**I walk in towne past the shoppes and watch as two little girls sell their bracelets in front of the flower shop. I recognize one of the girls as the granddaughter of the shop owner from my previous visits to purchase a bouquet for the cottage. I stop by their little stand and pick out two bracelets and give them their payment. I wrap the bracelets around my wrist and continue my walk.**

I love the idea of entrepreneurial kids, and I have read a handful of books where this is the main topic. Over the summer, around the time I decided I wanted to read The Babysitter’s Club, I had the idea to do a post about middle grade books featuring young entrepreneurs. I had already read a few so I decided to get The Babysitter’s Club and another one to curate my list which is finally at a point where I can make a recommendation post. So let’s get into it.

• The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
  • I read this book a while ago, so I don’t remember much. It follows a brother and sister who compete to have the better lemonade stand. I remember really enjoying this one and highly recommend giving it a read.

• Swap’d by Tamara Ireland Stone
  • This is the sequel to Click’d, so you should read that first, but this one felt like the more entrepreneurial book of the two so I wanted to recommend it. The main character works on an app that allows the kids at her school to sell things to each other in an auction type market where she gets a cut of the profits. I think this was a great middle grade duology. It really shows Allie’s perseverance and passion for coding. She puts a lot of thought and work into her apps and I really liked seeing her problem solve in each book.

• Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin
  • I think this is one we all know about. Kristy, our main character, decides to start a babysitting club with some friends and the new girl at school. They meet up after school and work together to help parents in the neighborhood find a babysitter quick and easy. But some of the jobs they get aren’t as easy as they expect. I really like the entrepreneurial spirit these girls have. They work together to run their business and each take a leadership role. I liked the story and watching them overcome the struggles in their business.

• Besties: Work It Out by Kayla Miller
  • This is actually a graphic novel, and honestly a new favorite one. It follows two girls who need to make some money after a vase breaks while house sitting, so they offer up their services to the people in their neighborhood doing odd jobs. I think these two have some irresponsible moments, but in the end they really pull through. I loved seeing all of the jobs they do and their own personal reasons for trying to earn money. I really enjoyed this one and recommend picking it up.

• The Startup Squad by Brian Weisfeld and Nicole C. Kear
  • I actually found this one over the summer because I knew I wanted to do this post, but I wanted an extra book for it. This is about four girls who work together on a lemonade stand for a school project. I thought this was a great book featuring young entrepreneurs. The girls really think about why their business is and isn’t working and work together to come up with new strategies to succeed. There were moments where the characters annoyed me a bit, but I do like seeing how they are still able to work together with such different personalities. The Startup Squad is also an organization that helps young girls become entrepreneurs.

There’s something about the topic of entrepreneurs, especially in middle grade books, that is such a fun topic for me. I think I like the perseverance of the characters, learning about their motivations, and reading about the functions of their business. I highly recommend picking up one of these books. If you have any other recommendations, I’d love to hear them.

xoxo,

Just another reader