Know a kid looking for that Middle Grade winner?

Everyone likes a good book, and kids are no different.

The Gertrude Warner Awards celebrate Middle Grade Fiction, which means books aimed for kids of ages 8-13. This isn’t our only Division aimed for younger readers! For Young Adult (14-18), see Dante Rossetti, and for Children’s see Little Peeps.

Lets take a look at and celebrate the Past Grand Prize Winners of the Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle Grade Fiction!

EXOSTAR
By Rae Knightly

A piece-of-scrap. That’s how the townsfolk on Trinket’s planet label her. The twelve-year-old is determined to prove that she’s more than just a discarded android, but her prosthetic leg and blue veins in her hands make her wonder about her true identity. Trinket knows that she must get off-world before the cruel and powerful Remnants send her to the scrap yard, but things take a turn for the worse when the Remnant Supreme Leader discovers her existence.

Trinket could be the key to a lost spaceship that is rumored to hold the greatest hoard of gems in the galaxy, and the Supreme Leader wants it. As the alien civilizations of the Magnus Star Cluster wake up to the possibility that the legendary treasure exists, a frantic hunt for the lost spaceship – and its key – pits Trinket against an enemy that will stop at nothing to get what they want.

To uncover the truth about her identity, Trinket must confront the evil Supreme Leader or get to the treasure first. But what if the truth is too shocking to bear?

Award-winning author Rae Knightly presents EXOSTAR, Book 1 in The Lost Space Treasure Series, which thrusts a young girl into a universe full of alien civilizations and an epic hunt to uncover the greatest treasure of all. This witty upper middle-grade science fiction story with a cast of unforgettable characters is perfect for the space explorers of tomorrow and fans of Alita, The Prometheus Project, Hana Hsu, and Dragon Pearl. Ideal for readers aged 10+.

Find it here!

Mystery Force: Volume 1
By Ted Neill and Suzy Spooner

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.

Read More Here

Fishing For Luck
By Murray Richter

During the pre-internet era of 1980, Kevin and his friends just want to enjoy a good fishing adventure, but troubles from the past come back to complicate their carefree boyhood in Murray Richter’s novel, Fishing for Luck.

As the group prepares their fishing raft for its maiden voyage, Kevin tries to solve these problems himself before anyone else knows of them, but no matter what he tries, the situation only gets worse. His parents seem on the verge of a divorce, his mentor struggles to find his long-lost love, and his sister just wants her bike back already. As Kevin takes on more and more responsibility to avoid what seem to be inevitable consequences, will he be able to see that this is all too much for one kid to handle and ask those he trusts for help?

Fishing For Luck is a wild ride of pre-teen hijinks reminiscent of the golden age of coming-of-age comedies and sitcoms we all know and love. Our young main character gets into a situation where everything goes wrong, and scrambles to fix it before anyone notices. Kevin’s predicament becomes engrossing with an extra dose of danger.

Read More Here

Kassy O’Roarke Cub Reporter
By Kelly Oliver

In this first installment from the new Kassy O’Roarke Pet Detective Series, award-winning author Kelly Oliver delivers a fun and engaging kid-friendly literary experience. Here is a story intended for middle-graders, Cub Reporter proves a quality blend of adventure and mystery involving a smart, inquisitive 12-year old with aspirations of becoming a spy.

As a reporter for her school paper, Kassy’s hoping to nab a front-page scoop and win the honorable Thompson Award for Journalism. Unfortunately, help from her pesky, but the well-intentioned younger brother, sets in motion a roller coaster of calamities she never expected. From animal-nappings and a mixed-bag of clues to car chases and rescues from entrapment, ultimately the constant reinforcement from family, friends, and a menagerie of furry companions bring positive lessons to the forefront of this likable tale.

Amidst popular classics like Emil and the Detectives and the resurgence of the Nancy Drew mysteries, Oliver has hit the mark with this bright and entertaining series opener. Though geared toward a younger audience, readers of all ages can look forward to more investigative capers on the horizon featuring the creative escapades of Kassy and company. Highly recommended!

Read More Here

The Valley of Death – Arken Freeth series book 5
By Alex Paul

The Valley of Death, Book Five in the Arken Freeth Middle-Grade series, continues the story of a heroic young man in a land before time.

The book is the latest chapter in the swashbuckling saga of Arken Freeth, a hero who will eventually become the central figure of his era, 11,000 years before the Roman era, as powerful and wise as Alexander the Great would be to his time. The many readers of the award-winning series know his adventures as a teenager in the land of the Neanderthals, or Nanders as they are called, along with his royal friend Asher, heir to the throne of Tolaria, and the young woman Talya. They know his Nander blood brother Ord, the evil pirate Yolanta, king of the Tookans, and the vile Gart whose life he saves despite their difficulties.

These familiar figures return in the latest thrilling installment. A war between the leading factions of the time, the Amarrats, the Lanthians, and the Tolarians is on the brink. The central prize that all desire: ownership of the necklace of Tol, which possesses enormous powers such as foretelling the future to those who own it. The quest to own the necklace is such that war is being threatened by the Amarrats against the Lanthians in order to possess it. Arken, who placed the necklace in the hands of the Nanders, is now the one person who can successfully stop the bloodshed by retrieving the necklace.

Read More Here

Remember to add your next reads to your StoryGraph or Goodreads account! Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Chatelaine Winners is to submit today! 

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Here are some recent achievements from our authors:

• Journey Grand Prize Winner Mark Berridge featured on TedX Brisbane!
• USA Today Best-Selling Author Nicole Evelina Published Nellie Bly Grand Prize Winning Book 
• CIBA Overall Grand Prize Winner Rebecca Dwight Bruff’s novel Trouble the Water brought to stage

Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

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!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention all year ‘round!

The 2023 Gertrude Warner Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners’ post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Gertrude Warner Winners!

Alex Paul – The Amarrat Invasion

The Amarrat army continues its march across the northern land route to attack Lanth. But Arken Freeth has been critically wounded by his encounter with a deadly Tant and may not survive to lead the Nanders to war. Meanwhile, the Amarrat armada is crossing the Circle Sea to rendezvous with their army at the River Zash.

Zuul, the Amarrat king has equipped Yolanta, king of the Tookans, with a fleet of twenty fighting ships, and he is leading the Amarrat armada across the Circle Sea. Yet Yolanta is plagued by doubts about his loyalty to Zuul after he invaded Yolanta’s mind.

Lanth is frantically preparing to defend itself as Arken’s friend, Asher, sails to the Nander Water Cave. He is accompanied by his mother, the Queen of Tolaria, who plans to read the Necklace of Tol in hopes of divining a strategy to defeat the Amarrats.

The collision of these forces is inevitable. But who will win the battle at sea against the Amarrat Armada?

Find it on Amazon

Chris Norbury – Little Mountain, Big Trouble

Liese Sherwood-Fabre – Wilhemina Quigley: Magic School Dropout

Family wields the greatest magic.

A missing father. A mother bewitched. Wilhelmina must use her unpredictable magic to catch whoever—or whatever—is stalking her parents. Will her powers be enough to restore her family?

When Wilhelmina accidentally sets her remedial magic class on fire, she is sent to live in the ordinary world with a mother she barely knows. Her adjustment gets off to a very rocky start. She has sudden, unexplainable bursts of magic—mostly while navigating the middle-school minefield—and her mother’s behaving like she’s under some spell. Despite her handicapped magic, Wilhelmina vows to get to the bottom of it all—even if she could vanish without a trace just like her father.

“Wilhelmina Quigley: Magic School Dropout” is a fish-out-of-water story with touches of mystery, fantasy, and humor. A witty tale of enchantment.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Kevin Dunn – Vicious is My Middle Name

With a partially-shaved head, purple Doc Marten boots, and the sinking realization that no one in a fifty-mile radius has ever heard of her favorite all-female punk band Lite Brite, 13-year-old Sydney Vicious Talcott wants to be anywhere but her new home of Beaver Dam, NC, especially when mean girl Brittany Winters treats her like the punch-line to every joke. But just as life begins to seem more tolerable with her two new book-nerd friends and a growing appreciation for the beauty of the Appalachian mountains, Sydney discovers that a shady corporation is planning to build an environmentally-damaging asphalt plant right next to the school. Her attempts to work through the system to stop the plant’s construction fail, so it’s up to Sydney to fight the corporation and their political lackeys the only way she can, using the do-it-yourself tools she has learned from punk rock. But before she can triumph, Sydney, her family, and friends must endure bullying, harassment, immigration raids, and more.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Alisse Lee Goldenberg and Joseph Goldenberg – Lucky At Bat

Lucky At Bat follows the story of a young boy named Jack and his two rescue rats-Lucky and Gus-Gus. When Jack discovers that Lucky has a talent for baseball, the little rat becomes the mascot and secret batting coach for Jack’s Little League team. Unfortunately, a rival team considers Lucky’s presence “cheating,” and tensions rise, resulting in a terrible accident. Lucky and Jack wonder if maybe a ballpark is no place for a rat.

Now it’s up to Jack’s teammates and Gus-Gus to show both Lucky and Jack that they are special and important, and they should not give up on their dreams, no matter how big those dreams may be.

From Chanticleer:

Alisse Lee and Joseph Goldenberg, a mother and son team, knock their new middle-grade novel, Lucky at Bat, out of the park.

This story follows ten-year-old Jack and his pet rats. Baseball is a major theme, and with Joseph as illustrator, Lucky and Gus Gus come to life. Their mutual friendship and support raise them up against the forces that would try to bring them down.

When Gus Gus and Lucky arrive in Jack’s life, he is thrilled to have pets and wants to share his life and passions with them. One of those passions is baseball, and Lucky finds something appealing about the game. When Jack’s little league team begins playing, he invites both his pets, but only Lucky goes.

When the team meets Lucky, they make him their mascot, and turn around their losing record.

Read More Here

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Ben Gartner – One Giant Leap

I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until space junk collides with the ISS, turning their epic trip into a nightmare of survival. Alone aboard the Aether starship, the kids have to work as a team to save the adults before the ISS is destroyed. Suit up, cadet, and launch into adventure with One Giant Leap!

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Sue C Dugan – SOS

Thirteen-year-old Brandon, Amy, and their family are on a cruise to Bermuda when hurricane-force winds sink their ship. Brandon and Amy escape into a life raft. Brandon needs to use his wits to keep himself and his sister safe until they are rescued by The City of Benares—an evacuee ship with children fleeing from the Germans during WWII. They seem to have gone back in time!

Although their situation is confusing and seems like a dream, not all is terrible when Brandon meets the beautiful Eleanor, who is going to New York to escape the London bombings. They can’t comprehend why they have gone back in time. The atmosphere on the ship is fun, even though the threat of the German torpedos is real. When the ship is sunk by a torpedo, Brandon, Amy, and Eleanor escape and are rescued by the Titanic. They remember what happened with the iceberg and know they must leave and plan their escape. They leave the Titanic to be rescued by the SS Austria—a wooden ship from the 1800s—where the passengers view them suspiciously. When the Austria burns and sinks, they are adrift until they find land, spot a small plane taking off from the jungle, and know they’ve discovered a way home.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Gertrude Warner First Place Winners!

Watch for our Spotlight and Hall of Fame Articles that will feature incredible books, including Rae Knightly’s amazing EXOSTAR!.

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Gertrude Warner Awards!

Got a great Middle Grade Book?

The 2024 Gertrude Warner Book Awards are open through the end of August!