American as Paneer Pie


Supriya Kelkar - 2020
    When a girl Lekha’s age moves in across the street, Lekha is excited to hear that her name is Avantika and she’s Desi, too! Finally, there will be someone else around who gets it. But as soon as Avantika speaks, Lekha realizes she has an accent. She’s new to this country, and not at all like Lekha. To Lekha’s surprise, Avantika does not feel the same way as Lekha about having two separate lives or about the bullying at school. Avantika doesn’t take the bullying quietly. And she proudly displays her culture no matter where she is: at home or at school. When a racist incident rocks Lekha’s community, Lekha realizes she must make a choice: continue to remain silent or find her voice before it’s too late.

The Light in the Lake


Sarah R. Baughman - 2019
    After all, her twin brother, Amos, drowned there only a few months ago. But its crisp, clear water runs in Addie’s veins, and the notebook Amos left behind — filled with clues about a mysterious creature that lives in the lake’s inky-blue depths — keeps calling her back.So despite her parents’ fears, Addie accepts a Young Scientist position studying the lake for the summer, promising she’ll stick to her job of measuring water pollution levels under adult supervision. Still, Addie can’t resist the secrets of Maple Lake. She enlists the lead researcher’s son, Tai, to help her investigate Amos’s clues. As they collect evidence, they also learn that Maple Lake is in trouble — and the source of the pollution might be close to home. Addie finds herself caught between the science she has always prized and the magic that brings her closer to her brother, and the choice she makes will change everything.

Murder at Twilight


Fleur Hitchcock - 2018
    But when she gets back from school, he’s nowhere to be found and there are police cars everywhere, lights flashing and sirens blaring.Viv is sure Noah’s run away to get attention. But it’s really cold, and getting dark, and the rain just won’t stop falling. So she sets off to look for him, furious at his selfishness, as the floodwaters rise. And then she finds him, and realises that a much more dangerous story is unfolding around them…From the author of Dear Scarlet, Saving Sophia and Murder in Midwinter

Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel


Kimberly Willis Holt - 2017
    After failed attempts to connect with her grandfather, Stevie befriends the colorful motel tenants and neighbors. Together, they decide to bring some color and life to the motel by planting a flower garden, against Stevie's grandfather's wishes. It will take Stevie's departure before her grandfather realizes just how needed she is by everyone.

The Parker Inheritance


Varian Johnson - 2018
    It's waiting for Candice Miller.When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Grandma tried and failed. But now Candice has another chance. So with the help of Brandon Jones, the quiet boy across the street, she begins to decipher the clues in the letter. The challenge will lead them deep into Lambert's history, full of ugly deeds, forgotten heroes, and one great love; and deeper into their own families, with their own unspoken secrets. Can they find the fortune and fulfill the letter's promise before the summer ends?

When I Hit the Road


Nancy J. Cavanaugh - 2020
    Told in journal entries, When I Hit the Road explores making unexpected friends, multigenerational relationships, and finding out that maybe journaling your adventures isn't so bad after all.Samantha is not exactly excited to spend her entire summer vacation in Florida with her grandma. Or to have to write to her future self in the journal her mom insists she use. But it turns out that Gram has some not-so-boring plans up her sleeve…Gram and her friend Mimi are going to audition for the Seniors Have Got Talent Karaoke Contest! A road trip in Gram's new Mustang turns into a series of hilarious mishaps that flip Samantha's summer on its head, especially because, an unexpected person is sharing the ride: a super cute, muscular, athletic-looking, dimple-faced, middle-school boy named Brandon.It looks like her journal might be worth keeping after all because this summer will be one Samantha will never want to forget.Follow along with Sam, Gram, Mimi and Brandon in all their road trip shenanigans, including:A GIANT alligator and the grossest swamp mud you'll ever seeThe safe-haven Glory Bound Baptist Church (and cat burglar)The hilarious (and terrifying) Kooky Karaoke ContestThe Friendly Fill-up Gas Station (and the Restroom of Horror)And morePerfect for summer reading, middle school girls, and students grades 3rd to 8th that want a fun, lighthearted read!

The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day


Christopher Edge - 2018
    She's hoping for the things she needs to build her own nuclear reactor. But she wakes to an empty house and outside the front door is nothing but a terrifying, all-consuming blackness. Trapped in an ever-shifting reality, Maisie knows that she will have to use the laws of the universe and the love of her family to survive. And even that might not be enough...A mind-bending mystery for anyone who's ever asked questions. From the author of The Many Worlds of Albie Bright and The Jamie Drake Equation.

The Girl Who Could Not Dream


Sarah Beth Durst - 2015
    When the dream shop is robbed and her parents go missing, Sophie must unravel the truth to save them. Together with her best friend—a wisecracking and fanatically loyal monster named Monster—she must decide whom to trust with her family’s carefully guarded secrets. Who will help them, and who will betray them?