In Search of Role Models: 5 Middle Grade Books Featuring Strong Parental Figures

Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan
12-year-0ld Willow has always had trouble fitting in. From her obsession with nature, to her love of the medical world, to her method of comforting herself by counting by 7s, Willow stands out among her classmates. Fortunately, her adoptive parents not only accept, but celebrate her quirks. When those parents are both killed in a car accident, Willow’s world is flipped upside down. In the aftermath, Willow becomes the linchpin in a new, unorthodox family. There’s Dell, the school counselor whose methods are questionable, at best. Willow is taken in by Pattie, and her children Mai and Quang-ha, but Pattie wrestles with her own hardships, and life is certainly not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s far from traditional, but over time these characters form unexpected bonds. In the end, it’s unclear who has saved whom.

Because of Mr. Terupt, by Rob Buyea
It’s a new year at Snow Hill School, and a Jessica, Alexia, Jeffrey, Anna, Peter, Luke, and Danielle are all starting fifth grade with a new, high-energy teacher, Mr. Terupt. Like every student, each of these seven individuals brings with them hopes, challenges, and a history. School is not an easy place for any of them, but Mr. Terupt reaches each one in a way that no teacher has before.  Then an accident changes everything, and Mr. Terupt’s students discover that now they will have to be the ones to help him.

Matilda, by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake
It would be impossible to create a list of books with much-loved adult characters without including Matilda and her beloved teacher, Miss Honey. Neglected at home by her self-absorbed parents, terrorized at school by headmistress Trunchbull, Matilda has very few positive adult influences in the life. But Miss Honey, with her compassion, her encouraging words, and her optimistic attitude, is just who Matilda needs. As it turns out, Matilda is just what Miss Honey needs, too, and that means the reader gets a happily ever after ending.

The Warden’s Daughter, by Jerry Spinelli
Just shy of thirteen, Cammie O’Reilly is a prisoner. Not of Hancock County Prison, where she lives with her warden father, but of her own guilt. Just a few miles from the prison is the intersection where Cammie’s mother died saving her infant daughter, leaving Cammie to a lifetime of stories and remorse. Now Cammie has determined it’s time she has a mother. She’s even picked out the perfect candidate, but that candidate doesn’t seem to be taking the hint, at least not in Cammie’s eyes. Cammie finds herself spending more and more time in the women’s prison yard, where every woman has a story of her own, and an affection for the warden’s daughter. This coming-of-age story proves that family comes in all shapes and sizes.

Paperboy, by Vince Vawter
The main character in this book is initially introduced to the reader as Little Man. He throws a mean fast pitch, is a lover of words, and has a gentle soul. He also has a stutter, and it’s this stutter that separates Little Man from the rest of the world. Unable to pronounce his own name, Little Man keeps most of his words to himself. During the summer of 1959, he agrees to take over his best friend’s paper route for the month of July. Delivering the papers is no big deal, but when it comes time to collect money owed at the end of the week, Little Man will have to actually TALK to the customers. In doing so, he discovers secrets living behind the closed doors of his hometown. In addition to uncovering these secrets, both good and bad, he develops a relationship with another lover of words, and it’s this relationship that will save Little Man in more ways than one.