Tween Reads

Discover recent releases for tweens.
Updated February 27, 2026
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Candle Island
Lauren Wolk
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
Katherine Rundell
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * THE SECOND BOOK IN THE LANDMARK NEW FANTASY SERIES THAT BEGAN WITH IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES "Rundell is back with a sequel . . . which offers magical thrills for young readers and adults alike."--The New York Times
The Cartoonists Club: A Graphic Novel
Raina Telgemeier
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
Kate Messner
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
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
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
Jen Calonita
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,...
Into the Rapids
Ann Braden
Paper Book
Sometimes even a girl who likes to rely only on herself needs to be brave enough to ask for help. When a super-storm hits Addy's remote mountain town, knocking out the bridge and cutting her home off from the main road, she worries that she won't be able to get to the survival...
Free Piano (Not Haunted)
Whitney Gardner
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
Jamie Sumner
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...
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
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
Jules Bakes
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...
Speechless: A Graphic Novel
Aron Nels Steinke
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...
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...
Another
Paul Tremblay
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
Renée Watson
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...
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 Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez
Jasminne Paulino
A powerful debut novel in verse about a neurodivergent seventh grader who dreams of traveling to the stars one day. A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year "This story is about a boy who is certain of his own magic in the midst of the doubtful adults...
The talk : conversations about race, love & truth
Hudson, Wade
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...
Return to Sender: A Novel
Vera Brosgol
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...
Return of the thief
Turner, Megan Whalen
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...
The Court of the Dead
Rick Riordan
New York Times #1 best-selling authors Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro collaborate again on a new adventure in which Nico di Angelo teams up with his half-sister Hazel Levesque to protect . . . monsters? A few months after returning from the depths of Tartarus, demigods Nico...
The Moon Without Stars
Chanel Miller
Right Back at You
Carolyn Mackler
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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