Age Level

Sickly 12-year-old Triss wakes up after an accident with a fuzzy memory and an insatiable hunger. Once she encounters talking dolls, fairies, and letters from her dead brother, who was a casualty of World War I, she soon realizes that there are darker forces at work trying to destroy her family. A creepy tour de force, Hardinge’s novel is a rich and atmospheric exploration of identity, family, grief, and loss.

Originally from the Philippines and living in Louisiana, Apple sees the personal traits that set her apart as a deep source of shame. Convinced that her first-generation immigrant mother will never understand her, the girl yearns to play the guitar in order to forge a connection to her now-deceased Beatles-loving father. Kelly has created an authentic tween voice with Apple, whose hope, determination, and passion let her soar.

Bridge finds herself growing apart from her best friends, Sherm writes letters to a now-absent grandfather whom he desperately misses, and, unable to face a day at school, an unnamed girl roams the streets. Displaying an intuitive understanding of the fraught period between childhood and adolescence, Stead deftly blends multiple threads and perspectives to tell a quirky and tender coming-of-age story laced with themes of gender, identity, loss, and the complexity of friendship.

Daughter of a military man and a waitress, Ally has moved seven times in seven years—allowing her learning disability to go undiagnosed as her self-esteem plummets. She simply considers herself too dumb to learn and hides her inability to read by getting into trouble. In walks Mr. Daniels, a teacher who finally sees beyond her bristly bravado and offers her empowerment. A nuanced portrayal that hums with middle grade authenticity and brims with heart.

Unable to accept that her best friend Franny drowned, Suzy determines to find a rational, scientific explanation for this devastating loss. She sets her mind on the deadly Irukandji jellyfish and contacts a scientist on the other side of the world to help prove her theory. Through flashbacks, readers learn about the last few months of Suzy’s relationship with Franny and the overwhelming guilt she cannot face. A potent exploration of grief and resilience.

In this follow-up to One Crazy Summer (2010) and P.S. Be Eleven (2013), the intrepid Gaither sisters travel from their home in Brooklyn to visit their relatives in rural Alabama. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern become embroiled in family drama and end up taking sides in the divisive dynamics. Yet when a natural disaster occurs, several generations of relatives pull together, and Delphine learns a bit about mercy and the true meaning of sisterhood.

During a hockey game, Trent accidentally hits a boy with an undiagnosed heart defect in the chest with the puck, killing him. Written off as a troublemaker, Trent is an understandably angry kid, but when he meets Fallon, a girl with a scarred face, he begins to open up. With genuine characters, relatable—often painfully so—family dynamics, and a tender portrayal of burgeoning friendship, this is a heartrending yet hopeful tale.

An anxious tween with a new baby brother begins dreaming about otherworldly wasps. As the real and surreal begin to blur, the Queen makes a stunning offer: she can take away the sickly baby, who suffers from a congenital condition, and replace it with a perfect changeling. A suffocating sense of dread pervades this deeply layered psychological thriller, as the boy’s nightmares leach into his daily life.

Melissa is like many other fourth-grade girls; she loves fashion magazines, experimenting with hairstyles, and talking with her best friend. But the outside world sees her as the gender to which she was born, not the one with which she identifies; they see her as George. Nailing the younger middle grade voice, Gino offers a straightforward and authentic story, crafting a character whose universal need for recognition and acceptance will be embraced by all readers.