Tag: Middle Grade

Teacher’s Guides for Every Occasion!

Cover image that reads "Teacher's Guides for every occasion" white text on a red background, framed by cover images.

If you’re looking to boost your lesson plans with great reads and important classroom discourse, we have a selection of guides to help! This list of teacher’s guides for every occasion can help you plan for the year! From well-loved canon to important historical moments, you’ll find pre-reading questions, discussion topics, and common core ties that are evergreen conversation starters.

Picture Books: Fiction

Cover of "Why?"
Cover of "Odder, an Otter's Story"
Cover of "I wish you knew"
Cover of "Together, a Forest"
Cover of "Anh's New Word"
Cover of "Abuelo, The Sea, and Me

Scroll through the images above to find teacher’s guides for Together, A Forest by Roz MacLean, Odder: An Otter’s Story by Katherine Applegate, Abuelo, the Sea, and Me by Ismée Williams; illustrated by Tatiana Gardel, Ánh’s New Word by Hanh Bui; illustrated by Bao Luu, I Wish You Knew by Jackie Azúa Kramer; illustrated by Magdalena Mora, and Why? A Conversation About Race by Taye Diggs; illustrated by Shane W. Evans.

Picture Books: Non-Fiction

Cover of "Choosing Brave"
Cover of "Ida B. Wells: Voice of Truth"

Scroll through the images above to find teacher’s guides for Choosing Brave by Angela Joy; illustrated by Janelle Washington, and Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth by Michelle Duster; illustrations by Laura Freeman.

Middle Grade: Fiction

Cover for "A Wrinkle In Time"
Cover for "Wishtree"
Cover for "The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise"
Cover of "Frizzy"
over of "The Lost Year"
Cover of "Onyx and Beyond"
Cover for "The Song of Orphan's Garden"
Cover of "Greta"
Cover for Odder
Cover of "Farther Than The Moon"
Cover of "The Gray"
Cover of "Eagle Drums"
Cover of "The Marvellers"
Cover of "In the Key of Us"
Cover of "Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa"
Cover of "Cuba in my Pocket"

Scroll through the images above to find teacher’s guides for A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle; Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, Odder by Katherine Applegate, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, Onyx & Beyond by Amber McBride, The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt, Greta by J. S. Lemon, Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega; illustrated by Rose Bousamra, Farther than the Moon by Lindsay Lackey, The Gray by Chris Baron, by Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson, The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh, The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton; illustrated by Khadijah Khatib, In the Key of Us by Mariama J. Lockington, Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall, and Cuba in my Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas.

Middle Grade: Non-Fiction

Cover of "Latinitas"
Cover of "Three Summers"
Cover of "Torpedoed"
Cover of "My Selma"
Cover of "Betty Before X"
Cover of "The Girl Who Sang"

Scroll through the images above to find teacher’s guides for Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan, The Girl Who Sang by Estelle Nadel with Bethany Strout; illustrated by Sammy Savos, Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz, with Renee Watson, My Selma by Willie Mae Brown, Torpedoed by Deborah Heiligman, and Latinitas by Juliet Menéndez.

Young Adult: Fiction

Cover of "Speak"
Cover of "Promise Boys"
Cover of "Shadow and Bone"
Cover of "Cinder"
Cover of "The Lost Dreamer"
Cover of "So Many Beginnings"
Cover of "Shadow & Bone"
Clash of Steel
Cover of "Librarian of Auschwitz"
Cover of "Under the Same Stars"
Cover of "Thirsty"
Cover of "Saints of the Household"
Cover of "Warrior Girl Unearthed"
Cover of "Himawari House"

Scroll through the images above to find teacher’s guides for Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson; illustrated by E.M. Carroll, The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe; adapted by Salva Rubio and illustrated by Loreto Aroca; translated by Lilit Thwaites; Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray, Thirsty: A Novel by Jas Hammonds, Saints of the Household by Ari Tyson, Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley, Promise Boys by Nick Brooks, Himawari House by Harmony Becker, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta, So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow, Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo, A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee, and Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angelline Boulley.

Young Adult: Non-Fiction

Cover of "Accountable"
Cover of "The Impossible Escape"
Cover of "True or False"
Cover of "Call Him Jack"
Cover of "The Sun Does Shine"
cover of "Jane Against The World"
Cover of "Fallout"
Cover of "Whose Right Is It"
Cover of "Don't Look Back"
Cover of "The 57 Bus"
Cover of "Duet"
Cover of "Rise up"
Cover of "Strongman"

Scroll through the images above to find teacher’s guides for The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, Accountable by Dashka Slater, Impossible Escape by Steve Sheinkin, The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Don’t Look Back by Achut Deng and Keely Hutton, Call Him Jack by Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, Duet by Phillip Hoose, Jane Against The World by Karen Blumenthal, Rise Up! by Crystal Marie Fleming, Fallout by Steve Sheinkin, Strongman by Kenneth C. Davis, Whose Right Is It? The Second Amendment and the Fight Over Guns by Hana Bajramovic, True or False by Cindy L. Otis.

Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate

Author Letter from Katherine Applegate Dear Reader, When I think about the books I've most loved writing, it always comes back to stories for middle-grade readers. I so love that audience. I love their unquenchable curiosity. Their fierce idealism. And their boundless imaginations. For this wildly open-minded and open-hearted audience, I can create a possible invisible giant cat, or a miniature polar bear-hummingbird hybrid who builds nests out of glowing bubbles. I can write from the point of view of an orphaned otter with Olympian diving moves, or a wise, deeply kind, talking oak tree. I can do these things because I know that my audience is uniquely able to embrace the unusual, the unexpected, even the unbelievable. In my newest book, Pocket Bear, which debuts in September, 2025, I write about a wily, theft-prone cat named Zephyrina and her dear friend Pocket, a tiny stuffed bear who was originally created to provide comfort to a soldier during World War I. Pocket, or mascot, bears were made to fit into the breast pocket of a uniform. Their eyes were positioned in such a way that, glancing down, a soldier would see a little bear looking up, a token of love and hope, always there in the darkest of moments. Not for a fleeting second, as I wrote this story of an unlikely friendship, did I wonder if a child would embrace the idea. Adults? You never know. We are, sadly, a weary and distracted lot, especially lately. But a child? Absolutely. The epigraph to Pocket Bear is from a Mary Oliver poem: Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. That's why writing for middle-grade readers is just a privilege and a joy. They have so much room in those tender hearts of theirs. Katherine Applegate

Thimble-born from tip to toe, meet Pocket Bear

Preorder Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate’s next middle-grade novel Pocket Bear for your classroom or library to receive a gift for you and a gift for your students!

Upload your receipt from any retailer to receive an exclusive art print and 15 Pocket Bear patches.

Submit your receipt here!
Image of Pocket Bear "Experience an unforgettable tale of bravery, kindness, and second chances, where every stitch tells a story."

Pocket Bear cover image Small bear with a blue scarf curled up next to a large cat.
Pocket Bear | On sale September 9th

Meet Pocket, created as a good luck charm for soldiers going into battle, whose bravery and loyalty lives on long after the war.

From Katherine Applegate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Odder and The One and Only Ivan.

Thimble-born from tip to toe, Pocket Bear remembers every moment of his becoming: the glimmering needle, the silken thread, the tender hands as each careful stitch brought him closer to himself. Born during the throes of WWI, he was designed to fit into the pocket of a soldier’s jacket, eyes sewn a bit higher than normal so that he always gazed upward. That way, glancing at his pocket, a soldier would see an endearing token of love from someone back home, and, hopefully, a good luck charm.

Now, over a century later, Pocket serves as unofficial mayor of Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured, where stuffed toy animals are refurbished and given a fresh opportunity to be loved. He and his best feline friend Zephyrina, known far and wide as “The Cat Burglar,” have seen it all, and then some.

An unforgettable tale of bravery, loyalty, and kindness, Pocket reminds us all that love comes in many forms (sometimes filled with fluff), and that second chances are always possible.

Katherine Applegate Teacher’s Guide

Explore themes of community, empathy, resilience, and the environment through books by Katherine Applegate. Download a free discussion guide here!

A Teacher's Guide to the Middle-Grade Novels of Katherine Applegate Crenshaw cover image Willodeen cover image Odder cover image wishtree cover image

ALA 2025 Conference Resource Center

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We’re so excited to see our librarian friends on June 27 to June 30 in Philadelphia!

What’s inside

What’s inside

What’s inside

What’s inside our ALA Resource Center:
  • Make the most of your ALA experience + meet your favorite authors & illustrators!
    Check our ALA schedule for a full list of in-person author programs and book signings.
  • We’ve collected our digital resources for you in this handy resource center!
    Download our digital catalogs, request digital preview copies, and fill out our checklist survey for your chance to win a collection of free books for your library!
  • Not attending ALA?
    You can still download digital resources, request preview copies, and more!
Visit the ALA Resource Center here →

A Teacher’s Guide for Middle-Grade Graphic Memoirs

Real Life, Frame by Frame: A Teacher's Guide for Middle-Grade Graphic Memoirs

Download the Graphic Novel Memoir Guide

In the six graphic memoirs included in this teacher’s guide, you’ll find stories that make your students feel seen and that make the unremarkable feel remarkable. This guide includes discussion questions for six middle grade graphic novel memoirs, a guide for young readers to create their own graphic novel memoirs, and more recommendations for even more memorable graphic novels inspired by real life.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOKS

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Real Friends Cover Image
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Be Prepared cover image
Uprooted Cover Image
A First Time for Everything Cover Image

Watch our Fall 2025 School & Library Virtual Preview!

Fall 25 Preview


Watch our MacKids School & Library Fall 2025 Preview Event, where we previewed upcoming picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult titles! You’ll hear from talented creators Kevin Maillard and Rafael López (And They Walk On), Craig Kofi Farmer (A Method for Magic and Misfortune), and Deborah Heiligman (Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)). 

Plus, author María Dolores Águila introduced her middle grade debut novel in verse, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez, based on the true story of one child’s courage to stand against segregation. You’ll also hear from the Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Rebecca Stead! She was in conversation discussing her new fast-paced coming-of-age novel (with aliens!), The Experiment, which asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, and whether it’s ever too late to change.

And, don’t miss our exclusive cover reveal of a new book by Newbery Honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Warga!

Timestamps:
3:32 – María Dolores Águila introduces A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez
14:50 – Picture Books
15:49 – Rafael López And They Walk On
24:13 – Middle Grade
28:29 – Craig Kofi Farmer A Method for Magic and Misfortune
37:06 – Jasmine Warga cover reveal of The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan
41:36 – Young Adult
42:48 – Deborah Heiligman Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)
50:28 – Rebecca Stead in conversation The Experiment

Discussion Guide: The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt

The Song of Orphan's Garden Graphic

The Song of Orphan's Garden Book Cover

The Song of Orphan’s Garden
By Nicole M. Hewitt
Ages 8-12
On Sale Now!
A Junior Library Guild Selection

Combining the gentleness of Miyazaki, the wintry wonderland of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the whimsicality of Newbery winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Nicole M. Hewitt’s debut middle-grade novel, The Song of Orphan’s Garden, is an enchanting fantasy tale with all the makings of a new classic.

In an arctic world that’s getting colder every day, Lyriana’s only hope of survival is to get her little brother Zave and herself to the fabled Orphan’s Garden. It’s rumored to be the one place in the world not controlled by deadly Winter Spirits or ruled by the tyrant Giant king. In Orphan’s Garden, healing trees will melt away Winter’s pains, and Lyriana and Zave can live safely in the warmth of Spring. If the garden exists, they must find it. They won’t live much longer without it.

Brob, a Giant boy, also needs sanctuary. When the Giant king banishes his family to the Winter Blight, it’s a death sentence. Orphan’s Garden is his family’s only hope, and as far as Brob’s concerned, it belongs to him. After all, he was the one who accidentally used an ancient magic to grow the garden years ago. He has no intention of sharing his haven with pesky humans, who will just use up its magic and ruin it.

When it becomes clear that Orphan’s Garden is in danger of being destroyed, Lyriana and Brob are the only ones who can save it—but only if they can put the ages-old battle between Humans and Giants aside and find a way to work together.

dOWNLOAD THE dISCUSSION gUIDE FOR The song of orphan’s garden hERE →