19 Books and Series Transitioning Kids from Middle Grade to YA

Lauren Oliver is a writer powerhouse, known for her science fiction and dystopian YA books, the Delirium trilogy and Before I Fall. But these stories are often dark and deal with death, so reading The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street is a great way to ease into her works. A perfect blend of humor and thrills, this story centers on Cordelia Clay, who works with her father to save all the remarkable creatures around Boston. But when her father and all the monsters disappear, she must set off to find out what happened, befriending a few friends along the way.

Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there’s nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra. Is she ever in for a surprise. Her dad has to go and reveal that he’s the crown prince of Genovia and she’s actually a princess! The one and only Mia Thermopolis is back and ready to reign! 

Margaret Peterson Haddix has written more than forty mystery, thriller, and suspense books for tweens and teens perfect for conditioning them to read books for older audiences like Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious and Brittany Cavallaro’s Charlotte Holmes series. Greystone Secrets #1: The Strangers is the first book in a series about three siblings who must discover who they really are when three kids with their same names, ages, and birthdays go missing. What follows is an adventure full of puzzles, codes, hidden rooms, as the siblings begin to uncover a dangerous secret about themselves.

Before diving into Amie Kaufman’s bestselling teen books (such as Illuminae), start with her new middle grade fantasy series! This series is about twins Anders and Rayna, who are elementals — shapeshifters who transform to either ice wolves or a scorch dragons. But, when Anders transforms into an ice wolf, and Rayna into a scorch dragon, their family becomes divided as Rayna is taken away to be with the other cruel dragons who claim her as one of their own. To save his sister, Anders will do whatever it takes — even if it means betraying his own kind.

If you’ve outgrown fairy tales with bland happily-ever-after’s, but aren’t quite ready for the mature content in books like Marissa Meyer’s Cinder or Sarah Prineas’s Ash & Bramble, then try Soman Chainani’s bestselling School for Good and Evil series! The series follows best friends Sophie and Agatha as they work their way through the School for Good and Evil — a magical institute run by an enigmatic School Master that trains students to be characters in future storybooks. The only way to escape is through a fairy tale!

Some young adult books can be really dark. J.A.White’s The Thickety series is a perfect transition series for readers who like darker, scarier fantasy books, but may not be quite ready for the likes of Holly Black or George R.R. Martin. The series begins years after Kara’s mother was convicted of witchcraft. She and her brother are still shunned by the people of their village who live in fear of magic and the mysterious forest that covers most of their island. When an unusual bird lures Kara into this forbidden forest, she discovers a secret about magic and who she really is that sets her destiny in motion.

Laurel Snyder’s National Book Award Longlist Orphan Island is about nine orphans who live on an island by a strict set of rules. When the boat comes, the oldest on the island leaves, and a new person takes their place. Nobody knows where the boat comes from or what happens to the orphans when they leave. When it comes time for Jinny to leave, she decides to break the rules and stay, which leads to some catastrophic consequences. In the same vein as Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Jinny struggles with her personal feelings and fears and must make a difficult decision in the end.

Gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez is an inspiration to girls, athletes, and gymnasts around the world, and her autobiography, I Got This, is a great introduction to nonfiction and memoirs for young readers! In the book, Laurie’s shining personality comes through as she talks about how she realized her dream of winning gold and encourages kids to do the same.

Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s teen Dairy Queen series is very different from her book for young readers, The Book of Boy. But both do deal with topics such as identity, family, secrets, and redemption. With a large hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, Boy is often mocked by others in his town. But when a pilgrim named Secondus arrives at his village and engages Boy as his servant, Boy is pulled into an expedition across Europe to gather the seven relics of St. Peter — little does Boy know, he and Secondus are actually stealing the relics and accumulating dangerous enemies in the process. This is a great book to build your vocabulary and transition to more mature adventure stories!

Master storyteller Neil Gaiman has written books for adults, teens, and young readers. Captivating, creepy, yet funny and bittersweet, his books for young readers are not only great for kids who love scary stories, but also readers who like fantasy and thrillers. Young Neil Gaiman readers might go on to be fans of Stephen King, R.L. Stine, Holly Black, or Ransom Riggs.

Need some suggestions? Try these!

Ella Enchanted author, Gail Carson Levin’s The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre is the prequel to her other book, The Two Princesses of Bamarre and a great intro to clean-teen or light fantasy. When Peregrine discovers an unsettling secret about her heritage, she’s faced with a daunting challenge — uniting her people and freeing them from tyranny! This journey of self-discovery will prepare readers for the likes of Meg Cabot and Jenny Han!

Kevin Emerson’s Last Day on Mars series is an action-packed sci-fi space adventure with high stakes that will keep you on the edge of your seat. In the first book, the year is 2213 and the Earth is no more. With the humans left to search for a new home, Liam and Phoebe make a discovery about the nature of time and space and find out that the human race is just one of many in our universe locked in a dangerous struggle for survival. This series is also a great introduction to more advance science fiction reads like S.J Kincaid’s Diabolic series or Ashley Poston’s Heart of Iron.

Teen and young adult LGBTQ books often have mature content not appropriate for emerging readers, but it’s still important for all kids to see themselves represented in books. In Eric Bell’s Alan Cole is Not a Coward, Alan’s brother Nathan challenges him to a high-stakes round of Cole vs. Cole where each brother must complete seven nearly impossible tasks, and if Alan fails, Nathan will out him as gay to the entire school and his crush. Full of heart, this is a true coming-out story that all readers will love and a great introduction to LGBTQ literature.

Kali Wallace writes dark, magical books for teens. Her critically acclaimed novel, Shallow Graves, is filled with monsters and murder appropriate for young adults, but is not necessarily recommended for readers age 8–12. To ease into Kali’s darker novels, and others like hers, start with City of Islands, the story twelve-year-old Mara who discovers the skeletons of strange hybrid creatures on the bottom of the ocean floor. Convinced that the unusual find will afford her the opportunity to study magic — the only source of power on the island — she instead finds herself on a dangerous, chilling adventure to find where the magical bones came from.

It’s Lauren Oliver again! The Spindlers is about a girl who must brave the fantastical underworld and it’s many unusual creatures to rescuer her brother, who has been stolen by the evil, fearsome spiders. Thrilling, magical, and full of characters who must make difficult decisions, it shares many characteristics with her Delirium Trilogy for older readers, but is more accessible for kids!

Twins Tess and Theo Biedermann must solve a centuries-old mystery to save their historic home in this thrilling start to a new series from Laura Ruby, author of the National Book Award finalist, Bone Gap. Kids who love mysteries but aren’t quite ready for books Brittany Cavallaro’s A Study in Charlotte or Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious will find themselves captivated by the plot twists and turns as they try to solve the puzzle of the Old York Cipher.

Sometimes, to make fantasy books seem more epic and high-stakes, young adult and teen books can get graphic or violent. Katherine Applegate’s new fantasy series, Endling, does have violence, but in a way that appropriate for transitioning readers who are looking for more mature content. The series follows Byx, a dairne, or doglike species that has been hunted to near extinction in the war-torn kingdom of Nedarra. When her pack is hunted down and killed, she fears she may be the last of her species — the Endling. Byx sets out with the help of some unlikely friends to find a safe haven and discover if there might be more of her kind.

This is the young readers’ edition of the New York Times bestselling adult book, The Confidence Code, and focuses on empowering young girls and encouraging them to be bold, brave, and fearless. The young readers’ edition focuses on feelings, friendships, and is full of fun lists, quizzes, and challenges. The subject matter is great for helping girls become confident teens who might later go on to read other self-improvement/confidence boosting books like Andrea Gonzales’s Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done.