Middle Grade Must Reads – October 2026 (Part One)

Galaxy Runners: Jello Breaks the Universe

• Written and Illustrated by James Lancett

The first thing you can’t help but notice is the bright cover, everyone who sees this will have to pick it up.

If you need something delivered in space with no questions asked,

The Galaxy Runners are for you! Working against greedy Warp Co.,

siblings Kas and Fig run their plucky business with the help of Skipper, their risk-taking artificial assistant, and Mags, their Volcano hired security! They spend their time adventuring across the galaxy, escaping perilous dangers and making a quick space-buck along the way…

Then, one day, they agree to transport a mysterious cannister

across the galaxy. They soon discover it contains Jello – an adorable,

gooey, shape-shifting alien being… with unexpected, life-changing

powers. Which means greedy bad guys across the universe

are soon trying to get their hands on him! Can the Galaxy

Runners escape the clutches of Warp Co.? And where exactly will Jello

and his super-poop ends up…?

There are several things that grabbed my attention while reading this book. Firstly I loved how the book is a traditional MG novel in places and in other places I absolutely loved the graphic novel elements to the book.

I also loved how the font of the text is larger than normal.This is one of the reasons this book will appeal to those reluctant readers we all know.

A lot of the pages have illustrations so there is hardly a page completely full of text.

And the chapters are short .

All these things are perfect for those reluctant readers and those children who are developing independent reading skills.

And this book is fun to read, the story is full of adventure, mistakes, loyalty, family and friendship.

Overall a great read.

There’s adventure, found family, friendship, loyalty, fun, mistakes and rescue plans. Absolutely brilliant read and the comically adorable Jello is now a firm favourite in this household. Can’t wait to see the Galaxy Runners next adventure.

Kitty & Mary : The Forgotten Bennet Sisters

I don’t think there are many bookworms who have never read Pride and Prejudice, well I’m one, I have never read the book or watched it on the TV.

But I do know the basic storyline of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy.

 I was lucky enough to have been sent a limited edition( blue copy ) of this book. I jumped straight into it.

Elizabeth married Mr Darcy; Jane married Mr Bingley; Lydia married Mr Wickham. But what happened to the forgotten Bennet sisters?

Six months after Pride and Prejudice, Mary is stuck at home with her parents. So, when an opportunity arises that will take her to far away India, Mary jumps at the chance for independence and adventure.

Meanwhile, Kitty has been flitting between the estates of her sisters, searching for a suitable husband at every ball and dinner. When Mary sets off to India, Kitty’s disappointment at returning home is tempered by the revelation that a new tenant has come to Netherfield Park – handsome poet Mr Whittaker. He seems like the perfect husband for Kitty, but will he end up being everything she hoped?

Did I need to know what happened in Pride and Prejudice – no there were enough mentions in the book to know exactly what happened.

I decided to do a little research into these two characters before I started, and I found out that these were the lesser 2 known characters in the original book, so fans of P&P will love getting to know these 2 better and for someone like me it was interesting to see the author’s view of the era.

Told mainly through journals and diary entries this looks at a sibling relationship, where they are expected to marry well.

Normally when reading a duel POV I often find that the author has a favourite character, one that is featured more but because this is written by 2 different authors this is perfectly balanced.

• The Perfect choice for the more confident and mature chapter book readers.

Crow: Thief of Magic

• Written by Fiona Dixon
• Published by Harpercollins

MAGIC KNOWS MAGIC.

Twelve-year-old Crow is a thief.

Scraping a living on the winding streets of Starsgard, Crow works for the leader of the criminal underworld, stealing from the city’s wealthy ruling class. But when a routine job takes Crow to the home of a mysterious sorcerer, his whole life is turned upside down – and after a planned heist goes wrong, leaving Crow alone and with nowhere to turn, he finds himself a new position as the sorcerer’s apprentice.

Before long, Crow is introduced to the ancient art of dream magic – catching dream essence and using it to create dreams for the rich citizens from whom he once stole. But when Crow learns of an ancient strain of nightmare magic that threatens to unleash devastation on Starsgard, he must make a terrible choice… and decide who he can really trust.

What a truly marvellous fantasy read.

The book starts with an amazing map that adds to the image the author is able to describe and you are clearly able to picture everything. And the main character Crow is easily believable. And likeable, he’s caring and loyal and young readers will instantly want to be like him.

And this book has a new and unique magic.This is perfectly paced with action, tough decisions, and places where the author focus the reader to take  a hard look at themselves

I hope there will be more from these characters.

The Night I Borrowed Time

• Written by Iqbal Hussain
• Published by Usborne

I’m going back in time to save this family.

Eleven-year-old Zubair is the seventh son. This means a LOT of big brothers. But when Zubair’s granny arrives from Pakistan and gives him a mysterious amulet, he discovers it means something else, he has inherited a gift. The seventh sons in his family have the ability to time-travel.

With his dad a shadow of his former self since his car accident, and his mum always tired and angry, Zubair has a genius idea. He’ll use time-travel to fix things between them.

But each trip comes at a cost. If he changes something small in the past, it can have a huge effect on his future. And if he gets it wrong, the results could be devastating . . .

This is a beautiful story about love and the lack of it, and what it’s like living in a house where the parents don’t love each other.

And how the children involved will do anything to make the adults happy.

This is far from a sad story in fact there are so many funny places in this book that will make you laugh out loud. 

It’s a story of hope, and belonging and I hope to read this author again.