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I've read six titles from this list. How about you? Are there any titles on this list that you would highly recommend? Leave a comment.

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The best upper middle-grade books? What even are upper middle-grade books, you ask? Simply put, these are books that:

Handle more sensitive issues than the typical middle-grade book. Middle-grade books where the MC deals with issues like eating disorders, serious mental illness, a serious crush or first boyfriend, sexual harassment, colorism, drug misuse, abuse - you get the gist. Things you wouldn't feel quite ready to hand to your 9-year old.

Typically feature main characters aged 12 and up.

Are targeted to readers between ages 11-13, maybe the occasional 10-year old.

Often, upper middle-grade books are those loved by adults who do not typically read middle-grade. They're also perfect for kids in their early teens who do not feel quite ready for the content in most young adult novels. You can learn more about upper middle-grade books by watching this Middle Ground Book Fest panel.
For this list, I've chosen books that I've either read and judged to be Upper Middle-Grade, books promoted by their authors as Upper MG or books marked as such by trusted readers.
Click on the book's cover to head over to the book's Amazon page.
Disclaimer: I use affiliate links for Amazon and will make a cent or two if you buy using these links. It's a great way to support a blog(ger) you love.

So Done

Jamila Phillips and Tai Johnson have been inseparable since they were toddlers, having grown up across the street from each other in Pirates Cove, a low-income housing project. As summer comes to an end, Tai can't wait for Mila to return from spending a month with her aunt in the suburbs. But both girls are grappling with secrets, and when Mila returns she's more focused on her upcoming dance auditions than hanging out with Tai.

Dough Boys

Long term, this means the NBA. Short term, it means being a dough boy-getting paid to play lookout and eventually moving up the rungs of the neighborhood drug operation with Rollie as his partner.

Roland "Rollie" Matthews used to love playing basketball. He loved the rhythm of the game, how he came up with his best drumbeats after running up and down the court. But playing with the elite team comes with extra, illegal responsibilities, and Rollie isn't sure he's down for that life. The new talented-and-gifted program, where Rollie has a chance to audition for a real-life go-go band, seems like the perfect excuse to stop being a dough boy. But how can he abandon his best friend?

Paula Chase explores universal themes of friendship and budding romance, while also exploring complex issues that affect many young teens. Full of basketball, friendship, and daily life in a housing project, this universal story is perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds's Track series, Jewell Parker Rhodes's Ghost Boys, and Chris Crutcher.

Before the Ever After

For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that-but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?

Junior Lifeguards: The Test

Join the girls of the Junior Lifeguards as they continue their summery adventures in Cape Cod, where ice cream, lip gloss, and sand-between-your-toes combine with crushes and life skills for fun beachfront escapades!

Dive right into tryouts with Jenna, Piper, Selena, and Ziggy- four diverse girls entering their first season as lifeguards-in-training on Cape Cod's iconic Atlantic coast. Romance and rivalries abound in this beachside town, where swanky seasonal homeowners and hard-working locals clash and unite in age-old patterns. In this first book of the Junior Lifeguards series, the girls are vying for spots on the summer squad, with ocean legend Bud Slater hand-picking a team of winners. Will they or won't they make the cut?

All of Me

Meanwhile, Ari makes new friends: Pick, the gamer; the artsy Jorge, and the troubled Lisa. He is also relentlessly bullied because he's overweight, but he can't tell his parents―they're simply not around enough to listen.

Related: Best Middle-Grade Novels in Verse

Nikki on the Line

Thirteen-year-old Nikki Doyle's dreams of becoming a basketball great feel within reach when she's selected to play on an elite-level club team. But in a league with taller, stronger, and faster girls, Nikki suddenly isn't the best point guard. In fact, she's no longer a point guard at all, which leaves her struggling to figure out who she is and how she fits in.

The stress piles on as Nikki's best friend spends more and more time with another girl on the team, and when her science teacher assigns a family tree project that will be impossible to complete unless Nikki reveals her most embarrassing secret. As if that's not enough to deal with, to cover the costs of her new team, Nikki has agreed to take care of her annoying younger brother after school to save money on childcare.

As the stakes rise on the basketball court, at school, and at home, Nikki's confidence plummets. Can she learn to compete at this new, higher level? And how hard is she willing to work to find out?

The Prettiest

THE PRETTIEST: It's the last thing Eve Hoffmann expected to be, the only thing Sophie Kane wants to be, and something Nessa Flores-Brady knows she'll never be . . . until a list appears online, ranking the top fifty prettiest girls in the eighth grade.

Eve is disgusted by the way her body is suddenly being objectified by everyone around her.
Sophie is sick of the bullying she's endured after being relegated to number two.
And Nessa is tired of everyone else trying to tell her who she is.

It's time for a takedown. As the three girls band together, they begin to stand up not just for themselves, but for one another, too.

Good Enough

Before she had an eating disorder, twelve-year-old Riley was many things: an aspiring artist, a runner, a sister, and a friend.

But now, from inside the inpatient treatment center where she's receiving treatment for anorexia, it's easy to forget all of that. Especially since under the influence of her eating disorder, Riley alienated her friends, abandoned her art, turned running into something harmful, and destroyed her family's trust.

If Riley wants her life back, she has to recover. Part of her wants to get better. As she goes to therapy, makes friends in the hospital, and starts to draw again, things begin to look up.

But when her roommate starts to break the rules, triggering Riley's old behaviors and blackmailing her into silence, Riley realizes that recovery will be even harder than she thought. She starts to think that even if she does "recover," there's no way she'll stay recovered once she leaves the hospital and is faced with her dieting mom, the school bully, and her gymnastics-star sister.

Turning Point

Best friends Rasheeda and Monique are both good girls. For Sheeda, that means keeping her friends close and following her deeply religious and strict aunt's every rule. For Mo, that means not making waves in the prestigious and mostly White ballet intensive she's been accepted to.

But what happens when Sheeda catches the eye of Mo's older brother, and the invisible racial barriers to Mo's success as a ballerina turn out to be not so invisible? What happens when you discover that being yourself isn't good enough? How do you fight back?

Up for Air

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she's unstoppable. She's the fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she's asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she's got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she's somebody special-and Annabelle thinks she'll finally stand out in a good way. She'll do anything to fit in and help the team make it to the Labor Day Invitational, even if it means blowing off her old friends. But after a prank goes wrong, Annabelle is abandoned by the older boy and can't swim. Who is she without the one thing she's good at? Heartwarming and relatable, Up for Air is a story about where we find our self-worth.

Related: Middle-Grade Sports Books

The Prophet Calls

Gentry Forrester feels lucky to live among God's chosen people in the Prophet's compound, but when music is outlawed, Gentry and her older brother, Tanner, sneak out of the community. When they return, all bets are off as the Prophet exercises his control.

On her thirteenth birthday, Gentry receives a new violin from her father and, more than anything, she wants to play at the Santa Fe Music Festival with her brother, Tanner. But then the Prophet calls from prison and announces he has outlawed music in their community and now forbids women to leave.

Determined to play, Gentry and Tanner sneak out. But once they return, the Prophet exercises control from prison, and it has devastating consequences for Gentry and her family. Soon, everything Gentry has known is turned upside down. She begins to question the Prophet's teachings and his revelations, especially when his latest orders put Gentry's family in danger. Can Gentry find a way to protect herself and her family from the Prophet and escape the only life she's ever known?

Focused

Clea can't control her thoughts. She knows she has to do her homework . . . but she gets distracted. She knows she can't just say whatever thought comes into her head . . . but sometimes she can't help herself. She know she needs to focus . . . but how can she do that when the people around her are always chewing gum loudly or making other annoying noises?

It's starting to be a problem-not just in school, but when Clea's playing chess or just hanging out with her best friend. Other kids are starting to notice. When Clea fails one too many tests, her parents take her to be tested, and she finds out that she has ADHD, which means her attention is all over the place instead of where it needs to be.

Clea knows life can't continue the way it's been going. She's just not sure how you can fix a problem that's all in your head. But that's what she's going to have to do, to find a way to focus.

Genesis Begins Again

There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant-even her own family. And #61: Because her family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the sidewalk for the world to see. When your dad is a gambling addict and loses the rent money every month, eviction is a regular occurrence.

What's not so regular is that this time they all don't have a place to crash, so Genesis and her mom have to stay with her grandma. It's not that Genesis doesn't like her grandma, but she and Mom always fight-Grandma haranguing Mom to leave Dad, that she should have gone back to school, that if she'd married a lighter skinned man none of this would be happening, and on and on and on. But things aren't all bad. Genesis actually likes her new school; she's made a couple friends, her choir teacher says she has real talent, and she even encourages Genesis to join the talent show.

But how can Genesis believe anything her teacher says when her dad tells her the exact opposite? How can she stand up in front of all those people with her dark, dark skin knowing even her own family thinks lesser of her because of it? Why, why, why won't the lemon or yogurt or fancy creams lighten her skin like they're supposed to? And when Genesis reaches #100 on the list of things she hates about herself, will she continue on, or can she find the strength to begin again?

Beverly, Right Here
Beverly put her foot down on the gas. They went faster still.
This was what Beverly wanted - what she always wanted. To get away. To get away as fast as she could. To stay away.
Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it's not running away. It's leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mom, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn't want to depend on anyone, and she definitely doesn't want anyone to depend on her. But despite her best efforts, she can't help forming connections with the people around her - and gradually, she learns to see herself through their eyes. In a touching, funny, and fearless conclusion to her sequence of novels about the beloved Three Rancheros, #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo tells the story of a character who will break your heart and put it back together again.

Well, That Was Awkward

Gracie has never felt like this before. One day, she suddenly can't breathe, can't walk, can't anything-and the reason is standing right there in front of her, all tall and weirdly good-looking: A.J.

But it turns out A.J. likes not Gracie but Gracie's beautiful best friend, Sienna. Obviously Gracie is happy for Sienna. Super happy! She helps Sienna compose the best texts, responding to A.J.'s surprisingly funny and appealing texts, just as if she were Sienna. Because Gracie is fine. Always! She's had lots of practice being the sidekick, second-best.

It's all good. Well, almost all. She's trying.

Nest

For fans of Jennifer Holm ( Penny from Heaven, Turtle in Paradise), a heartfelt and unforgettable middle-grade novel about an irresistible girl and her family, tragic change, and the healing power of love and friendship. In 1972 home is a cozy nest on Cape Cod for eleven-year-old Naomi "Chirp" Orenstein, her older sister, Rachel; her psychiatrist father; and her dancer mother. But then Chirp's mom develops symptoms of a serious disease, and everything changes.

Chirp finds comfort in watching her beloved wild birds. She also finds a true friend in Joey, the mysterious boy who lives across the street. Together they create their own private world and come up with the perfect plan: Escape. Adventure. Discovery.

Keep It Together, Keiko Carter

Seventh grade is supposed to be a game changer. And Keiko thinks she's got it covered, especially with Audrey and Jenna by her side to shop for a new look, pick out a prime lunch spot, and even hit up that cute new bubble tea place after school. Her trio is ready to tackle life as they always have... together.

But when Audrey decides they need boyfriends before Fall Ball, it looks like things may be changing in all the wrong ways. Jenna is sick of caving in to Audrey's demands, and soon Keiko's besties are barely talking, leaving her caught in the middle. While she's been dreaming about triple-dates, first kisses, and a boy she really shouldn't have a crush on, the friendship she's always thought was rock-solid is beginning to crumble.

Keiko feels pulled in two directions. Should she try to help her friends - even if it means losing one of them - or follow her heart? When it comes to flirting, friendships, and fallouts, how is Keiko supposed to keep it all together

A Kind of Paradise

Thirteen-year-old Jamie Bunn made a mistake at the end of the school year. A big one. And every kid in her middle school knows all about it. Now she has to spend her summer vacation volunteering at the local library-as punishment. What a waste of a summer!

Or so she thinks.

A Kind of Paradise is an unforgettable story about the power of community, the power of the library, and the power of forgiveness.

Summer at Meadow Wood

Vic Brown did not want to go to camp this summer.

Even though it's nice being back with her friends at Meadow Wood, Vic still can't forget about the secret reason her mom wanted her and her brother out of the house-or how much her family is going to change. When her home life is blowing up, it can be hard to focus on campfires and canoeing.

But there is something about summer and surprises that go together like blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. And soon, Vic starts to feel like-just maybe-a summer at Meadow Wood was exactly what she needed.

Maybe He Just Likes You

For seventh-grader Mila, it starts with some boys giving her an unwanted hug on the school blacktop. A few days later, at recess, one of the boys (and fellow trumpet player) Callum tells Mila it's his birthday, and asks her for a "birthday hug." He's just being friendly, isn't he? And how can she say no? But Callum's hug lasts a few seconds too long, and feels...weird. According to her friend, Zara, Mila is being immature and overreacting. Doesn't she know what flirting looks like?

But the boys don't leave Mila alone. On the bus. In the halls. During band practice-the one place Mila could always escape.

A Good Kind of Trouble

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she'd also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)

But in junior high, it's like all the rules have changed. Now she's suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she's not black enough. Wait, what?

Shay's sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.

Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that's trouble, for real.

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

Five years.

That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation.

It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.

Coyote hasn't been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished―the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box―she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it.

Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there's Gladys...

Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all...but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her "once upon a time" into a "happily ever after."

The Line Tender

We Dream of Space

Cash, Fitch, and Bird Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country waits expectantly for the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, they each struggle with their own personal anxieties.

Cash, who loves basketball but has a newly broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade on Main and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn't understand. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing.

The Thomas children exist in their own orbits, circling a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga. As the launch of the Challenger approaches, Ms. Salonga gives her students a project-they are separated into spacecraft crews and must create and complete a mission. When the fated day finally arrives, it changes all of their lives and brings them together in unexpected ways.

Told in three alternating points of view, We Dream of Space is an unforgettable and thematically rich novel for middle grade readers.

Braced

Rachel Brooks is excited for the new school year. She's finally earned a place as a forward on her soccer team. Her best friends make everything fun. And she really likes Tate, and she's pretty sure he likes her back. After one last appointment with her scoliosis doctor, this will be her best year yet.

Then the doctor delivers some terrible news: The sideways curve in Rachel's spine has gotten worse, and she needs to wear a back brace 23 hours a day. The brace wraps her in hard plastic from shoulder blades to hips. It changes how her clothes fit, how she kicks a ball, and how everyone sees her - even her friends and Tate. But as Rachel confronts all the challenges the brace presents, the biggest change of all may lie in how she sees herself.

The Thing About Jellyfish

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting-things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory-even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

The Night Diary

It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.

Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.

The Truth As Told by Mason Buttle

Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason's learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason's best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family's orchard.

An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can't understand why Lieutenant Baird won't believe the story Mason has told about that day.

Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He's desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny.

Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes

Annabelle has a secret . . . a secret so big she won't allow friends within five miles of her home. Her mom collects things. Their house is overflowing with stuff. It gives Annabelle's sister nightmares, her brother spends as much time as he can at friends' houses, and her dad buries himself in his work.

So when a stack of newspapers falls on Annabelle's sister, it sparks a catastrophic fight between their parents-one that might tear them all apart-and Annabelle starts to think that things at home finally need to change.

Is it possible for her to clean up the family's mess? Or are they really, truly broken?

Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel

Stevie's world changes drastically when her parents are tragically killed and she is forced to live with her estranged grandfather at his run-down motel. After failed attempts to connect with her grandfather, Stevie befriends the colorful motel tenants and neighbors. Together, they decide to bring some color and life to the motel by planting a flower garden, against Stevie's grandfather's wishes. It will take Stevie's departure before her grandfather realizes just how needed she is by everyone.

Forget Me Not

As Calliope navigates school, she must also face her mother's new relationship and the fact that they might be moving―again―just as she starts to make friends and finally accept her differences.

Partially in verse and partially in prose with two intertwined points of view, Ellie Terry's affecting debut will speak to a wide audience about being true to oneself.

The Ethan I Was Before

Ethan had been many things. He was always ready for adventure and always willing to accept a dare, especially from his best friend, Kacey. But that was before. Before the accident that took Kacey from him. Before his family moved from Boston to the small town of Palm Knot, Georgia.

Palm Knot may be tiny, but it's the home of possibility and second chances. It's also home to Coralee, a girl with a big personality and even bigger stories. Coralee may be just the friend Ethan needs, except Ethan isn't the only one with secrets. Coralee's are catching up with her, and what she's hiding might be putting both their lives at risk.

What Lane?

Anything his friends can do, Stephen should be able to do too, right? So when they dare each other to sneak into an abandoned building, he doesn't think it's his lane, but he goes. Here's the thing, though: Can he do everything his friends can? Lately, he's not so sure. As a mixed kid, he feels like he's living in two worlds with different rules-and he's been noticing that strangers treat him differently than his white friends . . .

So what'll he do? Hold on tight as Stephen swerves in and out of lanes to find out which are his-and who should be with him.

Tight

Tight: Lately Bryan's been feeling it in all kinds of ways. He knows what's tight for him in a good way-reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama's hard to escape where he's from, and that gets him wound up tight.

And now Bryan's new friend Mike is challenging him to have fun in ways that are crazy risky. At first, it's a rush following Mike, hopping turnstiles, subway surfing, and getting into all kinds of trouble. But Bryan never feels right acting wrong. So which way will he go when he understands that drama is so not his style? Fortunately his favorite comic heroes shed light on his dilemma, reminding him that he has power-the power to choose his friends and to stand up for what he believes is right . . .

Efren Divided

Efrén Nava's Amá is his Superwoman-or Soperwoman, named after the delicious Mexican sopes his mother often prepares. Both Amá and Apá work hard all day to provide for the family, making sure Efrén and his younger siblings Max and Mía feel safe and loved.

But Efrén worries about his parents; although he's American-born, his parents are undocumented. His worst nightmare comes true one day when Amá doesn't return from work and is deported across the border to Tijuana, México.

Now more than ever, Efrén must channel his inner Soperboy to help take care of and try to reunite his family.

The Only Black Girls in Town

Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only black girl in town for years. Alberta's best friend, Laramie, is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even Laramie can't understand. When the bed and breakfast across the street finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the family is black-and they have a 12-year-old daughter just like her.

Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But while Alberta loves being a California girl, Edie misses her native Brooklyn and finds it hard to adapt to small-town living.

When the girls discover a box of old journals in Edie's attic, they team up to figure out exactly who's behind them and why they got left behind. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets of the past and learn that nothing is quite what it seems.

Mary Underwater

Mary Murphy feels like she's drowning. Her violent father is home from prison, and the social worker is suspicious of her new bruises. An aunt she's never met keeps calling. And if she can't get a good grade on her science project, she'll fail her favorite class.
Do you enjoy upper middle-grade books? Which of the books on this list did you read and enjoy? Which books would you add? I'd love to hear. Do you listen to audiobooks? If you do:

But Mary doesn't want to be a victim anymore. She has a plan: build a real submarine, like the model she's been making with Kip Dwyer, the secretly sweet class clown. Gaining courage from her heroine, Joan of Arc, Mary vows to pilot a sub across the Chesapeake Bay, risking her life in a modern crusade to save herself.

There they are: 37 of the best upper middle-grade books to read! This is obviously not an exhaustive list. If you'd like more books, especially fantasy (which is not my strong point), check out this crowd-sourced list. I hope you find at least one book that's just perfect for you.

Pin This Post - Best Upper Middle-Grade Books

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37 Best Upper Middle-Grade Books for Kids Aged 11-13 Years

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The best upper middle-grade books? What even are upper middle-grade books, you ask? Simply put, these are books that: Handle more sensitive issues than the typical middle-grade book. Middle-grade books where the MC deals with issues like eating disorders, serious mental illness, a serious crush or first boyfriend, sexual harassment, colorism, drug misuse, abuse - you get the gist.

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Antiracist Resources and Reads: Lists for All Ages

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Antiracist Resources and Reads: Lists for All Ages

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Blogger Betsy Bird and eight of her colleagues share Important resources.

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Silence is complicity.

A blog, no matter what its subject, no matter how large or small its reach, is a platform. You use it to make your thoughts and feelings known. And if the world harbors evil, harbors racism, harbors pain and death and agony to a specific group of people in your society, if you just carry along without acknowledging it in any way, you are a coward. I am a coward. Normally I don't say much when things are bad, but even I have to open my eyes sometimes and say something.

What can a white librarian do to help, even a little, when injustice is so blatant? You can be an ally. You can work to actually actively fight racism when you hear it, see it, and you can acknowledge it. You can listen. Project Ready, a free online professional development curriculum by UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Information and Library Science (and that my library has been using to regularly educate its employees), created this rundown of what allyship entails (click on it to enlarge):

Check out Project Ready's Allies and Antiracism module, if you get a chance. All their modules are good, but that one is just amazing.

My role in my library is to manage our collections. Yesterday, I was asked to create a booklist for my city's patrons of some antiracist titles. I was immediately helped by about eight of my colleagues and, together, we created the following list of links. Please use this where it is most needed. Ebook links are to my own library system's Hoopla, Overdrive, and Kanopy sites, but if your library has any of those platforms then you may be able to check out some of these titles as well.

Thank you.

UPDATED TO ADD:

I was recently alerted to this rally on Thursday. Please try to attend if you can.

Books for Children (Fiction):

Books for Children (Facts):

Resources for White Parents to Raise Anti-Racist Children:

Podcasts:

Articles:

The Conscious Kid: Follow them on Instagram

Books for Teens (Fiction Ebooks):

Books for Teens (Facts - Ebooks)

Books for Teens (Fiction eAudiobooks)

Books for Teens (Facts - eAudiobooks)

Books for Adults (Fiction):

Books for Adult (Facts):

Friends Disappear: The Battle for Racial Equity in Evanston by Mary Barr (ebook)

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon (ebook)

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (ebook, YA ebook, audio, Hoopla audio)

Lies my Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen (ebook, other ebook edition, YA ebook, Hoopla ebook, other Hoopla ebook edition)

Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation, by Derald Wing Sue (ebook)

A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn (ebook, other ebook edition, audio, other audio edition, Hoopla)

Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Fifth Edition, by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (Hoopla audio)

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (ebook)

When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson (Hoopla audio)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: and Other Conversations about Race, by Dr. Beverly Tatum (ebook)

Articles to Read:

Films and Series to Watch on Kanopy

Additionally, Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein compiled the following resources in May 2020. Consider their helpful list of links to follow-up on as well:

Videos to Watch:

Podcasts to Subscribe To:

Organizations to Follow on Social Media:

More Anti-Racism Resources to Check Out:

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Antiracist Resources and Reads: Lists for All Ages

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Silence is complicity. A blog, no matter what its subject, no matter how large or small its reach, is a platform. You use it to make your thoughts and feelings known. And if the world harbors evil, harbors racism, harbors pain and death and agony to a specific group of people in your society, if you just carry along without acknowledging it in any way, you are a coward.

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Seattle Arts & Lectures

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Teen Library Challenge (from Seattle Public Library)

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Teen Library Challenge (from Seattle Public Library)

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Middle and High Schoolers can enter to win a prize by filling out any three squares
in a row (down, across, or diagonal). Get a second prize entry for completing the
whole card. You can use audiobooks, articles, graphic novels, podcasts, or fan fiction;
everything from this summer counts! Just make sure you write something different in
each square; no counting anything twice. Good luck and have fun!

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Brightly Summer Reading Challenge for Teens

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Brightly Summer Reading Challenge for Teens

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Sweet Reads is a place for me (Ms. Behnke), to share blog posts about Books, Brownies, and Beyond. I also share book lists, and other book related activities.

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Books to Ease the Transition to Middle School

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Books to Ease the Transition to Middle School

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The transition to middle school can be perilous, but these characters find safe passage.

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Credit Credit

When it comes to crossing the border between childhood and adolescence, sixth grade functions as customs department. Elementary travelers, supremely confident on their home soil, enter their inaugural year of middle school clutching their locker combinations like passports. A few crushes, heartbreaks and misunderstood text messages later, they emerge on the other side, wide-eyed and wiser at having declared their intentions and identity. Three new novels explore this transition, preparing readers for their tumultuous journey into tweendom.

THE 47 PEOPLE YOU'LL MEET IN MIDDLE SCHOOL (Knopf, 304 pp., $16.99; ages 8 to 12), by Kristin Mahoney, is a literal guidebook to this new land. Big sister Augusta, or Gus, attempts to explain the mysteries of sixth grade to little Lou by describing all the characters she encounters at Meridian Middle. (Thankfully, unlike the main character in the similarly named adult novel by Mitch Albom, Gus doesn't have to die first.)

The lineup includes several familiar folks who will be instantly recognizable to current and former middle schoolers, including the "scary teacher," the "friend you don't recognize because she turned into a whole new person over the summer" and the "kid with questionable hygiene." As she proceeds through the list, a story emerges of Gus's slowly growing confidence, the reverberating impact of an amicable but still distressing divorce on her family, and the exciting, frustrating process of finding "your people ... the ones who make you feel at home in your own skin," as explained by amiable Mrs. Barakat, the "favorite teacher."

While many of the scenarios Gus outlines are prosaic (the ill-advised snoop in the teacher's desk, the school dance that goes all kinds of wrong), she does have a memorable #MeToo moment when she brings down "The Gooser," the school's notorious butt-pincher, via anonymous note. Because even in the minds of modern middle schoolers well versed in antibullying rhetoric, snitches can still get stitches. As Gus wearily observes, "Sometimes you can't depend on teachers to save the day."

If Gus occasionally sounds a tad too perceptive for a sixth grader ("It was like I didn't just need physical space; I also needed space in my head. For all the things I was starting to wonder about more"), it works here, because, as every middle school student (and parent) knows, "Reflecting is a big thing middle school teachers are into." What this novel's target audience wants is reassurance, which Gus's confused yet consoling voice provides in spades.

In Pablo Cartaya's EACH TINY SPARK (Kokila, 315 pp., $16.99; ages 8 to 12), a sixth grader who already feels different because of her A.D.H.D. diagnosis begins to feel like a stranger in her own suburban Atlanta town. When Emilia is assigned to create a tourist guide for Merryville, she starts to see the cultural differences and economic inequalities between her community and that of Park View, a neighboring district. These discrepancies are further highlighted by a proposal to move hundreds of students from overcrowded Park View schools to upscale Merryville Middle. When Emilia's project calls attention to the disparities, she unwittingly fuels a bitter confrontation between her divided classmates. But the disagreement also fires up the students and ignites a palpable interest in the social justice history of their town.

Through research conducted with a quintessentially cheerful public librarian, Emilia is at first delighted to discover the outsize role Mexican immigrants played in constructing the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics infrastructure, then dismayed to learn that Georgia's current immigration laws could now force those same people to be deported. The project spurs Emelia's personal growth, helping her navigate equally challenging situations at home, including a distant father who's freshly returned from a lengthy military deployment, and generational conflict between her traditional Catholic abuela and progressive, Afro-Cuban mom. Emilia's dialogue with her familia and her best friend, Gustavo, is sprinkled with Spanish expressions and sentences, adding a welcome ambient cultural tone to the story that encourages non-Spanish readers to draw meaning from context.

While the social justice plot will appeal to today's increasingly civic-minded students, where Cartaya really excels is depicting what it feels like inside Emilia's brain. In his author's note, he reveals that his own child has A.D.H.D., and explains with an easy knowledge how Emilia's brain can pingpong from subject to subject when she's distracted ("My middle name is Rose also. Actually, it's Rosa - same as my mom's middle name. Emilia Rosa ... on the History Channel I watched a show about a time in England called the War of the Roses. There were two families fighting for the crown and they had a brutal war for centuries") but then home in to a razor focus when she's engaged in something she loves, like the car restoration project she takes on with her dad: "The heat rises and pours out of the gun, sending sparks in every direction. The dark glass protecting my eyes lights up, and the clack-clack-clack illuminates sparks all around me ... they die down as I release the trigger. I place the welding gun safely on the workbench and flip up my shade."

Learning the basics of welding from Papi, Emilia finally breaks through her father's emotional wall and earns the nickname "Chispita" ("little spark"). Readers will be inspired by her dogged determination and propulsive curiosity to generate and nurture their own sparks of creativity, leadership or passion.

Eleven-year-old Willa is still in fifth grade, but sixth looms large in her imagination throughout NOT IF I CAN HELP IT (Scholastic, 240 pp., $16.99, ages 8 to 12), by Carolyn Mackler. Willa has sensory processing disorder, which for her means an extreme aversion to certain tastes, textures and smells, combined with swings in energy and mood. Socks feel too tight, showers are "too many prickles poking my skin, too much water in my eyes." Her occupational therapist gives her coping strategies for controlling her body, and she maintains a private routine of reminders and checklists at home so she can keep her condition a secret at school, even from her best friend, Ruby. Because of this, Willa dreads change of any kind, and no change is more unavoidable than sixth grade. It is middle school acceptance letter season at her elementary school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and everyone is speculating about where they will be next year. What if she doesn't get into the school of her choice? Worse yet, "what if Ruby and I get into different middle schools and have to be ripped apart after only one year of best friendship? That would be the worst kind of change ever."

Willa's worries are quickly replaced by much bigger concerns after Willa's dad and Ruby's mom, both divorced, announce that they have been quietly dating for a year and are considering marriage. While Ruby is thrilled that she and Willa could be stepsisters, Willa is immediately thrown into a tailspin. "I don't want new smells, new furniture, new foods in the fridge ... but mostly I don't want to hide who I am, all the Private Willa stuff, in my own home." And there's the sock rub. If Ruby joins her family and discovers the truth, will she still want to be Willa's best friend? After all, "a friend is nice to have over, but friends go home. They don't stay forever."

Like Pablo Cartaya, Mackler is also the parent of a neurodivergent child. She writes convincingly and compassionately of Willa's particular struggles, in an insecure yet ebullient voice that also captures the universal awkwardness of being 11. Who wouldn't relate to the fear of being exposed? By weaving sensory processing disorder in with more typical issues of privacy, divorce and friendship woes, Mackler explains behaviors that children often make fun of but never ask about. Willa's experience will be a revelation to kids who didn't know about the disorder, and a comfort to those who share her condition or know someone who does.

Middle school is the very embodiment of the familiar phrase "It's not the destination, it's the journey," and these smartly rendered books are worthy travel companions for young adventurers making their first trip.

Jennifer Hubert Swan is the director of library services at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School. She blogs at Reading Rants.

A version of this article appears in print on , Page 18 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: The Transition to Middle School Can Be Perilous, But These Characters Find Safe Passage. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Books to Ease the Transition to Middle School

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When it comes to crossing the border between childhood and adolescence, sixth grade functions as customs department. Elementary travelers, supremely confident on their home soil, enter their inaugural year of middle school clutching their locker combinations like passports.

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Newbery/Caldecott 2021 Spring Prediction Edition

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Newbery/Caldecott 2021 Spring Prediction Edition

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Elizabeth Bird, book blogger, offers her predictions for the 2021 Newbery Award. This list would be a good place to get started reading Newbery possibilities for our fall meetings. Be sure to scroll down to find the Newbery predictions since the Caldecott (picture book) predictions are first in the blog post.

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Today is my birthday! And what better way to celebrate than to discuss the prospects of various Newbery and Caldecott contenders, I ask of you? It's the gift I give myself.

Now this year's first round of predictions varies somewhat from those of the past because (and you may have noticed this) I am releasing the list in April rather than March. Turns out, pandemics are not good for forecasting. I've only just now gotten my head in order enough to try and offer a paltry take on what may or may not have a chance come January.

There are a couple factors to take into consideration there, though. First off, the whole galley and ARCS system by which librarians and reviewers see early materials has gone higglety-pigglety. Many is the publisher that may switch to offering e-galleys permanently after all of this is said and done. A pity since I feel like I get a much better sense of a book when I can hold it in my hands. The other thing to think about is that my reading has taken a significant nose-dive since I've been home. Take that with a grain of salt.

And speaking of grains of salt, let's compare my past performances in these spring prediction fests, shall we? How well have I done before?

2008 spring predictions: I get one Caldecott right (How I Learned Geography)

2009 spring predictions: I get two Newberys right (The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and The (Mostly) True Adventures of Homer P Figg)

2010 spring predictions: I get one Newbery right (One Crazy Summer)

2011 spring predictions: I get one Newbery right (Inside Out and Back Again)

2012 spring predictions: I get two Newberys right (The One and Only Ivan and Splendors and Glooms), and one Caldecott right ().

2013 spring predictions: I get two Newberys right ( and One Came Home) and one Caldecott right (). But pride goeth before the fall.

2014 spring predictions: Zip. Zero. Zilch.

2015 spring predictions: I get two Newberys right ( and The War That Saved My Life)

2016 spring predictions: Zero correct, though the commenters do mention two books that would go on to win.

2017 spring predictions: I got one Caldecott right, and that just happened to be the ultimate winner (Wolf In the Snow).

2018 spring predictions: I got one Newbery right (The Book of Boy).

2019 spring predictions: I got two Caldecotts right (Going Down Home With Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons, ill. Daniel Minter and Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, ill. Kadir Nelson) and one Newbery right ( by Jerry Craft). Which means, 2019 may have been my best predicting year to date!

That means the bar is high for 2020. What will win the 2021 awards (and will we even have a Mid-Winter conference to announce them)?

Let's see what's possible:

2021 Caldecott Predictions
Brick by Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield

I think part of what I love about picture books is that they always have the capacity to surprise you. Sheffield's book qualifies as a wonderful surprise. I did not see it coming when I first opened it up, but I was absolutely floored by the art. It's a pretty simple story about a kid who wants to work in construction like his dad when he grows up. But those mixed-media backgrounds are what really steal the show.
The Fabled Life of Aesop by Ian Lendler, ill. Pamela Zagarenski

I conducted a dual interview with Lendler and Zagarenski earlier this year, but only after I read this book on my own. Trust me, if I hadn't seen it firsthand, I wouldn't have known just how good it truly is. Since this book marked a change in Zagarenski's style, I asked her what she'd done differently. She responded, "I wanted to use different papers and a different style for both the Fables and the story of Aesop's life. I thought that the Life story could be in watercolors, a more traditional style and the Fables could be rich, deep in color, texture and very symbolic." It's choices like these, with their thoughtful considerations, that are worthy of the big-time awards.
Honeybee: The Interesting Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming, ill. Eric Rohmann

Is it strange that my top contender of the year in the Caldecott category is a work of Nonfiction? Between this and her Charles Lindberg book (which I'm not including on the Newbery prediction list only because I think it reads more YA), Ms. Fleming is knocking it out of the park in 2020. The text of this book is remarkable, but it's Rohmann's art that pushes it into the stratosphere. The sheer size of the thing is coupled alongside these sweeping, incredibly accurate, spreads. And then there's that two-page gatefold that opens up . . .

Best of the year? You could definitely make a case for it.
My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano, ill. Jillian Tamaki

I've predicted Tamaki Caldecott wins before, but I don't think my heart was really into it. Not like it is with this book. This is one of those author/illustrator pairings that are so good they feel foretold. Tamaki's working with what is essentially a two-color palette of pink and green. That right there might be a challenge, but there's so much more to admire. The angles of the girls as they play. The emotions in their faces. The sheer energy at work and the way you truly believe that this is, at once, that loads of time have been spent on only a single afternoon. Masterful.
Outside In by Deborah Underwood, ill. Cindy Derby

By gum we're gonna get Derby a Caldecott one of these days. When I reviewed this book it was right at the beginning of the pandemic crisis. I wrote the following:

"Let it be known that in this book you will find winsome writing and evocative art, but you will not find a harangue. Nor a preach. Nor a didactic jolt to the senses. This book is not faulting you. It is simply showing how, for all that we wall ourselves up in our homes and cars, we can never truly block out the outside. It finds its way in to us. And right now, in the Spring, when the world seems scary, this may be the comforting book about what's beyond our back doors that we all need right now."

Hey, man. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And if you're sheltering in place and social distancing from the world, every picture book you read is suddenly going to take on special significance. Never mind that Derby interprets Underwood's words in affecting, winsome, highly intelligent ways. This book exudes the feeling you get when you step outdoors on a wet, warm, spring day.
Overground Railroad by Lesa Cline-Ransome, ill. James Ransome

I watch the trajectory of James Ransome carefully. I note that with each book he does, he gets even better. He's taking more risks. Trying more techniques. Now his wife's story about a family participating in the Great Migration puts that historical moment in a kid-friendly context that everyone can appreciate. But it's the work that Ransome has done on the art here that sets it apart from the pack. Look at those endpapers! Look at how the image of the cotton plant is overshadows everything, and how you get this amazing, clear-cut sense of what people are escaping without the author or artist having to say a word. For pure unadulterated visual storytelling, this book delivers.
The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver by Gene Barretta, ill. Frank Morrison

And here I figured books had said all there was to say about Carver. Barretta focuses on George Washington Carver as a kid, which right there I could have told him was a bad idea. Famous people do not tend to have auspicious beginnings. Best to just avoid their youth as much as you can. Yet Barretta makes a very strong case for why Carver's youth influenced everything else that happened in his life. Now I like Frank Morrison's art, but I've never seen him really let go like he has in this book. There are a couple of spreads at work here that honestly take your breath away. He's playing with light a lot more on these pages, and so when you see George's hidden forest garden, it's nothing short of magnificent.
Swashby and the Sea by Beth Ferry, ill. Juana Martinez-Neal

Oh, man. I premiered the cover of this book way back in June of 2019 and it's still not available for purchase yet! The wait will be worth it, though. I interviewed both Beth and Juana about this book at the time too. Juana told me that she really enjoyed painting the water in this book, but honestly there's this cadence of joy that's present throughout the whole kerschmozzle. You can just FEEL how much fun the creators had making it. If a book can win a Caldecott for sheer delight, then this one's a shoo-in.

2021 Newbery Predictions

In the past I've posted my colleagues predictions here in lieu of my own. This year, to heck with it. I'm only including stuff I've read myself. And of the things I've read, I've only seen three true contenders. Consider the following:
Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

This is a case where you read a book for kids and sometimes find yourself, in the midst of the read, just sort of sighing over how good the writing is. I mean, Wolk is probably one of the best writers for kids out there right now and this book shows off her skills considerably. Unlike other books for children that she's written, there's no bad guy. Just people in desperate circumstances making mistakes. And considering the fact that this takes place during the Great Depression, and the people in it are scraping by, I think this might be one of the more timely books of 2020.
Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I am not certain that I can adequately express to you the degree to which I did not want to read this book. My ideal book is a light-hearted fantasy with maybe a tiny bit of romance for spice. This book is about sexual abuse and the psychological toll it takes on its victims. But herein lies the power of a good author. In spite of all my instincts wanting to run away from this book as fast as humanly possible, the lure of anything by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley was too strong. See, you guys got into her when she wrote The War That Saved My Life, but I loved her way before that when she wrote Jefferson's Sons. The remarkable thing about this book is how infinitely enjoyable it is, in spite of some of the terrible and terrifying content. I picked it up and simply found myself unable to put it down. The VOICE on its 10-year-old narrator Della is one for the history books. One of the best of the year (and by no means an easy sell).
Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson

So what we have here is a complicated situation. This book is written with an audience on the younger side. Now, compare it to the two books I just talked about with their maggots and meth heads. They've got all the dark material at their fingertips, ready and willing to convince committee members that seriousness = quality. I would argue that they have quality in spite of their seriousness. Watson's book is light fare with serious undercurrents. It's not fluff by any stretch of the imagination, and the stories are connected but also exist entirely in their own sphere. Essentially, this reads like a series of short stories with a common throughline. It is also, whipsmart. Don't dismiss it just because it's fun.

And yourself? What are you seeing that's making you hope for medals in its future?

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Spring Prediction Edition: Newbery / Caldecott 2021

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Today is my birthday! And what better way to celebrate than to discuss the prospects of various Newbery and Caldecott contenders, I ask of you? It's the gift I give myself. Now this year's first round of predictions varies somewhat from those of the past because (and you may have noticed this) I am releasing the list in April rather than March.

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Following the practice of the actual Newbery Committee, we will call for Suggestions once a month from March through August and share compiled results as we go. This will give us a growing list of titles recommended by other readers.

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June Suggestions are now closed, and at the almost-halfway-point, there's still a wide variety of votes submitted so far by Heavy Medal readers. Ten books have five or more suggestions; Twenty-one have just a single vote so far. Of the 51 books receiving suggestions, eight show up on the list for the first time. These are noted in red. Check out the full list below and we'll put out a call for more suggestions in early July!

About Steven Engelfried

Steven Engelfried is the Library Services Manager at the Wilsonville Public Library in Oregon. He served on the 2010 Newbery committee, chaired the 2013 Newbery Committee, and also served on the 2002 Caldecott committee. You can reach him at sengelfried@yahoo.com.

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Newbery Suggestions: Leaders through June

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June Suggestions are now closed, and at the almost-halfway-point, there's still a wide variety of votes submitted so far by Heavy Medal readers. Ten books have five or more suggestions; Twenty-one have just a single vote so far. Of the 51 books receiving suggestions, eight show up on the list for the first time.

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2020 Summer Reading List

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A Mighty Girl's 2020 Summer Reading List - Summer Reading List

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A Mighty Girl is the world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for parents, teachers, and others dedicated to raising smart, confident, and courageous girls.

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100 Favorite Middle Grade Book Titles of Ms. Behnke

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100 Favorite Middle Grade Book Titles of Ms. Behnke

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I wrote this blog post in 2016 on the occasion of Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday! It includes most of my favorites up until 2016. Maybe I need to add three more since Beverly Cleary is now 103!

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Today I join my fellow b loggers in "serving up a slice"

for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives. And then I got an idea to honor Beverly Cleary's birthday with a list of 100 middle grade books that I love. Only somehow this date crept up on me, and suddenly it was the day before Beverly's birthday, and I was in California at my sister's house. I got up extra early on Monday to read
Several weeks ago I started hearing mention of Beverly Cleary's upcoming 100th birthday. I quickly checked the calendar, "Wonderful! April 12th is a Tuesday. We'll have a celebration at our after school book club." Except that this week is our spring break.
"Okay, fine. I'll invite some grown-up friends over to share birthday cake and watch the Ramona movie that Karen gave me for Christmas several years ago." Except that's the day I'm flying home from my spring break trip visiting my sis in CA.
It's been challenging to create the list without walking the shelves of our middle school library, scanning my own bookshelves, or consulting the book I keep (at home) of books I've read. (Don't be surprised to see a few changes to the list after I return home on Tuesday.)
Ready Player One for my adult book club which meets on Wednesday evening. Except that before I knew it, I was jotting down favorite titles for my 100 MG Books I Love list to honor Beverly Clearly's 100th birthday. I refuse to put the books in order by preference. I love them all, and it's impossible to assign numbers to them. So they are arranged in alphabetical order by author's last name. I decided that I could only choose one book by a specific author. So know that while I may adore multiple books by an author, for this list I chose my favorite book by a specific author.

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Slice of Life: Beverly Cleary's 100th Birthday!

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Today I join my fellow b loggers in "serving up a slice" for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives. And then I got an idea to honor Beverly Cleary's birthday with a list of 100 middle grade books that I love.

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Booklist's 50 Best Middle-Grade Novels of the 21st Century

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Booklist's 50 Best Middle-Grade Novels of the 21st Century

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I've read 21 of these. How about you?

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Books for Tweens - King County Library System

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Books for Tweens by KCLSKidsGradeLevel - a staff-created list : Titles for preteen readers, grades 5 through 7.

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If you liked The War that Saved my Life and Echo . . .  more WWII books

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If you liked The War that Saved my Life and Echo . . .  more WWII books

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Kids are endlessly fascinated with books about World War II. Here are some recent releases to keep them reading. All descriptions come from Amazon.

Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier, Illustrated by Marc Lizano

In this gentle, poetic young graphic novel, Dounia, a grandmother, tells her granddaughter the story even her son has never heard: how, as a young Jewish girl in Paris, she was hidden away from the Nazis by a series of neighbors and friends who risked their lives to keep her alive when her parents had been taken to concentration camps.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada's twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn't waste a minute-she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan-and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose

At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. Naming their secret club after the fiery British leader, the young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage, infuriating the Germans, who eventually had the boys tracked down and arrested. But their efforts were not in vain: the boys' exploits and eventual imprisonment helped spark a full-blown Danish resistance. Interweaving his own narrative with the recollections of Knud himself, here is Phillip Hoose's inspiring story of these young war heroes.

Somewhere There Is Still a Sun: A Memoir of the Holocaust by Michael Gruenbaum

Michael "Misha" Gruenbaum enjoyed a carefree childhood playing games and taking walks through Prague with his beloved father. All of that changed forever when the Nazis invaded Prague. The Gruenbaum family was forced to move into the Jewish Ghetto in Prague. Then, after a devastating loss, Michael, his mother and sister were deported to the Terezin concentration camp.

At Terezin, Misha roomed with forty other boys who became like brothers to him. Life in Terezin was a bizarre, surreal balance-some days were filled with friendship and soccer matches, while others brought mortal terror as the boys waited to hear the names on each new list of who was being sent "to the East."

Those trains were going to Auschwitz. When the day came that his family's name appeared on a transport list, their survival called for a miracle-one that tied Michael's fate to a carefully sewn teddy bear, and to his mother's unshakeable determination to keep her children safe.

Lizzie and the Lost Baby by Cheryl Blackford (coming January 2016)

Cheryl Blackford's debut novel is set in England during World War II and told from the dual perspectives of ten-year-old Lizzie, a homesick girl evacuated from bomb-blitzed Hull to the remote Yorkshire valley, and Elijah, a local gypsy boy. When Lizzie discovers an abandoned baby, her dangerous friendship with Elijah is put to the test. Will Lizzie be able to find the baby's parents? And if she does, can she and Elijah remain friends in a world clouded by prejudice and fear?

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox (coming March 2016)

"Keep calm and carry on."

That's what Katherine Bateson's father told her, and that's what she's trying to do: when her father goes off to the war, when her mother sends Kat and her brother and sister away from London to escape the incessant bombing, even when the children arrive at Rookskill Castle, an ancient, crumbling manor on the misty Scottish highlands.

But it's hard to keep calm in the strange castle that seems haunted by ghosts or worse. What's making those terrifying screeches and groans at night? Why do the castle's walls seem to have a mind of their own? And why do people seem to mysteriously appear and disappear?

Kat believes she knows the answer: Lady Eleanor, who rules Rookskill Castle, is harboring a Nazi spy. But when her classmates begin to vanish, one by one, Kat must uncover the truth about what the castle actually harbors-and who Lady Eleanor really is-before it's too late.

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Fast Five (Plus Two): New Middle-Grade Set During WW II - Caroline Starr Rose

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Kids are endlessly fascinated with books about World War II. Here are some recent releases to keep them reading. All descriptions come from Amazon. Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier, Illustrated by Marc Lizano In this gentle, poetic young graphic novel, Dounia, a grandmother, tells her granddaughter the story even her ...

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Sometimes finding books for kids in the middle grades (4-9) can be tricky, especially if you're looking for well-written, engaging, stories that will make a deep and lasting impact. Check out these awesome recommendations from the experts on our WeAreTeachers Helpline.

"Teaches that family is not always about what you're born into. Takes a difficult look at adopting older children from overseas...the obstacles and the relentless love these moms have for their children. Makes even the toughest kid tear up. Great lessons that are oh-so-subtle." -Heidi S.

"Three best things: tons of Chicago references since it's set in a suburb; numerous strong male characters; Archer is a hilarious narrator. You'll love it!" -Katie R.

This is the first book in a series that tells the story of a young Afghan girl, Parvana, and the tragedies she and her family endure in a time of war. "Absolutely amazing!" -Corrine R.

A story of friendship told from the alternating viewpoints of a boy and his pet fox. "Oh my. This story broke my heart and then healed it too. A beautiful beautiful story." -Katie R.

11 year-old Reuben discovers an ornate box containing a beautiful antique watch. As he seeks to learn the origin and importance of the watch, Reuben discovers its power and the evil it can perpetuate. "Wonderful! The more I read the more I could not put this book down. As a librarian, I am always looking for books in just like this one."-Sandy L.

A poignant story of conflict, compassion, and personal accountability set in the post-world wars era. "Wolf Hollow is the kind of book where, with about 20 pages left to read, you start hoping there's a sequel because you don't want it to end." -Susan B.

Three vastly different girls find friendship and support as they maneuver through the difficulties of adolescence. DiCamilllo's characters are, as always, unforgettable.

Castle Crenshaw (Ghost) is a wicked fast runner. But he's not only running for sport, he's running away from his past and the anger he's got buried inside.
"It makes you care about a kid who keeps messing up over and over and over again." -Betsy C.

A fantastical tale about a girl who has a strange malady-a rare disorder that makes the words other people say about her appear on her body. "This story is poignant and fun and funny, and best of all, it's about kindness."-Victoria C.

A unique tale by a popular picture book author, The Wild Robot is a story about a robot surviving in the wilderness. "It's a powerful, but gently told, message about adoptive friends and family."-Jill P.

A fantastical story of witches, monsters and magic. "Wow. What a beautiful book and beautiful story. I read this out loud to my kids and they became as engrossed in it as I did."-Dena B.

A sweet story of connection and the disparities of life between two girls from different worlds. Touches on the theme of children of migrant workers. "A Handful of Stars is a heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship and a summer to remember."-Sarah L.

"Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid." This is particularly true for the main character of this story who struggles with dyslexia and her sense of self-worth. "Ally and her experiences will resonate with many children and teachers. A beautiful, hopeful story."-Donna L.

"How many times can you wish for something before it comes true? A great story of the true meaning of family, friendship, and love. I adored living and learning alongside Charlie as she battled through a difficult time in her life. Will definitely be recommending this one to my students!"-Sarah L.

Ellie has just started middle school and is feeling overwhelmed and lost. Then along comes her 70 year-old grandpa, who has developed a serum to reverse the aging process, and used it on himself, appearing in a 13-year old body. "I drank this book up, goldfish and all. I loved it. Funny, quirky, and beautiful. This would be a perfect read-aloud." -Liesl S.

What do you say teachers? Do you have any gems you would add to this list? Add them to the comments below.

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15 Life-Changing Middle Grade Books - WeAreTeachers

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Sometimes finding books for kids in the middle grades (4-9) can be tricky, especially if you're looking for well-written, engaging, stories that will make a deep and lasting impact. Check out these awesome recommendations from the experts on our WeAreTeachers Helpline. "Teaches that family is not always about what you're born into.

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Summer of 2020:

Summer of 2019:
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, my favorite!

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Summer of 2020:

Summer of 2019:
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Becoming by Michelle Obama
With the Fire on High
Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love edited by Caroline Tung Richmond & Elsie Chapman
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

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Blogger Literacious shares a few of the great titles published for middle grade readers (ages 8-12) that focus on true events.

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Middle grade titles are often my wheelhouse and although I don't read as much nonfiction as I should, I do love the books I have picked up. I've said it before - nonfiction titles are nothing like they used to be. I remember growing up reading dry facts with pen and ink illustrations about real-life people and events. But now, you'll see informative books filled with sidebars, photographs, and first-hand accounts which truly brings history to life. These are just a few of the great titles published for middle grade readers (ages 8-12) that focus on true events.

There are dozens of other books that could have equally been highlighted on this list, but if you find something you like, check to see what else the author has written. Many nonfiction authors are quite prolific and spend a lot of their time researching fascinating places, people, and events.

Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge

Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin by James L. Swanson

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story by Caren Stelson

Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow

A Storm Too Soon: A Remarkable True Survival Story in 80 Foot Seas by Michael J. Tougias

Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly by Deborah Noyes

Trapped by Marc Aronson

We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler by Russell Freedman

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy

The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found by Martin W. Sandler

I'm so excited to try something new this summer! I'm going to be highlighting nonfiction titles for a variety of age groups and in different styles. I plan on creating lists for different age groups - picture books, middle grade, and young adult. Plus, I'd like to take a look at format as well - books filled with facts, narrative non-fiction, and graphic novel format as well.

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Summer of Nonfiction: Middle Grade - Literacious

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Middle grade titles are often my wheelhouse and although I don't read as much nonfiction as I should, I do love the books I have picked up. I've said it before - nonfiction titles are nothing like they used to be. I remember growing up reading dry facts with pen and ink illustrations about real-life people and events.

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Summer of 2020:

Summer of 2019 :
Keeper of the Lost Cities
by Shannon Messenger
The Third Mushroom
by Jennifer L. Holm, sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

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Summer of 2020:
The Usual Suspects by Maurice Broaddus
The London Eye Mystery by
Siobhan Dowd

Summer of 2019:
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood - Young Readers' edition by Trevor Noah
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Young Readers' edition by Irin Carmon & Shahna Knizhnik

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Summer of 2020:

Summer of 2019:
Breakout by Kate Messner (she loved it!)
Books by Marissa Meyer - Lunar Chronicles, Renegade, Heartless

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Flyer for 2019 summer meetings - last summer when we could still meet in person!

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Flyer for 2019 summer meetings - last summer when we could still meet in person!

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We read Breakout by Kate Messner and
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
I've left the flyer here because it has some great books you might want to check out.

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Summer of 2020:

Summer of 2019:
Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (loved this latest book by a favorite author, her One for the Murphys is one of my all-time favorite books)

Breakout by Kate Messner  - Don't miss this unique take on summer from the viewpoints of three 8th graders, our book club pick for July

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman (one of this year's selections for Global Read Aloud for middle school/junior high)

The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, our book club pick for August, was full of adventure about four kids trying to survive in the Amazon after their plane crashes and the pilot dies.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga, a novel-in-verse

New Kid by Jerry Craft

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Summer of 2020
To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough