Tween Reads

Discover recent releases for tweens.
Updated November 3, 2024
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Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You
Jason Reynolds
Paper Book
RACE. Uh-oh. The R-word. But actually talking about race is one of the most important things to learn how to do. Adapted from the award-winning, bestselling Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, this book takes readers on a journey from present to past and...
Out of My Heart
Sharon M. Draper
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
Lisa Fipps
Paper Book
A Printz Honor winner! Ellie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this poignant debut novel-in-verse. Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she...
Pony
R. J. Palacio
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...
Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life
Wade Hudson
Paper Book
In the stunning follow-up to The Talk- Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, award-winning Black authors and artists come together to create a moving anthology collection celebrating Black love, Black creativity, Black resistance, and Black life. "A multifaceted,...
From the Desk of Zoe Washington
Janae Marks
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...
This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us
Katherine Locke
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...
And Then, Boom!
Lisa Fipps
Paper Book
A gripping new novel in verse by the author of the Printz Honor-winning Starfish, featuring a poverty-stricken boy who bravely rides out all the storms life keeps throwing at him Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground. His mom can't be depended on as she never stays...
Paradise on Fire
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Paper Book
From award-winning and bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.​   Addy is haunted by the tragic fire that killed her parents, leaving her to be raised by her...
Rise Up!: How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy
Crystal Marie Fleming
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...
Attack of the Black Rectangles
A. S. King
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...
The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love, and Truth
Wade Hudson
Paper Book
Thirty diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators invite you intotheir homes to witnesstheconversationsthey have withtheir children about race in America today in this powerful call-to-action that invites all families to be anti-racists and advocates for change. "Project s love...
The Only Black Girls in Town
Brandy Colbert
Paper Book
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 she can't understand. When the Bed and Breakfast next door finally finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the...
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy
Emmanuel Acho
Paper Book
Adapted from Emmanuel Acho's New York Times bestseller Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, comes an essential young readers edition aimed at opening a dialogue about systemic racism with our youngest generation. Young people have the power to affect...
Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero
Saadia Faruqi
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...
The Last Rhee Witch
Jenna Lee-Yun
Paper Book
For fans of The Last Fallen Star, Witchlings, and Ghost Squad, a heartfelt middle grade debut where Korean folklore is all too real and summer camp includes a gwishin haunting. You couldn't hold onto everything and everyone. You had to choose....
What Is Black Lives Matter?
Lakita Wilson
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...
Return of the Thief
Megan Whalen Turner
Paper Book
The thrilling, twenty-years-in-the-making conclusion to the New York Times-bestselling Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. The epic novels set in the world of the Queen's Thief can be read in any order. This beloved and award-winning series began with the acclaimed novel...
Mid-Air
Alicia D. Williams
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award A tender-souled boy reeling from the death of his best friend struggles to fit into a world that wants him to grow up tough and unfeeling in this stunning illustrated middle grade novel in verse "full of vulnerability and hope" (...
Charlie Thorne and the Royal Society
Stuart Gibbs
Paper Book
In the fourth installment of the New York Times bestselling Charlie Thorne series--which #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Grabenstein called "a real page-burner"--Charlie searches for Isaac Newton's secret treasure across Europe and Australia.
The Night Diary
Veera Hiranandani
Paper Book
A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK "A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults." -Kirkus, starred review In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a...
Made in Asian America: A History for Young People
Erika Lee
Paper Book
From three-time Newbery Honoree Christina Soontornvat and award-winning historian Erika Lee comes a middle grade nonfiction that shines a light on the generations of Asian Americans who have transformed the United States and who continue to shape what it means to be American. ...
A Mighty Long Way (Adapted for Young Readers): My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School
Lanier Walls, Carlotta
Paper Book
Follow the story of Carlotta Walls LaNier, who in 1957 at the age of fourteen was one of nine black students who integrated the all-white Little Rock Central High School and became known as the Little Rock Nine. At fourteen years old, Carlotta Walls was the youngest member of the...
The Girl and the Ghost
Hanna Alkaf
Paper Book
* Chosen as a 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist for Young Readers' Literature! * A Malaysian folk tale comes to life in this emotionally layered, chilling middle grade debut, perfect for fans of The Book of Boy and The Jumbies. I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly....
Traitors Among Us
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Paper Book
World War II may be over. But two sisters are far from safe. Inspired by true events, this is the latest gripping and powerful novel from the acclaimed author of Making Bombs for Hitler. Sisters Krystia and Maria have been through the worst -- or so they think....
All is Nat Lost: A Graphic Novel (Nat Enough #5)
Maria Scrivan
Paper Book
The fifth book in the New York Times bestselling series that began with Nat Enough! Nat's class trip is a bigger adventure than she imagined! Nat is on an overnight class trip to Philadelphia, which is her first time in a big city without her parents. And it's a big...
Bridge of Souls
V.E. Schwab
Paper Book
Victoria ("V. E.") Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, invites readers to haunted New Orleans in this third installment of her thrillingly spooky City of Ghosts series! Where there are ghosts, Cassidy Blake follows . . . ...
In the Key of Us
Mariama J. Lockington
Paper Book
STONEWALL HONOR BOOK ● From the author of the critically acclaimed novel For Black Girls Like Me and the Schneider Family Book Award Winner Forever Is Now, comes a coming-of-age story surrounding the losses that threaten to break us and the friendships that make us...
Not If You Break Up with Me First
G F Miller
Paper Book
Two friends who have unhappily found themselves accidentally dating try to drive the other one to call things off in this witty and heartfelt middle school romance. Childhood friends Eve and Andrew are destined to be together--everyone says so, especially their friends and...
First Test (Graphic Novel)
Tamora Pierce
Paper Book
This eagerly awaited graphic novel adaptation of the iconic fantasy novel First Test reimagines the classic knight's tale, but with a twist. In a world not quite ready for her ambition, a determined girl seeks knighthood and finds herself on a mission to prove it. Keladry...
Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown
Steve Sheinkin
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Steve Sheinkin presents a follow up to his award-winning book Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, taking readers on a terrifying journey into the Cold War and our mutual...
The First State of Being
Erin Entrada Kelly
Paper Book
A FINALIST FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD When twelve-year-old Michael Rosario meets a mysterious boy from the future, his life is changed forever. From bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly, winner of the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space, this...
Rabbit Chase
Elizabeth LaPensée
Paper Book
Anishinaabe culture and storytelling meet Alice in Wonderland in this coming-of-age graphic novel that explores Indigenous and gender issues through a fresh yet familiar looking glass. Aimée, a non-binary Anishinaabe middle-schooler, is on a class trip to offer gifts to ...
African Town
Charles Waters
Paper Book
Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning novel-in-verse. In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria...
Like a Hurricane
Jonathan Bécotte
Paper Book
★"Immediately takes one's breath away with its poetry and power...Deeply affecting. An ideal tool to illustrate poetic elements or emphasize stories of sharing scary yet necessary truths."--School Library Journal, starred review A young teen's secret is tearing him apart. He...
Ambushed!: The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield
Gail Jarrow
Paper Book
Winner of the 2022 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award This thrilling title for young readers blends science, history, and medical mysteries to tell the story of the assassination and ultimately horrible death of President James Garfield. James...
Efren Divided
Ernesto Cisneros
Paper Book
Winner of the Pura Belpré Award! "We need books to break open our hearts, so that we might feel more deeply, so that we might be more human in these unkind times. This is a book doing work of the spirit in a time of darkness." --Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on...
Tunnel of Bones
V.E. Schwab
Paper Book
The thrilling sequel to Victoria Schwab's New York Times bestselling City of Ghosts!Trouble is haunting Cassidy Blake . . . even more than usual.She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) are in Paris, where Cass's parents are filming their TV show about the world's most...
Noah Frye Gets Crushed
Maggie Horne
Paper Book
In this cute and queer contemporary middle grade comedy about friendship, first crushes, and first kisses, twelve-year-old Noah Frye comes up with a foolproof plan to teach herself how to have a crush on a boy to fit in better with her friends--only to discover she's been looking in the wrong...
Dress Coded
Carrie Firestone
Paper Book
In this inspiring novel about girls using their collective power to improve their lives, an eighth grader starts a podcast to protest the unfair dress code enforcement at her middle school-and sparks a rebellion. "A much-needed reminder that certain fights are worth fighting, that...
And We Rise
Erica Martin
Paper Book
*"A powerful, necessary book." SLJ, starred review A powerful, impactful, eye-opening journey that explores through the Civil Rights Movement in 1950s-1960s America in spare and evocative verse, with historical photos interspersed throughout. In stunning verse...
This Is Your Brain on Stereotypes: How Science Is Tackling Unconscious Bias
Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Paper Book
From the time we're babies, our brains constantly sort and label the world around us - a skill that's crucial for our survival. But, as adolescents are all too aware, there's a tremendous downside: when we do this to groups of people it can cause great harm. Here's a comprehensive introduction to...
Moonwalking
Zetta Elliott
Paper Book
"This novel in verse, alternately narrated by two boys in 1980s Greenpoint, Brooklyn, one channeled by Elliott and one by Miller-Lachmann, eloquently tackles race, culture and life on the spectrum." -- The New York Times For fans of Jason Reynolds and Jacqueline Woodson,...
Troublemaker
John Cho
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestselller! An Indiebound bestseller! 12-year-old Jordan feels like he can't live up to the example his older sister set, or his parent's expectations. When he returns home from school one day hoping to hide his suspension, Los Angeles...
White Bird: A Wonder Story (A Graphic Novel)
R. J. Palacio
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture, starring Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson! R. J. Palacio's unforgettable graphic novel debut is a story about the power of kindness and unrelenting courage in a time of war. SYDNEY TAYLOR AWARD WINNER * A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR...
When Stars Are Scattered
Victoria Jamieson
Paper Book
A National Book Award Finalist, this remarkable graphic novel is about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a former Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl. Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab,...
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