Dana's Rec Room: 25 middle-reader chapter books / series

Recommended titles from children's-book expert Dana Gaskin Wenig

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate illustrated by Patricia Castelao 

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill

Each Tiny Spark, by Pablo Cartaya

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl

The BFG, by Roald Dahl

Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter

Fire and Ice, by Erin Hunter

Forest of Secrets, by Erin Hunter

Comet in Moominland, by Tove Jansson

Finn Family Moomintroll (series), by Tove Jansson

Moominland Midwinter, by Tove Jansson

The River Bank (Sequel to The Wind In the Willows with female characters!), by Kij Johnson 

Nancy Drew (series), by Carolyn Keene

Hello Universe, by Erin Entrada Kelly (Author) Isabel Roxas (Illustrator)

The Wrinkle in Time Quintet, by Madeleine L’Engle

Show Me a Sign, by Ann Clare LeZotte

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, MD

The Poet’s Dog, by Patricia MacLachlan

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy

The Borrowers (series), by Mary Norton

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien

Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling

Holes, by Louis Sachar

A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket

Other Words for Home, by Jasmine Warga