Top 12 Most Anticipated Middle Grade Books of 2014

I found a list on Goodreads filled with Middle Grade books coming out next year. I wanted to share what I discovered and what I'm looking forward to read next year with all of you. The books below are based on my opinion and what I'm excited to read next year. This Top 12 list is not in order. There are other MG books coming out next year that I'm excited about and others that are still not mentioned yet on this list I'm sure. If you have any books you've discovered that are coming out next year whether they be Middle Grade reads or not I'd love to read what they are. 

A powerful novel about friendship and family that calls to mind Bridge to Terabithia

Twelve-year-old John Fischer Jr., or "Little John" as he’s always been known, is spending his summer helping his father with his tree removal business, clearing brush for Mr. King, the wealthy owner of a chain of Texas dollar stores, when he hears a beautiful song that transfixes him. He follows the melody and finds, not a bird, but a young girl sitting in the branches of a tall sycamore tree.

There’s something magical about this girl, Gayle, especially her soaring singing voice, and Little John’s friendship with Gayle quickly becomes the one bright spot in his life, for his home is dominated by sorrow over his sister’s death and his parents’ ever-tightening financial difficulties.

But then Mr. King draws Little John into an impossible choice—forced to choose between his family’s survival and a betrayal of Gayle that puts her future in jeopardy.

Inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story, Nightingale's Nest is an unforgettable novel about a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a girl with the gift of healing in her voice.

My Thoughts: This has such a gorgeous cover and I love the original tale of the Nightingale. I'm pretty sure this one is going to suck me in and leave me heartbroken by the end. 

Gladys Gatsby has been cooking gourmet dishes since the age of seven, only her fast-food-loving parents have no idea! Now she’s eleven, and after a crème brûlée accident (just a small fire), Gladys is cut off from the kitchen (and her allowance). She’s devastated but soon finds just the right opportunity to pay her parents back when she’s mistakenly contacted to write a restaurant review for one of the largest newspapers in the world.

But in order to meet her deadline and keep her dream job, Gladys must cook her way into the heart of her sixth-grade archenemy and sneak into New York City—all while keeping her identity a secret! Easy as pie, right?

My thoughts: I love anything to do with food so I'm excited about this one . I also love all the impending shenanigans I'm sure Gladys will get into.

Ten-year-old Jack Foster has stepped through a doorway and into quite a different London.

Londinium is a smoky, dark, and dangerous place, home to mischievous metal fairies and fearsome clockwork dragons that breathe scalding steam. The people wear goggles to protect their eyes, brass grill insets in their nostrils to filter air, or mechanical limbs to replace missing ones.

Over it all rules the Lady, and the Lady has demanded a new son—a perfect flesh-and-blood child. She has chosen Jack.

Jack’s wonder at the magic and steam-powered marvels in Londinium lasts until he learns he is the pawn in a very dangerous game. The consequences are deadly, and his only hope of escape, of returning home, lies with a legendary clockwork bird.

The Gearwing grants wishes. Or it did, before it was broken. Before it was killed.

But some things don’t stay dead forever.

My Thoughts: This ones going to be a great sci-fi book. It's very different in what I expect a MG book to be but that's probably why I'm so excited by it.

"To sell a book, you need a description on the back. So here's mine: My name is Fiona Loomis. I was born on August 11, 1977. I am recording this message on the morning of October 13, 1989. Today I am thirteen years old. Not a day older. Not a day younger."

Fiona Loomis is Alice, back from Wonderland. She is Lucy, returned from Narnia. She is Coraline, home from the Other World. She is the girl we read about in storybooks, but here's the difference: She is real.

Twelve-year-old Alistair Cleary is her neighbor in a town where everyone knows each other. One afternoon, Fiona shows up at Alistair's doorstep with a strange proposition. She wants him to write her biography. What begins as an odd vanity project gradually turns into a frightening glimpse into a clearly troubled mind. For Fiona tells Alistair a secret. In her basement there's a gateway and it leads to the magical world of Aquavania, the place where stories are born. In Aquavania, there's a creature called the Riverman and he's stealing the souls of children. Fiona's soul could be next.

Alistair has a choice. He can believe her, or he can believe something else...something even more terrifying.

My Thoughts: I don't usually like many books set in a different time but the premise of the book is genius! I'm sure all book lovers are going to want to check this one out.

When Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see To Kill A Mockingbird included. But not everyone in their class shares the same enthusiasm. So they hatch a plot to get the entire town talking about the well-known Harper Lee classic. They plan controversial ways to get people to read the book, including re-shelving copies of the book in bookstores so that people think they are missing and starting a website committed to “destroying the mockingbird.” Their efforts are successful when all of the hullabaloo starts to direct more people to the book. But soon, their exploits start to spin out of control and they unwittingly start a mini revolution in the name of books.

My Thoughts: I've never read To Kill a Mockingbird fully. I had to read some of it Freshman year in High School and I didn't enjoy it but it was assigned and we were made to read it aloud so this book seems like it would get my interest sparked to read the story it's based upon. The story itself sounds fantastic. It's a reader's ambition to get as many people possible to read their favorite book.

When Denny “Donuts” Murphy’s mother dies, he becomes the world’s biggest class clown. But deep down, Donuts just wants a normal life—one where his mom is still alive and where his dad doesn’t sit in front of the TV all day. And so Donuts tries to get back into the groove by helping his best friend with their plan to get dates for the end-of-the-year school dance. When their scheme backfires, he learns that laughter is not the best medicine for all of his problems. Sometimes it’s just as important to be true to yourself.

My Thoughts: The title of this book just appeals to me in so many ways. It's going to be one of those sad yet memorable books I'm going to read with some laughter mixed in.

Savvy meets The Incredibles in this fresh, funny middle-grade debut about two brothers in a family of superheroes who must find a way to be heroic despite receiving powers that are total duds.

Each leap year, on February 29th, at 4:23 p.m., every member of the Bailey family over the age of twelve gets a superpower. No one knows why, and no one questions it. All the Baileys know is that it's their duty to protect the world from those evil, supervillainous Johnsons.

Today, Rafter Bailey and his brother Benny are finally going to get their superpowers. Benny wants to be a speedy, and Rafter hopes he gets super strength so he can save the day just like his grandfather. But when their powers arrive, they are, well, duds. Rafter can light matches on polyester, and Benny can turn his innie belly button into an outie.

Suddenly Rafter and Benny's world is turned upside down. Especially when they realize that Juanita Johnson, the villain in Rafter's algebra class, thinks that her family are the superheroes and the Baileys are the villains.

What if everything Rafter thought he knew about superheroes turns out to be a lie? He may not have an awesome power, but with the help of Benny and an unexpected friend, he could just be almost super.

My Thoughts: Just yes. The Incredibles and Savvy mixed together ~ This book fills me with happiness...

This is what the boy is told:

• He woke up on planet Trucon, inside a fence he shouldn't have been able to pass.

• He has an annirad blaster wound to the back of his head.

• He has no memory.

• He is now under the protection of a mysterious benefactor.

• His name is Chase Garrety.

This is what Chase Garrety knows:

• He has a message: "Guide the star."

• Time is running out.

My Thoughts: Technically came out this December but it's coming out again with Feiwel & Friends in January. This screams "boy book" and I'm sure it's going to marketed as such but the cover looks amazing for one and for two I don't care I really want to read it. 

Eighth grade is set to be a good year for Diggy Lawson: He’s chosen a great calf to compete at the Minnesota State Fair, he’ll see a lot of July, the girl he secretly likes at 4-H, and he and his dad Pop have big plans for April Fool’s Day. But everything changes when classmate Wayne Graf’s mother dies, which brings to light the secret that Pop is Wayne’s father, too. Suddenly, Diggy has a half brother, who moves in and messes up his life. Wayne threatens Diggy’s chances at the State Fair, horns in on his girl, and rattles his easy relationship with Pop.

What started out great quickly turns into the worst year ever, filled with jealousy, fighting, and several incidents involving cow poop. But as the boys care for their steers, pull pranks, and watch too many B movies, they learn what it means to be brothers and change their concept of family as they slowly steer toward a new kind of normal.

My Thoughts: Reminds me a lot of a mix between Dairy Queen and Waiting for Normal. The latter probably just because of the name. This is just my kind of book and I can't really explain it beyond I like small towns and southern type books i.e. Dairy Queen.

Eleven years old. The beginning of everything!

For Maggie Mayfield, turning eleven means she's one year closer to college. One year closer to voting. And one year closer to getting a tattoo. It's time for her to pull herself up by her bootstraps (the family motto) and think about more than after school snacks and why her older sisters are too hot for their own good. Because something mysterious is going on with her cool dude Dad, whose legs have permanently fallen asleep, and Maggie is going to find out exactly what the problem is and fix it. After all, nothing's impossible when you're future president of the United States of America, fifth grade science fair champion, and a shareholder in Coca-Cola, right?

My Thoughts: "whose legs have permanently fallen asleep, and Maggie is going to find out exactly what the problem is and fix it" ~ this book is going to make me cry so hard. Why would I do that to myself? I don't know. I'm a sucker for books like this.

Roald Dahl meets Eva Ibbotson in this hilarious middle grade debut perfect for reading aloud

Rupert Campbell is fascinated by the witches who live nearby. He dreams of broomstick tours and souvenir potions, but Rupert’s mother forbids him from even looking at that part of town. The closest he can get to a witchy experience is sitting in class with his awful teacher Mrs. Frabbleknacker, who smells like bellybutton lint and forbids Rupert’s classmates from talking to each other before, during, and after class. So when he sees an ad to become a witch’s apprentice, Rupert simply can’t resist applying.

But Witchling Two isn’t exactly what Rupert expected. With a hankering for lollipops and the magical aptitude of a toad, she needs all the help she can get to pass her exams and become a full-fledged witch. She’s determined to help Rupert stand up to dreadful Mrs. Frabbleknacker too, but the witchling's magic will be as useful as a clump of seaweed unless Rupert can figure out a way to help her improve her spellcasting—and fast!

My Thoughts: Witch's Apprentice ~ enough said.

The Forbidden Library kicks off a brand new classic fantasy series perfect for fans of Coraline, Inkheart, and The Books of Elsewhere

Alice always thought fairy tales had happy endings. That--along with everything else--changed the day she met her first fairy

When Alice's father goes down in a shipwreck, she is sent to live with her uncle Geryon--an uncle she's never heard of and knows nothing about. He lives in an enormous manor with a massive library that is off-limits to Alice. But then she meets a talking cat. And even for a rule-follower, when a talking cat sneaks you into a forbidden library and introduces you to an arrogant boy who dares you to open a book, it's hard to resist. Especially if you're a reader to begin with. Soon Alice finds herself INSIDE the book, and the only way out is to defeat the creature imprisoned within.

It seems her uncle is more than he says he is. But then so is Alice.

My Thoughts: I've got to read at least one book with a library setting next year don't I? This seems to be one of the more serious or let's say it appeals to the older crowd of MG readers. I like that it's supposed to have a Coraline feeling and that you are going inside a book and her name being Alice is a plus too.

I'm also looking forward to Under the Egg, School of Charm, and Jasmine and Maddie. 

There are also a bunch of other books I've found out before that I like: The Dirt Diary, By the Grace of Todd, and Ice Dogs. 

Some notable authors are coming out with MG books in 2014: The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel, Revenge of the Flower Girls by Jennifer Ziegler, The Swift Boys & Me by Kody Keplinger, and Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord.

The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky is coming out ~ I have an author event planned out next year in February.

Caminar ~ a book set in Guatemala (a setting which is rare for me to find) is coming out.

Last but not least I have fallen for the illustrations that are sure to be amazing in Cupcake Cousins.

P.S. I've finished my FINALS! I even got a better than passing grade in my math class. It's a miracle. Now back to reading and reviewing like normal.

What books are you looking forward to next year?