my 2025 reading list | middle-grade contemporary & historical fiction

Hey, friends!

I’m hoping that writing this post will make me end up reading some of the books on this list sometime this year, and maybe give you some new books to read, too. Most of these are middle-grade historical fiction or contemporary since that’s what I mainly read, but there are a couple of other ones. Here’s the list!

(Also, I say read a lot in this post but honestly, I’ll probably listen to most of these on audible/hoopla 😂)

the blossoming summer by anna rose johnson

This one hasn’t been released yet, but I can’t wait to read it (it comes out June 3rd!). I was on Anna Rose Johnson’s street team for her first book, The Star that Always Stays, and I loved her second book, The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry. Her books have the perfect mix Anne of Green Gables and The Penderwicks vibes and I know this one is going to be just as good as her other ones.

Blurb: Life in England is all Rosemary has ever known. . . but as WWII changes the world, no one’s life is left unscathed. Suddenly, she’s sent away to escape the devastation of London. Her grandmother’s house on Lake Superior is safe, but unfamiliar, especially as she discovers her parents have kept a tremendous secret. Rosemary and her family are Anishinaabe—and no one is supposed to know. Far from home but newly connected to a once-hidden part of her family, Rosemary develops a warm, close relationship with her grandmother… and a local boy whose love of gardening helps her to see the beauty in her unexpected circumstances. As Rosemary grows into her new life like a flower in bloom, she realizes that maybe she’s not as far from home as she thought.

white sands, red menace by ellen klages

I read the first book, The Green Glass Sea, in The Gordon Family Saga, a couple of years ago and then re-read it again this year for school. It’s one of my favorite historical fictions set during WW2 that I’ve read, mainly because of the unique setting, and I’m really interested in this sequel!

Blurb: It is 1946. World War II is over—ended by the atomic bomb that Dewey Kerrigan’s and Suze Gordon’s scientist parents helped build. Dewey’s been living with the Gordons since before the war’s end, before her father died, moving south with them to Alamogordo, New Mexico. At the White Sands Missile Range, Phil Gordon is working on rockets that will someday go to the moon; at home, Terry Gordon is part of the scientists’ movement against the Bomb. Dewey and Suze have conflicts of their own. Where does a girl who likes physics and math fit in? How do you know the right time to speak up and the right time to keep your head down? And, most important of all: What defines a family?

dear enemy by jean webster

This is the sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, which I read a few weeks ago, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think. It was kinda cute, and I loved Judy’s letters, but it was also a bit creepy if you thought about the plot. I’m not totally sure what I’m going to think of this one either, but maybe it’ll be better!

Blurb: Dear Enemy is the sequel to Jean Webster’s novel Daddy-Long-Legs. First published in 1915, it was among the top ten best sellers in the US in 1916. The story is presented in a series of letters written by Sallie McBride, Judy Abbott’s classmate and best friend in Daddy-Long-Legs. Among the recipients of the letters are Judy; Jervis Pendleton, Judy’s husband and the president of the orphanage where Sallie is filling in until a new superintendent can be installed; Gordon Hallock, a wealthy Congressman and Sallie’s later fiancé; and the orphanage’s doctor, embittered Scotsman Robin ‘Sandy’ MacRae (to whom Sallie addresses her letters: “Dear Enemy.”)

a place to hang the moon by kate albus

I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY TBR LISTS I’VE PUT THIS BOOK ON, BUT IT’S TOO MANY. 2025 is going to be the year that I finally read it. 😂 Nothing Else but Miracles is Kate Albus’ other book, and it is one of my favorites, so I really should read A Place to Hang the Moon. (It’s also been recommended to me a lot of times which is another reason to read it.)

Blurb: It is 1940 and Anna, 9, Edmund, 11, and William, 12, have just lost their grandmother. Unfortunately, she left no provision for their guardianship in her will. Her solicitor comes up with a preposterous plan: he will arrange for the children to join a group of schoolchildren who are being evacuated to a village in the country, where they will live with families for the duration of the war. He also hopes that whoever takes the children on might end up willing to adopt them and become their new family–providing, of course, that the children can agree on the choice. Moving from one family to another, the children suffer the cruel trickery of foster brothers, the cold realities of outdoor toilets, and the hollowness of empty tummies. They seek comfort in the village lending library, whose kind librarian, Nora Muller, seems an excellent candidate–except that she has a German husband whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Nevertheless, Nora’s cottage is a place of bedtime stories and fireplaces, of vegetable gardens and hot, milky tea. Most important, it’s a place where someone thinks they all three hung the moon. Which is really all you need in a mom, if you think about it.

a perfect mistake by melanie conklin

I hadn’t heard of this author or book before I saw it on Goodreads but it’s middle-grade and a mystery, so it should be pretty good. (Also, it’s for fans of Erin Entranda Kelly and Rebecca Stead and I love books by those authors so another reason to give it a read!)

Blurb: Max wishes he could go back in time to before he was diagnosed with ADHD, before he grew to be the tallest kid in his class, and before he and his best friends went into the woods in the middle of the night. Max doesn’t remember what happened after he left his friends Will and Joey and the older kids who took them there. He’s not sure if he wants to remember. Knowing isn’t going to make Joey talk to him again, or bring Will out of his coma. When the local authorities run out of leads, Max realizes that without his help, they may never know what really happened to Will. Charged by the idea that he may be the key to uncovering the truth, Max pairs up with classmate and aspiring journalist Sam to investigate what happened that night. But not everyone in the community wants that night to be remembered.

genevieve’s war by patricia reilly giff

Patricia Reilly Giff used to be one of my absolute favorite authors and when I saw that I hadn’t read this one, I was pretty surprised because a couple of years ago, I was reading all her books and I read the book that goes with this one. This one is set in WW2 in France, and it sounds interesting!

Blurb: Thirteen-year-old American girl Genevieve has spent the summer of 1939 at her grandmother’s farm in Alsace, France. Then she makes an impulsive choice: to stay in France. It proves to be a dangerous decision. World War II erupts. The Nazis conquer Alsace and deport the Jews and others. A frightening German officer commandeers a room in Meme’s farmhouse. And when Gen’s friend Remi commits an act of sabotage, Gen is forced to hide him in the attic–right above the Nazi officer’s head. Genevieve’s War is a gripping story that brings the war in occupied France vividly to life. It is a companion work to Lily’s Crossing, a Newbery Honor Book.

very rich by polly horvath

I probably won’t end up reading this but I put it on the list because why not try? 😂 It’s fantasy which is something I don’t usually read, but I’m trying to “branch out” in the books I read a little bit more soo, maybe I’ll read it and like it.

Blurb: Ten-year-old Rupert Brown comes from an ordinary family. They live in a small house in the poorest section of Steelville, Ohio, and have little money or food. So when Rupert inadvertently finds himself spending Christmas at the house of Turgid River — the richest boy in town — he is blown away to discover a whole other world, including all the food he can eat and wonderful prizes that he wins when the family plays games, prizes he hopes to take home to his family so they can have Christmas presents for the very first time. But this windfall is short-lived when Rupert loses it all in one last game and goes home empty-handed. Each member of the Rivers family feels guilty about what happened and, unbeknownst to each other, tries to make it up to Rupert in their own unique way, taking him on one unlikely adventure after another.

the night war by kimberly brubaker bradley

The War that Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won are two of the best MG historical fiction books I’ve read – mainly because I loved the writing style and how character-driven the stories were. The Night War is set in the same time as her other books but with a very different plot.

Blurb: t’s 1942. German Nazis occupy much of France. And twelve-year-old Miriam, who is Jewish, is not safe. With help and quick thinking, Miri is saved from the roundup that takes her entire Jewish neighborhood. She escapes Paris, landing in a small French village, where the spires of the famous Chateau de Chenonceau rise high into the sky, its bridge across the River Cher like a promise, a fairy tale. But Miri’s life is no fairy tale. Her parents are gone—maybe alive, maybe not. Taken in at the boarding school near the chateau, pretending to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture, Miri is called upon one night to undertake a deadly task, one that spans the castle grounds, its bridge, and the very border to freedom. Here is her chance to escape—hopefully to find her parents. But will she take it? One thing is certain: The person Miri meets that night will save her life. And the person Miri becomes that night could save the lives of many more.

a duet for home by karina yan glaser

Just like A Place to Hang the Moon, I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while and I’m pretty sure I even started it and then ended up reading something else. I love The Vanderbeekers which is Karina Yan Glaser’s other series and my little sister read A Duet For Home and said it was just as good.

Blurb: It’s June’s first day at Huey House, and as if losing her home weren’t enough, she also can’t bring her cherished viola inside. Before the accident last year, her dad saved tip money for a year to buy her viola, and she’s not about to give it up now. Tyrell has been at Huey House for three years and gives June a glimpse of the good things about living there: friendship, hot meals, and a classical musician next door. Can he and June work together to oppose the government, or will families be forced out of Huey House before they are ready?

now, it’s your turn!

Any books you think I should add to this list? What’s on your 2025 to-be-read list? Comment below!!

Thank you so much for reading!
Pearl 🤍