Mothers are so often missing in children’s fiction (and YA), that it’s refreshing and uplifting when a book does feature a mother character or two who are multi-dimensional, fully-realised human beings raising children to be as well-rounded and balanced as possible given what may be the difficult circumstances of the book.
Ages 10-15
Note: At middle-grade level, Madison Lane is only suitable for very advanced readers due to the complex storyline, and requirement for strong vocabulary skills and prior general knowledge.
In a family of magical treasure hunters, luckless Maddie Lane is the second-born and therefore doomed, like her mother before her, to a dull life of safe, boring jobs, expected to stay home and raise the next generation, while her elder sister inherits the magic and adventure of the family business. But Maddie’s mother is a little more interesting than she realises. Who else in her family has the skills to steal a bus (and drive it) in order to outwit the bad guys?
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Molly Weasley, mother of Harry’s best friend Ron, takes Harry under her wing and makes him very much a part of the Weasley family (as evidenced in her experience with the boggart in Grimmauld Place, which turned into dead versions of all her family members, including Harry). But Molly’s finest moment is when she adds her wand skills to the defence of Hogwarts and dispatches a certain nemesis to protect her daughter (uttering a memorable line as she does).
A single mother at 19, Min Jones takes off with her daughter and keeps moving towns, until they land in Cooinda. Min is the cool mum, with pink hair and an easy-going attitude, but she has wisdom to share when it’s needed. Eleanor feels no need to keep anything from Min – another deeply refreshing angle on teenage drama.
Elle Carter Neal is the author of the middle-grade chapter book The Convoluted Key, picture book I Own All the Blue, and teen science-fantasy novel Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin. She has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, holding childhood slumber-party audiences entranced until the early hours of the morning. Elle decided to be an author the day she discovered that real people wrote books and that writing books was a real job.