Middle Grade Books with Cats!
Middle grade books with cat characters
Who doesn’t love cats? Especially when they get to be a mischevious sidekick or even the main character in their own book! For all the cat loving kids in your life, here’s a list of middle grade books with adorable, hilarious, and downright delightful feline characters.
Ghosts of Gastown by Jessica Renwick
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Twelve-year-old Hope Graves can see the dead. But nobody believes her. Not even her best friend . . .
In my upcoming spooky horror novel, a ghost cat named Hex is one of Hope’s first haunting encounters in Gastown. Both adorable and mischevious, Hex loves to cause mayhem but also loves her ghost hunting kids. Whenever they get into trouble, Hex is never far and always willing to help.
The Last Rhee Witch by Jenna Lee-Yun
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For fans of The Last Fallen Star, Witchlings, and Ghost Squad, a heartfelt middle grade debut where Korean folklore is all too real and summer camp includes a gwishin haunting.
After discovering she’s a witch, Ronnie feels alone at summer camp. On top of everything, she has a mystery to solve involving a gwishin ghost and a Korean goblin called a dokkaebi. If she doesn’t solve it soon, her life could be a stake! Luckily, in comes Boo, a frisky black cat who might be able to guide her to the answers she desperately needs . . .
Nimbus by Jan Eldredge
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Nimbus had a rough start as a kitten. But her fortunes changed the day she met Fletcher. The boy nursed her back to health from a life-threatening injury and adopted her.
But when Fletcher’s aunt brings home a mysterious jar, an ancient nightmare demon is unwittingly unleashed. Despite battling the monster to save her friend, Fletcher’s superstitious aunt blames Nim for the attack and secretly abandons her at a dump.
There, Nim is befriended by a theater-loving rat and taken in by a kindly witch named Agatha and her motley crew of cats. Nim soon discovers that her battle with the demon left her with special powers—but more than that, she begins to suspect that she has always been destined for something extraordinary.
To return to her beloved Fletcher, Nim will need to harness her magical powers and enlist the help of her new friends. Along the way, she will discover she may be braver and luckier than she ever imagined.
Sparrow Being Sparrow by Jan Eldredge
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Sparrow Robinson loves to dance and leap around. She loves cats. She has a million questions about the world, and she’s not afraid to ask them. But she’s just moved to a new town and a new school, and her busy parents have no time for her to get “carried away.” Suddenly, she feels totally out of place.
Sparrow’s favorite thing in all this newness is her neighbor, Mrs. LaRose, who has seven cats and always has cookies and lemonade to share. But after Mrs. LaRose breaks her hip, she decides to move into assisted living—where the cats aren’t allowed! Sparrow has to help.
Determined to find new homes for the cats, Sparrow forgets about her own troubles—but her quest just might be the key to Sparrow finding a home for herself in this town, too.
Haven: A Small Cat's Big Adventure by Megan Wagner Lloyd
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A warm, cozy lap. The toasty smell of baking bread. Tasty food served in a bright-blue bowl. These make Haven’s life as an indoor pet heaven. All thanks to her beloved human and rescuer, Ma Millie. But when Ma Millie becomes too sick to care for her, the cat’s cozy life is turned upside down, and Haven decides she must seek out another human for help. Anything for Ma Millie!
Her vow pulls her out of her safe nest into the shadowy forest and down unfamiliar and dangerous roads. When her first plan fails, Haven meets a wilderness-savvy fox who volunteers as an ally, and their perilous journey together brings some victories. But Haven finds herself pitted against creatures far wilder than she ever could be, testing her strength and spirit to their limits.
Will her loyalty to Ma Millie—and her newfound confidence in herself—be enough to help Haven see the quest through to its conclusion? Can she stand up against the fierce predator that is tracking her every move?
Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson
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Thirteen-year-old Annabella Ballinkay has never been normal, even by her psychic family's standards. Every generation uses their abilities to help run the Ravenfall Inn, a sprawling, magical B&B at the crossroads of the human world and the Otherworld. But it's hard to contribute when your only power is foreseeing death.
So when fourteen-year-old Colin Pierce arrives at Ravenfall searching for his missing older brother and the supernatural creature who killed their parents, Anna jumps at the chance to help. But the mysteries tied to Colin go much deeper than either of them expects. . . .
If you love animal characters, Max the cat (who is actually a jabberwocky), will delight you! Filled with protective spirit with a side of sass, he’s the purrfect sidekick.
Catalyst by Sarah Beth Durst
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Zoe must figure out how to keep a giant kitten safe in this magical adventure about change, expectation, and accepting all for who they truly are—regardless of shape or size.
Zoe named the kitten Pipsqueak, because she was so tiny, and promised to always take care of her. Then the kitten grew. And grew. Now she’s bigger than a horse—and talking as well!
Fleeing into the woods to escape the curious eyes of the Internet, Zoe and her best friend, Harrison, must keep the giant cat hidden as they desperately search for a way to return her to normal size. If they don’t succeed, Pipsqueak may never be safe again. But why did she grow so large in the first place? And what if trying to change her back leads to even greater danger?
The Thirteenth Cat by Mary Downing Hahn
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Zoey loves spending the summer with her Aunt Alice, and her aunt's new house is the perfect place to cozy up with a good book. But she's unnerved by the overgrown forest next door, which is creepy even in the daytime and full of eerie sounds at night.
Worse, there are rumors in town of a dark force in those woods. And Zoey can't deny that the wild black cats who live there seem to be watching her.
When she encounters a mean old woman who claims to be their owner, Zoey realizes there's more to the cats than meets the eye. But little does she know that the closer she comes to discovering their secret, the more danger she's in . . .
The Haunting of Lavender Raine by Jessica Renwick
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Thirteen-year-old Lavender Raine does not believe in ghosts. Or spirits. Or specters—or whatever you want to call them.
But when her cat bolts into the woods and she chases after him, they are confronted by a chilling presence that puts her belief to the test. With her grandmother's necklace disappearing, her best friend having bully trouble, and that ghost—or whatever it is—showing up at every turn, things keep getting worse.
With help from her quirky friend, Rosie, and her sassy cat, Blot, can Lavender find the necklace and get rid of whatever is haunting her?