So many good books in middle grade fantasy last year:
Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston
Wilderlore: The Weeping Tide by Amanda Foody
Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega
Lightall: Shadow of the Bird, written and illustrated by Tim Probert
and on, and on, and on...
But my favorite--by a wide margin--was The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton.
Besides being a great story (and it IS a great story), I was overwhelmed by the sense of SO MUCH LOVE poured into this story by the author.
The worldbuilding was vibrant, lush, and thoughtful. Only someone in love with their story can set a scene and tone as well as it was here. I wanted to be there, catching candy in the air with Ella. I wanted to be a conjuror and shake her aunt's hand as the feistiest teacher-heroine, ever. I wanted Ella to be victorious. I cared about her. I wanted to know my own Marvel!
I loved her beautifully storied B-characters, Brigit and Jason. I mean, gracious, the setting was basically a B-character. The villain (not going to do any spoilers here), was relatable and properly villainous.
And the character arc was just...lovely.
Really, I can't say enough good things about this book.
Check out this book from your nearest library or get it here on Amazon (note: I do not receive any profit from sharing this link)
At some point I'll come up with a system to rate the books I recommend, but I dont have one, yet. Just know that I'll recommend this one all day long.
Leave your fave middle grade book title of 2022 in the comments below!