Spoiler alert: younger me was a bit of a mess.

I can hear you gasping. I know. Bit of a shock, isn’t it? But Sammie, I hear you cry, you seem to be so *together* so how could you ever have been a mess?

Yeah … okay … I couldn’t get through that without laughing. Ha. I’m sure you couldn’t, either. Current me is a chaotic mess of randomness, nerves, and obsession, wrapped in a vaguely humanish container. So I’m sure it takes no stretch of the imagination at all to realize that younger me was a disaster.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is books for my younger self, and I’ve decided to spin it a little to middle grade books with messages younger me desperately needed.

Not that younger me would’ve necessarily noticed those messages, but kids have an almost magical way of internalizing things without any intention at all. If these books had been around decades ago, during my first foray into middle grade, what a difference they might have made!

Scritch Scratch

For fans of Small Spaces comes a chilling ghost story about a malevolent spirit, an unlucky girl, and a haunting mystery that will tie the two together.

Claire has absolutely no interest in the paranormal. She’s a scientist, which is why she can’t think of anything worse than having to help out her dad on one of his ghost-themed Chicago bus tours. She thinks she’s made it through when she sees a boy with a sad face and dark eyes at the back of the bus. There’s something off about his presence, especially because when she checks at the end of the tour…he’s gone.

Claire tries to brush it off, she must be imagining things, letting her dad’s ghost stories get the best of her. But then the scratching starts. Voices whisper to her in the dark. The number 396 appears everywhere she turns. And the boy with the dark eyes starts following her.

Claire is being haunted. The boy from the bus wants something…and Claire needs to find out what before it’s too late.

Lesson:

Paranormal and ghost things may seem like fun on the surface, but remember that people had to die to bring you your “hobby”.

Younger me needed this because …

I was absolutely obsessed with hauntings and paranormal things when I was a kid. I used to go on little mini “ghost hunts” and was an avid fan of the Ghost Hunters TV show. So much so that I’m not entirely sure I remembered that behind every haunting is a tragedy and horrific deaths. I loved reading Haunted America sort of books, but I wish I had read more nonfiction about the tragedies that supposedly caused these places to be haunted.

Maya and the Rising Dark

After her father goes missing, 12-year-old Maya uncovers that he is the keeper of the gateway between our world and The Dark. To find her father, she’ll need to unlock her own powers and fight a horde of creatures set on starting a war. Stranger Things meets Percy Jackson set on the south side of Chicago.

Lesson:

Friends are important, and you can count on them to have your back.

Younger me needed this because …

Well, first of all, there’s Orisha, and I wish I had discovered this pantheon when I was younger or even know that black gods existed. Because I had no idea. Nobody I knew as a child talked about Africa or anything to do with African culture. But more than just that, the friendships in this are great! As a kid, I was always afraid of being an imposition on my friends, so I tried to take up as little space as I could. I wish I had realized back then that it was okay to let them in and that my friends would’ve had my back, no matter what. I wish I’d given them the opportunity to prove that.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It’s all they’ve heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.

Hating her mother’s humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it’s the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .

Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

Lesson:

It’s okay to be 12. It’s okay to make mistakes. It doesn’t make you bad or wrong. It just means there’s room to learn and grow, and forgiving yourself for these mistakes is important.

Younger me needed this because …

I have always been a perfectionist, so any time I make a mistake, I have the tendency to beat myself up about it. That’s been true since I was a child. I would’ve loved more books at that age that made it okay to be 12, that made it okay to sometimes have an attitude, be rude, be selfish, and still forgive yourself and realize that you’re just human.

Saving Fable

Indira has been a character-in-waiting her entire life. So she can’t believe her luck when she’s finally chosen to travel to Fable and study at the renowned Protagonist Preparatory, a school known for producing the best heroes.

But Indira’s dreams of achieving hero status don’t exactly go as planned. A failed audition lands her in the school’s side-character track, and her best efforts to prove advisors–famous characters like Alice from Wonderland and Professor Darcy–wrong are constantly sabotaged. Indira is starting to feel like an evil antagonist might be to blame.

As the danger spreads, Indira discovers all of Fable is under siege. With her friends Maxi and Phoenix by her side, she pieces together clues that will reveal who is behind the dark magic threatening them all. But the more Indira uncovers, the more doubt she feels about her place in this world of stories. After all, can a side character really save the day?

Lesson:

No matter what anyone says, you can always be the hero of the story. You just have to stop letting other people define you.

Younger me needed this because …

Being a hero is hard, especially when you feel like a sidekick or a cameo in your own story. Saving Fable does such a good job of showing there are many paths to being a hero, and one can be a hero in so many different ways. Plus, not to let other people define you! You decide who you want to be, in the scheme of things, not who someone else says you are.

What We Found in the Corn Maze and How It Saved a Dragon

An ordinary day turns extraordinary when twelve-year-old Cal witnesses his neighbor summon a slew of lost coins without lifting a finger. Turns out she has a secret manual of magic spells…but they only work sometimes. And they’re the most boring spells ever:

To Change the Color of a Room
To Repair a Chimney
To Walk With Stilts
To Untangle Yarn

Useless! But when Cal, his friend Drew, and his neighbor Modesty are suddenly transported to the world the spells come from — a world that’s about to lose its last dragon — they’ll have to find a way to use the oddly specific incantations to save the day, if only they can figure out when magic works.

From the inventive mind of Henry Clark comes a hilariously wacky adventure about magic, friendship, a lookout tower come to life, a maze in the shape of a dragon, an actual dragon named Phlogiston, and lots and lots of popcorn.

Lesson:

STEM can be fun. And no matter how many times you say, “I’ll never use this after I graduate,” you still will. You just won’t always realize that’s what you’re doing.

Younger me needed this because …

I enjoyed school as a kid, but I thought a lot of it was pointless, because of course I won’t need that stuff as an adult. Ha, joke’s on me, because it turns out that I use a ridiculous amount of what I learned in school now, in small ways that would’ve never even occurred to me yet are highlighted in this book.

The Super Life of Ben Braver

Ben Braver is an ordinary kid. All he wants to do is finish his summer watching awesome TV shows and eating his favorite candy. But when some kid screams for help, Ben, like his favorite comic book heroes, tries to save the day. Let’s just say it ends badly. But it does lead him to a secret school where kids with super abilities learn to control their powers. Ben’s never had any powers—and never thought he could be special. So when he’s offered a spot at the school, Ben realizes this is his chance to become the superhero he’s always dreamed of.

Lesson:

You don’t have to have superpowers to be a hero. Sometimes, it just takes a normal person willing to do what’s right, regardless of the risk. (And also … all books should have pictures in them to help tell the story! This should be a thing!)

Younger me needed this because …

I loved superheroes as a kid. I still do. I mean, who the heck doesn’t?! I loved the idea that maybe one day I’d grow up and develop powers. I was a little partial to the whole “finding a dying alien who gives me morphing abilities in order to save the world” route that Animorphs took, but hey, I’m not that picky. Powers are powers. I think I could’ve done with a reminder that it doesn’t take superpowers or magic to be a hero. Normal, everyday people can, too, even in small ways that can mean so much.

The Time of Green Magic

When Abi’s father marries Max and Louis’s mom, their families start over together. Abi suddenly finds herself the middle child, expected to share far too much—especially with grubby little Louis. Then they move into an eerie, ivy-covered house, big enough for all of them.

But for the children, strange things start to happen in that house. Abi reads alone, and finds herself tumbling so deep into books, they almost seem real. Louis summons comfort from outdoors, and a startling guest arrives—is it a cat or something else? Max loses his best friend…and falls in love. Meanwhile, Louis’s secret visitor is becoming much too real. Now Abi, Max, and Louis must uncover the secrets of their new home—for there can be danger in even the most beautiful magic.

Lesson:

Blended families can be a great thing. You just have to give it a chance, and it’ll work out.

Younger me needed this because …

I had sooo many blended families. My mother married my father (who adopted me when they married when I was four), and he had two previous children. I was young enough at that point that they were always just my siblings and it wasn’t weird, because I didn’t remember a life before them. But then my parents separated, and my father moved in with his first wife from when they were teens (it’s … complicated) who had two children. And my mother remarried and had another child. So my family is … big. My teen years were chaotic, and I went from the youngest child to both the middle child and an older sister simultaneously, and this is SO NOT WHAT I AGREED TO, GUYS. But it’s okay. Teen me can rest assured that it worked out fine, and I’m not the closest with all my siblings, but we all love each other, and I know they’ve always got my back, regardless.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Eli has a dream. He’s going to be the next Stephen King, and he’s just created his best monster yet!

Neha has a secret. Her notebook is filled with drawings of a fantasy world called Forest Creeks, and it’s become inhabited by wonderful imaginary creatures. But her new friends are in danger . . .

Court has a gift, both for finding trouble and for stopping it. And when she accidentally ends up with one of Neha’s drawings, she quickly realizes that the monsters raiding Forest Creeks are coming from Eli’s stories.

When these three creative kids come together, they accidentally create a doorway from Forest Creeks into the real world, and now every monster that Eli ever imagined has been unleashed upon their town!

Lesson:

It’s okay to grieve. Healthy, even. You just can’t let it paralyze you. You have to keep fighting.

Younger me needed this because …

When I was eight, my 18-year-old cousin was killed by a drunk driver, which was really my first experience with death. I was woefully unprepared to handle it. Add that to the fact that no one could actually find my uncle to tell him, since he was on his way home from hunting camp, so we all spread out to try to find him and my mother and I happened to be the ones to have that honor. You think finding out your cousin’s dead is bad? Try having to tell her father and watching this giant of a man just crumple. At eight, I had no idea how to process everything that happened. I can’t even start to tell you how much I wish I’d had some great mid-grade books that had children tackling grief.

The Boy With the Butterfly Mind

Jamie Lee just wants to be normal but his ADHD isn’t making it easy. If only he could control his butterfly mind then he’d have friends, be able to keep out of trouble, live with his mum and not be sent to stay with his dad.

Elin Watts just wants to be perfect. If she could be the best student and daughter possible, then maybe her dad would leave his new family and come back to Glasgow to live with Elin and her mum, happily ever after.

When Jamie and Elin’s families blend, the polar opposites of chaotic Jamie and ordered Elin collide. As their lives spiral out of control, Jamie and Elin discover that they’re actually more alike than they’d admit. Maybe there’s no such thing as normal, or perfect. And perhaps, just like families, happy-ever-afters come in all shapes and sizes.

Lesson:

It’s okay to have ADHD. It doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Younger me needed this because …

I have ADHD? Surprise? I’m sure you’re all shocked. It didn’t feel like a huge deal in my family, because everybody in my family has ADHD. I knew first-hand that it could have been worse, because I didn’t need medication. I learned coping skills from a young age, since my mother refused to medicate me. So when I was young, it just seemed normal. Until you go out in the real world, and ADHD becomes something ugly and negative, and suddenly, you have to justify just about everything about your identity. I didn’t read a book with a character with ADHD presented as anything except an annoyance or hindrance until I was an adult, and that’s just a shame.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different from his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

Lesson:

Always ask questions. Don’t follow anything blindly.

Younger me needed this because …

It might surprise you to know that I was actually super quiet and timid and well behaved as a child. I KNOW. What are the odds? I’ve since learned the error of my ways. Unfortunately, I learned early on to keep my head down, and as one of four black kids in my majority-white school/town, I always felt like the best thing I could do was to blend in and follow what everyone else was doing. I wonder if things had changed if I’d read more books about the dangers of blindly following and not thinking for yourself and asking the important questions? Maybe, because as I got older and did start reading such books, I came out of my shell, said screw what everyone else thinks, and just did my own thing.

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