20 MG and 4 YA books I read this spring (plus 9 bonus reads)

plus a *reader poll* on how I should review books moving forward

I often like to freshen things up, and I’m currently deciding how I want to share reviews here moving forward. In the spirit of curiosity and a desire to serve the needs of my readers (you! thanks for being here!), I decided to do a quick poll to help me decide….

🤓 Should I stick with sharing all the MG and YA books I read in a month? (option 1)

🤓 Should I share thematic posts with books read in the recent past from a similar genre or that are in common in another way? (option 2)

🤓 Should I simplify and share book lists with simply star ratings (similar to this current post below but more frequently as this is 3 months’ worth of reads)? (option 3)

🤓 If you have another brilliant idea of what you’d like to see from me, please feel free to select option 4 and leave a comment.

(The poll will be live until June 17, 2025)

Anyway, all that to say, I have a lot to catch up on since I last shared the books I read after taking most of the spring off from my newsletter.

Today, I’m going to share a simple list of books read (in order read) with pub year & genre(s) (my own designation), and my star rating. Maybe I will elaborate on some of these books in the future… but in the meantime, feel free to leave a comment asking about any book listed in particular and I will reply with some thoughts or a mini-review there.

Middle Grade

Away by Megan E. Freeman (2025, part novel-in-verse/dystopian/survival) :: 5 ⭐s

Deep Water by Jamie Sumner (2024, novel-in-verse/survival) :: 4.25 ⭐s

Rewind by Lisa Graff (2023, sci-fi (time travel)/realistic fiction) :: 5 ⭐s

The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (#1) by Kate McKinnon (2024, fantasy/sci-fi/humor) :: 4.5 ⭐s

City Spies (City Spies #1) by James Ponti (2020, mystery/spy) :: 5 ⭐s (reread)

Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn (2024, mystery) :: 4⭐s

Out of My Mind (Out of My Mind #1) by Sharon M. Draper (2010, realistic fiction) :: 4.5 ⭐s

The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall (#1) by Ali Standish (2023, mystery/historical) :: 5 ⭐s

Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II (Operation Kinderspion #1) by Adam Gidwitz (2024, historical fiction/fantasy/spy) :: 5 ⭐s

A Day at the Beach by Gary D. Schmidt & Ron Koertge (2025, realistic fiction) :: 5 ⭐s

Max in the Land of Lies : A Tale of World War II (Operation Kinderspion #2) by Adam Gidwitz (2025, historical fiction/fantasy/spy) :: 5 ⭐s

Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School Series (We the Children, Fear Itself, The Whites of Their Eyes, In Harm’s Way, We Hold These Truths) (2010-2013, mystery) by Andrew Clements :: 5 ⭐s each (See my full review here!)

Treasure Island: Runaway Gold by Jewell Parker Rhodes (2023, mystery/adventure) :: 3.75 ⭐s

Inside the Park by Andrea Williams (2025, realistic/sports/survival) :: 4.25 ⭐s

A Risky Game (The Liars Society #2) by Alyson Gerber (2025, mystery) :: 4⭐s

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner (2025, novel-in-verse/contemporary/adventure) :: 4⭐s

Young Adult

A Girl Named Digit (Digit #1) by Annabel Monaghan (2012, mystery/adventure/romance) :: 5 ⭐s

Double Digit (Digit #2) by Annabel Monaghan (2014, mystery/adventure/romance) :: 4⭐s

Royal Heirs Academy by Lindsey Duga (contemporary) :: 3⭐s

The Name Drop by Susan Lee (2023, contemporary/romance) :: 4.25 ⭐s (book club read)

Rather than linking to each book separately, I put most of these onto a list on Bookshop.org for easy reference (there are a few only available in ebook that weren’t able to be added to the list).

Here are my summary graphics from The Storygraph of all the books (including grown up reads) I read in these three months. I love how the app creates these graphics for me!

Adjacent/Bonus Reads

(Books related to kidlit or that I recommend for some young readers)

Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell (2019, essay) :: 4.5 ⭐s

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1-6 ( 8 are published so far and I’m currently on vol. 7) by Beth Brower (2019-2023) historical fiction/humor) :: 4-5⭐s (these would be appropriate for a YA reader though they are not officially in that category)

The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History by Sharon McMahon (2024, nonfiction) :: 5⭐s (appropriate for a mature YA reader though not officially in that category)

Tress of the Emerald Sea (Secret Projects #1) by Brandon Sanderson (2023, fantasy) :: 4⭐s (appropriate for a YA reader though not officially in that category)

---

So there you have it! Now I can breathe a silly sigh of relief that I am all “caught up” on sharing my reads on my Substack. 😜 Currently I am deep into summer reading which will probably be a little lighter on the MG/YA reads.

But seriously, feel free to ask me about any of these and I will give you a few thoughts about them (since there are so many, that way I can focus on sharing about the ones you are curious about).

xo,

Nicole

P.S. Here’s the link again to the list on Bookshop.org.

I always use affiliate links with Bookshop.org when I link to books. If you purchase through my links you support me a tiny bit, and more importantly, you support indie bookstores. Thanks!