Tween Reads

Discover recent releases for tweens.
Updated February 27, 2026
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Candle Island
Wolk, Lauren
Paper Book
A moving portrait of loss and the restorative power of art from Lauren Wolk, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Beyond the Bright Sea. Lucretia Sanderson has a secret. Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine (Population: Summer,...
The poisoned king
Rundell, Katherine
Paper Book
'Katherine Rundell returns with a perfect fantasy' Telegraph ** BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS' AWARD WINNER ** The unmissable new story in the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling Impossible Creatures series, for fans of Philip Pullman, Percy Jackson and...
The Cartoonists Club
Telgemeier, Raina
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestselling cartoonists Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud team up for a one-of-a-kind friendship story about creativity and self-expression that blends how-to and comics magic. Welcome to the club! Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn't know how to make...
The trouble with heroes
Messner, Kate
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! A USA Today bestseller! Read with Jenna Jr. Summer Reading List Pick! "Genuinely moving." --The New York Times Book Review "Explores the healing power of...
Out of my heart
Draper, Sharon M.
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! Melody faces her fears to follow her passion in this stunning sequel to the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling middle grade novel Out of My Mind. Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is...
Starfish
Fipps, Lisa
Paper Book
A PRINTZ HONOR BOOK . Ellie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this poignant novel-in-verse. "In her debut novel, Starfish, Lisa Fipps confronts diet culture and fat phobia head-on. . . . The book reads as if Ellie herself is writing these poems, which...
Stamped (for kids) : racism, antiracism, and you
Cherry-Paul, Sonja
Paper Book
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER This chapter book edition of the groundbreaking #1 bestseller by luminaries Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds is an essential introduction to the history of racism and antiracism in America  
Isle of ever
Calonita, Jen
Paper Book
Winner of a 2025 Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Books Award! A New York Times Bestseller Read with Jenna Jr. Summer Reading List Pick! "[An] atmospheric fantasy ride."--Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW "Fast-paced and satisfying."--School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW...
Pony
Palacio, R. J.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL "Perfection." -The Wall Street Journal The bestselling author of Wonder returns with an enthralling adventure about a boy...
Free Piano (Not Haunted)
Gardner, Whitney.
Paper Book
From beloved graphic novelist Whitney Gardner comes a big-hearted, touching, and spooky coming-of-age story about a young aspiring songwriter who forms a ghostly partnership with the pop star who haunts her secondhand piano. The piano is free, but fame has a price. ...
Please pay attention
Sumner, Jamie
Paper Book
Three starred reviews! A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn't built for her in this "intimate, lyrical" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel in verse from Jamie Sumner, the...
From the desk of Zoe Washington
Marks, Janae
Paper Book
#1 Kids Indie Next List * Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of the Year * SLJ Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Best Book of the Year * Junior Library Guild Selection * Edgar Award Nominee * Four Starred Reviews * Bank Street Best...
Sea legs
Bakes, Jules
Paper Book
Set sail for adventure! Dive in to this hilarious and moving middle grade graphic memoir about friendship, growing up, and life at sea. Janey's family is about to set sail for the adventure of a lifetime! The only problem? Janey must leave her school, her life, her best friend, the entire...
This is our rainbow : 16 stories of her, him, them, and us
Locke, Katherine
Paper Book
The first LGBTQA+ anthology for middle-graders featuring stories for every letter of the acronym, including realistic, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by authors like Justina Ireland, Marieke Nijkamp, Alex Gino, and more! A boyband fandom becomes a conduit to coming out. A former...
Speechless
Steinke, Aron Nels
Paper Book
From Eisner Award-winning author Aron Nels Steinke comes a heartfelt and funny middle-grade graphic novel about friendship, anxiety, and expressing yourself. Middle school was supposed to be a fresh start for Mira, who struggles to speak in class even though she can speak at home...
Vanya and the wild hunt
Mandanna, Sangu
Paper Book
Sangu Mandanna's magical adventure series begins with Vanya and the Wild Hunt, with stunning illustrated by Kristina Kister. Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan, A. F. Steadman and Pari Thomson. Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen can talk to books. But more importantly, the books talk back.When her family is...
Paradise on fire
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Paper Book
'Addy is a heroine any reader might aspire to be, a teenager who learns to trust her own voice and instincts, who realizes that fire can live within someone, too' - New York Times WINNER OF THE GREEN EARTH BOOK AWARD From award-winning and bestselling...
Another
Tremblay, Paul
Paper Book
The bone-chilling, instantly New York Times bestselling tale of an unsettling, unbreakable friendship--from acclaimed horror author Paul Tremblay. "All the questions we ask as kids about who we are and what we're worth take a terrifying turn in this spooky tale of a...
All the blues in the sky
Watson, Renée
Paper Book
Winner of the Newbery Medal A New York Times bestseller | A USA Today bestseller | A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year | A Kirkus Best Book of the Year | A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year | A Chicago Public Library...
Rise up! : how you can join the fight against White supremacy
Fleming, Crystal Marie
Paper Book
This urgent book explores the roots of racism and its legacy in modern day, all while empowering young people with actionable ways they can help foster a better world and become antiracists. Why are white supremacists still openly marching in the United States? Why are...
The strongest heart
Faruqi, Saadia
Paper Book
A Schneider Family Book Award Honoree From beloved middle grade author Saadia Faruqi comes a poignant exploration of the impact of mental illness on families--and the love and hope that it takes to begin telling a different tale. Mo is used to his father's fits of rage. When Abbu's...
Attack of the black rectangles
King, A. S.
Paper Book
Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write. When Mac first opens his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends...
Bye forever, I guess
Meadows, Jodi
Paper Book
Can a guarded gamer girl lower her shield for a new friend... or more-than-friend? "EARNEST AND LAUGH-OUT-LOUD... PITCH PERFECT."--Publishers Weekly, starred review Thirteen-year-old Ingrid's been living a double life. At school, she's her popular...
Uncomfortable conversations with a black boy
Acho, Emmanuel
Paper Book
"What terms are acceptable now to refer to black people and why has that changed over time?" "If the N word is such a bad word, why do my black friends use it all the time?" "How has systemic racism gotten so out of hand and how did it start?" In...
Return to sender
Brosgol, Vera
Paper Book
*An Instant New York Times Bestseller* Magic, mystery, and a marvelous mailbox take two kids on an incredible journey in this middle grade adventure novel from bestselling comics creator Vera Brosgol. Perfect for fans of Greenwild and The Lost...
The only black girls in town
Colbert, Brandy
Paper Book
From award-winning YA author Brandy Colbert comes a debut middle-grade novel about the only two Black girls in town who discover a collection of hidden journals revealing shocking secrets of the past. Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only Black girl in town...
Graciela in the abyss
Medina, Meg
Paper Book
"A thrilling, action-packed journey filled with heart, bravery, and ghostly exploits." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A sea ghost, a mortal boy, and a dangerous enchanted harpoon . . . A Newbery Medalist takes us far beneath the waves in this extraordinary foray into...
Yusuf Azeem is not a hero
Faruqi, Saadia
Paper Book
At a time when we are all asking questions about identity, grief, and how to stand up for what is right, this book by the author of A Thousand Questions will hit home with young readers who love Hena Khan and Varian Johnson--or anyone struggling to understand recent U.S. history and...
Return of the thief
Turner, Megan Whalen
Paper Book
"A bravura performance by one of our finest writers."--The Horn Book (starred review) "This series finale has everything readers could hope for from a conclusion 20 years in the making."-- School Library Journal (starred review) The thrilling, twenty-years-in-the-making...
What is Black Lives Matter?
Wilson, Lakita
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling series comes the latest title in the Who HQ Now format for trending topics. It tells the history of a political and social movement that advocates for non-violent civil disobedience and protests against incidents of police brutality--and all racially...
The court of the dead
Riordan, Rick
Paper Book
A BRAND-NEW ADVENTURE FROM THE WORLD OF PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS From #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan and award-winning author Mark Oshiro comes a new adventure featuring two of the most popular characters from the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Defiant : growing up in the Jim Crow South
Hudson, Wade
Paper Book
In Defiant, Wade Hudson, award-winning coeditor of The Talk and Recognize!, takes a critical look at the strides and struggles of the past in this revelatory and moving memoir about a young Black man growing up in the South during the heart of the civil rights movement....
Right back at you
Mackler, Carolyn
Paper Book
From the award-winning, bestselling author of Not If I Can Help It, a story about reaching across time to find the support you need against bullies, bad friends, and antisemitism. Mason lives in 2023. His parents have just split up, and there's a guy at school who won't get off his...
The night diary
Hiranandani, Veera
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR BOOK . A poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of India's partition-and of one girl's journey to find a new home in a divided country. " The Night Diary is a sensitive portrayal of the universal search for identity and the need for a place to call home....
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