Fiction
- Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover – Twins Josh and Jordan Bell are 12-year-old basketball stars who use rhymes to
share their take on sports, school, race, and, most importantly, a loving family.
- Buyea, Rob. Because of Mr. Terupt – This novel features seven narrators, each with a unique story, and each with a different perspective on what makes the fifth grade so special.
- Carman, Patrick. Skeleton Creek (series) – Two curious teen friends know there is a mystery in Skeleton Creek, and they’re determined to find out what it is — even if Ryan’s father may be involved.
- Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird – A girl on the autism spectrum reaches out past her own family’s tragedy to help others as she helps herself.
- Gratz, Alan. Refugee – A historical novel that braids the stories of three young refugees in three different time periods and settings: 1938 Berlin, 1994 Cuba, and 2015 Syria.
- Green, Tim. Football Genius (series) – Troy, a sixth grader with an unusual gift for predicting football plays before they occur, tries to help his favorite team.
- Halse Anderson, Laurie. Fever 1793 – Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her mother and grandfather. A fever breaks out and disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie’s world upside down.
- Harrell, Rob. Wink – A hilarious and heart wrenching story about a boy who just wants to be a normal seventh grader. He doesn’t want to lose his hair or deal with friends who don’t know what to say to “the cancer kid.”
- Hunt, Lynda Mullaly. Fish in a Tree – Fish in a Tree is a tremendous, sensitive account of a middle school girl’s struggle with dyslexia and her inspirational progress in learning to read once she’s paired with the right teacher.
- Kelkar, Supriya. Ahimsa – In 1942, after Mahatma Gandhi asks Indians to give one family member to the freedom movement, ten-year-old Anjali must learn to accept the new changes in her life when her mother decides to join.
- Marshall, Joseph M. In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse – This book follows the heroic Lakota leader who fought the U.S government against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people.
- Miller, Sarah. Miss Spitfire – At age 20, partially blind, lonely but spirited Annie Sullivan tries to teach 6-year-old Helen Keller self-discipline and communication.
- Napoli, Donna Jo. North – Tired of his mother’s overprotectiveness and intrigued by the life of African-American explorer Matthew Henson, 12-year-old Alvin travels north and spends a season with a trapper near the Arctic Circle.
- Nielsen, Jennifer A. A Night Divided – With the rise of the Berlin Wall, 12-year-old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can’t help herself since she is a prisoner in her own city.
- Oh, Ellen. Flying Lessons & Other Stories – Ten authors celebrate diversity through tales of Bigfoot, basketball, girl pirates, and more in a highly readable, relatable short-story collection.
- Park, Linda Sue. Prairie Lotus – A powerful, multilayered book about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father’s shop, and making at least one friend.
- Respicio, Mae. The House that Lou Built – Lou shares a room with her mom in her grandmother’s house, but longs for a place of her own where she can escape her crazy but lovable extended Filipino family.
- Reynolds, Jason. Ghost (Series) – In the first book of the series we learn about a boy nicknamed Ghost who is fast. He unintentionally ends up participating in a local track team’s practice and leaves the other runners in the dust.
- Schmidt, Gary. The Wednesday Wars – The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year in Long Island, New York.
- Soto, Gary. Baseball in April and Other Stories – The leven short stories in this book explore family bonds, falling in love, fears, and insecurities — themes common to all kids as they grow up.
- Springer, Nancy. Enola Holmes Mystery (series) – Enola Holmes, much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes solves a variety of mysteries in this engaging series.
- Townsend, Jessica. Nevermoor (Series) – A breathtaking, enchanting series about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world–but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination.
- Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer – In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them.
Graphic Novels
- Hale, Shannon. Rapunzel’s Revenge – Rapunzel dreams of a different mother than Gothel, the woman she calls Mother—and climbs over a wall and finds out the truth.
- Larson, Hope. Chiggers – When Abby returns to the same summer camp she always goes to, she is dismayed to find that her old friends have changed.
- Spiegelman, Art. Big Fat Little Lit – This collection of short stories presented in comic book format includes some games and activities.
- Wood, Don. Into the Volcano – While their parents are away doing research, brothers Duffy and Sumo Pugg go with their cousin, Mister Come-and-Go, to Kokalaha Island, where they meet Aunt Lulu and become trapped in an erupting volcano.
Nonfiction
- Bridges, Ruby. This is Your Time – Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges — who, at the age of six, was the first black child to integrate into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans — inspires readers and calls for action in this letter.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage – Poems by award-winning, diverse poets are paired with images by celebrated illustrators from similar backgrounds to pay homage to what is both unique and universal about growing up in the United States.
- Masoff, Joy. Oh, Yikes! History’s Grossest Wackiest Moments – Gross is back and viler than ever! This illustrated encyclopedia contains history’s messiest, dumbest, grossest wackiest, and weirdest moments.
- Menzel, Peter. What the World Eats – A photographic collection featuring portraits of twenty-five international families surrounded by a week’s worth of food.
- Thimmesh, Catherine. Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women – In the kitchens and living rooms, in garages and labs and basements, even in converted chicken coops, women and girls have invented ingenious innovations that have made our lives simpler and better. Learn what inspired these women, and how they turned their ideas into realities.
- Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming – Jacqueline Woodson provides a rich historical perspective of what it was like growing up in Columbus, Ohio during the civil rights era as she sat at the back of the bus, learned about the death of Martin Luther King Jr., and watched the Black Panthers on TV.
*The above suggested texts cover a wide variety of topics and genres. Another good place to find quality text is at your local library so consider visiting often! As we know, student choice and interest drive a passion for the love of reading.
