Welcome to the New Release Spotlight for September 2023 middle grade books! This month’s Spotlight was the first in a new format, which I think is easier to use and more useful. Let’s dig into the September 2023 middle grade books!
For the purposes of this list (and all my middle grade Spotlights), I consider “middle grade books” to be those that range from Grades 3-8. Yes, this can be a little fuzzy, but book classification isn’t an exact science, is it?
SEPTEMBER 2023 MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS
We’ve got 22 middle grade titles on the September 2023 list. There’s a nice variety of genres this month, with realistic fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction genres being the best-represented.
I also intentionally choose books that feature diverse characters and settings over those that are less diverse, so you can be assured that all my Spotlights are diverse and represent a wide variety of protagonists and countries/cultures. You can read my full list of New Release Spotlight selection criteria here.
This list of 22 middle grade books was whittled down from an original list of 70 titles.
My top picks of the 22 middle grade books that made the September 2023 Spotlight:
- Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
- Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi
- Farewell Cuba, Mi Isla by Alexandra Diaz
- Chinese Menu by Grace Lin
- Dogtown by Katherine Applegate
HOW TO USE THIS MIDDLE GRADE SPOTLIGHT IN YOUR LIBRARY
This post has four parts. I’ve linked each below for easy reference, but they are also linked in the body of this post.
- Google Slides presentation (click “use template” to make a copy)
- printable list of MG September 2023 Spotlight titles (click “use template” to make a copy)
- The Ginormous Book List
- Amazon-linked book covers – links are in Section IV below
PART I: GOOGLE SLIDES PRESENTATION OF SEPTEMBER 2023 MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS
The first part of the New Release Spotlight is the Google Slides presentation. This is downloadable, editable, and FREE!
The Google Slides presentation includes each book’s publisher’s summary, genre, setting, grade levels, themes, protagonist description, and any notes I might need to add.
This presentation is great to play on a loop in the library! Trust me, students will ask for some of the books, which to me is the #1 best way to develop a student-centered collection.
The September 2023 Middle Grade Books presentation is now complete. No new titles for September 2023 will be added.
Click here to download the presentation. Click “Use Template” in the
top-right corner to make an editable copy for your own Google Drive.
PART II – PRINTABLE LIST OF SEPTEMBER 2023 MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS
You can download a one-page printable list from this Google page. Middle grade titles are on slide 2.
The list is sorted by genre and topic and includes book title and author’s last name. The list is fully-editable, so you can add or remove whatever you need to suit the needs of your library.
PART III – THE GINORMOUS BOOK LIST
Since October 2019, I have added the New Release Spotlight books to The Ginormous Book List. This is a huge Google spreadsheet that currently has over 3600 titles for K-12.
You can search The Ginormous Book List by author, topic, genre, etc. by using Google’s search function (CTRL+F or CMD+F).
PART IV – SEPTEMBER 2023 MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS – COVERS AND AMAZON LINKS
The last part of the September 2023 middle grade book list is a sorting area by genre and topic.
The cover images below are clickable Amazon Affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, I will get a small commission from your purchase.
I include the links below so you can see the book covers without scrolling through the whole presentation and to help you locate the right books. If you just need the ISBN or general information about the book, you can get it from the Amazon link.
NARRATIVE NONFICTION
FANTASY
ADVENTURE
MYSTERY
MYTHOLOGY
GRAPHIC NOVELS
REALISTIC FICTION
HISTORICAL FICTION
SPORTS
NOVEL IN VERSE
NONFICTION
CLASSIC RETELLING
SUPERNATURAL
ANIMAL STORIES / ANIMAL FANTASY
MAGICAL REALISM
THRILLER
POETRY
MORE SEPTEMBER 2023 BOOK RELEASES
ABOUT THE SPOTLIGHT
The New Release Spotlight began in May 2016 as a way to help librarians keep up with the many new children’s and YA books that are released each week.
Each week, school librarian Leigh Collazo compiles the New Release Spotlight using a combination of Follett’s Titlewave, Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble. Recommended grade levels represent the range of grade levels recommended by professional book reviewers. See the full selection criteria here.
