Welcome to the 2017 middle grade summer reading list! As my regular readers know, I put this list together every year to help you find the best book suggestions across every genre to encourage your kids to really dive into reading this summer.

Middle graders are one of my favorite age groups when it comes to finding books. They’re still at that age where they’re discovering their favorite genre, whether it’s humor, mystery, magical and adventure, or just stories about regular kids coming of age. In honor of that journey of discovery, I’ve broken this list down into a few different genres. With middle grade fiction, sometimes the lines blur from one genre into the next, so it’s not a flawless list. I went with the predominant genre for each book.

After a reader wrote in asking for a printable list of Around the World in 80 Books, I decided to start putting all of my book lists into a printable format. I’m still working on back lists, but going forward, you’ll be able to print out a super simple version of every list. I was going to try to make them all fancy for you, but then I thought about how much ink that would take to print out. Instead, I’m opting for plain old text lists that won’t cost you an entire ink cartridge to print. That way, you have more money for books, right?

Click here to print this list in PDF

2017 Middle Grade Summer Reading Book List

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FUNNY BOOKS

1. Pottymouth and Stoopid by James Patterson- We loved this one! Check out our review along with tips to avoid raising a bully!
2. The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 2: Middle School Mayhem by Rachel Renée Russell
3. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis
4. Frazzled: Everyday Disasters and Impending Doom by Booki Vivat
5. Gertie’s Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley
6. Dork Diaries Books 1-11 Collection by Rachel Renée Russell
7. The Mighty Odds (The Odds Series #1) by Amy Ignatow
8. How to Be a Supervillain by Michael Fry

MAGIC, ADVENTURE AND FANTASY

1. The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart, Diana Sudyka
2. The Many Worlds of Albie Bright by Christopher Edge
3. The Island of Dr. Libris Chris Grabenstein
4. The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
5. The Wearle (The Erth Dragons #1) by Chris d’Lacey
6. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 2: The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
7. Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
8. Rise of the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel by Melissa de la Cruz

MYSTERY & SUSPENSE

1. Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
2. In Darkling Wood by Emma Carroll
3. The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius
4. Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart
5. The Gallery by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
6. The Underdogs by Sara Hammel
7. York: The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby
8. Framed by James Ponti

COMING OF AGE

1. Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar
2. See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
3. Flying Lessons & Other Stories by Ellen Oh
4. Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson
5. The Dog, Ray by Linda Coggin
6. Moo: A Novel by Sharon Creech
7. Rain Reign Ann M. Martin
8. Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce
9. Posted by John David Anderson

NONFICTION

1. Guinness World Records 2017: Blockbusters!
2. National Geographic Kids Almanac 2018
3. Minecraft: Guide to Creative
4. Summer Brain Quest: Between Grades 5 & 6 by Workman Publishing and Bridget Heos
5. Journal Sparks: Fire Up Your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writing, and Inventive Thinking by Emily K. Neuburger
6. Weird But True Human Body: 300 Outrageous Facts about Your Awesome Anatomy by National Geographic Kids
7. How to be a Scientist by Steve Mould
8. Junk Drawer Engineering: 25 Construction Challenges That Don’t Cost a Thing by Bobby Mercer

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