These three books are each so different from one another, and yet the resourcefulness and persistence each protagonist shows in her circumstances is noteworthy. You're going to want to put these books in front of your students. All three feature girls who face real hardship and come out changed, but not broken. That's exactly the kind of story middle schoolers need.
Why Strong Female Protagonists Matter in Middle Grades Literature
The middle grades are when students, and especially girls, start to internalize what's possible for them. A protagonist who is brave or curious in the face of impossible circumstances does something a lesson can't always do: she shows rather than tells.
These three books each feature a girl doing exactly that, in wildly different settings and circumstances. Any one of them would work beautifully as a read-aloud, a literature circle text, or a whole-class novel study.
Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly - a deaf girl and a lonely whale
Iris is a deaf girl who struggles to navigate her way in a hearing school. Kids don't know sign language, even ones like Nina who think they do, and so they mostly leave her alone. But Iris has remarkable skills. And one of them is that she can fix almost any kind of technology, especially antique radios, using the vibrations the frequencies give off.
One day, she learns about a hybrid whale, Blue-55, who struggles to navigate the ocean. He sings at vibrations higher than other whales, and so they leave him alone.
"Can you imagine that?" Mrs. Alamilla asked. "Swimming
around for all those years, unable to communicate with
anyone?"
Yes.
What follows is a secretive quest with her grandmother, who struggles with memory loss, to find a way to reach this whale. It's risky. It's tender. And you will hold your breath.
Why teachers love it: Iris is a wonderfully developed character who gives students a window into what it means to be capable and isolated, at the same time. The parallel between her and Blue-55 is the kind of literary device that middle schoolers actually notice and remember. This is also a natural fit for a cross-curricular unit connecting ELA with science or social-emotional learning.
Great for: Grades 5–8 · Themes: disability, belonging, intergenerational relationships, perseverance
I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day - identity, family secrets, Native American history
Edie knows that her mother is Native American. She also knows that her mother was adopted by a white couple. But her mom can't answer questions about her birth family, because she doesn't know.
And then Edie finds a box in the attic. Letters. Pictures. Signed by a woman named "Edith" who looks just like her, down to the gap between her two front teeth. Who is this woman? Why is she named after her? And why haven't her parents ever mentioned her?
She asks her parents questions discreetly. She doesn't want them to know she's found the box.
"Why am I Edith?" I ask. "Why not Emily, or Ella?
Where did---" I breathe in. Brace myself. "Where
did my name come from?"
For a second, it's as if my parents have turned to stone.
Christine Day has written a compelling story about this twelve-year-old piecing together an identity that was almost erased. The history she uncovers is painful, touching briefly on the forced removal of Native children from their families that continued into the mid-20th century. What Edie finds at the end of that awful history connects her to her family in ways that she never expected.
Why teachers love it: This book handles a difficult piece of American history with thoughtfulness and age-appropriateness. It works beautifully for discussions about belonging and identity, and what we owe each other as a community. Edie's friends - Amelia and Serenity - are written well, with warmth and typical conversations that your students will connect to.
Great for: Grades 5–8 · Themes: Native American history, identity, family secrets, belonging, historical fiction
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and her Monster by Jonathan Auxier - historical fiction with a touch of magic
Nan Sparrow is a chimney sweep in 19th-century London, raised by a man she calls only The Sweep, who taught her to find wonder in the world, even in the midst of poverty and hardship. When The Sweep disappears and leaves her in the care of the
greedy and aptly-named Wilkie Crudd, Nan's survival instincts kick in hard.
On one especially brutal day, she gets trapped in a chimney, and a fellow sweep meanly lights a fire below her to "nudge" her out. She should have
died. Instead, she wakes in an abandoned house. With a golem, a mysterious creature that somehow connects her to her past.
The creature, whom she names Charlie, becomes her protector
and her family. And the mystery of where he came from, and how he connects to
her past, is the engine that drives the novel toward Nan's truth: family doesn't
have to be the people who birthed you.
I was spellbound by this book. Jonathan Auxier is a
magnificent storyteller, weaving historical fiction and fantasy together in a
way that never feels gimmicky. This was my first book by him, and it won't be my
last.
Why teachers love it: Sweep is a strong choice for a
historical fiction unit, and it's also a book that opens conversations about
poverty, child labor, and what it means to protect someone vulnerable. Charlie
— the golem — is not a character students will forget. The fantasy element
makes it accessible to readers who might resist straight historical fiction.
Great for: Grades 5–8 · Themes: historical fiction,
found family, poverty, courage, fantasy elements
Using These Books in Your Classroom
All three of these novels work as:
- Whole-class read-alouds. The voices in each are
distinctive enough to read aloud beautifully, and all three have moments that
generate genuine discussion.
- Literature circle texts. They're different enough in
tone and setting that running all three simultaneously gives you rich cross-text comparison opportunities. Ask students: What
do these three protagonists have in common? What do their differences tell us?
- Independent reading recommendations. For students who
need a protagonist they can root for unconditionally, all three deliver.
Cross-curricular connections. Song for a Whale
connects to science (marine biology, sound waves, deaf culture).
I Can Make
This Promise connects to social studies (Native American history).
Sweep
connects to history (Victorian England, child labor).
More Middle Grade Books With Strong Female Protagonists
If your students love these, here are a few others that
belong in the same conversation: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, Front Desk
by Kelly Yang, and Inside Out &
Back Again by Thanhha Lai.
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