Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo!
If you’ve been with me for a long time, you might remember when I did an interview series on my blog with children’s book creators called Creative Spaces. (Those interviews can be found in the right sidebar of my website.) To go along with those interviews, I also ran the occasional “Book Cover Bingo!” game, which was a lot of fun.
I was thinking about those things recently, and about how much I love middle grade literature, and how we have so many fantastic books being made for kids these days. I was a children’s bookseller in 1999 (Linden Tree Books, whoop whoop!), and there were some great books being published then, but it is incredible how far we’ve come. The range of stories now being published makes it feel like there is truly something for every reader out there, and that is a wonderful thing.
I wanted to do something to shine a light on this and celebrate middle grade literature, and with summer quickly approaching I thought, “Why not make a list of middle grade titles but in the form of a game people can play?” So that’s what I have for you today: Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo!
How to play is simple: Pick the books you want to read, and read them! Score a traditional bingo by reading a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of books. Or maybe you want to go for the “four corners” or “outside edge” bingo. Or, for the very ambitious, go for a “full house” and read them all!
Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo is not just for kids; grownups can play too! Even if middle grade literature isn’t typically your thing, you might be surprised at how much you enjoy reading these stories. If you have kids in your life, this can be a great activity for bonding over books.
All titles are published in the United States, so they might not be as easy to find if you’re in another country, but everyone is welcome to participate no matter where you live.
Teachers, librarians, booksellers, book groups, kid lit enthusiasts, anyone looking for a community activity—feel free to share this activity with the readers in your life. To print out the Bingo board, you can find the PDF file under “Additional Resources” on my author website here.
If you’d like a prize when you get a bingo, email me through my website with your bingo titles and a mailing address, and I will send you an assortment of bookmarks and stickers, while supplies last.
I’ve included all the titles below and linked to them on Bookshop, where you can learn more about each one. Purchasing books through Bookshop supports independent bookstores, but of course you don’t need to buy the books to participate in Book Cover Bingo. All titles should be available at your local library, and if one isn’t, consider asking your library to add it to their collection. (Many libraries have a form for requesting new titles, and will be happy to add books they know their patrons want to read.) Another idea is to form a group that will share the books with one another.
If you’re on social media, share your Bingo progess as you go along. Let people know about the books you love! Use the hashtag #MiddleGradeSummerReadingBingo so others can find the posts. Let’s make this a summer of celebrating middle grade literature, reading, and having fun with books!
Curlfriends: New in Town by Sharee Miller
Ellen Outside the Lines by A. J. Sass
Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up by Jenn Bishop
The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas
The Girl From Earth’s End by Tara Dairman
Grounded by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow, and S. K. Ali
Half Moon Summer by Elaine Vickers
Hilo: Rise of the Cat by Judd Winick
Isabel in Bloom by Mae Respicio
The Last Apple Tree by Claudia Mills
The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie
The Mythics: Marina and the Kraken by Lauren Magaziner
Not An Easy Win by Chrystal D. Giles
Opinions and Opossums by Ann Braden
Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley
Sisterhood of Sleuths by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Summer at Squee by Andrea Wang
This is Just A Test by Madelyn Rosenberg and Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Treasure Island: Runaway Gold by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn
A Work in Progress by Jarrett Lerner
The World Famous Nine by Ben Guterson
In Case You Missed It . . .
Sisterhood of Sleuths is now available in paperback! On its launch day I was visiting family in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I took some time to travel around to a number of independent bookstores to sign their stock. A sentimental highlight was visiting Hicklebee’s with my son who let me recreate a photo I took of him when he 3 and my first novel, Book Scavenger, was published. I shared these photos on Instagram.
Recently I did a fun virtual event with Country Bookshop with 14 middle grade authors talking about our recent titles. You can view the event here!
Sisterhood of Sleuths is a nominee for the Triple Crown Awards Lamplighter Award. Woohoo!
New educator guides are now available for my picture book, A Good Deed Can Grow, and Sisterhood of Sleuths. You can find them on my author website under “Additional Resources” for each book.
Until next time,
Jenn
"You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing."
― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web
So many fantastic books here!