By “recent” I mean very recently, within the last couple of years, and by “children’s books” I primarily mean middle-grade fiction, i.e., the stuff between picture books and YA fiction. By “not fantasy,” I primarily mean books that are not about wizards and dragons, since I have enjoyed Lemony Snickett and Georgia Byng, which are “fantastic” but not “fantasy.” I would especially like recommendations from parents and teachers who know what kids are reading. Thanks.
My daughter is an eighth grader now, but I was one of the “book fair moms” at her school when she was in sixth grade. Is that about the age-level you’re looking at? Maybe 9-12?
Some of her favorites from that age period (I may have some of these authors’ names wrong or missing, as it’s been a while):
Skellig - David Almond
Petey - Ben Michaelson - this was a HUGE favorite
Hatchet, The River and Brian’s Winter - Gary Paulsen
Holes - Louis Sacher
Gathering Blue and The Giver - Lois Lowry
Wringer - Jerry Spinelli
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key - Jack Gantos
The Wreckers - Ian Lawrence
The Dear America and the Royal Diaries series.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head just now. I’ll be back if I think of more.
9-12 is exactly right – sometimes they describe MG fiction as 8-12, sometimes 9-12, and it follows certain conventions regarding characters and plots. I write stories in that vein myself and like to stay up on what is popular. (OK, I also still enjoy reading kids books).
The only reason for not wanting fantasy is that I think there’s a glut… I even have a pretty interesting fantasy novel of my own planned, but worry that there are probably way too many fantasy ms. hitting the editors just as the fad has peaked and wanes.
Thanks for the list! I’ll look those up.
By the way, I’d especially be interested in reading in the general themes of sports, non-anthropomorphic animals, and humor.
Well, I don’t think fantasy and science fiction should be dismissed. They’ve almost always been popular with that age group - especially boys, who for some reason just don’t seem to be as interested in reading for pleasure as girls (I know, gross generalization, but it does seem to be true.) Certainly Harry Potter has spawned a resurgence, but hey, the kids don’t seem to mind. Nevertheless, I’m always in favor of expanding a kid’s horizons a bit.
From my own observations of this age group, I have noticed that they rather like scaring the daylights out of themselves. My daughter and her pals all seemed to go through a really dark phase of reading horror and suspense stuff. And the girls love dopey stuff, too - my daughter was enthralled with a book called “The Woman in the Wall” which sounds lovely and mysterious but is actually one of the clumsiest books I’ve ever read.