8 of the Best Middle Grade Series to Binge Over the Holiday Break

Magnificent Mya Tibbs series, by Crystal Allen
If you love Clementine or Abbie Wu, you’re going to love Mya Tibbs. She’s the star of her own delightfully bingable series by Crystal Allen. In the first, Mya and her best friend promise to be Spirit Week partners so they can win the special VIP tickets to the fall festival. But Mya ends up instead with mean girl Connie Tate. With her best friend mad at her, the school calling her names, and a partner known for her bullying, can Mya still win the prize?

Track series, by Jason Reynolds
If you haven’t read Jason Reynolds’s Track series, what are you waiting for? The contemporary quartet follows four different kids: Ghost, Patina, Sunny and Lu. Each earn their place on a competitive track team, but they don’t necessarily get along or understand each other, and they’ve got their own problems at home. The incredible series—whose first book was nominated for the National Book Award—is now available in a box set convenient for binging.

Bloody Jack series, by L.A. Meyer
Let’s leap into some backlist. One of my absolute favorite series is the Bloody Jack series, a twelve book series about a young girl who goes on to be England’s most feared pirate. When the book begins, Jacky’s parents have died, and she decides to pose as a boy to join the crew of a British Navy ship. As Jacky ages throughout the books in time to when they were originally released, much like Harry Potter, this is perfect for older middle grade readers, especially those who love Raven the Pirate Princess.

Unicorn Rescue Society series, by Adam Gidwitz and collaborators
Looking for the next step up from chapter books? The gorgeously illustrated Unicorn Rescue Society series is your pick! Elliot Eisner doesn’t love the weird field trips his teacher takes them on. Uchenna Devereaux loves them—she loves anything to do with danger. Together, they join the Unicorn Rescue Society, a group determined to protect mythical creatures from a world that would otherwise destroy them. The first three books are out now, with The Chupacabras of the Río Grande coming out this April.

Artemis Fowl series, by Eoin Colfer
I love the Artemis Fowl series. It’s not a secret. The sci-fi fairy story was a stable of my childhood and holds up upon rereads, and with the movie about to come out, now is the perfect time to read the books. Artemis Fowl is a child genius who sets out to steal gold from the faerie folk that live beneath the earth. But it could accidentally start a war between humans and faeries—and it could destroy the few things Artemis actually cares about. The full eight-book series follows anti-hero Artemis’s interactions with the faerie folk, including my darling Captain Holly Short of the LEP Recon.

Skulduggery Pleasant series, by Derek Landy
Do you love horror stories? Read every Goosebumps books and looking your next book? Then you want the Skulduggery Pleasant books. Stephanie’s uncle wrote horror fiction—at least, he did before he died and left Stephanie his estate. But when the twelve-year-old moves to the estate, she learns that maybe the horror her uncle wrote wasn’t fiction after all. And the only way to keep the evil forces away from her is to team up with a skeleton. Of a dead sorcerer. As ya do. This horror fantasy series was recently rereleased in new covers, which means you can snag them all in gorgeous matching editions!

Gaither Sisters series, by Rita Williams-Garcia
Looking for a dose of historical fiction? Fans of Jacqueline Woodson and The Penderwicks will be sure to devour Rita Williams-Garcia’s Gaither Sisters series. Sisters Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are growing up in the late 1960s—a time where everything in America is changing. The series begins with One Crazy Summer, where the sisters are sent off to Oakland, where their mother—who abandoned them long ago—wants little to do with them. Instead, she sends them to a summer camp sponsored by the Black Panthers.

Book Scavengers series, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Book lovers, gather ’round! We all know the best thing for a book lover is a book about books. It’s the perfect combination. Add in a little mystery and you’ve got The Book Scavengers, the first of a brilliantly fun trilogy from Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. When Emily moves to San Franscisco, she’s stoked to be sharing the same air as literary idol Garrison Griswold, creator of Book Scavenger, where books are hidden and clues are left to find them. But when Garrison inexplicably falls into a coma, it’s up to Emily and her new friends to figure out what the mysterious new game he left behind. What does it mean? And if Garrison fell into a coma because somebody is after the game, can they solve it before that person comes after them, too?