The Middle Grade Monsters of Real Life
A guest post by Sarah Allen
Hello there! Today’s post is brought to you by the wonderful Sarah Allen, who writes the Substack newsletter,
, but probably more importantly, books!The award-winning Allen has penned What Stars Are Made of, Breathing Underwater, The Nightmare House, and the forthcoming Monster Tree (out on September 3rd). She writes about quirky, earnest, and disabled/neurodiverse characters, and often STEM too — and today I’m sharing a guest post she wrote for Can we Read?, because she’s great.
Also: educators, librarians, book clubbers, take note! Sarah is available to do a free virtual Q&A or author workshop with your class or group, which you can schedule via her website. She also has free classroom resources to accompany each of her books. See? She really is great.
The Middle Grade Monsters of Real Life
When my little brother was young, he had night terrors. I don’t know exactly what was going on in his head, but it was pretty awful watching from the outside. I remember him clutching a pillow, curled up on the couch, rocking back and forth, back and forth.
I had my own version of nighttime scares. Not night terrors, but a recurring nightmare character. A tall, thin man, all in shadow, who I always knew was on his way to get me. The rules were that if I was asleep in the dream, or if the tall man couldn’t find me, then I’d be safe. But inevitably I would hide somewhere obvious, like under the table, and I remember him bending down, turning his head, and spotting me. Or I would be faking sleep, and when I cracked my eyes open to check if he was gone, he was right there, looking at me.
And here’s the thing — my brother and I are the very lucky kids who grew up in a truly safe, wonderful, secure, and loving home environment. And that’s not always the case. What about the kids dealing with actual, awful, real-life monsters? Monsters like abuse. Family medical trauma. Loss and grief. Poverty. Mental illness.
My point is that no matter how we try to protect them, kids really do face monsters. My argument is that reading scary stories is one of the best ways we can prepare them to face those monsters.
As a part of the middle-grade horror community, I can tell you that our purpose isn’t to scare kids. (Well, only a little. Ok, sometimes a lot, but it’s not our main purpose.)
Our purpose is to show kids how brave they are. The amazing Neil Gaiman put it this way: “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
So here are a few middle-grade books that show kids how brave they are in the face of dragons.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
This book is a gut-punch; a beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated examination of a young boy dealing with his mother’s decline from cancer. The tree in his backyard comes to life at night and tells him stories that will either be his doom or his salvation
This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko
In this book, a young girl is still reeling from her own experience with cancer and now the suddenly appearing house at the end of her street. Both her experience with illness and the house keep haunting her until she faces them head on.
The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand
Olivia is a tough, snarky, and delightful character getting harder and harder inside after her mom leaves and she feels neglected and uprooted by her father. They’re now living in a dark, broken-down concert hall that’s haunted by ghosts…and Olivia’s own pain.
The Ash House by Angharad Walker
A young boy is desperately seeking relief from his undiagnosed and complex pain syndrome. The Ash House is supposed to be a healing refuge. But when The Doctor arrives, things get even stranger. This young boy who has now forgotten his own name must figure out what’s really going on and what that means for his own pain and identity.
Mine by Delilah Dawson
A lot of kids experience the unsettling experience of moving to a new place, and feeling like you can’t ever do anything right. But in this new Florida town, Lily has to face the ghosts of her past…and the ones that used to live in this house.
Liar’s Room by Dan Poblocki
Blending families is never easy, especially when your new stepbrother is a creepy liar. But as the stories get wilder and harder to ignore, the scariest idea is that maybe he’s telling the truth.
Not Quite A Ghost by Anne Ursu
A middle-grade spin on The Yellow Wallpaper, this is an incredibly beautiful and intimate book about a young girl dealing with a mysterious illness and the way the others in her life respond. Violet feels confused and alone in her new attic room…until maybe she’s not alone anymore.
And I’ve got a couple of my own to share as well!
The Nightmare House
Penny Hope’s nightmares (and anxiety) have started coming to life. Manifesting in the real world. With just some sunflower seeds and her poetry notebook, Penny has to confront the Fear Maker face to face before he takes over everyone she loves.
Monster Tree
After losing his father, Linus and his mom have moved to a new house across town. But there’s something wrong with the tree next door. As Linus’ grief and rage grow, the tree next door grows, and mysterious things keep happening around town. It’s up to Linus to deal with all the monsters before they destroy everything.
Happy reading! And don’t forget to turn out the light…
My kiddos are just getting into horror so thanks for all the recs!
These all sound amazing! There have been several cancer diagnoses in our family in the last few years and I am particularly interested in parent with cancer storylines for our cousins whose dad was found to have gliobastoma in December.