah is another of the older books on my list; it was first published in 2011. The layout and illustrations do feel a little old-fashioned and took away from the joy of reading for some of my book clubbers, but others loved it tremendously. Like any good mystery story, it keeps you reading. The best part is that many of the chapters end on cliff-hangers, so you read “just one more chapter” until you’ve finished the book.
Bat and the End of Everything
Books that explore the bond between children and animals are special, and a neurodivergent boy at the centre of the story makes this series doubly special. Bat and the End of Everything by Elana K. Arnold is the third book in a trilogy featuring Bat and his skunk Thor. Can a boy keep a skunk as a pet? As Bat gets ever closer to his skunk, the thought of parting ways becomes even more difficult. Bat and the End of Everything is a beautiful book and the perfect end to a lovely series.
The One and Only Ruby
The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate is right up there on my list of all-time favourites, not just favourites from 2024. I love the entire series, but elephants are extra-precious, and Applegate’s storytelling is stellar. Each book she writes seems to capture the voice of the animal from whose point of view she is telling the story perfectly. As we learn about Ruby’s past, with her, we gather courage for a future that may be less than perfect, but is still quite lovely.
The Wishkeeper's Apprentice
There’s a kind of magic that seems almost within reach, and it’s this almost that sends happy shivers down your skin. The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice by Rachel Chivers Khoo is one of those books that captures this sort of enchantment perfectly. It’s a whimsical, charming book about making mistakes but being willing to do the work that’s required to make everything right again.
The Misadventures of a Diamond Thief
And finally, I come to another book that my book clubbers and I all enjoyed – The Misadventures of a Diamond Thief. I was delighted to see it on the Crossword Book Awards shortlist! A work of historical fantasy, it delves into the mysteries of the Char Minar as we follow a hapless djinn, Rafu, on his quest to steal a diamond. What made the book even more special for us was that the author Lubaina Bandukwala visited our book club virtually and answered all the questions my book clubbers had!
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