The Greatest Middle Grade Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
102 Charlotte's Web E. B. White 1952 American English
236 Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling 1997 British English
293 A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle 1962 American English
693 Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder 1935 American English
762 Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild 1936 British English
867 Heidi Johanna Spyri 1881 Swiss German
987 Harriet the Spy Louise Fitzhugh 1964 American English
1005 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
1442 Little House In The Big Woods Laura Ingalls Wilder 1932 American English
1548 Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce 1958 British English
1598 Ronia, The Robber's Daughter Astrid Lindgren 1981 Swedish Swedish
1823 Stuart Little E. B. White 1945 American English
1833 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C. S. Lewis 1952 British English
1879 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1941 From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler EL Konigsburg 1967 American English
2081 A Little Princess Frances Hodgson Burnett 1905 British English
2250 Emil And The Detectives Erich Kästner 1929 German German
2284 Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian 1981 British English
2472 The Grey King Susan Cooper 1975 British English
2477 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
2540 A Bear Called Paddington Michael Bond 1958 British English
2645 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
2739 My Friend Flicka Mary O'Hara 1941 American English
2797 The Silver Chair C. S. Lewis 1953 British English
2824 The Horse and His Boy C. S. Lewis 1954 British English
2829 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
2843 The Magician's Nephew C. S. Lewis 1955 British English
2882 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2950 Redwall Brian Jacques 1986 British English
2990 The Robber Hotzenplotz Otfried Preußler 1962 German German
3017 The House With A Clock In Its Walls John Bellairs 1973 American English
3084 Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome 1930 British English
3151 A Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Lemony Snicket 1999 American English
3210 The Magic Faraway Tree Enid Blyton 1943 British English
3255 The Book Of Three Lloyd Alexander 1964 American English
3954 Cireșarii Constantin Chiriță 1956 Romanian Romanian
4489 The Bears' Famous Invasion Of Sicily Dino Buzzati 1945 Italian Italian
4518 The Black Cauldron Lloyd Alexander 1965 American English
4555 When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Judith Kerr 1971 German English
4632 The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane Kate DiCamillo 2006 American English
4787 Sarah, Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan 1985 American English
4996 Kristy’s Great Idea Ann M. Martin 1986 American English
5226 The Children Of Green Knowe L. M. Boston 1954 British English
5232 Holes Louis Sachar 1998 American English
5501 Over Sea, Under Stone Susan Cooper 1965 British English
5618 The Westing Game Ellen Raskin 1978 American English
5620 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney 2007 American English
5630 Hatchet Gary Paulsen 1987 American English
6123 The Lives Of Christopher Chant Diana Wynne Jones 1988 British English
6318 Greenwitch Susan Cooper 1974 British English
6880 A String In The Harp Nancy Bond 1976 American English
6885 The Ice Is Coming Patricia Wrightson 1977 Australian English
6917 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin, Janet Song 2009 Chinese English
7187 Pete Pite Gábor Nógrádi 1981 Hungarian Unknown
7188 The Village Beyond The Mist Sachiko Kashiwaba, Miho Satake, Avery Fischer Udagawa 1975 Japanese Japanese
7629 The Wee Free Men Terry Pratchett 2003 British English
7672 The One And Only Ivan Katherine Applegate 2012 American English
7704 Julie Of The Wolves Jean Craighead George 1972 American English
7884 Archer's Goon Diana Wynne Jones 1984 British English
7903 The House in the Cerulean Sea Tj Klune 2020 American English
8242 Bronze And Sunflower Cao Wenxuan 2005 Chinese English
8336 The Bat Poet Randall Jarrell 1964 American English
9033 Five Go To Smuggler's Top Enid Blyton 1945 British English
9592 A Kind Of Spark Elle McNicoll 2020 Scottish English
9908 Aru Shah And The End Of Time Roshani Chokshi 2018 American English
10030 Wishes And Wellingtons Julie Berry 2018 American English
10131 Dealing With Dragons Patricia C. Wrede 1990 American English
10245 Billy Bunter Butts In Frank Richards 1950 British English
10245 We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea Arthur Ransome 1937 British English
10291 Ruby Redford Look Into My Eyes Lauren Child 2011 British English
10296 The Jumbies Tracey Baptiste 2015 Trinidadian English
10361 The Borrowers Mary Norton 1952 British English
10523 The Suitcase Kid Jacqueline Wilson 1992 British English
10829 Double Act Jacqueline Wilson 1995 British English
11223 The Teacher Of Nomad Land Daniel Nayeri American English
12308 The Midwatch Institute For Wayward Girls Judith Rossell 2024 Australian English
12475 The Experiment Rebecca Stead 2025 Unknown English
12477 Blood In The Water Tiffany D. Jackson 2025 Unknown English
12553 A World Without Summer Nicholas Day, Yas Imamura Unknown English
12613 Whale Eyes James Robinson, Brian Rea 2025 Unknown English
12646 J Vs. K Kwame Alexander, Jerry Craft American English
12695 Scarlet Morning ND Stevenson 2025 American English
12702 How To Say Goodbye In Cuban Daniel Miyares American English
12717 Oasis Guojing 2025 Chinese English
12757 On Guard! Cassidy Wasserman 2025 Unknown English
12758 Crumble Meredith McClaren, Andrea Bell 2025 Unknown English
13067 Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson 1977 American English
13171 Dracula & Daughters Emma Carroll 2025 British English
13172 Deep Dark Zohra Nabi 2025 Unknown English
13176 What Happens Online Nathanael Lessore 2025 Unknown English
13362 Beezus And Ramona Beverly Cleary 1955 American English
13931 Ramona The Pest Beverly Cleary 1968 American English
14102 The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warner 1942 American English
14174 Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing Judy Blume 1972 American English
14232 Esperanza Rising Pam Muñoz Ryan 2000 American English
14788 Mr. Popper's Penguins Florence and Richard Atwater 1938 American English
14985 George Alex Gino 2015 American English
14985 Smile Raina Telgemeier 2010 American English
14985 Number The Stars Lois Lowry 1989 American English
14985 Kareem Between Shifa Saltagi Safadi 2024 Unknown English
14985 Impossible Creatures Katherine Rundell 2023 British English
14985 Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli 1990 American English
14985 The Wednesday Wars Gary D. Schmidt 2007 American English
14985 The Fairy Tale Detectives Michael Buckley 2005 American English
15915 The Enchanted Wood Enid Blyton 1939 British English
15915 The House Of Dies Drear Virginia Hamilton 1968 American English
15892 The Great Brain John Dennis Fitzgerald 1967 American English
15915 Paddle To The Sea Holling C. Holling 1941 American English
15915 The Letter For The King Tonke Dragt 1962 Dutch Dutch
16542 The Black Stallion Walter Farley 1941 American English
17161 The Worst Witch Jill Murphy 1974 British English
17161 Dactyl Hill Squad Daniel José Older 2018 American English
17161 A Wind In The Door Madeleine L'Engle 1973 American English
17161 Searching For Dragons Patricia C. Wrede 1991 American English
17161 Calling On Dragons Patricia C. Wrede 1993 American English
16967 The Enchanted Castle Edith Nesbit 1907 British English
17161 Stone Fox John Reynolds Gardiner 1980 American English
17161 In The Year Of The Boar And Jackie Robinson Bette Bao Lord 1984 American English
17161 The Penderwicks Jeanne Birdsall 2005 American English
17161 The Birchbark House Louise Erdrich 1999 American English