Realistic middle grade fiction to look for! 2023

 The publishers seem to be trying to play catch up after COVID.  There are SO MANY new books coming out, it can feel overwhelming to see my TBR pile.  Or maybe I'm just too greedy!  Anyway, here are some that are coming out soon.

The first one is called When Giants Burn by Beth Vrabel.  Beth has a real gift for telling stories about interesting characters - two of my former favorites are Blind Guide to Stinkville and The Newspaper Club, if you missed them.  This new one is no exception.  It's told in two voices-Gerty and Hayes.  Both are being seen by the school counselor for interpersonal issues.  Gerty's family are survivalists and are doing their best to be independent from government influences.  Hayes lives with his grandmother, his younger brother and his mom, who has recently been released from jail. Neither of the kids feel like they have any friends and so find some connection to the other.  Gerty is trying to build an ultralight airplane so that she can fly away, anywhere.  She feels trapped by her parents, particularly her dad and spends a lot of time trying to figure out different ways to connect to her parents.  Hayes is really angry at his mom for the choices that led her to jail, but ultimately, blames himself for her imprisonment.  The adults in the story are really interesting too-Gerty's highly controlling grandmother who is helping her to build the ultralight, her highly controlling but passive aggressive dad, her mom who seems stuck between the two of them.  Hayes' family is interesting too, his supportive and loving grandmother, his mom who's trying to find her way back to the family and into a professional role as well.  I don't want to spoil anything because the way the story unfolds is so lovely, but suffice it to say, both kids made questionable decisions and end up places they never imagined.  Each of them supports the other in ways they never imagined and they end up being able to connect with their own families in ways they each thought were impossible.  Both kids blame themselves for things that they have no control over and finding a way to heal from that is big.  This is book about dealing with trauma and finding ways to deal with the decisions that other people make that we may or may not be happy with.  I really liked this story and I think lots of kids will find connections to it in surprising ways.  

The second one is called The Order of Things and it's written by Kaija Langley.  This is her second book and since I hadn't read the first one, this was my introduction to her writing and it was great!  This novel in verse is about April.  She lives her mom and her best friend, Zee, lives right next door, with his dad.  The families support each other with food and friendship, since both are single parents and both have jobs that require extra time.  Together they make it work.  Zee and April are super close but this year, they are going to do different schools.  Zee got into a special school for music and April did not.  April really wants to be a drummer but has made choices to make her drumming less of a priority.  Now that she and Zee are separated, she's determined to work hard and get into his school too.  So she's making new friends, which is strange.  She's working hard to find her own voice and drumming style, while asking for help from Zee's dad, a very accomplished musician.  And then some big things happen and because it would totally spoil the plot, I'm not going to tell you!  But April has to find a way through some pretty hard things and she does.  This is a wonderful story with some big social issues, including dealing with death, parental dating, drug abuse, and child neglect.  Middle graders are going to love reading about April and how she deals with all of them.  This is a great story, don't miss it!