Even more middle grade speculative fiction Fall 2025

 Sooooo many new middle grade fiction titles are coming out this fall.  Check out these two new ones.

The first one actually came out in May but Netgalley was kind enough to keep it on the shelf until a few weeks ago.  It's called "The Curiosities" by W. H. Eatons, which is actually three people- Mark Wheaton and his two kids, Rowan and Wyatt.  It's about two kids, Marlow and Zack, who just moved to a new small town with their mom, an exogeologist (a scientist who studies rocks from other planets) who works at the Rocket Propulsion Lab.  It's also about the cats who live in the neighborhood, who are talkative, friendly, and capable of a great many things.  The problem begins with a hum that a creature notices.  The creature is unidentified until quite late in the book but is referred to occasionally.  The hum seems to be disrupting insects and birds and eventually the people of the town.  When the middle school science teacher, Ms. Layla, disappears, Marlow and Zach start investigating.  It turns out that Zach is a world champion noticer, because he's autistic.  He and Marlow and their mom have worked out some cuing to help him stay focused and not get to too wrapped up in his "cheetah brain".  I think it's a completely amazing way to describe autism.  It would be mean to give away to much because this book unfolds in such a terrific way.  There are some great plot twists and a wonderful resolution.  There are themes of friendship and loyalty, dealing with autism, being a good sibling, asking questions and trying to find the answers.  I think the kids are going to like this one a lot.  

The second one is called The Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop.  It's by Martin Senevirate and Krystal Sutherland.  It's about twins-Patrick and Pearl who live with their loving parents who came from Sri Lanka.  Patrick and Pearl's dad loves telling stories about Sri Lanka history and folktales and cooking Sri Lanka food for them.  Patrick and Pearl are kind of embarrassed by their parents, but Patrick and Pearl have been busy-they're geniuses.  Patrick's gifts are in  history and literature and Pearl's are in science.  Pearl has created a time traveling machine, but in order to make it work, they have to have a real artifact to take them to that place in time.  Pearl wants to go to ancient Egypt so as the book opens, they are stealing a ring from an exhibit at the British Museum about Tutukahmen.  Pearl's time machine works, they go to ancient Egypt and come back and no one seems to be the wiser.  Until they are summoned by Dr. Greenwich, who informs them that they are not the only time travelers in the world, that there is actually a society that controls and fixes mistakes caused by time travelers and Pearl and Patrick are either going to go to Time Jail or they are going to go and work for the TIME organization.  After another unfortunate incident, Pearl and Patrick are asked to leave the organization and Dr. Greenwich confiscates Pearl's time traveling device.  Pearl and Patrick are bereft, but are then approached by another time traveler, Jack Moon, who tells them, if they can get the device to him, he can solve all their problems and make the world perfect.  They agree and then things go really haywire.  It's such an interesting premise-if you could go back in time to change things, what kind of ripple effect would that have?  If you fixed something terrible that happened, would the world be better now?  Pearl and Patrick are very different, even though they're twins and the lessons they learn throughout the book are big and will resonate with middle readers.  Like friendship, problem solving, science, making good choices and the family you have.  There's also a lovely piece about Sri Lankan culture that may send readers to do some research!  I thought this one was terrific.  And the authors left the door wide open for a sequel!