Author: Karina Glaser

I love this celebratory picture book about what it means to grow up first and second generation Indian American. In this story, a young girl straddles two cultural worlds. I love how illustrator Supriya Kelkar incorporates both American and Indian fabrics in her artwork!

This book marks Gordon Korman’s 100th published book!!! How amazing is that?

When a hurricane goes through the town of Canaan, there is widespread destruction. When eighth grade friends meet to look at the wreckage, they find a strange trap door that’s appeared in the middle of the woods — the door to an old bomb shelter, unearthed by the hurricane. They vow to keep the place a secret, but it’s harder than they think…

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New from award-winning author Andrea Wang comes the story of how a class of ESL students bond over the shared language of tea. I love Hyewon Yum’s cheerful illustrations, especially the teacups featured in the end papers.

The Charlie Thorne series continues in this third book by prolific author and fantastic and hilarious human Stuart Gibbs. After tracking down incredible discoveries by Einstein and Darwin, Charlie the genius is back. This time, the great ruler Cleopatra has left behind an extremely valuable and powerful treasure, its location encoded on an ancient stone tablet. Can Charlie solve the two-thousand-year-old mystery to prevent the most powerful treasure of the ancient world from falling into the wrong hands?

This wonderful collection of short stories for middle grade readers takes place as children all over the world turn 11. These kids are all embarking on different journeys as they step out into the world and learn that people and life are much more complicated than they once seemed.

It’s Max’s first year of middle school and eighth-grade bully Johnny Pro torments Max relentlessly. In desperation, Max writes to imprisoned supervillain Master Plan, a “gentleman of size.” With Master Plan’s help, Max gets even with Johnny Pro… but is there a price to pay for getting help from a supervillain?

In this beautiful picture book, a grandmother takes time to wonder with her granddaughters as they look over their collection of rocks, crystals, seashells, and meteorites to see what marvels they have to show.

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I love Jess Keating’s wonderful nonfiction books featuring weird animals. In this nonfiction picture book, Jess gathers the world’s most gigantic animals such as a moose, a cassowary, a harpy eagle, and (of course) a giant snail. This book is full of interesting and informative facts!

I adore beautiful bedtime picture books, and this one is so lovely with lyrical words and terrific illustrations that capture the love between a caregiver and a baby.

Pam Munoz Ryan is an auto-buy for me. This middle grade fantasy features a soon-to-be princess named Solimar who encounters monarch butterfly magic and a greedy king prepared to do anything to overtake her kingdom.

I loved this middle grade book by Lisa Yee. When Maizy and her mom leave their home in Los Angeles to head to Last Chance, Minnesota to spend time with Maizy’s ailing grandfather, Maizy works in the family restaurant and learns more than she could imagine about her family history.

In this sweet middle grade story, Miosotis is much more excited about fostering dogs than doing schoolwork. But her papi wants her to excel at school, so he strikes a deal: if Miosotis improves her grades in two classes, she can adopt a dog of her own in the summer.

This counting picture book features a young girl and her uncle as they travel ten blocks through Chinatown and encounter various scenes along the way: one giant panda ride, two lion statues, three swimming turtles, four bonsai trees, five tai chi practitioners… Chinatown in New York City is one of my favorite places, and I loved seeing a picture book set in a Chinatown!

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I love this collection of books by author Hena Khan and illustrator Mehrdokht Amini which celebrates the many diverse traditions of the Muslim world. Their previous book collaborations include Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns and Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets. This one focuses on counting and numbers.

This sweet picture book story is set in Juna’s father’s dry cleaning store where Juna helps every Saturday. When an expensive jacket goes missing, Juna tries to help her father locate it and ends up embarking on fantastical adventures along the way. I found the watercolor illustrations beautifully reminiscent of picture books I loved growing up.

This sequel to the Newbery Honor Winner Wolf Hollow follows life after the tragic events set in motion by bully Betty Glengarry. When searching for her brother’s missing dog, Annabelle is reunited with Andy Woodberry, who was complicit in Betty’s most terrible acts. This coming of age story is all about learning that life is always more complicated than it seems.

This incredible anthology features a cast of awesome middle grade writers such as Tom Angleberger, Max Brallier, Christina Soontornvat, Janae Marks, Sarah Mlynowski, James Ponti, Hena Khan, R.L. Stine, Gordon Korman, Karina Yan Glaser, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Pena, Rex Ogle, Pam Munoz Ryan, and more! Check out these nonfiction stories of resilience and hope.

Who doesn’t love a magical school story? In the town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. But when Seven Salazar isn’t placed into a coven, she becomes a Spare and risks losing her powers altogether. Can she come together with the other Spares and reclaim their powers?

I love this hilarious story about eleven-year-old Sonali who wishes life could be more like Bollywood films where people sing and dance and everyone seems happy. Parents in Bollywood films don’t fight like Sonali’s parents do. But when Sonali goes on a field trip, she finds herself breaking into a song and dance routine and all of her feelings and emotions are out for everyone to see. And the next day, life shifts into full Bollywood mode! Can Sonali figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?

This exciting pick-your-own-path book lets you – the reader – choose whether you want to be the hero or the villain! When a weird bird scratches your hand and you gain the power of flight, you get a chance to decide your future!

Two sixth graders are determined to make it through the school year achieving their goals. For Isaac, the best basketball player in the school, it means keeping up his grades up and hopefully preventing his parents from fighting. For star student Marco, it means making the basketball team and finally giving his dad a reason to be proud of him. Can these two sixth graders help each other through the year?

Tae Keller, winner of the Newbery Award for When You Trap a Tiger, is back with her newest middle grade book. This one explores bullying while weaving in mystery and science fiction. I adored this book, and I’m certain you will too!

This gem of a book by lovely human Jennifer Ziegler follows a young misfit who has been given the unfortunate nickname “Worser” by his classmates. With troubles at home and bullying at school, Worser finds refuge in words… until he finds The Literary Club, a group of kids from school who share his love of words and meet in a used bookstore. But friendships are not as clear cut as words; can Worser navigate the highs and lows with his friends and defeat his nickname for good?

The hilariously funny Max Brallier is out with a new book in his Last Kids on Earth series. This time, the focus is on Quint and Dirk as they battle new monsters and go on epic adventures. Don’t forget to check out this new book in the epic series (and catch Max on his bus tour!).

This new chapter book by the award-winning author of Amina’s Voice (one of my favorite books!) is about Zara, the queen bee of the neighborhood. When a new family moves in and Naomi has her own ideas about how to have fun, Zara finds her crown in peril. Can Zara come up with the best idea for record-breaking fun… and earn back her crown?