Middle Grade Novels That Tackle Parents’ Divorce, Dating, and Blended Families 

We are All Made of Molecules, by Susin Nielsen 
Thirteen-year-old Stewart is one of my favorite middle grade protagonists. An honest, intellectual geek who recently attended Little Genius Academy, he couldn’t be more different from his new step-sister, Ashley, 14, who’s popular, self-absorbed, and angry at her father, who recently came out as gay. Stewart is still grieving the loss of his mother from ovarian cancer when his father decides they’re going to move in with his girlfriend, Caroline (Ashley’s mother). In Ashley’s words, her family is FUBAR (“Effed Up Beyond All Recognition”). The story flips between Ashley and Stewart in dual POVs with so much humor and emotion. This is a refreshing novel about healing from loss and learning what family really means. 

Ella Unleashed, by Alison Cherry
Ella Cohen pulled me right to the page! She’s a dog lover who whose mom got remarried two years after her parents’ divorce, and while she loves having her step-father, Krishnan, around, she worries about her father, who never moved on. He’s not fun anymore, and Ella worries he might be depressed. When her friends suggest that Ella might find her dad a girlfriend, she thinks it’s the perfect plan. If he finds love again, maybe he’ll be himself again. When she poses as her father online, creating a dating profile as “SuperDad_DSC,” it’s HILARIOUS! For example, only half an hour after Ella posts the profile of her “middle-aged bald dad, seventeen people have already liked him! Soon, she’s texting his potential dates to find the perfect match. This is such a funny coming-of-age story about a thoughtful girl and her blended family. 

Speed of Life, by Carol Weston  
I love how this novel opens on the first page: “Warning: This is kind of a sad story. At least at first. So if you don’t like sad stories, maybe you shouldn’t read this. I mean, I’d understand if you put it down and watched cat videos instead.” Fourteen-year-old Sofia Wolfe’s mother died of a sudden aneurysm eight month ago, and Sofia is struggling to move on. That’s why she decides to write Dear Kate, an advice columnist for Fifteen Magazine, and soon they two are corresponding. In the meantime, her dad is dating again, and Sofia discovers the shocking truth about who this mystery woman really is: Kate Baird of “Dear Kate”! After Sofia, who’s half-Spanish, and her father move in with Kate and her teenage daughter Sofia has to decide if she’s going to leave her private school for public school in this blended family story about grieving and starting over. This is a heartfelt, real story about what happens when you keep decide to keep climbing to see the amazing view. 

Orbiting Jupiter, by Gary D. Schmidt
This is the first time I’d ever read a middle grade novel from the POV of a single teen father, and I couldn’t put this book down. Two-time Newbery Honor winner Schmidt tells the story of thirteen-year-old Joseph, who has been placed with the Hurds, a foster family. It’s narrated by Jack, another foster child who lives on this farm in rural Maine.  Joseph has been through so much trauma, including being abused by his father and falling in love with a girl who got pregnant at age thirteen. Now he wants to do is find his baby, Jupiter, who’s in foster care, too. This is such a powerful story about healing, finding love again, and accepting second chances.   

Kristy’s Big Day (The Baby-sitters Club Graphic Novel #6): A Graphix Book, by Ann M. Martin, Gale Galligan
For younger kids who are on the edge of middle grade, these graphic novel adaptations of Ann M. Martin’s classic Baby-Sitters Club series are amazing. And this particular title centers on the BSC founder Kristy’s latest challenge. This wedding is the biggest job the BSC has ever had, and they’ve got to come together on top of changing diapers, resolving arguments, and planning activities. (Note: my younger daughter and I really miss Raina Telgemeier’s illustrations. She’d adapted the first four novels in this Baby-Sitters Club series.)