If you’ve been lucky enough to have a fantastic grandmother, you know the heart-shaped hole left in the world when she leaves it.

I recently lost my grandma. She was a feisty, five-foot-tall force of nature with a penchant for polka and an unquenchable thirst for competition. She loved a good joke and was the first to sneak you a cookie. She loved word play and Scrabble, and she read voraciously. In honor of my grandma, here are some of my favorite grandmothers and grandma-type figures in middle grade and YA:

Winterling by Sarah Prineas: Grand-Jane seems like a simple healer who wants to protect her granddaughter, but there’s magic to her abilities.

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes: Mama Ya-Ya has a quiet strength that inspires and drives her granddaughter to survive a horrifying experience.

27 Magic Words by Sharelle Byers Moranville: Grandmamma creates a warm, welcoming home in the midst of her granddaughters’ heartache.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery: Underneath Marilla’s gruff exterior lies a woman with a heart of gold.

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson: With Trotter’s big heart and compassion, everyone is family.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill: Xan’s centuries-old magic reaches into every fiber of the story.

The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone: Gram intends to go out the way she’s lived her life–with adventure.