MG titles that aren't a series

Christabelle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 28, 2013
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
127
Location
Tennessee
A friend's kid asked me to recommend some MG books for her. She's 9 and reads on a fourth-grade level. Her mother isn't much of a reader, but she wants her kids to enjoy books. At the moment, I can recommend board books for toddlers and YA. That's about the extent of my knowledge. Can anyone help me? :)

The girl says she doesn't want a series, so stand-alones only. She likes Pokemon and Minecraft books, but those are "series." When we went to the bookstore, she gravitated toward animal books with a funny plot. I suggested Warriors and the like, but she said no because those were in a series.

I'm kind of over my head when it comes to MG. I know what I liked when I was her age, and some of those books are still on the shelves. My little one is a toddler, so I've got picture books all over the house, and I write YA, so I'm pretty up on the upper end of kidlit. The MGs scare me a little. LOL
 

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 21, 2013
Messages
11,682
Reaction score
10,338
Location
In my head
Website
thewanderingquille.blogspot.com
The vast majority of my MG reading was series, apparently. One I was gonna recommend is apparently the first of a trilogy I never knew existed (Into the Land of the Unicorns).

If she likes animals, maybe Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. Cat that travels through various cat-related times in history with his boy owner. It's old and out of print, but not impossible to get for cheap.
 

Tazlima

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 26, 2013
Messages
3,042
Reaction score
1,494
I'm not very good at estimating what's good for different age ranges, but what about Roald Dahl? I loved his stuff throughout my childhood. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Witches" both have animals (OK, "The Witches" is kind of a stretch, since the MC is technically a human that was turned into a mouse, but I'd say it counts). "Matilda" is also terrific.

There's also "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" (I think that one's technically a sequel, but both books stand alone).

Oh, and E.B. White. Most kids know about "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little," but "The Trumpet of the Swan" is equally awesome (actually, it's my favorite of his works) and a lot of kids haven't heard of that one.

...now I'm wondering what she has against series. Did she give any explanation as to why she doesn't like them? Not that it matters, I'm just curious.
 
Last edited:

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
9,907
Reaction score
1,834
Location
Hiding in my writing cave
Website
www.cathyclamp.com
I've always enjoyed reading Middle Grade books. Some of my favorites are:

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I really enjoyed this book. It could be considered either historical or fantasy. It's sort of cross-over.

Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn. Mystery

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham. . While this became a series, the first is stand alone and the other books are stand-alone mysteries that don't require prior knowledge of the world.

The Shadow Children by Margaret Haddix. While this is a series, it's closer to a single long book, because the installments are so short (like 150 pages each). It's a really fascinating world where there is a two-child-only law that follows a third "shadow" child as he tries to survive being killed by the government. It's worth giving a try even if she doesn't "like series."

Good luck!
 
Last edited:

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 21, 2013
Messages
11,682
Reaction score
10,338
Location
In my head
Website
thewanderingquille.blogspot.com
I'm not very good at estimating what's good for different age ranges, but what about Roald Dahl? I loved his stuff throughout my childhood. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Witches" both have animals (OK, "The Witches" is kind of a stretch, since the MC is technically a human that was turned into a mouse, but I'd say it counts). "Matilda" is also terrific.

...now I'm wondering what she has against series. Did she give any explanation as to why she doesn't like them? Not that it matters, I'm just curious.

Oh my yes, Roald Dahl for sure. Can't believe I didn't even think of those. There's also "Esio Trot" and "The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me" for animals.
 

Christabelle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 28, 2013
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
127
Location
Tennessee
The vast majority of my MG reading was series, apparently. One I was gonna recommend is apparently the first of a trilogy I never knew existed (Into the Land of the Unicorns).

If she likes animals, maybe Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. Cat that travels through various cat-related times in history with his boy owner. It's old and out of print, but not impossible to get for cheap.
I'll look for Time Cat. I'm pretty good at tracking down out of print books for reasonable prices. :)

I'm not very good at estimating what's good for different age ranges, but what about Roald Dahl? I loved his stuff throughout my childhood. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Witches" both have animals (OK, "The Witches" is kind of a stretch, since the MC is technically a human that was turned into a mouse, but I'd say it counts). "Matilda" is also terrific.

...now I'm wondering what she has against series. Did she give any explanation as to why she doesn't like them? Not that it matters, I'm just curious.
I'm horrible at estimating what's good for age ranges. My theory for my kid is give him any book he can't shred at the moment, and when he's older, point him toward anything he's interested in. I read The Wind in the Willows to him when he was 4-months old. :Shrug: Also, I was a precocious reader and got mad when people pointed out age ranges.

I suggested Matilda, but she said she'd seen the movie. Since her mom isn't a reader, she doesn't realize the book is SO MUCH BETTER! I'm going to have to work on her preconceived notions since I know she wants to read.

She seemed like she was afraid of series because she would get caught up in the story only to have it continued in another book. (Patience is not her forte.) I suggested Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (since it can stand alone and the series has a definite end), but she said that was too long.

We ended up getting her Howliday Inn by James Howe (I didn't mention that it's in a series) and a book whose title escapes me about a Guinea pig that thinks it's a dog.
 

angeluscado

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
289
Reaction score
19
Location
British Columbia, Canada
I loved James and the Giant Peach - again, a Dahl book, but you can't really go wrong with him.

Not really animals, but Coraline by Neil Gaiman is right in that age range. I read it as an older person (last year, I think) and I adored it.
 

Tazlima

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 26, 2013
Messages
3,042
Reaction score
1,494
Oh! Add "Bunnicula" to the list, the tale of a vampire rabbit that snuck around at night draining the juice out of vegetables. I loved that one as a kid.
 
Last edited:

Tazlima

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 26, 2013
Messages
3,042
Reaction score
1,494
My theory for my kid is give him any book he can't shred at the moment, and when he's older, point him toward anything he's interested in.

That's what I'd be inclined to do. I'd just take her to the library and let her go nuts.
 

Christabelle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 28, 2013
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
127
Location
Tennessee
Good ideas, guys! I think I cross-posted yesterday and missed some of these. Next time I talk to her, I'll have some more ideas. :)

One I suggested because I read it over and over in middle school was Island of the Blue Dolphins, but I couldn't tell if she was interested or not. I also loved Anne of Green Gables and all the other Anne books at that age, but since she said no series, I didn't mention them.

I think the library would be a great place to take her! We just happened to be at the bookstore on Sunday because her mom wanted to find a study guide. I want to keep her excited about books. :)
 

heza

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Messages
4,328
Reaction score
829
Location
Oklahoma
Perhaps anything by Kate DiCamillo? Not animal books, per se, but a number of them have animals.
 

Myrealana

I aim to misbehave
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
5,425
Reaction score
1,911
Location
Denver, CO
Website
www.badfoodie.com
There isn't a lot of selection outside of series as far as I know.

Most Roald Dahl books are stand-alone stories, and my son loved them.

"The Tale of Despereaux" was pretty good. My son read it in 3rd grade and loved it.

Two of my favorites from around that age are "How To Eat Fried Worms" and "Chocolate Fever."

"Charlotte's Web" has lots of cute animals.

"Ella Enchanted" (Much better than the movie.)
 

GigiF

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
Messages
282
Reaction score
10
I'm not sure if it's too old fogie for her but one of my favourite children's books is Rebecca's World by Terry Nation (of Dr Who fame).

Might be out of print today mind but it's a great book and not a series. :)
 
Last edited:

Polenth

Mushroom
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 27, 2007
Messages
5,017
Reaction score
735
Location
England
Website
www.polenthblake.com
Tricky to think of more recent middle grade books that aren't series. Even if they're intended to be standalones, publishers seem to push for sequels. In older stuff, Dick King-Smith has a number of animal standalones, including "The Fox Busters" and "The Sheep-Pig".

Chances are once she gets reading, series won't be as scary. Which'll open it up a lot more.
 

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
3,138
Reaction score
290
Location
New York
Judy Blume is still in. Andrew Clements is good too. Neither writes animals. There are so many classics for this age group, that it's hard to think of them all or type them. A librarian will be a great help here.
 

SuperKate

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2013
Messages
265
Reaction score
42
Location
DC
Website
www.kidbooklist.com
I just finished Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, which was great for that age. If she likes animal books, I would also recommend Because of Winn-Dixie (a girl MC but she has a great dog) and Tumtum & Nutmeg (mice MCs). Richard Peck has some great mice books, too. I have a website geared to parents where I write short reviews of MG novels, so that the parents have a sense of what their kids are reading or might like. The link is in my signature. Best of luck.
 

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
12,975
Reaction score
4,508
Location
USA
Website
brightdreamersbookreviews.blogspot.com
Oh! Add "Bunnicula" to the list, the tale of a vampire rabbit that snuck around at night draining the juice out of vegetables. I loved that one as a kid.

Technically, that's a series, too, but the first one works fine as a stand-alone... may be a bit dated, though.

If she likes poetry, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (T. S. Eliot) inspired the Broadway play Cats. As a warning, there is some racism in some of the poems (particularly against Asians.)

Is she up for some Pratchett? The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is technically part of his Discworld works, but it's great as a stand-alone. A talking cat runs a "rat plague" scam with a clan of talking rats and a boy piper... until they run into a town with a real rat problem. Lots of humor, but in typical Pratchett fashion there's some tooth behind it.

There are a few older works by Paul Gallico about cats - The Abandoned (titled Jennie in the UK) is about a boy who turns into a cat and winds up with a stray learning the ways of catdom. (I've read excerpts as part of a short story collection, but never found the whole book.) He's also the one who wrote Thomasina, basis of the movie.

Someone mentioned Into the Land of the Unicorns... That one's part of a series, but Bruce Coville as a whole is an author I'd recommend. His Magic Shop books are stand-alones connected by the idea of a traveling magic shop that turns up to sell kids items they need; only in his later ones does he cross over any characters, and even then it's just as cameos, not anything necessary for a plot arc. (My personal favorite is Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher.) He also collects some of the best anthologies, including classics alongside newer tales.

And I'll second Gail Carson Levine's books as fun, interesting reads, especially for girls.
 
Last edited:

lianna williamson

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 20, 2013
Messages
942
Reaction score
196
Location
small-town New England
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Not animal-focused (although the first does have a plot that hinges on cat allergies), but both are funny, thought-provoking, and have a great first-person voice.
 

DavidBrett

Alas, poor Yorick, he fed me 'nanas
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
1,361
Reaction score
184
Location
London, UK
Website
davidbrettandrews.wordpress.com
I second brightdreamer on The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, an amazing book in its own right. Although set on the Discworld, it barely has any ties to any other books in the series, and is a wonderfully funny and clever twist on the pied piper story.

There's also a book called The Mighty Skink, (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0688174205/?tag=absowrit-21) about a zoo monkey who's calm and blissfully ignorant life is turned upside down when a new addition to their enclosure questions the norm, and dares to wonder what life beyond the bars is like.

Other than that, Dick King Smith and Dahl are always fun and brilliant reads.
 

Funaek

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
786
Reaction score
97
What about some Diana Wynne Jones books? She has a few books that are series, but many stand alones. I also second the Dahl and DiCamillo recommendations. Also, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH! Not funny, but animals-focused and great.
 

MaryLennox

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
535
Reaction score
260
Location
Canada
There isn't a lot of selection outside of series as far as I know.

Most Roald Dahl books are stand-alone stories, and my son loved them.

"The Tale of Despereaux" was pretty good. My son read it in 3rd grade and loved it.

Two of my favorites from around that age are "How To Eat Fried Worms" and "Chocolate Fever."

"Charlotte's Web" has lots of cute animals.

"Ella Enchanted" (Much better than the movie.)[/QUOT

I loved Ella Enchanted as a kid. The only thing the book has in common with the movie is the title. The movie was pretty awful.

I also remember reading Time Cat and enjoying it.

Also loved Roald Dahl.

Unfortunately, nothing else is coming to mind besides what other people have already said, since they all had great suggestions.

Edit - maybe Vivian Vande Velde? I think she has a bunch of stand alone fantasy books for kids?
 
Last edited: