Middle grade is a term that refers to books written for readers between the ages of eight and twelve. In this column, Erica will recommend great books for children in this age group!

The Treasure of Maria Mamoun by Michelle Chalfoun
All available formats here

After a bullying incident gets physical, Maria’s mother finds a new job and whisks them away from the city to Martha’s Vineyard. Here, Maria begins to come out of her shell and feel safe again – only to realize that their time there has an imminent deadline. When she finds a treasure map, she thinks she’s found the answer to her problems – if she can figure out all the clues in time.

Everybody has been dazzled by the idea of hidden treasure at some point, and in this book, Maria gets the chance to seek hidden treasure of her own – a wild adventure over the course of a summer, as she lets down her walls, makes unexpected friends, and discovers what she’s willing to do to save her new life. It’s a fantastic summer story that will keep readers gasping and cheering for Maria as she finds out that sometimes the true treasure is the friends you make along the way.

Check out the book SLJ Reviews described as a “satisfying summer adventure” with “deft prose [that] captures the glories of the New England oceanside, and her well-portrayed characters change and grow throughout the narrative”; Kirkus Reviews called the “sort of storytelling that never gets old”, and that “the puzzles are clever and Maria’s adventures are genuinely thrilling”; and PW Reviews praised as one with a plot that built “smoothly and suspensefully as Maria puzzles over mysterious clues, and the happy, if somewhat predictable, ending is warmly satisfying.”