Let Me Fix That for You


Janice Erlbaum - 2019
    From her table at the back of the cafeteria, Glad arranges favors for her classmates in exchange for their friendship. She solves every problem, handles every situation, and saves every butt.But the jobs keep getting harder, and when Glad decides the problem that most needs fixing is her parents' relationship, she finds herself in way over her head. She'll have to call in all her favors and use all her skills to help the person who most needs it--herself.

Dear Student


Elly Swartz - 2022
    Uncertain and anxious, she struggles to connect with her new classmates. The two potential friends she meets could not be more different: bold Logan who has big ideas and quiet Cooper who's a bit mysterious. But Autumn has a dilemma: what do you do when the new friends you make don't like each other?When Autumn is picked to be the secret voice of the Dear Student letters in the Hillview newspaper, she finds herself smack in the middle of a problem with Logan and Cooper on opposite sides. But before Autumn can figure out what to do, the unthinkable happens. Her secret identity as Dear Student is threatened. Now, it's time for Autumn to find her voice, her courage, and follow her heart, even when it's divided.

Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw


Gina Loveless - 2020
    Robin refuses to be pushed around, but all she can think about is winning back her best friend, Mary Ann, after a disastrous fallout over the summer. To do so, she will have to stand up to Nadia, face the wrath of Assistant Principal Johnson, and become a legendary outlaw at Nottingham Elementary—all while forming a merry band of new friends along the way.

The Kate in Between


Claire Swinarski - 2021
    Something to hit refresh and erase the pain of her mother leaving town without her. So when a group of popular girls folds Kate into their clique, it feels like the answer to all her problems—even if it means ditching Haddie, her childhood bestie.But when Kate’s new friends decide that Haddie is their next target, Kate becomes a passive participant in a cruel incident that could have killed Haddie…had Kate not stepped in, at the last minute, and saved her. The next day, a cell phone video of the rescue goes viral, and Kate is hailed a hero. But Kate knows the truth—she was part of the problem—and it’s only a matter of time until the full version of the video is released and everyone knows it too.With so much at stake, Kate must decide who she wants to be: a liar, a follower, or someone greater.

Dirt


Denise Gosliner Orenstein - 2017
    Her mother died and her father has sunk into sadness. She doesn't have a friend to her name . . . except for Dirt, the Shetland pony next door. Dirt has problems of his own. He's overweight, he's always in trouble, and his owner is the mean Miss Enid, who doesn't have the patience for a pony's natural curiosity. His only friend is Yonder, the scrawny girl next door. So when Miss Enid makes the cruel decision to sell Dirt for horsemeat, Yonder knows she has to find a way to rescue him. Even if that means stealing Dirt away and sneaking him into her own house. What follows will make you worry, will make you cry, and will ultimately fill you with hope, love, and an unshakable belief in the power of friendship. Especially the four-legged kind.

Long Road to the Circus


Betsy Bird - 2021
    When her wayward uncle moves back home to the farm, only to skip his chores every morning for mysterious reasons, Suzy decides to find out what he's up to once and for all. And that's when she meets legendary former circus queen Madame Marantette and her ostriches. Before long, Suzy finds herself caught-up in the fast-paced, wild world of ostrich riding, that just might be her ticket out of Burr Oak.

Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution


Judith Heumann - 2021
    Paralyzed from polio and raised by her Holocaust-surviving parents in New York City, Judy had a drive for equality that was instilled early in life.In this young readers' edition of her acclaimed memoir, Being Heumann, Judy shares her journey of battling for equal access in an unequal world--from fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" because of her wheelchair, to suing the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license because of her disability. Judy went on to lead 150 disabled people in the longest sit-in protest in US history at the San Francisco Federal Building. Cut off from the outside world, the group slept on office floors, faced down bomb threats, and risked their lives to win the world's attention and the first civil rights legislation for disabled people.Judy's bravery, persistence, and signature rebellious streak will speak to every person fighting to belong and fighting for social justice.

The Good War


Todd Strasser - 2021
    Peterson is starting a video game club where the students will playing The Good War, a new game based on World War II.They are divided into two teams: Axis and Allies, and they will be simulating a war they know nothing about yet. Only one team will win. But what starts out as friendly competition, takes an unexpected turn for the worst when an one player takes the game too far.Can an afterschool club change the way the students see eachother...and how they see the world?By using a gaming lens to explore the students' entr�e to prejudice and radicalization, he succeeds in lending immediacy and accessibility to his cautionary tale.--Kirkus Reviews

Field Tripped


Allan Woodrow - 2018
    Legend has it, there are some undiscovered inventions hidden in the house. The students are eager to find them, and they convince Principal Klein to let them out of writing their essay on Minks if they do. But as Aaron, Eddie, Jessie, and Chloe explore the Minks Mansion, it seems like something strange is going on. Like the adults are missing and someone might be stealing the inventions. But in order to save the inventions and their teachers, the kids might just have to pull some serious pranks to stop the bad guys. Even if it means risking a lifetime of detention.Can the fifth graders save their field trip and the mansion . . . or will this be the last field trip ever in school history?

Brawler


Neil Connelly - 2019
    His future is bright with scholarship offers and the dream of helping his struggling mom. But then comes a fateful match at the state championship, when his famous rage consumes him and he assaults a referee. In an instant, Mac loses all he and his mom have worked to build since his abusive father was locked up years ago.Facing arrest, Mac runs away to another town, where he is taken in by a shady promoter who has followed his career. He recruits Mac into Brawlers, an illegal underground fighting ring run by a gangland boss. This is a bloodsport that has no rules . . . but offers plenty of reward. Mac teams up with Khajee, a girl with the fighting skills he'll need to learn to survive . . . and her own dark past tying her to the head of the ring. Together the two must figure out their place in a world that hasn't been kind to them . . . and forge a future that could be.

Pacey Packer: Unicorn Tracker


J.C. Phillipps - 2020
    . . some kind of weird magical unicorn land? Pacey may not believe in unicorns, but she's not about to let her little sister be kidnapped, so she does the only thing she can: follows them to unicorn land (that she totally does NOT believe in). And for the record, it's NOTHING like the stories. First off, what's up with Slasher's attitude? It's not Pacey's fault he's trapped in a ridiculous stuffed body. And that Alpha Unicorn guy? NOT. Nice. Pacey will just be grabbing Mina and taking her home, thankyouverymuch . . . that is, if she can work with the grumpiest unicorn stuffy ever to outsmart the Evil Alpha Unicorn and find the way out--preferably without stepping on any poisonous killer flowers. (WHAT IS WITH THIS PLACE ANYWAY?!)

We Are Party People


Leslie Margolis - 2017
    When Pixie's mom has to go away to support her ailing grandmother, it falls on Pixie to help out with the family business and step into the spotlight—and mermaid costume—her worst nightmare. Along the way she learns important life lessons, like maybe her family isn't so bad after all and that stepping out of her comfort zone might not be as scary as she thought. With a little help from her friends, she discovers her courage and faces her fears.

Oddity


Sarah Cannon - 2017
    But things haven't been the same since her twin sister, Pearl, won the town's yearly Sweepstakes and disappeared . . .Along with her best friend, Raymond, and new-kid-from-Chicago Cayden (who's inability to accept being locked in the gym with live leopards is honestly quite laughable), Ada leads a self-given quest to discover Oddity's secrets, even evading the invisible Blurmonster terrorizing the outskirts of town.But one of their missions goes sideways, revealing something hinky with the Sweepstakes . . . and Ada can't let it go. Because, if the Sweepstakes is bad, then what happened to Pearl?Join a tough eleven-year-old as she faces down zombie rabbits, alien mobs, and Puppet Cartels while trying to find her missing twin in Sarah Cannon's imaginative middle-grade debut, Oddity.

Potter's Boy


Tony Mitton - 2017
    After witnessing a lone warrior scare bandits away from his village, Ryo sets his heart on training to become a hero.Setting out on a journey to find his way in the world, his encounters with the people he meets leads him to a true understanding of what it means to follow his dreams.

Cinnamon Moon


Tess Hilmo - 2016
    Twelve-year-old Ailis and her younger brother, Quinn, survive, but their family does not. Ailis and Quinn are taken by a family acquaintance to live in a boarding house in Chicago, where they meet six-year-old Nettie, an orphan displaced by Chicago's fire. But the woman who runs the boarding house makes their lives miserable, and Ailis vows to find a way for the three of them to leave. Ailis finds a job at a millinery shop and Quinn plays his fiddle on the streets so they can save money. Then Nettie disappears, and Ailis and Quinn discover she's been kidnapped by a group that forces children to work in the sewers killing rats. Can they find a way to rescue her?