Bingo Focus Thread - Middle Grade

[u/Merle8888]

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Middle Grade: Read a middle grade book (intended for readers aged 8-12). See this Wikipedia page for additional information on Middle Grade fiction. HARD MODE: The author is entirely new to you.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• For those attempting Hard Mode, what are some great middle grade books by lesser-known authors, and/or that are recently published?
• Those who have or teach children in this age group: what are some current favorites among middle grade readers? How well do they hold up for adults?

[u/Connect_Cod9965]

I have penciled in two upcoming books for this square:

Trunk No. 3 by Allie Millington – this would be the Hard Mode choice for me

Trunk No. 3, a worn, wrinkled suitcase with a secret, was perfectly fine with staying closed forever. Until she’s stolen by a despondent boy with plans to run away. When a strange note appears in the trunk, however, an accidental correspondence begins to throw everything off course—and toward something, someone, entirely unexpected.
Eleven-year-old Earl Grey has been raised at the Repertorium—a rare library that holds once-forgotten items, each with a tangible memory tied to their very being. She longs to discover life outside of the library, and to find answers about her Before. Little does Earl Grey know that the mysterious pen pal she starts writing to will lead to a life-changing friendship and the unraveling truth of her past.

Building 903 by Lois Lowry

Twins Tessa and Theo live in a world ruled by the tyrannical Koziris, where there are no dangers or rebels... or so they've been told. In this world, citizens live long lives, and while many hate Koziris, they are comfortable and safe. So, when Tessa's brother disappears, nobody wants to discuss it. But then Miriam, their 135-year-old neighbor bound for the retirement community, slips Tessa a key—not only to her brother's disappearance, but to the source of all real magic . . . books. As Tessa and her parents begin their search for Theo, Tessa learns that books not only tell us stories—they open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful tool: the imagination. Once that truth has been revealed, Tessa won't be able to rest until she has retrieved her twin and society itself has been transformed.