The Ultimate Middle Grade Christmas Shopping Guide

A book guide for the middle grade reader in your life!

It’s December!! Woohoo!! The co-best month of the year hehe. That means gift buying season! I think books are genuinely the most personal, individual, and impactful gifts someone can give another person, and for the middle grade fans in your life, hopefully this will help you with your shopping this holiday season.

Let’s do this!

And of course…

Ok ok, let’s stop there. You know what, I had such a hard time making these because there are SO many incredible books that aren’t included here and I just wanted to keep going and going! Please add your own recommendations in comments!

Some other places to look:

• For more middle grade books and younger, check out this awesome list from

  Sarah Miller

• For a list of kid books specifically from this year, check out The Best Children’s Books of 2023 from

  Taylor Sterling

• For writer-specific gifts, check out this awesome list from

  Erin Bowman

• For a really mighty crew of middle grade authors and their books, check out the Mighty Middle Grade authors!

• For the spooky story lover in your life, check out this awesome collective of Spooky Middle Grade authors!

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What I’m Watching, Christmas Edition:

We’re keeping it simple this time and I’m just gonna give you a movie recommendation, because it’s the very bestest Christmas movie of all. I haven’t met a version of A Christmas Carol I didn’t like, and it’s saying a lot that this one from 1970 is my favorite, even when Muppet Christmas Carol exists (another perfect Christmas movie). But I am so in love with the humanity Albert Finney gives Scrooge. The humor and the music. It’s just, simply, perfect, thank you very much.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?

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Thanks for coming along everyone! If you’re a teacher or librarian or just interested in children’s literature, I’ve got lots of resources and goodies over on my website. And I’d be honored if you shared this with someone who you think might find it helpful.

Thanks for being awesome! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

-Sarah