Katabasis
by R.F. Kuang
Middle grade · ages 9–12 · grades 4–7 · 780L · 560 pages · 2025
Why we'd hand it over
R.F. Kuang's first MG novel nails the Orpheus descent myth with a deaf protagonist whose disability is neither tragic backstory nor solved by magic—she wins because she thinks differently, and the book never patronizes that premise.