As the school year ends, it’s time to stock up on books for summer reading. The following books all belong to beloved and new series for middle readers ages 8 and up. They are listed in order of publication. These are books that have not been reviewed by Cracking the Cover, but are recommended by a number of respected sources (ie., Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, etc.). All synopses are provided by respective publishers.
THE GOLDEN FROG GAMES, by Claribel A. Ortega, Scholastic Press, May 2, 2023, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 8-12)
Every four years, the Twelve Towns gather for a legendary magical tournament–the Golden Frog Games.
With Ravenskill hosting this year’s games, all eyes are on Seven Salazar, Valley Pepperhorn and Thorn Laroux: the most famous Spares in the Twelve Towns. Thorn is ready to compete as a fashion champion, but when a forbidden hex is used to turn her fellow champions to stone, suspicion lands on the Witchlings.
As the Witchlings attempt to unravel the mystery of the stonifications, future Uncle Seven is harboring a dangerous secret: While she’s supposed to be able to communicate with animals, the voices she hears most clearly belong to monstruos, and one spine-chilling voice is the loudest of all.
Can Seven fix her broken magic and find out who is stonifying the champions . . . before Thorn becomes the next victim?
NIC BLAKE AND THE REMARKABLES: THE MANIFESTOR PROPHECY, by Angie Thomas, Balzer + Bray, April 4, 2023, Hardcover, $19.99 (ages 8-12)
It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.
All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of…to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
39 CLUES: THE MAZE OF BONES: A GRAPHIC NOVEL, by Ethan Young and Rick Riordan, Graphix, April 4, 2023, Hardcover, $24.99 (ages 8-12)
Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her descendants an impossible decision: “You have a choice — one million dollars or a clue.”
Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world’s most powerful family. Everyone from Marie Curie to Harry Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 Clues hidden around the world will reveal the family’s secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what’s important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents.
PAGES & CO.: THE TREEHOUSE LIBRARY, by Anna James and Marco Guadalupi, Philomel Books, Feb. 28, 2023, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 8-12)
The fifth adventure in the USA Today bestselling Pages & Co. series, starring Milo, the book smuggler.
Milo Bolt is ready to be the hero of his own story. With Uncle Horatio trapped in an enchanted sleep by the power-hungry Alchemist, he sets off with his new friend Alessia to find a cure.
As they search for clues, the pair find themselves at the magical treehouse—home of the Botanist, the Alchemist’s sworn enemy. In their hunt for the cure, Milo and Alessia must forage in the Secret Garden, challenge Robin Hood, and confront the mighty Jabberwock. Will they find the cure and help Uncle Horatio before it’s too late?
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, by Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel, Aladdin; Reissue edition, Feb. 28, 2023, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 8 and up)
Lewis Carroll’s timeless tale of imagination and adventure gets a refreshed look for the next generation.
When Alice follows a rabbit down its rabbit hole, she enters a fantastical new world full of strange and nonsensical creatures. There Alice stumbles from one predicament to the next— drinking potions that make her shrink and grow, inviting herself to a tea party with the Mad Hatter, speaking to a disappearing Cheshire Cat, and playing croquet with a Queen of Hearts who is a little too eager to behead her opponents—as life in Wonderland gets curiouser and curiouser.
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, by Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel, Aladdin; Reissue edition, Feb. 28, 2023, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 8 and up)
The second book of Lewis Carroll’s timeless Alice in Wonderland middle grade series, continues Alice’s adventures and includes the poem “Jabberwocky!”
Alice’s second trip to Wonderland begins when she follows her kitten through the mirror, once again entering the imaginative world where nonsense is the norm. As she travels across the chessboard land in her quest to become queen, Alice has many amusing encounters with strange new acquaintances, such as talking flowers, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty, and a White Knight who is particularly bad at riding horses.
Copyright © 2023 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
