2024 is looking like a bright year for middle grade literature! I already have so many books on my TBR and have started reading a few of these already. I’m starting this database of middle grade books releasing in 2024 way earlier this time around because I’ve decided to create smaller monthly lists going forward.
So these larger lists will be more of a database where I can dump all the books I’d like to keep track of this year. I typically only include the books on my radar and within my interest sphere, because it’s impossible to add all the books on the publishing calendar.
I’ll keep adding books until the end of the preceding year (aka 2023). As always, they’re organized by month and you can navigate by searching for the month in question (ctrl/cmd + F). Happy reading!
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Middle Grade Books Releasing in 2024
Here are some of the best middle grade books releasing in 2024:
January
Chasing Stars
Published: January 1, 2024
Growing up comes with growing pains no matter what, but for twelve-year-old Libby, the changes feel like more than she can bear.
After an incident caused by his worsening dementia, Libby’s grandfather comes to live with her family, a move that ripples out into other changes. Libby’s dad quits his job to become the grandfather’s primary caretaker, while her mom picks up the financial slack by working extra shifts. Meanwhile, Libby’s older sister and ex-best friend, Erica, packs for a move to boarding school to make room in their modest family home. Libby feels like her cozy world is crashing down around her. But how can she keep up when she’s the only one standing still?
The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum
Published: January 2, 2024
Olive Cobin Zang has . . . issues. And they mostly aren’t her fault. (No, really!) Though she often slips under the radar, problems have a knack for finding her. So, imagine her doubts when she’s suddenly dropped off at the strangest boarding school ever: a former castle turned prison that’s now a “reforming arts school”!
But nothing could’ve prepared Olive for RASCH (not “rash”). There, she’s lumped with a team of other kids who never quite fit in, and discovers that the academy isn’t what it seems—and neither is she. In fact, RASCH is a cover for an elite group of misfits who fight crime . . . and Olive has arrived just in time.
Turns out that RASCH is in danger of closing, unless Olive’s class can stop the heist of the century. And as Olive falls in love with this wacky school, she realizes it’s up to her new team to save the only home that’s ever welcomed them.
Break
Published: January 2, 2024
Spring Break is full of possibilities…but not for Olive.
This year, Olive is leaving her friends and all of their exciting vacation plans behind to visit her dad at his new apartment in the city.
Goober is thrilled to spend a whole week with their father and has a long list of activities for their time together. Olive, on the other hand, still remembers the hurt of their dad moving halfway across the world. She would rather spend time with her friend Bree or scrolling through her new phone to keep up with everything she’s missing back home than catch up with him.
As the week winds on, the normally easygoing Olive finds feelings of loneliness and resentment throwing her out of whack. Is there any hope of salvaging the visit—or will Olive’s Spring Break be a Spring Bust?
The New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Kayla Miller returns with another vibrant and emotional story about the power of second chances and how the fear of missing out can lead to missing out on what’s right in front of you.
The Unbeatable Lily Hong
Published: January 2, 2024
If there’s one thing Lily Hong can’t stand, it’s being second best. That’s why she and Max Zhang have been bitter rivals ever since he swooped into town as the new kid with the cool clothes and his fancy downtown Chinese school and showed her up in the fifth-grade reading challenge.
She had wanted to be the one to win the pizza party for their class. Okay, so that was two years ago . . . her best friends Kelli and Lauren didn’t totally get it, but they were on her side. And that’s why they agreed to help Lily with her submission for the Clarktown’s Got Talent video competition. Filmmaking is Lily’s passion—which means winning is more important to her than ever.
Unfortunately, finding time to work on her video submission is proving harder than ever. In addition to doing regular homework and attending the Chinese school her parents own and run out of the Clarktown Community Center, Lily’s been getting weird vibes from her parents lately and she can tell something is up. Then her mom announces that the Clarktown Community Center is having its first showcase, and the students of Hong Chinese Academy will be performing as a group—traditional Chinese dance!
Lily is more confused than anything else—the community center is practically falling apart and they think this is a good time to put on a show? Could it be that the community center is in trouble and the only way to save it is to make the showcase a huge success? Lily has no choice. She’ll have to juggle the video competition and the art of Chinese dance simultaneously. But when Max Zhang unexpectedly shows up in her class at Chinese school with his perfect Mandarin and his surprisingly good dance skills, Lily might just have to embrace her longtime rival as a key part of her plan to save the community center.
Shark Teeth
Published: January 16, 2024
Sharkita “Kita” Hayes is always waiting.
Waiting for her mama to mess up.
Waiting for social services to be called again.
Waiting for her and her siblings to be separated.
Waiting for her worst fear to come true.
But Mama promises things are different now. She’s got a good job, she’s stopped drinking, stopped going out every night-it’s almost enough to make Kita believe her this time. But even as Kita’s life is going good, she can’t shake the feeling that everything could go up in flames at any moment. When her assistant principal and trusted dance coach starts asking questions about her home life, Kita is more determined than ever to keep up appearances and make sure her family stays together-even if it means falling apart herself.
As the threat of her family being separated again circles like a shark in the water, the pressure starts to get to Kita. But could it be that Kita’s worst fear is actually the best thing that could happen to her family . . . and to her?
Maybe It’s a Sign
Published: January 23, 2024
Seventh-grader Freya June Sun has always believed in the Chinese superstitions spoon-fed to her since birth. Ever since her dad’s death a year ago, she’s become obsessed with them, and believes that her father is sending her messages from beyond. Like how, on her way to an orchestra concert where she’s dreading her viola solo, a pair of lucky red birds appear—a sure indication that Dad wants Freya to stick with the instrument and make him proud.
Then Freya is partnered with Gus Choi, a goofy and super annoying classmate, for a home economics project. To her surprise, as they experiment with recipes and get to know each other, Freya finds that she may love baking more than music. It could be time for a big change in her life, even though her dad hasn’t sent a single sign. But with the help of her family, Gus (who might not be so annoying after all), and two maybe-magical birds, Freya learns that to be her own person, she might just have to make her own luck.
Amil and the After
Published: January 23, 2024
At the turn of the new year in 1948, Amil and his family are trying to make a home in India, now independent of British rule.
Both Muslim and Hindu, twelve-year-old Amil is not sure what home means anymore. The memory of the long and difficult journey from their hometown in what is now Pakistan lives with him. And despite having an apartment in Bombay to live in and a school to attend, life in India feels uncertain.
Nisha, his twin sister, suggests that Amil begin to tell his story through drawings meant for their mother, who died when they were just babies. Through Amil, readers witness the unwavering spirit of a young boy trying to make sense of a chaotic world, and find hope for himself and a newly reborn nation.
Between Two Brothers
Published: January 23, 2024
Isaiah “Ice” Abernathy has always worshiped his older brother, Seth. For years they’ve been not just brothers but best friends—and as Seth starts his senior year, Ice is eager to spend as much time with his brother as he can, making memories before Seth goes to college.
But when Seth announces he’s leaving much earlier than expected, and then he misses an important event—one he’d promised to attend—it causes a major fight.
Filled with regret, Ice plans to apologize to Seth later the next day, but later never comes, as he finds out Seth was in an accident—one that leaves him in the hospital. And the doctors say he may never recover.
Racked by fear and guilt, Ice chooses to step up, defy the experts, and help Seth recover in a way only he can—by trusting in their bond and the undying love between two brothers.
Alterations
Published: January 30, 2024
Kevin Lee is having a really bad week. Although he lives in a crowded Toronto apartment above the family’s alterations and dry-cleaning store, he mostly goes unnoticed. School isn’t exactly an oasis either—being one of the few Asian kids makes for some unwelcome attention. But when Kevin’s class plans a trip to Thrill Planet, a spectacular theme park, will he finally have a chance to turn his life around, or will it just be another day for Kevin Lee?
February
The Liars Society
Published: February 6, 2023
Weatherby is a fish out of water. When she lands a scholarship to the prestigious Boston School, she’s excited to be in the same world as her dad, whom she’s never met, and make real friends. But Weatherby has a secret she’ll risk everything to protect, one that could destroy her new life.
Every member of Jack’s wealthy and privileged family has made their mark at the Boston School. Everyone, that is, except for Jack, who is entirely mediocre. He’s desperate to prove his worth to his influential father. But Jack has a secret of his own . . . one with the power to ruin everything.
When the money for their school trip to a private island―exclusive to Boston students―is stolen, Jack and Weatherby are invited to play a high-stakes game and solve the mystery of the missing money. If they win, they’ll be selected to join the oldest, most powerful secret society in the world―and they’ll be Boston royalty forever. If they lose . . . well, they better not lose.
Beloved author Alyson Gerber crafts an unforgettable mystery that asks―are some secrets and lies impossible to overcome?
Lost Kites And Other Treasures
Published: February 6, 2024
Twelve-year-old Franny Petroski never lets anyone know how often she thinks of the charismatic, troubled mom who left her years ago—any more than she talks about the unaccountable things Mom did while she was still in the picture. Life with Nana is safe and secure, and Franny’s innovative art projects fill in any lonesome times.
But when Nana has an accident and Franny’s estranged uncle comes home to help out for a while, some long-guarded family secrets come to light. Franny has to use all of her courage, as well as all of her creativity, to come to terms with the discoveries she makes about her mother—and herself.
Just Keep Walking
Published: February 6, 2024
Two years after her parents’ surprising and painful split, twelve-year-old Jo and her mom find themselves on the 100-mile hike on the Superior Hiking Trail along Lake Superior’s north shore―a journey that Jo had always looked forward to hiking with her dad. It’s not a situation that either of them ever predicted they’d find themselves in, yet here they are in the wilderness with their entire lives stuffed into a pair of thirty-pound packs.
Along the trail, they’ll suffer through endless aches and pains, scorching heat, and crippling self-doubt. They’ll encounter bears, moose, and other wildlife and meet and collect an assortment of unlikely friends. Day after day, Jo will battle the incessant thoughts that come in and out of her head. But as one obstacle after the next continue to test her strength and ultimate survival, Jo will have to confront her greatest fears head on and learn how to be alone.
What begins as a journey to prove to her father that she and her mom can make it on their own turns into a quest to rediscover their strength, build resilience, and prove that they can survive―both for themselves and for each other.
The World Famous Nine
Published: February 6, 2024
Zander Olinga’s grandmother is the owner of the fabled World-Famous Nine, the spectacular nineteen-story skyscraper. The Nine, as it’s called, has everything imaginable, including a massive Ferris wheel on its rooftop, monorail tracks suspended from its ceiling, and twenty-five glass elevators. But there is something evil looming in the shadows, and strange accidents start befalling the guests. When Zander and his friend Natasha come across a series of inscriptions hidden throughout the walls of The Nine, they discover that they lead to a stolen magical object that protects the store’s very existence. With the future of The Nine on the line, the pair are determined to follow the clues and recover the mysterious object before the luxury plaza and its many guests are destroyed.
Art Club
Published: February 6, 2024
Dale Donavan has heard the same lecture over and over again: Art will get you nowhere in life. A kid with a creative streak, Dale wants nothing more than to doodle, play video games, and create comics forever—maybe even as a full-time job one day. But between his grandfather pushing him to focus on his studies and a school with zero interest in funding arts programs, Dale feels like his future has already been decided for him.
That is, until he comes up with the perfect plan: What if he starts an after-school art club, gathers a team of creative students like himself, and proves all the naysayers—his stubborn vice principal in particular—wrong?
This might just work, but if the club isn’t financially successful by the end of the semester, the school with shut them down. This may be Dale’s only chance to show the adults in his life that a career as an artist is not just a dream but a possibility!
Across So Many Seas
Published: February 6, 2024
In 1492, during the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida and her family are banished from Spain for being Jewish, and must flee the country or be killed. They journey by foot and by sea, eventually settling in Istanbul.
Over four centuries later, in 1923, shortly after the Turkish war of independence, Reina’s father disowns her for a small act of disobedience. He ships her away to live with an aunt in Cuba, to be wed in an arranged marriage when she turns fifteen.
In 1961, Reina’s daughter, Alegra, is proud to be a brigadista, teaching literacy in the countryside for Fidel Castro. But soon Castro’s crackdowns force her to flee to Miami all alone, leaving her parents behind.
Finally, in 2003, Alegra’s daughter, Paloma, is fascinated by all the journeys that had to happen before she could be born. A keeper of memories, she’s thrilled by the opportunity to learn more about her heritage on a family trip to Spain, where she makes a momentous discovery.
Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by a love of music and poetry, a desire to belong and to matter, a passion for learning, and their longing for a home where all are welcome. And each is lucky to stand on the shoulders of their courageous ancestors.
Sunny Makes Her Case
Published: February 6, 2024
Sunny is starting to understand the ins and outs of middle school… but she still feels more out than in. It’s about classes or homework, really. No, it’s the fact that most kids have a thing they do outside of class. Like football or track or cheerleading. Sunny isn’t quarterback material, and her cheer attempts are… not the best. So what can she do?
When Sunny’s friend Arun says he wants to start a debate club, she’s not really sure what he means. Isn’t debate just… arguing? Sunny’s never had a problem with arguing. Arun and the advisor show her there’s more to it than that — there’s also teamwork, and research, and being able to speak up in front of judges. Some of the debates are fun ones — which is the best candy? Is peanut butter a force for evil or a force for good? But when the debate club starts to be a success, Sunny realizes she won’t just be able to talk her way into winning… she’ll have to make her case.
Worst Friend in the World
Published: February 6, 2024
It’s the thirty-fourth day of sixth grade at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in Missouri, and eleven-year-old Lou wishes she could rewind time.
Lou wants to go back to the ninth day of sixth grade—the day before she fought with her best friend Francie and said the terrible, horrible things she can’t unsay. Or better yet, she would go back to fifth grade when Francie was still the Old Francie.
Then the new girl, Cece Clark-Duncan, passes Lou a mysterious note. It says she was kidnapped. (!) If Lou can help Cece, maybe she can prove she’s not the world’s worst friend.
But as observant Lou uncovers the complicated truth about Cece’s family, she starts to panic. Can she help Cece without hurting her? Or will Lou end up losing another friend instead?
Anchored by an outstanding voice and a page-turning mystery, this remarkable debut novel honors the powerful middle school friendships that can both break and heal a tender eleven-year-old heart. Perfect for fans of Fish in a Tree and My Jasper June.
Drawing Deena
Published: February 6, 2024
Deena’s never given a name to the familiar knot in her stomach that appears when her parents argue about money, when it’s time to go to school, or when she struggles to find the right words. She manages to make it through each day with the help of her friends and the art she loves to make.
While her parents’ money troubles cause more and more stress, Deena wonders if she can use her artistic talents to ease their burden. She creates a logo and social media account to promote her mom’s home-based business selling clothes from Pakistan to the local community. With her cousin and friends modeling the outfits and lending their social media know-how, business picks up.
But the success and attention make Deena’s cousin and best friend, Parisa, start to act funny. Suddenly Deena’s latest creative outlet becomes another thing that makes her feel nauseated and unsure of herself. After Deena reaches a breaking point, both she and her mother learn the importance of asking for help and that, with the right support, Deena can create something truly beautiful.
Mission Manhattan
Published: February 6, 2024
The City Spies head to the Big Apple when a credible threat is made to a young climate activist who is scheduled to speak in front of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. With Rio acting as alpha and a new member in their ranks, the team’s mission to protect a fellow teen takes them on an exciting adventure in, around, and even under the greatest city in the world as they follow leads to the outer boroughs, the UN Headquarters, and even the usually off-limits stacks that extend deep under the main branch of the New York Public Library.
Mid Air
Published: February 6, 2024
It’s the summer before high school and Isaiah feels lost. He thought this summer was going to be just him and his homies Drew and Darius, hangin’ out, doing wheelies, and watching martial arts movies—a lot of chillin’ before high school and the Future. But more and more, Drew will barely talk to him—barely even look at him—and though he won’t admit it, Isaiah knows it’s because of Darius, because Darius is…gone.
And Isaiah wasn’t even there when it happened, with his best friend in his final moments. But he’s going to be there now. Him and Drew both, they’re gonna spend the summer breaking every single record they can think of, for Darius, for his dream of breaking world records. But Drew’s not the same Drew, and Isaiah being Isaiah isn’t enough for Drew anymore. Not his taste in music, his love for D&D, his interest in taking photos, or his aversion to jumping off rooftops. The real Isaiah is sensitive; he’s uncool.
And one day something unspeakable happens to Isaiah that makes him think Drew’s right. If only he could be less sensitive, more tough, less weird, more cool, more contained, less him, things would be easier. But how much can Isaiah keep inside until he shatters wide open?
Dancing in the Storm
Published: February 6, 2024
Kate’s life in Baton Rouge, full of friends and family, gymnastics and Girl Scouts, is just plain great. But then, at the age of twelve, she suddenly develops a mysterious shoulder pain that won’t go away . . . and that will change her life forever. It turns out that Kate has one of the rarest genetic disorders in the world, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. FOP causes bone to form in places in the body where it shouldn’t, and there’s no cure yet. Kate will need to learn how to live with this difficult new reality, helped by those close to her and by a new pen pal named Amie, who has been living with FOP for years.
Drawing upon much of Amie Specht’s own experiences with FOP, she and esteemed novelist Shannon Hitchcock have created a poignant, eye-opening, and uplifting story of finding courage and joy in the face of adversity.
Hummingbird Season
Published: February 13, 2024
Archie’s life–and the whole world–is turned upside down by Covid-19. Suddenly there are no more Friday night dinners out, no more going to school, no more hanging out with friends . . . no leaving the house at all.
Even though he’s inside with his family all day every day, Archie can’t help but feel more alone than ever before. While everyone else seems to be adapting to their new normal just fine, it’s like Archie is permanently on mute, unable to find the words to describe how he feels–and sometimes, unable to find someone who will listen. The bright spot of Archie’s days at home is watching and learning about the hummingbirds that feed outside his windows. But just when it seems like this could be what brings his family together again, California experiences its worst wildfire in history, and Archie’s favorite hummingbird disappears. In a time when hope is hard to hold on to, Archie must find his voice and find hope once again.
The Princess Protection Program
Published: February 13, 2024
Every fairy tale ends with its characters living happily ever after, right? A valiant prince quests long and hard to reach the castle where the sleeping princess lies. And with a kiss, he will awaken her.
But what if the princess does NOT think a kiss from a stranger is a very pleasant way to wake up? Yuck!
When Rosamund flees her prince, a Door of Opportunity opens, and she steps through to the Home Educational Academy (the HEA for short). Rosamund has found the Princess Protection Program, where fugitive fairy tale princesses escape unwanted affections, untimely ends, and all the other perils of their stories.
But as Rosamund adjusts to life in the real world and makes her first real friends (Rana, who left her story after an incident with a frog; Sirena, a former mermaid; Cindy and Charlie, who didn’t want to get married after just one dance; and others), she has more and more questions. Does anyone ever graduate from the HEA? Why doesn’t anyone seem to remember former students? Is the kindly fairy headmistress all she appears to be? Is anyone? And the most important question of all: Can Rosamund change her story?
Averil Offline
Published: February 13, 2024
Twelve-year-old coder Averil can’t do anything without her parents knowing. That’s because her mom uses the Ruby Slippers surveillance app to check where she is, who she texts, and even what she eats for lunch. Averil wonders how she’s ever going to grow up if she’s not allowed to learn from mistakes. When she learns that Ruby Slippers is about to become even more invasive, she teams up with Max, a new kid at school dealing with overbearing parents of his own. Together they figure out an almost foolproof way to ditch their parents and run away to the college campus that’s home to the quirky Ruby Slippers creator. It’s an extreme challenge just getting to meet with him—but the two kids cleverly figure out a series of puzzles and get their meeting. What they find gives them pause—and gets them thinking about the value of honesty in a new light. After all, isn’t trust at the heart of their parents’ need to know?
Finding Normal
Published: February 20, 2024
After a horrible storm floods her neighborhood, twelve-year-old Temple and her family are forced to move to a new town. They are some of the lucky ones, able to secure temporary housing relatively quickly. But Temple doesn’t feel so lucky starting over at a brand-new school halfway through the year and feeling a weird spotlight on her family’s situation from her new classmates. At home, things aren’t any better as her family struggles to adjust while figuring out how they can afford to rebuild.
When Temple sees a flyer for a local fundraiser, she decides she can do the same thing for her family. It would get her one big step closer to her old school, friends, and life. After enlisting the help of some new friends, Temple kicks her plan into action, quickly realizing it needs to be much bigger to help not only her family, but the dozens of others affected by the flood.
But adding the pressures of the fundraiser to the strain of grappling with all the recent changes may be more than Temple can handle. As she searches for a return to normal, can she figure out what’s truly important?
Unstuck
Published: February 27, 2024
Lyla is thrilled when her seventh-grade English language arts class begins a daily creative writing project. For the past year, she’s been writing a brilliant fantasy novel in her head, and here’s her chance to get it on paper! The plot to Lyla’s novel is super complicated, with battle scenes and witches and a mysterious one-toed-beast, but at its core, it’s about an overlooked girl who has to rescue her beautiful, highly accomplished older sister.
But writing a fantasy novel turns out to be harder than simply imagining one, and pretty soon Lyla finds herself stuck, experiencing a panic she realizes is writer’s block. Part of the problem is that she’s trying to impress certain people—like Rania, her best friend who’s pulling away, and Ms. Bowman, the coolest teacher at school. Plus, there’s the pressure of meeting the deadline for the town writing contest. A few years ago, Lyla’s superstar teen sister Dahlia came in second, and this time, Lyla is determined to win first prize.
Finally, Lyla confides about her writing problems to Dahlia, who is dealing with her own academic stress as she applies to college. That’s when she learns Dahlia’s secret, which is causing a very different type of writer’s block. Can Lyla rescue a surprisingly vulnerable big sister, both on the page and in real life?
The Partition Project
Published: February 27, 2024
In this engaging and moving middle grade novel, author Saadia Faruqi writes about a contemporary Pakistani American girl whose passion for journalism inspires her to learn more about her grandmother’s experience of the Partition of India and Pakistan—and the bond that the two form as she helps Dadi tell her story.
When her grandmother comes off the airplane in Houston from Pakistan, Mahnoor knows that having Dadi move in is going to disrupt everything about her life. That fact is confirmed when Maha has to give up her bedroom to the grumpy old woman and is assigned to be Dadi’s unofficial babysitter.
As an aspiring journalist, Maha knows all about the importance of facts (though her best friend would say that stories are just as important). She can’t wait to start her journalism elective—until their teacher announces that their big assignment will be to film a documentary, which feels way outside of what she would call “journalism.”
While Dadi starts to settle into life in Houston and Maha scrambles for a subject for her documentary, the two of them start talking. About Dadi’s childhood in northern India—and about the Partition that forced her to leave her home and relocate to the newly created Pakistan.
As details of Dadi’s life are revealed, Dadi’s personal story feels a lot more like the breaking news that Maha loves so much. And before she knows it, she has the subject of her documentary.
March
Gut Reaction
Published: March 5, 2024
Tess Medina is still dealing with the loss of her father when she starts at a new school. One way she is still able to feel close to him is by doing what she does best: baking. He taught her everything she knows. But when tasting her creations causes a deep stabbing pain in her abdomen, she tries to power through and be strong in the same way she powers through her emotional pain. She doesn’t mind too much–she’s okay with sharing her baked goods at school in the hopes of making new friends.
Lucky for Tess, her baking skills attract the right kind of attention, and she assembles a ragtag team to help her taste her new and classic creations in preparation for the Jubilee Flour Junior Baker West Coast competition. This is a chance to redeem herself and prove that she’s a star baker. Above all, Tess is desperate to win first place and make her dad proud.
But leading up to the competition, Tess’s pain gets worse and worse, and, soon, she finds that she’s avoiding so many foods that she’s barely eating. When the physical pain becomes too great, Tess will be forced to confront everything she has been trying so desperately to hide.
From Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson and her daughter, debut author Quinn Wyatt, comes a poignant, sometimes silly, and always moving story of coming to grips with grief and finding the sweet filling inside every treat.
Kyra, Just for Today
Published: March 5, 2024
Krya has always felt like she’s a bit too much. Too tall. Too loud. Too earnest. But she’s okay with that, because she’s got her mom. Ever since Mom got sober about five years ago, she and Kyra have always been there for each other—something Kyra is thankful for every week when she attends her group meetings with other kids of alcoholics. When Mom is managing her cleaning business and Kyra is taking care of things at home, maybe, she thinks, she’s not too much. Maybe, she’s just enough.
Then seventh grade starts, and everything Kyra used to be able to count on feels unsure. Kyra’s best friend, Lu, is hanging out with eighth graders, and Mom is unusually distant. When Mom starts missing work, sleeping in, and forgetting things, Kyra doesn’t dare say “relapse.” But soon not saying that word means not saying anything at all—to Lu or to her support group. And when Kyra suspects that her worst fears might be real, she starts to question whether being just enough is not enough at all.
With sensitivity and candor, acclaimed author Sara Zarr tells a heartfelt, personal story about finding hope in even the most difficult places, and love in even the most complicated relationships.
The First State of Being
Published: March 5, 2024
It’s September 1999. For twelve-year-old Michael Rosario, life at Fox Run Apartments in Red Knot, Delaware, is as ordinary as ever—except for the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his sixteen-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby.
Ridge is carefree, confident, and bold, things Michael wishes he could be. Unlike Michael, however, Ridge isn’t where he belongs. When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveller and isn’t able to return home, Michael and Gibby are stunned. And determined to help. Meanwhile, Ridge is forced to navigate a strange new landscape of pay phones, allergies, and malls—none of which exist in his lifetime—and soon becomes like a big brother to Michael, the only child of a single mom.
When Michael unwittingly discovers a path home for Ridge, he’s faced with a difficult decision: say goodbye to his only friend and let Ridge return to the future, or keep him in 1999, where they can grow up together?
Free Period
Published: March 5, 2024
Helen and Gracie are pranking their way through middle school when a stinky stunt lands them in the front office — again. Because nothing else has curbed their chaos, the principal orders the best friends to do the unthinkable: care about something. So they join the school’s Community Action Club with plans to do as little as humanly possible.
But when Helen is caught unprepared by an early period and bleeds through her pants — they were gold lamé! — the girls take over the club’s campaign for maxi pads in bathrooms for all students who menstruate. In the name of period equity, the two friends use everything from over-the-top baked goods to glitter gluing for change. But nothing can prepare them for a clueless school board (ew), an annoying little sister (ugh), and crushes (oh my!).
As Helen and Gracie find themselves closer to change and in deeper trouble than ever before, they must decide if they care enough to keep going . . . even if it costs them their friendship.
Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd
Published: March 5, 2024
Jiyoung “Gigi” Shin loves to create, from her zany outfits to self-executed haircuts. She dreams of becoming an artist and doodles every chance she gets—at school instead of taking notes, in choir instead of singing, and at home instead of homework. Art is her way of escaping her boring life in suburban Middle of Nowhere, Texas. Unfortunately, her working class, immigrant parents want her to focus on her studies and pursue something more “practical.” Gigi only really feels like herself in art class and at lunch with her best friends, Carolina and Zeina.
When Gigi learns about an elite art camp on the east coast, she’s determined to go. But she knows her parents won’t let her, much less pay for it. After overhearing her little brother Tommy complain about how hard math is and how his teacher goes too fast for him, Gigi has a brilliant idea: forming a tutoring club with her friends to make enough money for the art camp.
With Carolina, Zeina, and Carolina’s friend, Emma, the girls go all in, each with a reason for wanting the business to succeed. But the first few sessions with their classmates are a little chaotic, and Gigi wonders if she will end up sacrificing more than she bargained for to achieve her dreams.
Louder Than Hunger
Published: March 5, 2024
Jake volunteers at a nursing home because he likes helping people. He likes skating and singing, playing Bingo and Name That Tune, and reading mysteries and comics aloud to his teachers. He also likes avoiding people his own age . . . and the cruelty of mirrors . . . and food. Jake has read about kids like him in books—the weird one, the outsider—and would do anything not to be that kid, including shrink himself down to nothing. But the less he eats, the bigger he feels. How long can Jake punish himself before he truly disappears? A fictionalized account of the author’s experiences and emotions living in residential treatment facilities as a young teen with an eating disorder, Louder than Hunger is a triumph of raw honesty. With a deeply personal afterword for context, this much-anticipated verse novel is a powerful model for muffling the destructive voices inside, managing and articulating pain, and embracing self-acceptance, support, and love.
Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice
Published: March 5, 2024
For fans of Donna Barba Higuera’s Lupe Wong Won’t Dance and Aida Salazar’s The Moon Within, comes Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice — a contemporary middle grade novel full of spunk and activist heart. Manuela “Mani” Semilla wants two things: To get her period, and to thwart her mom’s plan of taking her to Guatemala, a place that has always been more of a mystery than an answer. Mani can’t imagine leaving behind Las Nerdas, her band of misfit friends, for the summer. But after she finds letters written between her mother and her disappeared-journalist aunt, Mani’s idea of what it means to be a woman takes flight. Reading the letters reveals both the beauty of Guatemala and its history of violence against women, and slowly transforms Mani from quiet bystander into budding activist.
Summer Squee
Published: March 5, 2024
Phoenny Fang plans to have the best summer ever. She’s returning to Summertime Chinese Culture, Wellness, and Enrichment Experience (SCCWEE for short and “Squee” to campers in the know), and this year she’s a senior camper. That means she, her best friend, Lyrica Chu, and her whole bunk (known as the Squad) will have the most influence. It almost doesn’t matter that her brother is a CIT (counselor-in-training) and that her mom and auntie are the camp directors. Time spent at Squee is glorious, free, and sacred.
On the day she arrives, though, Phoenny learns that the Squad has been split up. There’s an influx of campers this year, and the new girls have been mixed with the returning campers. Phoenny is determined to be welcoming and to share all the things she loves about camp with the new campers—who doesn’t love spending hours talking about and engaging in cultural activities? But she quickly learns how out of touch she is with others’ experiences, particularly of the campers who are adoptees. The same things that make her feel connected to her culture and community make some of the other campers feel excluded.
Summer at Squee turns out to be even more transformative than Phoenny could’ve imagined, with new friendships, her first crush, an epic fashion show, and a bigger love for and understanding of her community.
Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem
Published: March 5, 2024
When cousins Riley Halfmoon and Maya Dawn move to Urbanopolis to live with their activist grandma, they get off to a rocky start. Outgoing Riley misses her Muscogee cousins but is sure that she and Maya will be instant BFFs. Meanwhile, introvert Maya misses her parents, on active duty in Japan, and just wants some space to herself. At school, Maya joins Robotics Club and Riley bonds with fellow gymnasts. Just when they start to feel at home, their school culture is threatened by an influential foe in disguise. Joining student council feels like a way to help, so both cousins toss their hats in the ring for sixth-grade class president. But when they realize what they’re up against—money, power, and lies—they quickly shift from competition to cooperation, joining forces as superheroes. Riley is savvy with people; Maya is a whiz with gadgets. In no time, this dazzling duo is off to save the day! Relatable and rich in themes of family, community, and compromise, the Blue Stars series will entertain and empower, inspiring readers to be the stars they are.
Maya Plays the Part
Published: March 5, 2024
Maya lives and breathes musicals. When her chance to finally be a part of the summer musical program at the community theater comes up, Maya is convinced she will get the lead. After all, who knows The Drowsy Chaperone better than she does? However, things don’t turn out exactly the way Maya’s planned, and the summer turns out to be jam-packed with problems: dealing with her best friend’s move, her parents’ busy jobs, and―since her autism diagnosis―the ongoing puzzle of how to be Maya in Public. But perhaps most important of all, Maya has to figure out how to play the part that truly feels like her own.
Walkin’ the Dog
Published: March 12, 2024
In a family of strong personalities with very strong points of view, Louis is what his mother lovingly calls “the inactivist,” someone who’d rather kick back than stand out. He only hopes he can stay under the radar when he starts high school in the fall, his first experience with public school after years of homeschooling.
But when a favor for a neighbor and his stinky canine companion unexpectedly turns into a bustling dog-walking business, Louis finds himself meeting an unprecedented number of new friends—both human and canine. Agatha, a quippy and cagey girl his age always seems to be telling two truths and a lie. Cyrus, a few years his senior, promises he’s going to show Louis how to be a better person, whether Louis wants him to or not. And then there are the dogs: misbehaving border terriers, the four (possible stolen) sausage dogs, the rest of Louis’s charges, and a mysterious white beast who appears at a certain spot at the edge of the woods.
Dogs and human alike all seem to have something they want to teach Louis, including his menacing older brother who keeps turning up everywhere. But is Louis ready to learn the lesson he needs most: how to stop being a lone wolf and be part of a pack?
The Circuit Graphic Novel
Published: March 12, 2024
An honest and evocative account of a family’s journey from Mexico to the fields of California—and to a life of backbreaking work and constant household moves—as seen through the eyes of a boy who longs for education and the right to call one place home.
A popular choice for community reads, as well as school curricula and curriculum adoptions, Francisco Jiménez’s award-winning memoir, now brought to life in Celia Jacob’s beautiful and resonant artwork, is a powerful story of survival, faith, and hope.
Wires Crossed
Published: March 12, 2024
Just as her longtime bff Addy is gravitating towards the popular crowd and starting to care more about school dances than treehouse playdates, Mia finds out that her favorite science camp friend, Tariq, is moving to town and will be going to school with her. She’s super excited and can’t wait to show him around and help him make friends.
But when Tariq arrives in town, he seems like he’s grown up a lot, too. No more braces or glasses. A new hair cut. And who knew he was also a soccer star, immediately making the team mid-season?? He’s welcomed to Buttonwood Bay Middle School with open arms in a way that Mia can’t even recognize, and now she’s feeling more lost than ever.
Then her science teacher announces the school’s science olympics and she and Tariq are teaming up again to crush the competition—just like at camp. Only this time they’re joined by a couple of unconventional teammates in Kinsey (more artist than scientist) and the loveable, if also sometimes kind of gross and goofy, Evan.
Do Mia and Tariq still have enough of a spark to build a killer robot (figuratively speaking, of course) and take home the prize? Through much experimentation and a little trail and error, Mia navigates new friendships and old as she tries to find her place in middle school—and on the winner’s podium.
Next Stop (A Graphic Novel)
Published: March 19, 2024
Pia is a soft-spoken middle schooler whose life is turned upside down after the loss of her younger brother, followed by her parents’ decision to move to a new town. In an effort to get her mind off of the troubles at home, Pia goes on a bus tour with a family friend, stopping at weird and wacky roadside attractions. The final destination: a mysterious underground lake. The locals say it has magical powers; Pia won’t admit she believes in it, but she’s holding on to hope that the waters may hold the answer to mending her broken family.
A Little Bit Super : With Small Powers Come Big Problems
Published: March 19, 2024
The kids in these humorous short stories each have a minor superpower they’re learning to live with. One can shape-shift—but only part of her body, and only on Mondays. Another can always tell whether an avocado is perfectly ripe. One can even hear the thoughts of the animals in the pet store! But what these stories are really about is their young protagonists “owning” a power that contributes to their individuality, that allows them to find their place in the world, that shows them a potential they might not have imagined.
Because if you really think about it, we all have something special and unique about ourselves that makes us a little bit super. We all have the power to change as an individual, to change our communities for the better, to have a voice and to speak up. These playful, thought-provoking tales from some of today’s top middle grade authors prompt readers to consider what their own superpower might be, and how they can use it.
Olivetti
Published: March 26, 2024
Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family―the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive.
Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice–his used-to-be most frequent visitor―only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him.
Their search takes them across San Francisco―chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost.
Listen to This
Published: March 26, 2024
Lily, Maddie, and Sasha have always been the perfect friendship sandwich—they tell one another everything and each one is vital to making the whole. But this year everything is changing. Everyone seems to be keeping secrets from the others. And Maddie and Sasha made the elite soccer team and Lily didn’t. Now they’re carpooling and practicing and competing all the time, and Lily’s always left behind. They even can’t go to the first big middle school dance—the one that Lily’s been excited about for weeks—because of a tournament. Will she have to go alone? Or miss it entirely? Or . . . is she forming an unexpected brand-new friendship of her own, thanks to popular girl Sienna?
Will tends to keep to himself. After all, his life is already out there for anyone to hear about, thanks to his dad’s super-popular parenting podcast, Dr. Dad. He doesn’t really want to have to talk more about that time he wet the bed when he was small, or any of the other embarrassing stories his dad likes sharing with the whole world. He’d rather focus on becoming a better climber, after school at Philly Rocks. But his path keeps crossing with Lily’s, and his nosy former best friend, Sienna, takes notice. And then Will’s dad finally crosses a line that Will’s not sure he can forgive.
Between disastrous sleepovers, vicious rumors, secret crushes, old and new friends, and parents who just don’t get it, how does anyone make it through the tumult of seventh grade? Told from dual perspectives, Listen to This captures two weeks that just might change everything for Lily and Will, with Jennifer Blecher’s signature pitch-perfect dialogue and nuanced understanding of the emotional rollercoaster that is being a tween.
April
Meet Me on Mercer Street
Published: April 2, 2024
Aspiring artist Kacie spends most of her time on Mercer Street with her best friend, Nisha, people-watching and doodling whatever is happening in their neighborhood. But when she comes back from a summer away, the local corner store is boarded up, the adults in town are all on edge, and Nisha is nowhere to be found! Everything is changing, and Kacie’s not sure what to do about it. Especially without Nisha to help her.
But Kacie has a knack for noticing things, and with her sketchbooks and observational skills, she just might have what it takes to figure out what’s really happening on Mercer Street.
Filled with both cartoons and graphic comic panels, Booki Vivat draws a hilarious-yet-deeply-perceptive portrait of a changing neighborhood, a mysterious disappearance, and the girl who’s determined to understand how she fits into the picture.
Sing It Like Celia
Published: April 2, 2024
Twelve-year-old Salva Sanchez has always been a lifelong fan of Celia Cruz, also known as “the queen of salsa.” Her love of Celia stems from her mother, who leaves Salva without explanation one awful day. Now Salva is stuck with her investigative journalist father in a trailer park. In the middle of nowhere.
As Salva acclimates to her new environment and desperately tries to figure out why her mother left, she befriends a posse of campground kids who have started a band. When the kids discover that Salva has an amazing singing voice, they convince her to join their group. Soon, Salva learns how to find her voice and herself with the help of her newfound friends, her dad, and the one and only Celia Cruz.
Timid
Published: April 2, 2024
Cecil Hall and his family have just moved from Florida to Massachusetts, near Boston. Cecil is anxious about making friends because he doesn’t know where he’ll fit in. His older sister, Leah, thinks he should befriend the other Black kids at his new school, but Cecil isn’t sure how he’d go about doing that. He wants to be known for his comics-making talent, anyway. But the few kids who are impressed by Cecil’s art aren’t always nice to him. When one of his drawings is misused and gets him into serious trouble, can Cecil stand up for himself and figure out who his real friends are?
The Other Side of Perfect
Published: April 2, 2024
Cody’s home life is a messy, too-often terrifying story of neglect and abuse. Cody himself is a smart kid, a survivor with a great sense of humor that helps him see past his circumstances and begin to try to get himself out. Autumn is a wealthy girl from an indigenous family, who has found herself in with the popular crowd even though it’s hard for her to want to keep up.
But one night, while returning home from a movie, Autumn comes across Cody, face down in the laneway behind her house. All Cody knows is that he can’t take another encounter with his father like the one he just narrowly escaped. He can’t go home. But he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. When Autumn agrees to let him hide out in her dad’s art studio, Cody’s story begins to come out, and so does hers.
Continental Drifter
Published: April 2, 2024
With a Thai mother and an American father, Kathy lives in two different worlds. She spends most of the year in Bangkok, where she’s secretly counting the days till summer vacation. That’s when her family travels for 24 hours straight to finally arrive in a tiny seaside town in Maine.
Kathy loves Maine’s idyllic beauty and all the exotic delicacies she can’t get back home, like clam chowder and blueberry pie. But no matter how hard she tries, she struggles to fit in. She doesn’t look like the other kids in this rural New England town. Kathy just wants to find a place where she truly belongs, but she’s not sure if it’s in America, Thailand…or anywhere.
The Not-So-Simple Question
Published: April 2, 2024
Holly-Mei is caught in the middle.
Holly-Mei Jones has finally settled into her new friend group in Hong Kong—that is until suddenly everyone starts talking about dating. Which Holly-Mei is not ready for.
At least she has her school’s Experience Week to look forward to. Holly-Mei can’t wait to show off Taiwan, where her beloved Ah-Ma is from, to her friends. The trip is going to be perfect…right?
Maybe not. On top of the pressure to date, Holly-Mei starts to wonder if maybe being half-Taiwanese isn’t enough. In the face of these big questions, will Holly-Mei be able to finally feel like she belongs?
Trouble at the Tangerine
Published: April 2, 2024
Simon’s family is always on the move. Every few months, they load up their van, “Vincent Van Go,” and set off for a new adventure. According to his dad, you can’t live an extraordinary life by staying in one place. But all Simon wants is to settle down, so he’s hatched a plan: to make their latest apartment in the Tangerine Pines building his forever home.
When a priceless necklace is stolen, clues indicate the thief might actually be another neighbor. Simon worries he’ll have to move again if the thief isn’t caught. He usually doesn’t go looking for trouble, but if retrieving the necklace means establishing home, Simon is willing to risk it. With the help of his neighbor Amaya, pet-sitter, plant-waterer, and podcaster extraordinaire, Simon is determined to crack the case and finally put down roots.
Operation Happy
Published: April 2, 2024
It’s 1940, and Jody is moving with her military family yet again—this time to a small naval base in Pearl Harbor. She’s always created a “top ten” list for each new home to help her adjust, and with Hawaii being so beautiful and her loyal dog Happy by her side, it’s easy to find things to add.
But Jody’s mom is convinced the island is dangerous and starts constantly practicing first aid. Jody also learns that Happy is getting older and beginning to slow down. To cope, she makes a list of fun things they can do together. “Operation: Happy” gives her something to focus on beyond the scary new experiences, like air raid drills and Yellow Fever vaccinations.
Before long, everyone’s worst fears come true: Pearl Harbor is attacked. In the aftermath, Jody’s father must stay behind as the rest of the family is evacuated, and Jody promises him she will keep everyone together. But things are hard in San Francisco, where she feels like an outsider. Worse, her mother has become depressed, and Jody worries she and her sister will have to go to an orphanage. With Happy by her side, Jody hatches a brave plan to keep the family safe … Will Operation: Happy see them through?
Ultraviolet
Published: April 2, 2024
For Elio Solis, eighth grade fizzes with change–his body teeming with hormones. His feelings that flow like lava. His relationship with Pops, who’s always telling him to man up, the Solis way. And especially Camelia, his first girlfriend.
But when betrayal and heartbreak send Elio spiraling toward revenge, he doesn’t anticipate that a fight to prove his manhood and defend Camelia’s honor will lead to dire consequences–or that Camelia’s not looking for a savior.
Crackling with comedy and unflinching candor, Ultraviolet digs deep into themes of consent, puberty, masculinity, and the emotional lives of boys, as it challenges stereotypes and offers another way to be in the world. It speaks directly to tweens’ and young teens’ lived experiences and will make them feel seen.
The Mystery of Locked Rooms
Published: April 2, 2024
Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah’s front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad…until now.
Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse.
Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they’ve attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they’re in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake.
South of Somewhere
Published: April 4, 2024
When FBI agents swarm twelve-year-old Mavis Callahan’s downtown Chicago home, her mom goes on the run. With the family’s house and bank accounts seized, Mavis’s dad takes her and her siblings to seek refuge with his sister just south of rural Somewhere, Illinois―a far cry from the big city lifestyle Mavis is used to. As Mavis grapples with her sudden turn in fortune, she learns to make new friends and starts a babysitting business to bring in some much-needed cash for the family. But she can’t help but wonder―is her mom truly guilty? And if not, why has she gone into hiding, contacting Mavis only through a series of postcards from exotic locales? Mavis isn’t sure if she’s ready for the truth, but she’ll do anything to find it.
Isabel in Bloom
Published: April 9, 2024
Twelve-year-old Isabel is the new kid in her San Francisco middle school. It’s the first time in many years that she’ll be living with her mother again. Mama’s job in the US allowed Isabel and her grandparents to live more comfortably in the Philippines, but now Isabel doesn’t really know her own mother anymore.
Making new friends in a new city, a new country, is hard, but joining the gardening and cooking club at school means Isabel will begin to find her way, and maybe she too, will begin to bloom.
In this beautifully rendered novel-in-verse, Mae Respicio explores how growth can take many forms, offering both the challenges and joy of new beginnings.
Bridge to Bat City
Published: April 9, 2024
Described as a “mostly true tall tale,” Bridge to Bat City tells the story of a recently orphaned young girl named Opal B Flats, who forms an unexpected friendship with a music-loving colony of bats and embarks on an mission to find them a new home despite powerful forces determined to stop her.
After losing her mother, thirteen-year-old outsider Opal moves in with her uncle Roscoe on the family farm. There, Opal befriends a group of orphaned bats. But just as the farm is starting to feel like home, the bats’ cave is destroyed by a big mining company with its sights set on bulldozing the farmland next. If Opal and the bats can fit in anywhere, it’s the nearby city of Austin, with its wonderfully eccentric characters and rich music scene. But with people afraid of the bats and determined to get rid of them, it’ll take a whole lot of courage to prove that this is where the bats—and Opal—belong.
Keeping Pace
Published: April 9, 2024
Grace Eller has spent most of middle school working toward one goal: beating her former friend Jonah Perkins’s GPA so she can be the best student in her class. But when Jonah beats her for eighth grade top scholar and then announces he’s switching schools for ninth grade, it feels like none of Grace’s academic accomplishments have really mattered. They weren’t enough to win—or to impress her dad. And the summer looms over her head. With nothing planned and no more goals or checklists, she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be working toward.
Eager for a chance to even the score with Jonah, she signs up for the Labor Day half-marathon that she and Jonah used to talk about running together someday. Maybe if she can beat Jonah on race day, she’ll feel OK again. But as she begins training with Jonah and checking off a new list of summer goals, she starts to expand her ideas of what—and who—really matters.
Engaging and heartfelt, Keeping Pace is about wanting to win at all costs—and having to learn how to fail.
The Kinda Sorta Normal Life of Joshua Jones
Published: April 9, 2024
In this whimsical and fast-paced middle grade graphic novel from debut author E. A. Carrington and bestselling illustrator Kitt Thomas (Stacey’s Extraordinary Words), Joshua Jones is an adventurous ten-year-old with tons of imagination and a wish-granting star—what could go wrong?
The start of sixth grade is just around the corner, and Joshua Jones isn’t happy about it. After all, starting middle school means growing up, and growing up means more responsibility. So when a wish-granting star crash-lands in his backyard, the possibilities for unlimited fun seem endless…until a wish goes wrong, and Joshua and his friends will have to step up to stop the chaos from consuming their town.
If they don’t, their kinda sorta normal lives will never be the same.
The Night War
Published: April 9, 2024
It’s 1942. German Nazis occupy much of France. And twelve-year-old Miriam, who is Jewish, is not safe. With help and quick thinking, Miri is saved from the roundup that takes her entire Jewish neighborhood. She escapes Paris, landing in a small French village, where the spires of the famous Chateau de Chenonceau rise high into the sky, its bridge across the River Cher like a promise, a fairy tale.
But Miri’s life is no fairy tale. Her parents are gone—maybe alive, maybe not. Taken in at the boarding school near the chateau, pretending to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture, Miri is called upon one night to undertake a deadly task, one that spans the castle grounds, its bridge, and the very border to freedom. Here is her chance to escape—hopefully to find her parents. But will she take it? One thing is certain: The person Miri meets that night will save her life. And the person Miri becomes that night could save the lives of many more.
In her return to the time period of The War that Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley adds a speculative twist, exploring a little-known slice of World War II history, a highly unusual friendship, and the power of choosing courage even when—especially when—there are no good choices to be had.
Paige Not Found
Published: April 16, 2024
As much as Paige hates the word normal, it’s a pretty good word to describe her life, and the kind of night she was having just before a single email turned her world upside down.
In an effort to better understand and communicate with their autistic daughter, Paige’s parents enrolled her in a study without her consent. Without her knowledge they had a chip implanted in her brain that keeps track of her location and brain activity. It can boost the chemicals that affect her mood. Suddenly, Paige isn’t sure who she can trust. Can she even trust her own mind anymore?
Now the company that created her chip is days away from merging with the most popular social network in the world, that has a reputation for selling people’s private information to the highest bidder.
Paige feels betrayed and like she’s been robbed of her free will. But there is one thing she can do. The email includes the names and addresses of the other kids involved in the study. She can track them down and show them what’s been done to them.
Maybe altogether they can put a stop to this merger and figure out how to get their chips removed for good.
This Again?
Published: April 16, 2024
Noah Nicholson has plenty to be grateful for. He has solid grades and great friends, he’s finally becoming closer with Lucy Martinez—his crush since second grade—and he just might have a chance to be elected class president next week. But despite all that, Noah fixates on the should’ve-beens and could’ve-beens and the belief that he can make his life perfect. Then Noah comes upon an opportunity to do just that.
At the local bowling alley, Noah runs into someone most unexpected: himself. The look-alike is him from nine days in the future, and he insists that if Noah does every ridiculous thing he says—from quacking like a duck in science class to painting himself green—they can achieve their dream of perfection. However, fate may have other plans, and Future Noah may not be entirely honest about what he’s doing there.…
Painting the Game
Published: April 16, 2024
Lucy’s father is a minor league baseball player, a professional pitcher hoping to get called up to the majors, and Lucy inherited his passion for the game. But she’s never played pitcher. She worries her skills would be compared to her dad’s and she’d never measure up. And his pitching may mean big things for his career and their family, but it’s also what keeps him away from home so much of the year. Sometimes, Lucy isn’t sure what would be worse: being bad at pitching or being great.
Still, this summer, Lucy wants to learn to throw the perfect knuckleball. She wakes up at the crack of dawn to practice in secret, without her friends Tex and Robin—or even the goats who watch them play. Even as she trains relentlessly, Lucy wonders if she’ll ever feel brave enough to share her progress with her mom or dad. Can she prove to them, and herself, that she has what it takes?
Puzzled: A Memoir of Growing Up with OCD
Published: April 16, 2024
Pan Cooke is ten years old when anxious thoughts begin to take over his brain like pieces of an impossible puzzle. What if he blurts out a swear word while in church? What if he accidentally writes something mean in his classmate’s get-well card? What if his friend’s racy photo of a supermodel ends up in his own homework and is discovered by his teacher? More and more, he becomes hijacked by fears that can only be calmed through exhausting, time-consuming rituals.
Pan has no way of knowing that this anxiety puzzle and the stressful attempts to solve it are evidence of a condition called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This is his story of living with and eventually learning about OCD. Told with endearing honesty and humor, Puzzled shows the reader the importance of empathy for oneself and those going through something they don’t yet understand.
Tree. Table. Book.
Published: April 23, 2024
Everyone knows the two Sophies are best friends. One is in elementary school, and one is . . . well . . . in a little trouble of late. She’s elderly, sure, but she’s always been on her game, the best friend any girl struggling to fit in could ever have. The Sophies drink tea, have strong opinions about pretty much everything, and love each other dearly. Now it seems the elder Sophie is having memory problems, burning teakettles, and forgetting just about everything. It looks like her son is going to come and get her and steal her away forever.
Young Sophie isn’t having that. Not one bit. So she sets out to help elder Sophie’s memory, with the aid of her neighborhood friends Ralphie and Oliver. But when she opens the floodgates of elder Sophie’s memories, she winds up listening to stories that will illustrate just how much there is to know about her dear friend, stories of war, hunger, cruelty, and ultimately love.
Sunny Parker Is Here to Stay
Published: April 23, 2024
Sunny Parker loves the Del Mar Garden Apartments, the affordable housing complex where she lives. And she especially loves her neighbors. From her best friend, Haley Michaels, to Mrs. Garcia and her two kids—developmentally disabled son AJ and bitter but big-hearted daughter Izzy—every resident has a story and a special place in Sunny’s heart.
Sunny never thought living at the Del Mar Garden Apartments made her different—until the city proposes turning an old, abandoned school into a new affordable housing complex and the backlash of her affluent neighborhood teaches Sunny the hard way that not everyone appreciates the community she calls home. Her dad, the Del Mar’s manager-slash-handyman, wants Sunny to lay low. But as hurtful rhetoric spreads and the city’s public hearing approaches, Sunny realizes that sometimes there’s too much at stake to stay silent.
With her friends behind her, Sunny Parker is determined to change the narrative—because she and her community are here to stay!
Words Apart
Aimee Lucido
May
And Then Boom
Published: May 7, 2024
Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground. His mom can’t be depended on as she never stays around long once she gets “the itch,” and now he and his beloved grandmother find themselves without a home. Fortunately, Joe has an outlet in his journals and drawings and takes comfort from the lessons of comic books—superheroes have a lot of “and then, boom” moments, where everything threatens to go bust but somehow they land on their feet. And that seems to happen a lot to Joe too, as in this crisis his friend Nick helps them find a home in his trailer park. But things fall apart again when Joe is suddenly left to fend for himself. He doesn’t tell anyone he’s on his own, as he fears foster care and has hope his mom will come back. But time is running out—bills are piling up, the electricity’s been shut off, and the school year’s about to end, meaning no more free meals. The struggle to feed himself gets intense, and Joe finds himself dumpster diving for meals. He’s never felt so alone—until an emaciated little dog and her two tiny pups cross his path. And fate has even more in store for Joe, because an actual tornado is about to hit home—and just when it seems all is lost, his life turns in a direction that he never could have predicted.
Hoop Con
Published: May 7, 2024
Raam Patel is eager to prove himself ever since he didn’t make the middle school’s basketball team. So, when Hoop Con comes to town he is determined to be there and take his shot. His big moment proves to be unforgettable… but not in the way he’d hoped. Raam gets schooled by the camp’s golden boy right in front of his NBA idol. To make matters even worse, this fail goes viral.
Raam is used to being the underdog, but becoming the newest meme might be something even he can’t overcome alone. He skips town in an effort to lay low and take a break from basketball. However, he’s met with new courts, fresh kicks, and tough new competition, changing his whole outlook on the game. Raam has the skills, but now it’s time to unlock the mental game.
The Secret Library
Published: May 7, 2024
Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted. She’s eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already grooming her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history. Soon she’s visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother’s meticulous plans. What will Dally choose? Equal parts mystery and adventure—with a biracial child puzzling out her identity alongside the legacy of the past—this masterful middle-grade fantasy rivets with crackling prose, playful plot twists, and timeless themes. A satisfying choice for fans of Kindred and When You Reach Me.
Any Way You Look
Published: May 7, 2024
Ainy is excited for summer! She plans on working at her mom’s clothing boutique, having adventures with her best friend, and maybe even starting to wear the hijab–just like her big sister. But when certain boys from Ainy’s Muslim community keep showing up at the store to give her unwanted attention, she goes from possibly wanting to wear the hijab someday to feeling like she needs to wear it to get the boys to leave her alone.
But wearing the hijab doesn’t do what she’d hoped: It doesn’t deflect the boys’ attention at all! If anything, they’ve found something new to harass her about. With the help of her best friend and her older sister, Ainy must channel her inner creative strength and find the confidence to stand her ground and get the respect she deserves.
This is a compulsively readable, feminist, and thought-provoking book about staying true to yourself by acclaimed author Maleeha Siddiqui.
Code Name Kingfisher
Published: May 7, 2024
Thirteen-year-old Liv’s beloved ninety-two-year-old grandmother, Oma, is moving into a home where she can be cared for as her dementia worsens. As Liv helps her father empty Oma’s house, she finds an old chest which opens up a whole world that Liv never knew about: the hidden world of Oma’s childhood.
Through the letters and other mementos, Liv learns that Oma, given name Mila, had a sister, Eva, that no one in Liv’s family ever knew about. In 1942, Mila and Eva are sent away from their parents to a non-Jewish family so they will survive the war. Twelve-year-old Mila believes that they will soon be reunited with their parents and go back to their normal lives, but fourteen-year-old Eva knows better, and soon gets involved in the Resistance. Eva takes on more and more dangerous assignments until a betrayal forces her to decide between running away with her sister or fully committing to mission. Tragedy strikes, and Mila goes to England on her own to restart her life from scratch, vowing never to talk about her childhood again.
In the present day, Liv reads how Mila builds something new from the shattered pieces of her childhood while giving beloved Oma all the support she can. Both Liv and Mila grapple with loyalty, family, and love as they discover what it means to be brave and go above and beyond to offer someone else a life of dignity, happiness, and freedom.
With Just One Wing
Published: May 14, 2024
Everyone expects Coop to be musical like his beloved parents, but he’s not. That’s one of the few things he finds awkward about being adopted—well, that and the fact that he sometimes wonders why his birth mother didn’t love him enough to keep him. This summer, he’s stuck at home with a broken arm after falling out of a tree trying to get a closer peek at a mockingbird nest. Later, when the eggs in the nest have hatched and the fledglings fly away, he and his friend Zandi notice that one of them stays behind. Taking a closer look, they realize the bird only has one wing. Since it won’t survive in the wild, they adopt it and name it Hop, and then learn everything they can about birds so they can care for Hop properly. Unfortunately, when a hawk injures Hop, the vet says it’s illegal to keep mockingbirds as pets. Faced with a difficult decision about surrendering his beloved little bird to a bird sanctuary, Coop starts thinking about his birth mother’s motivation in a new light.
Basil & Dahlia
Published: May 21, 2024
It’s hard to imagine things could get worse after one’s parents die in a greenhouse explosion. But that is precisely what happens to Basil and his younger sister, Dahlia. They escape from the social worker who wants to split them up to different foster homes by jumping off a moving train, only to find themselves wounded (Dahlia) and bedraggled (Basil) and without a soul to care for them. What’s more, they’re lost in the wilds of New York City.
Famished and alone, they wander into Cravings, the delectable bakery owned by Laurel Fox, disgraced celebrity chef with a soft spot for poor, hungry orphans. When she offers them luxurious accommodations and all the éclairs they can eat, Basil and Dahlia dare to hope their luck has changed at last. But the savvy reader will know it can’t be as simple as all that! Laurel Fox is out for redemption, and she’ll do anything to get the sinister secret ingredient she requires.
A Galaxy of Whales
Published: May 28, 2024
When Fern hears about a photo contest with a big cash award, she decides she’ll enter and win! After all, photography is her passion (and was an interest she shared with her dad, who has recently died). She knows she can take a prize-worthy photo of a whale during one of the whale-watching tours her mom runs.
But her neighbor (and nemesis), Jasper, is also planning to enter the contest. It’s another frustration for Fern while she’s already coping with the worry that her best friend, Ivy, might not want to spend time with her anymore. She’s hoping to use the prize money to buy something that will attract Ivy’s interest.
This summer story has everything: the trials and pleasures of friendship, a rousing feud and a touch of adventure, a beautiful exploration of healing after grief, a very moving finale, and a whole lot of whale-watching fascination.
Sink or Swim (A Graphic Novel)
Published: June 4, 2024
Bouncing back from a broken arm should be no big deal—but when Max spends a month off the swim team the thought of getting back in the water is suddenly not as fun as it used to be.
After weeks of ignoring his friends, Max isn’t sure how to connect with them again in summer camp. They used to have swim team together but after so long without swimming he’s out of shape and afraid of failing in front of them. With his friendships fracturing, will Max be able to gain confidence in himself and fix everything before it’s too late?
The New Girl: A Graphic Novel (The New Girl #1)
Published: June 4, 2024
Goodbye, old life…
Lia and her family are waiting to board a flight across the Atlantic, leaving behind family, friends, and Romania — the only home Lia has ever known. But Lia’s heartache is overshadowed by the discomfort of her first period. As if things weren’t difficult enough! Now Lia is thrust into a world where everything is different: her home, her language, and even her body. With so many changes happening at once, Lia struggles with schoolwork, has trouble communicating with classmates, and has no idea how to manage her unpleasant periods. Will she ever feel like herself again?
Inspired by the author’s own immigration experience, The New Girl is a comically charming story about change and acceptance.
Faker
Published: July 2, 2024
Trey knows the drill: His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there’s the con, where Trey’s dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money’s in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run… until they set up somewhere else and start again.
Trey believes his father when he says no one’s getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare.
But Trey’s starting to get tired of running… and lying… and never having a friend for longer than a few months. But how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?
Grow Up, Luchy Zapata
Published: July 23, 2024
Luchy Zapata is starting middle school, and she’s muy excited. She and her two best friends, Cami and Mateo, will finally be at the same school. Luchy and Mateo will be in art class together, and she and Cami can try out for the same soccer team! As long as they’re all together, Luchy can handle anything.
But Cami has been acting weird ever since she got back from visiting family in Colombia. She’s making new, “cool” friends who just seem mean. And suddenly, everything about Luchy and Mateo is too immature for her.
Luchy is determined to help Cami remember how special their friendship is. They’ve been BFFs their whole lives, and that can’t just disappear in a poof of glitter! But…what if Cami doesn’t even want to be friends anymore?
We Are Big Time : (A Graphic Novel)
Published: August 6, 2024
Aliya is new to Wisconsin, and everything feels different than Florida. The Islamic school is bigger, the city is colder, and her new basketball team is…well, they stink.
Aliya’s still excited to have teammates (although the team’s captain, Noura, isn’t really Aliya’s biggest fan), and their new coach really understands basketball (even if she doesn’t know much about being Muslim). This season should be a blast…if they could just start to win. As they strengthen their skills on the court, Aliya and the Peace Academy team discover that it takes more than talent to be great–it’s teamwork and self-confidence that defines true success.
For fans of The Crossover and Roller Girl, this graphic novel goes big with humor and heart as it explores culture and perceptions, fitting in and standing out, and finding yourself, both on and off the court.
Non-Fiction
The Girl Who Sang : A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival
Published: January 23, 2024
Born to a Jewish family in a small Polish village, Estelle Nadel―then known as Enia Feld―was just seven years old when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Once a vibrant child with a song for every occasion, Estelle would eventually lose her voice as, over the next five years, she would survive the deaths of their mother, father, their eldest brother and sister, and countless others.
A child at the mercy of her neighbors during a terrifying time in history, The Girl Who Sang is an enthralling first-hand account of Estelle’s fight for survival during World War II. She would weather loss, betrayal, near-execution, and spend two years away from the warmth of the sun―all before the age of eleven. And once the war was over, Estelle would walk barefoot across European borders and find remnants of home in an Austrian displaced persons camp before finally crossing the Atlantic to arrive in New York City―a young woman carrying the unseen scars of war.
In and Out the Window
Published: March 12, 2024
Our Kitchen
Smells of mornings,
blueberry muffins,
hot chocolate, tea.
It smells of bacon
and of eggs.
It smells of family.
For the first time, legendary author Jane Yolen gathers the largest single anthology of her poetry celebrating childhood. At home or at school, playing sports or practicing music, enjoying the holidays or delighting in each season, Jane Yolen’s masterful collection shows just how lively it is to be a kid. With whimsical artwork by Cathrin Peterslund, this collection of more than one hundred poems is a classic that children are sure to return to again and again.
Exclusion and the Chinese American Story
Published: March 26, 2024
If you’ve learned about the history of Chinese people in America, it was probably about their work on the railroads in the 1800s. But more likely, you may not have learned about it at all. This may make it feel like Chinese immigration is a newer part of this country, but some scholars believe the first immigrant arrived from China 499 CE–one thousand years before Columbus did!
When immigration picked up in the mid-1800s, efforts to ban immigrants from China began swiftly. But hope, strength, and community allowed the Chinese population in America to flourish. From the gold rush and railroads to entrepreneurs, animators, and movie stars, this is the true story of the Chinese American experience.
Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of the Bosnian Genocide
Published: April 9, 2024
Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una River. When finally confronted with the harsh truths of the adult world around them, their bond gives them the resilience to discover and hold fast to their true selves.
Written with incredible warmth and tenderness, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess takes readers on a journey that will break their hearts and put them back together again.
Kid-ventors: 35 Real Kids and Their Amazing Inventions
Published: April 23, 2024
When Remya Jose had to spend many hours washing her family’s laundry by hand, she invented a pedal powered washing machine that could finish the chore in only 20 minutes! When Tripp Phillips’ Lego creations kept falling apart, he developed a glue strong enough to hold his creations together that would wash off when he was ready to build something new! And when Fatima Al Kaabi didn’t have anyone willing to teach her about robotics, she turned to the internet to teach herself all the skills she needed―and created multiple crowd-pleasing robots in the process!
From Popsicles and swim fins to robots and glitter shooting prosthetics, Kailei Pew’s middle grade nonfiction debut is full of fun and inspiring stories, illustrated by Shannon Wright, about real kid inventors who proved that even the youngest people can change the world.
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