Next month marks a perennially delightful reading challenge: Middle Grade March! If you’re in need of some fun suggestions, I have a few! Here are some middle grade novels (some vintage, some recent) that I have enjoyed. I’ll link to previous mentions of these books, where I talk a bit more about them!

Ginnie and Geneva by Catherine Woolley [1940s friendship story]
The Secret School by Avi and its sequel, The Secret Sisters [historical fiction set in 1925 Colorado]
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong [HF set in Holland]
Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan [contemporary family story with fantasy elements]
Stand in the Wind by Jean Little [1970s friendship story]
Alice Atherton’s Grand Tour by Lesley M. M. Blume [HF set in 1927 France]
R My Name is Rachel by Patricia Reilly Giff [HF set in 1930s New York]
The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo [HF with fantasy elements]
Family Grandstand & Family Sabbatical by Carol Ryrie Brink [1950s family stories]
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai [HF verse novel set in 1970s Vietnam & Alabama]
Honey Butter by Millie Florence [contemporary friendship story]
Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant [HF set in 1970s Indiana]
Hope in the Valley by Mitali Perkins [HF set in 1980s California]
From Anna by Jean Little (HF set in 1930s Germany & Canada]

and of course, my own books!

The Star That Always Stays [HF set in 1910s Michigan]
The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry [HF set in 1910s Michigan]
The Blossoming Summer [HF set in 1940s England & Wisconsin]

Today I’m sharing a list of some of my favorite vintage MG novels that don’t get discussed much, but I love them and hope you enjoy them too! These are not always easy to find, but they’re worth looking for. 🙂

• The Golden Name Day by Jennie Lindquist: Although it’s a 1950s Newbery novel, this one isn’t talked about much, perhaps because it was out of print for decades until Purple House Press released a new edition! I love the tidbits of Swedish culture in this one (I have a lot of Swedish heritage and enjoy reading about it).
• Maggie Rose: Her Birthday Christmas by Ruth Sawyer: It’s a charming gem of a novel, one that I have recommended so many times but never see discussed, possibly because it also was out of print for decades and has yet to be re-released. Maggie Rose is set in Maine, features a hardworking young heroine determined to make life better for herself and her family, and has the happiest ending you could imagine. What more could you want in a book?
• Jill’s Story by Jean Fiedler: I am not sure I’ve ever seen anyone else discuss this book about a family vacationing at Cape Cod for the summer. Jill longs to become a writer, and this story inspired me a lot when I was ten years old and daydreaming of being an author!
• The Sea Is All Around by Elizabeth Enright: The only Enright novel currently not in print, this is more slow-paced than some of her other books, but the rich language and evocative setting is brilliant. I’m currently rereading this right now!
• Family Sabbatical by Carol Ryrie Brink: There are two very sweet books in this series, but I just re-read Sabbatical last November, so I’ll recommend it especially. This one follows the Ridgeway family to France for a year, and there are some delightful adventures!
• Caldicott Place by Noel Streatfeild: There are so many excellent Streatfeild stories but this one is great if you’re looking for one of her non-theater stories (there is some ballet, of course! but it’s not a big aspect of the book).
• Mine for Keeps by Jean Little: I love so many of Jean Little’s books, but this was her first novel and it’s such a good one. And the best part? It’s easy to find, because Puffin reprinted it just two years ago!
• Time at the Top by Edward Ormondroyd: This is a fantastic story if you’re looking for light fantasy–it’s a time travel tale, set in both “present-day” 1960s and the 1880s. I won’t go into too many spoilers, but when a girl goes into an elevator in her apartment building, it whisks her off to a time much different than her own …

I hope you find a great read from this list! 🙂 What are you reading right now? I’d love to hear!

This post originally appeared on my Patreon.

I read some wonderful new (and old!) middle grade books in 2024, and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you, in no particular order. (And there are more I could talk about! I found so many great stories this year.)

• The Secret Sisters by Avi (2023): A delightful follow-up to The Secret School, one of my longtime favorites! I waited years to see what would happen to Ida at high school, and this is a worthy sequel.
• Somebody Else’s Summer by Jean Little (2005): I’m so glad I saved this to read in the summer! It’s a Parent Trap-type mix-up where two girls swap places during visits to family members.
• Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry (1966): An incredible novel based on a true story of a woman who dedicated her life to saving mustangs in Nevada.
• Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff (1997): This book was completely not what I was expecting based on the plot description, but I was actually pleased with that. It’s a quiet, gentle, yet powerful World War II home front story.
• The Grey Family by Noel Streatfeild (1951): What a joy to read a Streatfeild story I’ve never read before! Written for a slightly younger audience than most of her books, it was episodic, fun, and (of course!) about a young ballet dancer and her family.
• Ferris by Kate DiCamillo (2024): I almost think I liked this story more than Because of Winn-Dixie–it’s humorous and heartwarming and full of well-crafted characters. There’s been a lot of talk about this book winning a Newbery–could it be??
• Marjorie’s Vacation by Carolyn Wells (1907): Sweet, funny episodes in the life of a mischievous girl and her friends during a summer at her grandmother’s.
• Drina Dances Again by Jean Estoril (1959): Another great installment in the Drina series, which I’ve talked about before. I’m sad that the rest of the books in the series are so hard to find!
• Strawberry Girl and Flood Friday by Lois Lenski (1945 and 1956): I really enjoyed both of these books in Lenski’s series that features different regions of the U.S. throughout history.
• Summer on the North Star by Elsa Pedersen (1960): Originally titled Alaska Harvest, this story follows a girl who lives with her family a boat as they harvest crabs in order to earn enough money to buy their own house.
• Maudie in the Middle by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Lura Schield Reynolds (1988): Based on a true story, this gently comedic book is about Maudie, a middle child living on an Iowa farm in the early 1900s.
• Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (2014): For me, binge-reading is reading a long book in three days, so this counts as a binge-read. 🙂 It’s about a girl whose family moves to a small town and she helps run the family bookstore, solving a mystery along the way.

Favorite Rereads:

I reread tons of books every year, so this category is JUST the rereads that I vividly remember having a blast with. 🙂 There’s no rhyme or reason as to what will end up being a brilliant re-read for me, it just depends on finding the perfect book to fit my exact mood.

• Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
• The Four-Story Mistake and Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright
• The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
• Party Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
• The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
• Sister of the Bride by Beverly Cleary
• What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
• Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
• Hey, World! Here I Am by Jean Little
• Family Sabbatical by Carol Ryrie Brink

My 50 State Reading Challenge

This was my big reading goal in 2024! I decided to read a children’s book set in every U.S. state. It was such a joy, even though it was hard to find books for a handful of states! It was such a fun challenge that in 2025, I want to read books set in 20 different countries.

Here is my final list of the books I read for the challenge! I’ve noted which ones were picture books (PBs), chapter books (CBs), middle grade (MG), or young adult (YA).

Alabama (Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai)–MG 
Alaska (Summer on the North Star by Elsa Pedersen)–MG
Arizona (Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona by Julie Campbell)–MG
Arkansas (The Girl with the Mind for Math by Julia Finley Mosca)–PB
California (Sister of the Bride by Beverly Cleary)–YA
Colorado (The Secret Sisters by Avi)–MG
Connecticut (Flood Friday by Lois Lenski)–MG
Delaware (When Washington Crossed the Delaware by Lynne Cheney)–PB
Florida (Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski)–MG
Georgia (Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo)–MG
Hawaii (Growing Up with Aloha by Kirby Larson)–CB/MG
Idaho (Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion by Dave Eggers)–PB
Illinois (The Light in the Cellar by Sarah Masters Buckey)–MG
Indiana (Rosetown Summer by Cynthia Rylant)–MG
Kansas (May B. by Caroline Starr Rose)–MG
Kentucky (Happy Little Family by Rebecca Caudill)–CB
Iowa (Maudie in the Middle by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor & Lura Schield Reynolds)–MG
Louisiana (Meet Marie-Grace by Sarah Masters Buckey)–CB
Maine (The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall)–MG
Maryland (Chesapeake Duke by Gilbert Byron)–MG
Massachusetts (Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley)–MG
Michigan (The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson–yes, my own book!! It was fun)–MG
Minnesota (Carney’s House Party by Maud Hart Lovelace)–YA
Mississippi (Daddy Played the Blues by Michael Garland)–PB
Missouri (Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun)–MG
Montana (The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White)–MG
Nebraska (Elsie’s Bird by Jane Yolen)–PB
Nevada (Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry)–MG/YA
New Hampshire (Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick)–MG
New Jersey (The Slipper Point Mystery by Augusta Huiell Seaman)–MG
New Mexico (Secrets in the Hills by Kathleen Ernst)–MG
New York (The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright)–MG
North Carolina (My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston)–PB
North Dakota (Fly Away by Patricia MacLachlan)–MG
Ohio (What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge)–MG
Oklahoma (Angels in the Dust by Margot Theis Raven)–PB
Oregon (Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary)–CB/MG
Pennsylvania (Pie by Sarah Weeks)–MG
Rhode Island (The Automobile Girls at Newport by Laura Dent Crane)–MG
South Carolina (Honey Butter by Millie Florence)–MG
South Dakota (Judy Bolton and the Discovery at the Dragon’s Mouth by Margaret Sutton)–MG/YA
Tennessee (Lizzie by May Justus)–CB
Texas (The Boxcar Children and the Mystery at the Alamo by Gertrude Chandler Warner)–CB
Utah (Iron Horses by Verla Kay)–PB
Vermont (Lumber Camp Library by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock)–CB/MG
Virginia (Meg and the Secret of the Witch’s Stairway by Holly Beth Walker)–CB/MG
Washington (For the Love of Autumn by Patricia Polacco)–PB
West Virginia (A Piece of Home by Jeri Hanel Watts)–PB
Wisconsin (Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink)–MG
Wyoming (I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote by Linda Arms White)–PB

A few other books to share …

I had the joy of providing endorsement blurbs for the books of three friends: Writer on the Wall by Joanne Bischof (a sweet contemporary Christian novel), Road Trip Return by Becca Wierwille (a heartfelt contemporary MG story), and Beyond Mulberry Glen by Millie Florence (a beautifully written, character-driven fantasy MG). Definitely check them out!

Three non-kidlit books I enjoyed this year were L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle (my last new Montgomery book! <tears>) and two nonfiction books: Glad and Golden Hours by Lanier Ivester and illustrated by Jennifer Trafton (a lovely book to read during Advent) and Barefoot Summers by Faith Andrews Bedford (a collection of wonderful essays on summertime, family, and memories).

What did you enjoy reading in 2024? What are some books you’re excited about for 2025? I’d love to hear!

In a post last year, I gave suggestions for books to check out if you’re a fan of Anne of Green Gables, and today, I’m recommending books for longtime Little Women fans. If you’re hoping for a book that has a similar feel, see if one of these fun vintage titles could be the right fit!

– If you love the realistic sibling dynamics, try What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge.

– If you’re a fan of sister stories and want another book with both child and young adult siblings, try Treasure for Debby by Amy Wentworth Stone.

– If you’re in the mood for a book that features the characters maturing from childhood to adulthood, try Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor Porter.

– If you’re on the hunt for another book featuring a heroine who longs to be a writer, try Jill’s Story by Jean Fiedler (hard to find, but worth looking for)! 

– If you’re looking for another cozy family story set in the 1800s, try The Belonging Place by Jean Little.

– If your favorite aspect of Little Women was the Jo & Laurie subplot but you want the characters to actually end up together, try the Betsy-Tacy high school books by Maud Hart Lovelace, beginning with Heaven to Betsy.

– If you’d like to read another feel-good novel about a New England family pulling together in hard times, try Winterbound by Margery Williams Bianco.

– If you’re still in the mood for Louisa May Alcott but want something less known, try her delightful Jack and Jill!

Bonus: if a chapter where the characters time-travel to visit the Little Women cast sounds good to you, check out The Time Garden by Edward Eager!

What books would you recommend to Little Women fans? Leave a comment below!

I wanted to do something a little different in this post and give you a quick look into two weeks (more or less!) in my reading life. 🙂

Typically I read 8-10 books a month, but lately it has been a little less because I’ve had so much going on (launching my latest novel and working on other projects), but I have been enjoying some great reading and wanted to share a bit about it!

A little over two weeks ago, I finished reading Spring Begins in March by Jean Little. It is a perfect springtime read (as the title might suggest!), even though the title is really more metaphorical than literal. It’s the sequel to Mine for Keeps, Little’s first novel. I have talked about this book before in my Best Books of Spring post, but it’s worth talking about again because of the charming, realistic characters and the delightful resolution. The best part of the book is when Meg’s grandmother reads aloud Anne of Ingleside to her. This scene was taken from one of Little’s own experiences as a child, when she “read ahead” after her grandmother finished reading for the night because she had to find out what happened to Anne!

When I first read Spring Begins in March, this scene made me want to read Anne of Ingleside, which I never had before. (I had read Anne of Green Gables countless times, but had never gotten to some of the later volumes.) So I read it and loved it! In a journal entry from that time, I wrote: “I like the little vignettes, like individual episodes of a sitcom.” Readers have criticized the episodic nature of some Montgomery books, but much of the time those ‘episodes’ make the books special and unique.

So when I revisited Spring, it put me in the mood to revisit Ingleside. But there was a catch: I have been trying to read the Anne series in order for the first time EVER. I started last April with AOGG and have been (slowly!) continuing throughout the months, and I needed to read Anne’s House of Dreams in order to read Ingleside.

I decided to challenge myself to read AHOD in three days. I have always been a slow reader—I read tons of books but it typically takes me a week to read a long-ish book like the ones in the Anne series. And I love a good challenge! So I dived in and (sort of) binged AHOD. It was terrific fun! AHOD is (like other Montgomery books) essentially stitched together from various short stories that LMM wanted to revisit, but everything is seamless. In my opinion, this is perhaps the most well-crafted Anne book because there’s nothing really extraneous—everything matters, and the various subplots all work well together in harmony.

Here is a two-page spread in my scrapbook that I created while reading AHOD:

So then I went on to Ingleside, but at the moment I am only about halfway through because of two things: life became even busier, and I also received some books for my birthday (yay!) and I am starting on those. Anne of Ingleside is such a joy to read, especially the original portions that were never short stories, LOL! I just find this to be another absolutely wonderful springtime selection.

I also recently read Lizzie by May Justus, a chapter book from 1944 that was reprinted a few years ago. I’ve embarked on a different kind of reading challenge this year—I want to try reading a book set in each U.S. state! So Lizzie was my choice for Tennessee; it’s set in the mountains and is very sweet. Nothing much happens in it, but since it’s so short, that’s okay. 🙂

I just finished one of the books I received for my birthday, Lois Lenski’s Flood Friday. I had a hard time putting it down because I had to find out what happened to all the children! It was based on a real flood in Connecticut in the 1950s, and Lenski is (as usual) excellent with bringing details to life.

The next book I’m currently reading is The Adventure of the Seven Keyholes by Augusta Huiell Seaman. I love her books—she wrote vintage children’s mysteries in the early 20th century and this one, from 1925, is quite good so far.

So that’s basically two weeks in my reading life. What have you been reading lately? I’d love to hear about the last two weeks in your reading life!

I often see people looking for Christmas book recommendations, especially stories to share with children. In this post, I want to give a few suggestions of books that fit the following criteria:

1) Not very long (I tend to see readers looking for short books around Christmastime, and usually that’s what I want too!)

2) Vintage vibes (of course)

3) Easy enough to find

Let’s begin!

1. MOLLY’S SURPRISE (1986): My favorite of all the American Girl Christmas books is this third Molly book by Valerie Tripp. It’s so cozy, vintage, and yet with an emotional thread throughout. Best of all, it has a very happy ending! (I don’t like sad Christmas stories. 😉 )

2. TIN CAN SERENADE (2013) by Amanda Dykes: Look no further than this short story for a warm Christmas tale with wonderful cast of child and adult characters. It’s also completely free on Kindle!

3. NOEL STREATFEILD’S CHRISTMAS STORIES (2018): This is a wonderful collection of holiday stories from the beloved author of Ballet Shoes and so many other favorites. Several of them feature dancing and acting, which of course were Noel’s specialties.

4. THE TWENTY-FOUR DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1964) by Madeleine L’Engle is a book I discovered last Christmas and enjoyed so much! It’s the prequel (written later, I believe?) to Meet the Austins, which I also loved. A sweet story of a little girl who is uncertain about the birth of her younger sibling as Christmas approaches.

5. THE LIGHT AT TERN ROCK (1951) by Julia Sauer is a little-known Newbery novel that is atmospheric and thought-provoking, and set at a lighthouse. What could be better? 🙂

6. FROM ANNA (1972) by Jean Little: This moving story of a nine-year-old girl who is uprooted from Germany in the 1930s and forced to come to terms with her limited eyesight is one of the finest Christmas stories I’ve ever read.

A bonus: if you haven’t yet read the Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright, there are magnificent Christmas chapters in The Four-Story Mistake and Spiderweb for Two! Take a look at these dazzling quotes from Four-Story:

Randy threw her arms around Cuffy’s neck. “Oh, I love Christmas Eve!” she cried. “Even better than Christmas I love it. Because everything’s just about to happen!”

and:

” … there was the lighted Christmas tree, come into its own at last: a shimmering mirage, a tree of Paradise, a pyramid of jewels.”

What books do you love to read as Christmas draws near? Let me know in the comments!

If you’re like me, you probably are a longtime fan of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Maybe you’re hoping for a book that has a similar feel, but you’re not sure where to look. In this post, I’m going to be sharing a few fun vintage titles that I hope will be new to you!

– If you love the strong friendship and mischievous adventures that Anne and Diana have, try Katie John by Mary Calhoun.

– If you’re a fan of the stunning imagery and nature descriptions throughout Anne, try Maggie Rose: Her Birthday Christmas by Ruth Sawyer. (Hard to find but if you can, it’s fabulous!)

– If you’re looking for another story set in Canada and written in the 20th century, try One to Grow On by Jean Little.

– If you’re in the mood for a coming-of-age story about a young woman from a small town, try Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace.

– If you’re on the hunt for another episodic book where each chapter is its own mini story, try The Saturdays or The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright.

– If your favorite aspect of AOGG was the Anne and Gilbert subplot, try Pat of Silver Bush, one of Montgomery’s lesser-known books that features a Gilbert-like hero (Jingle)!

– If you’d like to read another heartwarming story about an orphan finding a wonderful new home, try Runaway Alice by Frances Salomon Murphy.

– If you want another lengthy girls’ classic that isn’t as well-known as Anne, try What Katy Did at School by Susan Coolidge.

What books would you recommend to Anne fans? Leave a comment below!

My reading goal this year was to read 120 books, and I ended up reading 126. I always try to read at least eight books a month, and usually my goal is ten or more, which roughly comes out to 120 a year. But my new goal for 2023 is to make it to 100 books, which is still amazing, but will hopefully allow for reading more books of significant length instead of generally shorter books. That will be difficult, though, because I love short books and they seem so easy to add my challenge … 😉 So without further ado, here are my top favorites of the year (mostly vintage middle grade), organized into fun categories! I hope you find a title or two on this list to enjoy. Happy Reading!

What were some books you loved in 2022? Feel free to pass along some recommendations! I am always looking for new books, especially middle grade from the 1940s-60s!

Last year I put together a summer reading list that included some of my favorite vintage middle grade novels for the most breezy season of reading. This month I’m returning with an addition to my list: some new picks for you to enjoy this summer! [Not all of these books take place during summer, but I think they have the right “feel” for summer!]

Best Friends (Mary Bard, 1955) A delightfully funny book featuring a lonely American girl and a spunky French girl who become friends. (This one’s been reprinted recently and is easy to find!)

Surprise House (Abbie Farwell Brown, 1917) A family inherits a house from their aunt and proceed to discover a series of surprises tucked away in secret locations.

Ramshackle Roost (Jane Flory, 1972) I just finished reading this charming story set in the 1920s, about a family of six (plus an unwelcome houseguest) who must move to a “ramshackle” boarding house on the river. Summer adventures ensue!

Ginnie and the Mystery Doll (Catherine Woolley, 1960) Ginnie and her best friend Geneva spend the summer at Cape Cod and attempt to find a missing antique doll.

Mystery on Heron Shoals Island (Augusta Huiell Seaman, 1940) I’ve read three of this author’s books so far, and I’ve enjoyed each one SO much. This one takes place on an island and follows two children trying to solve a compelling mystery involving a macaw, a shipwreck, and a family feud.

Stand in the Wind (Jean Little, 1972) I loved this story of two sets of sisters who spend an unforgettable vacation on their own at a beach cottage. Jean Little’s characters always feel very real!

Meg and The Treasure Nobody Saw (Holly Beth Walker, 1970) The Meg mysteries are greatly re-readable, and this one involving a thunderstorm and a mysterious family next door is especially nice for summer.

Two Little Women on a Holiday (Carolyn Wells, 1917) This book about four girls and their trip to New York City has been a favorite of mine for many years!

I hope you’ll check some of these out!