12 Middle Grade Books That My Book Club Loved

Want your kids to read more? Or is your kid an avid reader who always gravitates to one type of books? Consider signing them up for a kids’ book club. Look for opportunities at your local library, bookstore, or after-school programs. Want to start your own? Check out these tips and suggestions.

Book clubs make the inherently independent activity of reading more social, and the positive peer pressure of a book club often motivates kids to read more, try new genres, and go deeper in their comprehension and analytical skills.

I have run after-school book clubs for elementary and middle school students for many years. Currently, I’m co-facilitating a kids’ book club at my local indie bookstore in partnership with a wonderful nonprofit, Austin Allies.

Below is a list of 12 middle grade books that my book club read in 2023 (TBH, we actually read 11 of these in 2023 and the last one is our pick for January 2024. Our December meeting is a fun “Book Talk” format rather than a discussion of one book.) If you’re looking for picks for your middle grade book club, I recommend each of these.

In our book clubs, kids are encouraged – but not required – to read the book before the meeting. I always put together a list of questions and activities related to the book to prepare for our discussion. We don’t always get through all of these questions, especially if the kids have a lot to say about a book, but it helps to have a bunch of questions ready. One pro tip is to print out questions, put them in a hat or envelope, and then have kids draw them out and read them aloud. This is a simple way to get everyone to participate and it helps make book club feel like a community conversation rather than just a ‘sage on the stage’ or overtly teacher-student vibe. To me, the goal of a book club is to make reading fun so the less it feels like a grade-focused school environment and more like a group of friends talking about books, the better.

Here are discussion guides for three of the books featured below to give you a sense of the type of questions and activities I have found to foster authentic engagement. Feel free to download and use them. Since Austin Allies is a nonprofit that organizes family volunteer opportunities, our book club focuses on books and discussions that promote empathy and awareness of others and ourselves. Those themes are reflected in the book selections, questions, and activities. If you want guides for the other books listed here, email me.

Happy Reading and Discussing,
Kari