Even more middle grade fiction Fall 2025

 Usually this time of year, I'm knee deep in middle grade speculative fiction as part of the CYBILS award list, which is super fun.  But this year, they are taking a break (sad face emoji) but I'm still finding some fun things to read, it's just not the overwhelming glut I'm accustomed to, with stacks of books on hold for me at my local library and the stacks of books on my coffee table giving me the stink eye every time I sit down.  Luckily, here are two amazing ones that just came out.

The first one is in a category I like to call "not exactly speculative fiction".  There are no ghosts or magical creatures in these books, but the kids face obstacles that I hope are not realistic.  This one is called "The Free State of Jax".  It's written by Jennifer Nielsen, an author whose work I admire greatly.  Jax is a kid who has lived with his grandmother since he was a little boy.  But his grandmother developed Alzheimer's disease and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle and their six children.  All of the Grimmitz's except one, Daisy, seem to be either psychopaths or sociopaths-and this is the part that I hope is fantasy, that a kid would never get sent to a place with people as awful as they are painted.  In desperation, Jax decides to run away, except since he doesn't have any money or way to make a living, he can't go very far, so he decides to establish his own free country, which he does on a raft in the small lake on the adjacent property to his aunt and uncle's house.  It turns out his neighbor, Mr. O'Keefe, is no big fan of the Grimmitz's either and so when he hears Jack out, Mr. O'Keefe agrees to give him the lake and enough land to walk around.  Alicia, a girl from school shows up after Uncle Owen and Dutch try to force Jax to come home.  Alicia's mom is a lawyer and Alicia thinks her mom might be able to help.  Pretty soon there are a number of people trying to help Jax.  But there's a mystery afoot.  Mr. O'Keefe and his brother had a plan to try to develop the lake into a spa and resort, people from the community invested but his brother disappeared along with all the money.  For the last 10 years, people have speculated about what happened to his brother (most people think he was murdered) and what happened to the money.  All of these things come together in a most satisfying way.  I think kids are going to love this one-the aunt and uncle and cousins are a hilarious mixture of stupid and mean and conniving, that through the entire book, you'll be squinting and thinking to yourself like I did, "What on earth are they up to?".  The townspeople are interesting and so kind in contrast to the Grimmitzes that you'll be hoping that Jax will end up with ANY of them rather than going back to the Grimmitzes.  The premise of starting your own country is just wonderful and the planning around having your own country is too.  I loved this one.  

Here's an introduction of the book from the author.  

And here's the gorgeous cover.

The second one is firmly in the speculative fiction category.  It's called The Last Ember and it's written by Lily Berlin Dodd.  This is her first novel and it better not be her last.  More on that in a moment.  The Last Ember is about two really different kids-one is Eva, who is growing up in a wealthy family.  Her mother is performing nightly as a lady clown while searching for a device that can record pictures.  Her father has remarried a duchess and they shower her with expensive gifts, which Eva enjoys.  She's attending an exclusive boarding school for mathematicians and scientists and Eva really wants to be a scientist.  Her father gives her a very large amount of money to spent at a jewelry store for her birthday and when she gets there she finds something she wants even more than jewelry-a sphere of rubrium, which is an explosive that is unable at room temperature.  It turns out that it's not rubrium, but it's something even more valuable-an aerimander egg.  Aerimanders are magical creatures that can breathe fire and it turns out there are lots of people who would like one and many of them are people who lack scruples or morals or any sort of empathy. 

 The second kid is Dusty, who has grown up in a cartoonishly Dickensian orphanage (at least I hope places like this didn't exist).  As part of his duties at the orphanage, he sometimes has to deliver milk to the school where Eva attends and this is how their paths initially cross, but it also turns out that Dusty is part of the Theives guild and when he goes to steal the egg, they end up traveling together.  This book is so much fun.  There are tons of great details in the world building of the story.  The main characters are well developed and feel like people you'd want to be friends with (the villains, not so much) and plot twists are just wonderful.  The only thing I found the least bit annoying was the ending which I'm SO not going to tell you about but since it says on the cover this is book one of the Aerimander Chronicles, I feel fairly confident that there will be more.

Check out this gorgeous cover.