New realistic middle grade fiction November 2026

 I'd like to tell you that I'm behind on writing blog posts because I'm so busy skydiving or deworming orphan kittens but somehow, blog post writing hasn't come to the top of my to-do list, plain and simple.  So I am here to rectify that (while my kitchen is being renovated in the next room, so forgive my distractedness!)

There are two new amazing middle grade novels that I think you and your middle grade readers are going to love!  The first one came out in September.  It's called "The Secret Book Store Sleuth Society" and it's by Lindsay Currie.  Lindsay is a wonderful writer with books that completely enthrall middle grade readers and this one is no exception.  It's about Merrick, who is being home schooled because her grandmother got sick and had to come and live with Merrick and her mom.  Merrick loves her grandmother so that's not really the problem, but Merrick really misses her friends and feels like she's drifting away from them.  It happens that she's having a book club meeting with her friends at her mom's book store, which is attached to a hotel when an ice storm hits and everyone has to stay over night.  Except it turns out that one of the hotel guests has died, right in the lobby of the hotel.  Merrick and her friends, including her grandmother, decide that they are going to try to figure out what happened.  As they move through their list of suspects, there are some terrific plot twists and exciting developments and a very satisfying ending.  There are themes of changing as well as enduring friendship, of persistence, and recognizing people's strengths as well as weaknesses.  The characters are people you'll recognize because they are so well developed.  The issues the kids are dealing with like absent parents, taking care of relatives, and maintaining friendshsips in a changing environment, are all things middle grade readers will connect to.  I think kids are going to love this mystery and happily, it's going to be a series of books!

Here's the book trailer. 

And here's the awesome cover.

The second one is also by a favorite author.  This one is called "Rowan and Gemma" and it's written by Sally J. Pla.  I've loved some of her other books like "The Fire, the Water, and Maddie McGinn" or "Invisible Isabel" or "The Subway Birds", she often includes characters with neural differences which gives voice to kids and adults who cope with those.  This one is no different.  It's told in two voices, Gemma's and Rowan's.  Rowan has lived all his life in the small town of Friendship Prairie.  His family owns a restaurant there where Rowan tries to help out.  He's not always successful and his cousin Ty is always quick to offer an insult.  Gemma's family has just moved to town.  They've been living in a big city and Gemma is worried about adapting to a small town like this, but her mom inherited land from her great uncle and they knocked down the old house to build a big new modern house.  Gemma is neurodivergent and uses a tablet to speak.  Gemma's mom and Rowan's mom take an instant dislike to one another because of a misunderstanding that culminates in an ugly election, in which both of them are running for the same school board seat.  Gemma and Rowan develop a romantic connection which starts to feel a little like Romeo and Juliet but with a happier ending.  There are excellent themes of first love, problem solving, accepting differences, and dealing with things that are new.  There's also a lot of poetry as this is one way that Gemma processes things, by writing poems.  This is another book with really well developed characters and excellent story development.  I really loved this one and I think kids are going to love getting to know these two characters.  I know I did!

Here's the cover.