Adventures Await Between Childhood and Adolescence
The Gertrude Warner Awards Celebrate Middle Grade Excellence
The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Gertrude Warner closes on September 30, 2025!
Middle grade readers occupy a unique space in the literary world where they are no longer content with picture books, but not quite ready for the intense emotional landscapes of young adult fiction. Typically ages 8-12, these readers are navigating friendships, family dynamics, school challenges, and the growing awareness that the world is both more complex and more wonderful than they previously understood. The Gertrude Warner Awards celebrate the authors who craft stories for this special audience with the perfect blend of adventure, authenticity, and age-appropriate depth.
Named for the creator of the beloved Boxcar Children series, these awards honor books that capture the curiosity, resilience, and growing independence that define the middle grade experience. The best middle grade fiction respects young readers’ intelligence while acknowledging their developmental needs, creating stories that entertain, educate, and empower without overwhelming or talking down to their audience.
The Art of Speaking to Growing Minds
Writing exceptional middle grade fiction requires a delicate balance that addresses real-world challenges that resonate with young readers while maintaining the hope and possibility that characterize the best children’s literature. Middle Grade Readers are sophisticated enough to handle complex emotions and situations, but they still need stories that ultimately affirm their ability to navigate challenges and find their place in the world.
The most successful middle grade books feature protagonists who face genuine problems such as friendship conflicts, family struggles, identity questions, or external adventures, all while demonstrating the problem-solving skills, courage, and resilience that young readers can admire and emulate. These stories often explore themes of belonging, self-discovery, friendship loyalty, and family relationships in ways that feel authentic to the middle grade experience.
Whether set in contemporary schools, fantastical realms, historical periods, or mystery-filled neighborhoods, the best middle grade fiction helps young readers see themselves as capable protagonists in their own life stories while providing the escapism and entertainment that makes reading a joy rather than a chore.
Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!
We’re thrilled to honor Norah Lally, whose emotionally rich novel Back to Bainbridge claimed the 2024 Gertrude Warner Grand Prize with a story that Publishers Weekly’s BookLife called “a moving, empathetic must-read about growing up and discovering what matters.” The novel follows fourteen-year-old Vicki as she navigates life in a cramped apartment shared with siblings, worries about her struggling mother, and dreams about an absent father while searching for her place in the world.
What makes Back to Bainbridge exemplary middle grade fiction is its authentic portrayal of real challenges many young readers face – housing insecurity, family stress, and the universal desire to belong – while maintaining hope and discovering that sometimes the treasures we seek are already within reach. When Vicki meets Rosa from Apartment 1A and discovers the building’s basement full of forgotten stories and secrets, the novel beautifully demonstrates how friendship and imagination can transform difficult circumstances into opportunities for growth and connection. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Back to Bainbridge will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Norah Lally will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and Back to Bainbridge will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.
Categories That Capture Every Middle Grade Adventure
The Gertrude Warner Awards welcome middle grade fiction across every genre and format:
- Contemporary Middle Grade – Stories set in today’s world that explore the real challenges and joys of growing up
- Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Paranormal Middle Grade – Imaginative tales that transport readers to other worlds while exploring universal themes
- Mystery Middle Grade – Puzzle-solving adventures that engage young readers’ problem-solving skills and curiosity
- Historical Middle Grade – Stories from the past that help young readers understand different times and cultures
- Adventure Middle Grade – Action-packed tales that showcase courage, friendship, and personal growth
- Graphic Novels for Middle Grade – Visual storytelling that combines compelling narratives with engaging artwork
- First-Third Grade Readers (10,000-20,000 words) – Longer works for beginning independent readers making the transition to chapter books
Each category serves the diverse interests and reading levels within the middle grade spectrum, ensuring that every young reader can find stories that speak to their experiences and interests.
Complete Youth Literature Recognition
The Gertrude Warner Awards bridge the gap in Chanticleer’s comprehensive youth literature celebration:
Little Peeps Awards – Picture books and early readers that introduce children to the joy of reading
Dante Rossetti Awards – Young adult fiction for teen readers navigating the transition to adulthood
Together, these three divisions ensure that exceptional youth literature receives recognition at every developmental stage, supporting readers from their first picture books through their teenage years.
Looking at Middle Grade Excellence
Check out some of these outstanding middle grade books we’ve celebrated recently!
The Ghost in the Garden
By Alisse Lee Goldenberg
In Alisse Goldberg’s engaging young adult mystery, The Ghost in the Garden, a curious 11-year-old must face the challenges of moving to a new city, losing old friends, making new ones, and encountering historic specters in her new home.
Sophie Madison seems none too happy about her recent move from the bustling city of Calgary, Ablerta to the smaller, quieter landscape of Stratford, Ontario. But upon arrival with her parents, she begins noticing the charm of the place, appearing like a step back in time. Their new house in particular catches her interest, with its tall turret topped by stained glass window panes where Sophie’s bedroom will be. In addition, the wild beauty of the backyard garden draws her in.
Soon, a mysterious blonde-headed girl named Tabitha appears in the garden.
Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers
By Jonathan Uffelman
An Ozma First Place Winner!
Three leprechauns, Molly, Shaun, and Dorker, have their lives turned upside down when a sinister figure returns to their peaceful village with greed and revenge on his mind. In Jonathan Uffelman’s middle-grade fantasy, Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers, they embark on a treacherous journey to recover their lost home.
Shaun McClanahan struggles to support his daughter Molly as she fails a crucial test for young Lore Gatherers—a subculture of Leprechauns who respect the power of stories. Though he’s weighed down by his responsibilities as the protector of his village’s communal gold stash, Shaun tries to overcome his worrying nature by trusting Molly to check on the gold by herself, hopeful that she can prove her worth to the village.
But when Molly follows her father’s magical instructions to the letter, she discovers with horror that the treasure is missing, save one ancient Roman coin.
The theft means exile for both Molly and Shaun, as gold is the catalyst for Leprechaun magic. A dangerous and unwelcoming world awaits them beyond the village’s protection.
The Greatest Matchmaker in Space: Eudora Space Kid Book 4
By David Horn
David Horn’s Eudora Space Kid series continues with another fabulous middle-grade Sci-fi novel, The Greatest Matchmaker in Space.
Horn takes us back to the decks of the Athena, an AstroLiner and the flagship for the Astrofleet of the planetary Republic. The intrepid Eudora is ready to fly into another adventure, this time as a matchmaker for Captain Jax.
Eudora loves math and science, and even though she’s only in third grade, she dreams of becoming a chief engineer on an AstroLiner. But, she would settle for Captain if that’s what they offered her. When she visits Cafeteria 1 for dessert, she finds Captain Jax, who, per usual, yells, “Get off my bridge.” He’s used to kicking Eudora off the bridge while he’s working, but he must be deeply distracted to confuse it with the cafeteria.
She notices his sad eyes and dejected manner and asks what’s wrong. To her surprise, he invites her to sit with him, and she excitedly realizes the Captain of the Athena is going to confide in her.
Mystery Force: Volume One
By Ted Neill; Illustrated by Suzi Spooner
2022 Gertrude Warner Grand Prize Winner!
Set in a world where magical talking creatures are a normal part of society, the Mystery Force series by Ted Neill is a must-read for any animal-loving kid.
Book One, Mystery Force, Assemble!, begins with warehouses of previously unheard-of magical creatures being discovered and freed. Out of fear, these new creatures continue to hide, and a group of curious kids – Rasheed, Jonathan, and Jojo – decide to get to the bottom of the mystery!
In book two, The Case of the Stolen Horn, Rasheed, Jonathan, and Jojo are on the case after their unicorn drama teacher, Mr. Twinkles, is attacked, with their pegasus geometry teacher Ms. Weymont being arrested for the crime. The Mystery Force kids are determined to clear Ms. Weymont’s name by finding the real culprit.
Book three, Blazing Blizzards, confronts the Mystery Force gang with an unusual May blizzard. They waste no time in investigating the cause, trying to save their town and a newly discovered magical creature from the forces behind the terrible weather.
These works demonstrate how the best middle grade fiction combines age-appropriate storytelling with genuine respect for young readers’ intelligence and emotional capacity.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional middle grade books we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
The Gertrude Warner Awards recognize the special skill required to write for middle grade readers, the ability to create stories that acknowledge young people’s growing sophistication while providing the adventure and engagement that make reading a treasured activity. Whether you’re exploring contemporary challenges, historical adventures, or fantastical quests, these awards celebrate books that respect and nurture growing minds.
Your Middle Grade Adventure Awaits
Middle grade readers are some of the most enthusiastic and loyal book lovers, and, when they discover a story that speaks to them, they become passionate advocates, sharing their favorites with friends and rereading beloved books until the covers fall off. Your middle grade novel could be the book that transforms a reluctant reader into a book lover or provides comfort and understanding to a young person navigating their own challenges.
Help us celebrate the bridge between childhood and adolescence—the deadline is September 30, 2025!
The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Middle Grade Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Rae Knightly’s book, EXOSTAR will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Gertrude Warner contest page year ’round!
