Best Middle grade books

The 144 highest-rated Middle grade books, scored from 125K reader ratings.

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Sort byDecadeMinimum ratingsAdaptation144 results

By year of first publication, 1823–2024. The busiest stretch is 2000–2019, with 58. Select a bar to narrow the list.

1
8.88.8 / 10
Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJ. K. Rowling7.1K ratingsThe final novel is a dark wartime quest that builds toward the confrontation the whole series has promised.Our view
2
8.88.8 / 10
Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireJ. K. Rowling7.5K ratingsThe fourth book is where the series grows up: the tone darkens, the stakes rise, and a tournament Harry never chose to enter gives the story a clear spine.Our view
3
8.78.7 / 10
The Last OlympianRick Riordan2K ratingsThe fifth book closes the original Percy Jackson series with a last stand for Mount Olympus, and it is a tense read.Our view

Why Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is #1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J. K. Rowling) scores 8.8/10 from 7.1K ratings — level with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at one decimal, and ahead on the exact score.

The score is a weighted average across 3 independent rating sources. A title with few ratings is pulled toward the category average, so a handful of enthusiastic reviews cannot outrank a book that thousands of readers have judged. To keep the list varied, the top 20 holds at most two books from one series and three by one author; the rest follow further down. Method →