6 of the Best Middle Grade Road Trip Novels

Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
This Newbery Award winner from Sharon Creech follows Salamanca Treehiddle and her grandparents on a journey from Ohio to Idaho to find Sal’s missing mother. On the way, Sal shares the fascinating, funny, and outrageous story of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. Sharing Phoebe’s story allows Sal to understand her own, as she wrestles with her desire to reunite with her mother since her disappearance. Drawing strength from the journey, the natural world, and her Native American ancestry, Sal is able to face her painful past and embrace her future.

From Norvelt to Nowhere, by Jack Gantos
This follow up to Jack Gantos’ Newbury Award-winning Dead End in Norvelt is a raucous adventure all on its own. Jack finds himself caught up, again, in a local murder mystery starting with a poisoned Girl Scout cookie on Halloween night. This time, the mystery sends him on a road trip adventure with his eccentric friend and mentor, Miss Volker. Their travels take them on a zany ride through history in pursuit of the murderous Mr. Spizz, whom they suspect is responsible for the latest crimes in Norvelt.

The Middle of Somewhere, by J.B. Cheaney
When Veronica Sparks sets off on a road trip across the Kansas prairie with her hyperactive brother and her Pops, who is looking for a way to get rich on wind, she’s not sure what to expect. But she hopes it’s going to be a little like the self help books she’s practically memorized to help her “seize the way” and “supersize her life”. But when her brother disappears just as the trip is about to end, she learns how to embrace the chaos and unpredictability she’s tried so hard to avoid.

Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, by Jen White
After their mother’s death, Liberty and her sister Billie are sent to live with the father they’ve never really known, a travelling photographer who rides in an RV. When he leaves the two girls at a Jiffy gas station, they are left to fend for themselves, meeting a cast of eccentric characters along the way. Struggling with fear and anger in the hot desert sand, Liberty strategizes as best she can to find a way toward home.

Sisters, by Raina Telgemeier
This graphic memoir for young readers, a companion book to Telgemeier’s Smile, is a look at sisterhood. Though Raina always wished for a sister, when she finally gets her wish, Amara is not at all what she expects. The author explores their complicated relationship through flashbacks as she sets off on a road trip from San Francisco to the California Rockies for a family reunion. Through her signature art and humor, Telgemeier shares the importance of family in this simple but affective tale of two sisters.

The Thing About Luck, by Cynthia Kadohata
Summer knows a little bit about luck or, at least, the lack of it. With her history of illness, her friendless brother, and her parents on an emergency trip to Japan, she can’t imagine what else could possibly go wrong, until she’s forced to set off with her strict and old-fashioned grandparents to harvest wheat for the season. As she circles the Midwestern United States, Summer has to figure out how to change her luck and help her family in this heartwarming National Book Award winner.
What are your favorite middle grade road trip novels?