Becoming Naomi Leon
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: ALA Schneider Family Book Award; ALA Notable Children’s Book; Book Sense Book of the Year Honor Book; Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award; Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Book; Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year; CCBC Children’s Choice; NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the English Language Arts; IRA Notable Book for a Global Society; Americas Award
Website
Counting by 7s
Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publisher: Dial Books
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Autumn 2013 Kids’ Indie Next List; “Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers;” An Amazon Best Book of the Month Pick for Kids and Teens; Penguin/Dial Blue Ribbon Middle Reader Honoree at the ALA’s 2013 Summer Conference; 4 on the Indie Bound 2013 Fall Book Pick Top 10 Anticipated Releases; Buzz Book of 2013 by the BEA Book Expo America; Penguin Young ReadersGroup
Website
Far from the Tree
Author: Robin Benway
Publisher: HarperTeen
Recommended Age Group: 13 to 18
Awards: National Book Award Winner, 2017; PEN America Award Winner, 2018; A Junior Library Guild Selection; New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2017; ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults 2017; NPR Best Books of 2017; PBS’ Best Books of 2017; Entertainment Weekly Top Ten YA Books of the Year; B&N 25 Best YA Books of 2017; LA Times Best Books of 2017; PW Best Young Adult Books of 2017; Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Books of 2017; Boston Globe Best Young Adult Books of 2017; Buzzfeed Best Young Adult Books of 2017; Paste Magazine Best 30 Young Adult Books of 2017; Southern Living Magazine Best Children’s Books of 2017; Chicago Public Library’s Best Teen Fiction of 2017
Fish in a Tree
Author: Linda Mullaly Hunt
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Schneider Family Book Award; SCBWI Crystal Kite Winner; ALSC Notable Book, 2016; Global Read Aloud Choice, 2015; SLJ Best Book, 2015; Indie Best Book Choice; Amazon Best Book of the Month; Amazon Best Book of the Year (9-12), 2015; Barnes and Noble – Best Books about Bullying; SCBWI Summer Reading List, 2016; ALSC Summer Reading List, 2016; Great Stone Face Award Book (NH); North Carolina Battle of the Books, 2016-2017; Buckeye State Award List (OH), 2016-2017; William Allen White Award List (KS), 2017-2018; Audible.com (Amazon) Kids Audiobook of the Year
Website
Freak the Mighty
Author: Rodman Philbrick
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults; ALA Recommended Books for Reluctant Readers; Judy Lopez Honor Book; California Young Readers Medal Winner; Arizona Young Readers Medal Winner; Maryland Middle School Book Award; Nebraska Golden Sower Award; New York ‘Charlotte’s Web’ Award; Wyoming ‘Soaring Eagle Book Award’
Website
Home of the Brave
Author: Katherine Applegate
Publisher: Carolrhoda, Feiwel & Friends
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: 2008 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year; SLJ Best Books of the Year; Book Sense Children’s Pick; Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Choice Award; Indiana Young Hoosier Award; Texas Bluebonnet Award; Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award; Connecticut Nutmeg Children’s Book Award; Kansas William Allen White Award; Hawaii Nene Book Award
I Kill the Mockingbird: A Novel
Author: Paul Acampora
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Website
In Search of Mockingbird
Author: Loretta Ellsworth
Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: TAYSHAS Reading List, Texas Library Association, 2008-2009;
IRA Notable Book in Young Adult Fiction, 2008; Midwest Connections Spring/Summer Pick; Midwest Bookseller’s Choice Honor Award in Children’s Literature, 2007; New York Library’s List for the Teenage; Notable Book in Language Arts, 2008; Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
Website
Marcelo in the Real World
Author: Francisco X. Stork
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended Age Range: 12+
Awards: 2010 Schneider Family Book Award Winner; 2010 Texas Tayshas Reading List; New York Times Notable Children’s Books of 2009; NPR’s Best Young Adult Fiction of 2009; Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Children’s Fiction of 2009; Washington Post’s Best Kids Books of 2009
Website
One for the Murphys
Author: Linda Mullaly Hunt
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Bank Street Books Best Book; ABA New Voices Pick, 2012; ABA Summer Picks, 2013; Brooklyn Public Library-Next Best Kids’ Shelves; Connecticut State Librarians-Best Books of 2012; Boston Author’s Club Highly Recommended Book Award; A Mighty Girl Pick; Scholastic Book Clubs Editor’s Choice; Global Read Aloud Choice, 2014; Virginia Book of the Year Winner; Tassy Walden Award-Best New Voices in Children’s Literature Winner; ALSC Notable Children’s Books Discussion List; Andreson’s Mock Newbery Winner; Nerdy Book Award Winner, 2012; Maud Hart Lovelace (MN) Winner
Website
Ninth Ward
Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Master List (VT), 2011-2012; Notable Books for a Global Society, 2011; The Judy Lopez Memorial Award, 2011; Jane Addams Honor Book Award, 2011; School Library Journal Best Fiction, 2010; Al Roker “Today Show” Book Club Selection, 2010; Parent’s Choice Foundation Gold Award 2010; Coretta Scott King Honor Author Award, 2010; NNSTOY Social Justice Book List, 2017; A CCBC Recommended Multicultural Book for Children and Teens
Website
Out of My Mind
Author: Sharon Draper
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Bank Street Best Books of the Year; Black Eyed Susan Book Award (MD); Bluestem Book Award (IL); CCBC Choices; California Young Reader Medal; Choose to Read Ohio Booklist Selection; Colorado Children’s Book Award Master List; Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT); Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award (ND); Golden Sower Masterlist (NE); IRA Teachers’ Choices; IRA Young Adults’ Choices; Japan Sakura Award; Josette Frank Award (Bank Street); Kirkus Best Children’s Book; Land of Enchantment Children’s Book Award (NM); Maine Student Book Award Master List; Mark Twain Award (MO); Massachusetts Children’s Book Award; Maud Hart Lovelace Award Master List (MN); Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award (MN); Michigan Mitten Award Honor; NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts; Nene Award Master List (HI); Nevada Young Readers’ Award; North Carolina Children’s Book Award Master List; Nutmeg Children’s Book Award (CT); Parents’ Choice Award Silver Medal; Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award; Prairie Pasque Award (SD); Rebecca Caudill Award Master List (IL); Sasquatch Reading Award (WA); Sunshine State Young Reader’s Award; TX Triple Crown Lamplighter Award; Texas Bluebonnet Master List; Texas Lone Star Reading List; Utah Beehive Book Award Winner; Virginia Readers’ Choice Award; Volunteer State Book Award (TN); William Allen White Children’s Book Award Master List (KS); Young Hoosier Book Award (IN)
Website
See You in the Cosmos
Author: Jack Cheng
Publisher: Puffin Books, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Junior Library Guild selection; Winner, Golden Kite Award; Winner, Great Lakes Great Reads Award; Top 10 Kids’ IndieNext Pick; Amazon Best Children’s Books of 2017
Website
Small as an Elephant
Author: Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Publisher: Candlewick
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Maine Lupine Award; IRA Young Adults’ Choices List; VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers; Parents’ Choice Gold Award; The Horn Book Summer Reading List; Best Fiction for Young Adults; IndieBound Kids’ Next List; William Allen White Children’s Book Award Master List; Georgia Children’s Book Award List; Maine Student Book Award Master List; Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Master List
Website
Somebody on this Bus is Going to be Famous
Author: J.B. Cheaney
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection
Sorry You’re Lost
Author: Matt Blackstone
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Knopf
Recommended Age Range: 12+
Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults Winner, 2001; Arizona Young Readers Award Winner 2003; New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award Winner 2002; Texas Lone Star Reading List Winner 2001; Iowa Teen Book Award Winner, 2003; Kentucky Bluegrass Master List Winner 2002; Maine Student Book Master List Winner 2002; Indiana Young Hoosier Award
The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee
Author: Barry Jonsberg
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 13
The Thing About Jellyfish
Author: Ali Benjamin
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 13
Awards: Winner, E.B. White Read Aloud Award; National Book Award Finalist; Winner, Green Earth Award; Best of 2015-Booklist Editors’ Choice; New York Public Library’s 100 Notable Titles for Reading and Sharing (Children’s Books); NPR’s Great Reads of 2015 (Staff Picks, Book Club Ideas, Kids’ Books, Realistic Fiction); TIME’s #4 of Top 10 YA & Children’s Books; School Library Journal Best of 2015; Publisher’s Weekly Best of 2015; New York Times Notable Book; #1 on IndieNext Kids’ Top Ten List, Fall 2015; Amazon.com Editor’s Pick: “Fall Favorites, 2015,” and “20 Best Children’s Books of 2015;” Selected for 2015 BEA’s Editors’ Buzz Panel, and named a BEA “Early Favorite for Young Readers;” Listed as “hot, new YA” selection in Entertainment Weekly; Named a “Top Ten First Novel” by Booklist; Junior Library Guild, Fall 2015 Selection; Literary Hub, The Great Booksellers Fall Preview Selection
Website
Unhooking the Moon
Author: Gregory Hughes
Publisher: Quercus
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 13
Awards: An Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Month, October 2013; Booktrust Teenage Prize Winner; The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize Finalist
What I Came to Tell You
Author: Tommy Hays
Publisher: Egmont USA (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: 2014 VOYA Top Shelf Pick for Fiction for Middle School Readers; Fall 2013 Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance; Selected for the American Booksellers Association’s 2014 ABC Best Books for Children Catalog
When Friendship Followed Me Home
Author: Paul Griffin
Publisher: Dial Books
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice; A People Magazine Popular Pick; Best Books Summer 2016, Publishers Weekly; Amazon Best Beach Reads; Amazon Editors Pick; A Summer 2016 Kids’ Indie Next Pick; A Junior Library Guild Selection, Fall 2016; Working Mother Magazine’s #1 Best Book of the Year So Far; Earphones Award Winner; Book Expo America 2016 Buzz; Amazon’s Best So Far; School Library Journal Great Titles for Middle Readers; Barnes and Noble Kids Blog Pick; Dorothy Canfield Fisher; Keystone State; Great Stone Face Book Award; Rhode Island Middle Grade Book Award; Maryland Black-Eyed Susan State Master List; Missouri Mark Twain State Master List; Nebraska Golden Sower State Master List; Indiana Young Hoosier Master List