Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List

There are so many great middle grade books coming out this fall! And I’m only sharing a couple of them! I love exploring new authors and titles and seeing what some of my favorites authors have written next. I’ve included publication dates on titles that haven’t been published yet, so you can make a note to grab them when they’re out on bookshelves. There are a lot of great genres and formats on this list and I can’t wait to add these to my TBR list!

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Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List

Absent by Rex Ogle

With a dad in jail and a lack of teachers interested in helping him learn, Manny doesn’t see the point in anything besides skateboarding and writing lyrics. Calvin has so many responsibilities to his father and little brothers that when his bike is stolen, he can’t make it to school on time. And while Liam is studious and wants to become a doctor, he is tormented by bullies and hides out in an unused janitor’s closet instead of going to class. When the boys are thrown together in detention, they realize that they might still have a lot to learn―not just from their teachers, but from each other.

Brittle Magic by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Publication Date: October 20, 2026

Nearly every member of the Brittle family has an extraordinary talent—except Shiloh.

Her aunt makes pickles that tell your fortune. Her great-aunt brews tea that gives you good dreams. Her sister can grow pumpkins the size of a small house. And her older brother—who died before Shiloh was born—had a gift no one will talk about. Her mom says Shiloh doesn’t need a talent to be special. But Shiloh knows she’s destined for greatness. And with the Brittle family reunion coming up, she’s determined to prove it to all her relatives.

When Auntie Dee’s fortune-telling pickles reveal that Shiloh does have a talent—and that it’s somehow connected to her late brother—Shiloh feels more confused than vindicated. Why would her mom have kept this from her?

The pickles’ prophesy offers cryptic clues for finding her talent—something involving an oven? and a new friend?—and Shiloh throws herself into the search. But discovering the truth about herself means digging up secrets her mom would rather keep buried.

This year’s family reunion may well be the most dramatic one yet…

Building 903 by Lois Lowry

Publication Date: September 29, 2026

Twins Tessa and Theo live in a world ruled by a tyrannical leader, where there are no dangers or rebels… or so they’ve been told. In this world, citizens live long lives, and while many hate their leader, they are comfortable and safe. So, when Tessa’s brother disappears, nobody wants to discuss it. But then Miriam, their 135-year-old neighbor bound for the retirement community, slips Tessa a key—not only to her brother’s disappearance, but to the source of all real magic . . . books. As Tessa and her parents begin their search for Theo, Tessa learns that books not only tell us stories—they open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful tool: the imagination. Once that truth has been revealed, Tessa won’t be able to rest until she has retrieved her twin and society itself has been transformed.

The Continuation of Summer Dillon by Sarah Everett

Summer 2.0 is not here to replace Summer Dillon.

As an android, she’s a little different: a control panel instead of a brain, a mechanical heart instead of a physical one. She can’t quite replicate Summer’s airy laughter, and she can only construct her personality with 93% accuracy.

But Summer 2.0 loves being alive. She loves living with Summer’s family, trying new flavors of ice cream, and going to school—just like the real Summer would have.

Summer 2.0 knows she is not here to replace Summer Dillon. She is here to continue her. And as long as Summer 2.0 does just that—remains the perfect Summer—she’ll be able to stay.

But her efforts seem to lead her further and further away from perfection, and a new question arises: if she isn’t the real Summer, who is she meant to be?

Mischief and Monsters by Adrianna Cuevas

Jordi Acosta wants nothing more than to be invisible. He’s a six-foot-tall twelve-year-old who wishes he could blend in with the rest of his classmates and avoid trouble.

Over spring break, Jordi’s mom, a wildlife biologist, has him volunteer at the Yaupon Creek Wildlife Refuge, much to his dismay. But Mami is keeping secrets, and when Jordi has a close encounter with a surprisingly humanlike bear, she comes clean: her unofficial job at the Wildlife Refuge is to care for Cryptids, creatures like the Chupacabra that are only supposed to exist in stories.

When a greedy corporation called Harvest Sunrise Energy arrives wanting to expand their drilling operations into Yaupon Creek, cattle start getting injured and fences damaged on their neighbors’ farms. Jordi and his friends realize that the company is manipulating the townspeople to believe the creatures are responsible for the damage they’ve wrought. It’s up to them to save their town from this insidious threat―and clear their cryptid friends’ names.

An Octopus Named Houdini by Zana Fraillon, illustrated by Corinna Luyken

Publication Date: November 24, 2026

All day long we can hear
that Sea howl prowling wild
inside our brains and every part of us is straining
to feel it taste it twirl it whirl it swirl it
inside our body
again.

Houdini the octopus lives in an aquarium, but she misses her home in the wild Sea. She doesn’t like the visitors who bang on her tank. Or the way she can’t feel the sun on her skin or the wind rippling the water. It’s a dull existence for a creature with nine brains.

Then one day she meets someone who is different than the others. Juno’s busy brain buzzes with so many questions and thoughts that Houdini’s skin tingles with wonder.

But the singing of the Sea is growing stronger and harder to resist. Can Houdini make Juno understand what she needs before it’s too late?

The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie

Merrick McGee has been having a tough time. When her Grandma Ida gets sick and moves in, the family can’t afford to keep sending Merrick to her beloved private school. So, she spends most of her time in the small room at the back of the bookstore/inn her mother works at being homeschooled, bored out of her mind, and lonely for her best friends.

But when an ice storm hits their town, and fate brings her friends together to ride out the storm at the inn with her, she’s stoked to finally be able to spend time with the people she loves the most. Until… the unthinkable happens, and someone is found dead―facedown in a birthday cake sitting right at Merrick’s own desk.

With the storm picking up the police remove the body and suggest the victim died of old age. But to Merrick it seems more like a murder. Luckily, she and her friends love solving mysteries, and with the suspects all under the same roof, and her friends eager to crack the case―the Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society is born! As the club begins to investigate, more questions come to light, and Merrick soon realizes her own grandmother may be the key to solving the case…

Trunk No. 3 by Allie Millington

Publication Date: October 20, 2026

Trunk No. 3, a worn, wrinkled suitcase with a secret, was perfectly fine with staying closed forever. Until she’s stolen by a despondent boy with plans to run away. When a strange note appears in the trunk, however, an accidental correspondence begins to throw everything off course―and toward something, someone, entirely unexpected.

Eleven-year-old Earl Grey has been raised at the Repertorium―a rare library that holds once-forgotten items, each with a tangible memory tied to their very being. She longs to discover life outside of the library, and to find answers about her Before. Little does Earl Grey know that the mysterious pen pal she starts writing to will lead to a life-changing friendship and the unraveling truth of her past.

The Unusuals by Gail Carson Levine

Chera, Lummie, and Joan are unusual in medieval Winchester, England. Two girls and a boy, and two Jews and a Christian are not supposed to be friends. Most days, after their studies with Rabbi Baruch, they enjoy scaring themselves in the greatly feared nearby forest, home to ne’er-do-wells and sprites, where they make another unusual friend, a starving outlaw.

But the trio’s fun is shattered when Chera’s grandmother, a wealthy widow, and Joan’s mother, her maid, are murdered. Jurors name a suspect, who flees the city, and he may not have killed them anyway. Almost anyone could have, so just investigating isn’t enough. What’s more, the Unusuals are sure Lummie’s grandmother will be the next to die.

They concoct a perilous plan, which needs allies to succeed, but everyone else thinks their idea is dizzy—crazy. With lives in the balance, this trio of friends must band together against the odds and call on their unusual bonds to help seek justice.

Wish You Well by Jamie Sumner

Violet Marino doesn’t want sympathy. And she definitely doesn’t want friends. She just wants to play soccer and deal with the whole slowly-going-blind thing on her own terms.

Then she witnesses a boy choke on a hot dog at a hospital picnic. Enter Wyatt: dangerously charming and full of terrible ideas, especially for a kid with a newly transplanted heart. Add sharp-as-a-blade Noor, who is always armed with excellent snacks she can’t eat, thanks to chemo. Other than their illnesses, the three don’t have much in common—except for the fact that a wish-granting foundation keeps calling.

Ever the optimist, Wyatt has a plan: team up to game the foundation, even if it means faking friendship. One wish is fine, but three sick kids on three epic adventures? That’s history-making. The scheme starts off as a distraction. But soon the stakes feel real. Because when you finally let someone in, there’s more to lose.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.