2024: Beginning to Look Back: Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

 I've had my best reading year ever in terms of quantity.  I've heard some bookish people say they feel like the quality has been less than other years.  I beg to differ.  I have had the hardest time narrowing down my list of favorites.  So, because this is my list, and I can do what I want, I have a few additional groups I'm sharing this year which allows me to squeeze in more favorites I can't help but want to tell others about.

First up: the best middle grade and YA reads of 2024

1.  Keeping Pace by Laurie Morrison- Grace and Jonah went from BFF to frenemies as they compete against each other to see who can be the top scholar in eighth grade. They find some common ground in training for a half marathon together, but Grace's competitive nature makes it hard for her to see the great friend that Jonah is. There's just the barest hint of romance in this one as well.

2.  Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay - four generations of men in a Filipino family  Set in 1930, 1965, 1983 and 2020 we see these dads and sons struggle with each other.  There's racism for them to fight and each man wants something for his son that he didn't get for himself- but that might not be what his child needs.

3. Light and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell - historical fiction set against the backdrop of the J N Adam Tuberculosis Hospital in New York, Halle and her mother are both battling TB and sent to the hospital where they try and recover.  The author got the idea for the story from driving past an abandoned TB hospital.  In the age of Covid-19 we all have a new appreciation for isolation from sickness.

4.  Shot Clock by Caron Butler and Justin A Reynolds - I love a good sports book. This book (the first in a series that contains two books thus far) features Tony a boy who loves basketball and has been practicing in order to make the AAU team.  However, things go differently than he planned.  Dante, the most talented baller in the neighborhood, is killed by a cop, and Tony finds himself as the team statistician.  Despite the disappointment and grief, Tony finds a lot to be thankful for.

5.  The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming by J Anderson Coats - as a reader of Sandra Dallas' books (mostly pioneer stories set in the Rockies), I felt like this book fit right in.  Jane is left caring for her baby stepbrother as her stepmother takes the children to Washington Territory after Jane's father dies.  Life out in the west isn't exactly what was promised, but Jane tries to make the best of things.

6.  Ten Thousand Tries by Amy Makechnie - Golden Maroni wants to be the captain of his soccer team and he's spent hours working on his skills.  But his dad's ALS has gotten progressively worse.  He applies the principle of mastery by working on a specific skill ten thousand tries - something he believes will help his father beat ALS.  This book broke my heart, yet also was impossible to stop reading.

7.  The Shape of Lost Things by Sarah Everett - a kidnapping by a parent is a storyline that I will pick up every time.  Skye's world changed when her brother Finn disappeared with their dad.  Finn's birthday has always been hard, but suddenly they receive a phone call that Finn has been found.  Skye is expecting she will recognize her brother when he returns- even if he might physically look different.  But a lot has changed - and Skye is sure that Finn is not the brother she grew up with.

8.  Ruptured by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz - this novel in verse was the very first book I read in 2024.  Claire's parents are barely speaking and one day while they are away on vacation Claire and her mom go out for lunch alone.  As Claire's mom starts to tell her some important news about their family, she collapses in the restaurant.  Claire's mom has suffered an aneurism and the recovery is slow.  Rossmassler Fritz suffered two separate aneurisms and the information and ability to share about this event was so interesting (and a little bit anxiety provoking if you are someone who is a hypochondriac).

9.  The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly  - If you tell me that there's a connection to my childhood in a novel, I'm all in.  Set in 1999, Michael meets a boy from the future who he befriends.  Michael is worried about Y2K and people are busy preparing for what they fear could be a devastating event. Ridge is enjoying his time in the 90s and wants nothing more than to visit something he's only heard of: the shopping mall.  Ridge needs help returning to his own time, and Michael and his friend, Gibby, are happy to help.

10.  Stay Dead by April Henry - I've put off reading April Henry for years mostly because I have a few teachers who love her and already get kids interested in her books.  The cover was in processing when I picked this one up, so I truly went in knowing absolutely nothing about this book.  Stay Dead was impossible to put down.  Milan's dad was killed in a car accident and when she and her mother are on board a small plane that crashes after being ripped apart by a bomb, Milan realizes she is on her own and has no one she can trust.  This one is a page turner as Milan races to get to the one person she can depend on.

11.  Walls by L. M. Elliott - Cousins during the Cold War, Drew moves to West Berlin where his army father works in a democratic portion of the city. His cousin, Matthias, lives in East Berlin, where he has spent his childhood.  The two boys don't know each other well, and argue over a variety of issues, but enjoy listening to music together.  Neither is sure if they can trust the other, and both must be careful so that their loyalties aren't questioned.  I love historical fiction and I love that this time period is seeing more books written about it.

12.  The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson - Norvia grew up on Beaver Island learning about her Ojibwe heritage from her grandfather.  But when her mother remarries and the family moves off the island, they hide their native roots.  They have a new stepfather, stepbrother, and a home in the city now. While Norvia and her siblings embark on having the best year ever in 1914, they must also navigate how to keep their heritage a secret while still being true to who they are.

I read A LOT of really great books this year.  And by happenstance this list is mostly full of little-known authors whose books have all been fantastic. I can't wait to share my other lists in the upcoming days.