More new middle grade fiction Fall 2025

 I have SOOO many books to read.  My TBR pile is tragically large.  Thank goodness I'm retired so I can devote my time to reading!  Here are two of my newest favorites.

The first one is a science fiction tale by Rebecca Stead called "The Experiment".  Nathan is a pretty regular sixth grader with a best friend named Victor, except for one teensy little thing-Nathan and his parents come from another planet.  For the most part, Nathan's life is like everyone else's-but there are a few eccentricities like how his mom weighs all of his food (and subtracts the things he doesn't eat), she keeps a log book with data about their life, they have Zoom meetings with other alien families and their kids, and then there's the pink toothpaste that Nathan has to brush with 5 times a day.  But some weird things have been happening.  Some of the kids have disappeared from the Zoom meeting without an explanation and now Nathan is growing a tail.  A furry, orange and black striped tail that looks like a cat's tail and seems to have a mind of its own.  Nathan and his parents are summoned to the mother ship and by the leader Hester and that's when things really get going.  It would be unkind of me to tell more of the story since it's so much to watch it unfold.  There are some pretty terrific plot twists and lots of compelling action.  It has themes of trust, science, making assumptions, friendship, and problem solving.  It was so much fun to read-I ended up staying up WAAAY past my bedtime to finish it (a luxury of retirement!).  I think kids are going to love this book so look for it SOOON.  

Here's an interview with Rebecca about "The Experiment"

The second one just came out.  It's historical fiction told by two voices and I thought it was terrific.  It's called "The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli" and it's written by Karina Yan Glaser.  Karina has written some other terrific books including the Vanderbeeker series and "A Duet for Home" that I really enjoyed and this new one is also wonderful.  The two voices in this one are Han Yu and Luli.  Han Yu lives in China in the year 731.  He has struggled to find his purpose but he's really good with animals and he ends up making the best steamed buns ever.  His family gets sick with a coughing disease that doesn't seem to have a cure.  His dad is offered a job making a delivery for a friend on the Silk Road and when his dad falls ill, Han Yu decides that he will go.  The second voice is Luli, who lives in NY in 1932.  Her family has been working hard to buy their building.  There is a restaurant and apartments in the building, but times are tight and it turns out the building is going into foreclosure, unless they can figure out how to make money.  Luli has an idea to turn the basement of their building into an apartment and display some of their family heirlooms, including some pieces of very old silk.  She also starts making steamed buns to sell to make extra money.  The story has big themes of family love and loyalty, but also of found families.  There are also themes of epic adventures, how poetry can change your life, friendship, ethical treatment of animals, and the people who came before us.  There's no romance in the book, but depending on how you interpret it, there is a significant friendship between Han Yu and a young man he meets along the road, Du Fu.  I really enjoyed this book-it moved quickly because of the switching between voices and time periods and each part ended with a kind of cliffhanger, so I was eager to keep reading.  The characters were interesting, well developed and easy to identify with.  I think kids are going to love this one.  I know I did!

Here's an interview with Karina!