![Best Middle Grade Books of 2021 Best Middle Grade Books of 2021](https://lit-lessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/books2021.png)
Best Middle Grade Books of 2021
This year was an incredible year for middle grade books. The following list is our favorites from the past 12 months. Of course we did not have time to read all the middle grade books published, but the ones we did were stunning, memorable, and brilliantly timely. In no specific order, here they are!
Title: The Last Cuentista Author: Donna Barba Higuera Publisher: Levine Querido Release Date: October 12, 2021 ![]() |
Title: Willodeen Author: Katherine Applegate Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Release Date: September 7, 2021 ![]() Interested in teaching Willodeen? Check out the LIT Lessons Willodeen Novel Study! |
Title: Fallout Author: Steve Sheinkin Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Release Date: September 7, 2021 ![]() |
Title: Set Me Free Author: Ann Clare LeZotte Publisher: Scholastic Press Release Date: September 21, 2021 ![]() |
Title: The Shape of Thunder Author: Jasmine Warga Publisher: Balzar + Bray Release Date: May 11, 2021 ![]() |
Title: Red, White, and Whole Author: Rajani LaRocca Publisher: Quill Tree Books Release Date: February 2, 2021 ![]() Read full review here. |
Title: Clues to the Universe Author: Christina Li Publisher: Greenwillow Books Release Date: January 5, 2021 ![]() Read full review here. |
Title: Starfish Author: Lisa Fripps Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books Release Date: March 9, 2021 ![]() |
Title: Mighty Inside Author: Sundee Frazier Publisher: Levine Querido Release Date: September 14, 2021 ![]() |
Title: Ground Zero Author: Alan Gratz Publisher: Scholastic Press Release Date: February 2, 2021 ![]() Interested in teaching Ground Zero? Check out the LIT Lessons Ground Zero Novel Study. |
*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
More Blog Posts
It’s time for the annual LIT Lessons Novel Study Giveaway! Year-over-year students grow and change, and those changes are often most pronounced when a new school year begins. It’s a fresh start and a restart. The message of Restart by Gordon Korman captures the spirit of new beginnings, evolving identity, and the universal experience of growing older.
Many ELA question stem resources provide vague sentence starters or surface level prompts to encourage students to engage with a text. Oftentimes, these resources lack true depth and rigor, which means students are not being adequately challenged to critically think about a text.
Middle grades historical fiction novels have come a long way from the books available ‘decades’ ago. In fact, this growing genre is now bursting with fantastic, inspiring, and insightful novels. It comes as no surprise that these books are finding their way into middle school ELA curricula…