Book picks similar to
Front Page Face-Off by Jo Whittemore


middle-grade
favorites
young-adult
realistic-fiction

Plastic Polly


Jenny Lundquist - 2013
    Popularity comes with special privileges, like a seat at the best table in the cafeteria and a coveted spot on the planning committee for the school’s big talent show competition, Groove It Up! And since all Polly has to do is agree with whatever Kelsy says, being popular is easy—even if kids do call her “Plastic Polly” behind her back. But when a freak accident takes Kelsy out of the picture, Polly is suddenly in charge of the Groove It Up! committee. She’s not prepared for her new status—and neither is anyone else. Backstabbing friends, an intimidating crush, and diva demands from an injured Kelsy all threaten to derail Polly’s plans. Can she prove to everyone—and herself—that she has a personality of her own?

Rules for Secret Keeping


Lauren Barnholdt - 2010
    Samantha ensures confidentiality and discretion, and her gig is so successful that You Girl magazine has named her a finalist for Tween Entrepreneur of the Year. But when her classmate Olivia starts a secret-passing business of her own, Sam learns that imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery. And when a secret leaks out that puts Sam’s own clandestine crush at stake, the battle of the businesses gets personal.

Ruby's Slippers


Tricia Rayburn - 2010
    Raised in rural Kansas with her mom as her best friend, she's cozy and content. But everything changes when she and her mom move to Florida to care for her grandmother, Nana Dottie. Ruby quickly realizes she's definitely not in Kansas anymore, the kids in her huge school are totally different; but her new life is not so bad. What is bad is the fifteen-year-feud between Ruby's mother and grandmother that shows no signs of ending. Will Ruby have to choose between her mom and her new life, which isn't looking so awful after all?

Class Favorite


Taylor Morris - 2007
    It was February 14, to be exact. Happy Valentine's Day. Sara Thurman has never considered herself part of the popular crowd - she's got her best friend Arlene and that seems like enough. But when Sara's mom sends a special Valentine's Day delivery (PERIOD FLOWERS!) to her class, all of a sudden Sara is very famous - only for a horribly embarrassing reason! It seems everyone at Bowie Junior High knows something about Sara that she'd rather keep to herself and the harder Sara tries to blend in the more she ends up sticking out. Not only that, but it suddenly seems that Arlene doesn't have time for her anymore, and she has an unbearable crush on Jason who doesn't have any idea who she is (until now, that is). Worst of all, nothing's felt the same since Sara's dad left home. It all has Sara wondering if things will ever return to normal -- especially if she can't even remember what normal feels like. Sara can't figure out why it seems that everyone else has it easier than she does - would things be better if she were popular? Sara decides that if she can't beat 'em then she'll join 'em -- and she hatches a top secret mission to become....Class Favorite.

Trauma Queen


Barbara Dee - 2011
    But for Marigold, it goes way beyond embarrassing. Marigold's single mom is a performance artist, meaning she stages dramatic, wacky performances to express her personal beliefs. Things like wrapping herself in saran wrap for a piece on plastic surgery, or inviting people over in the middle of the night to videotape her sleeping. In fact, Marigold's mom's performances caused such a ruckus in their last town that the two of them, along with Marigold's little sister, have just had to move. Now Marigold's starting a new school, missing her best friend like crazy, and trying to fit in all over again in the shadow of a mom who's famous for all the wrong reasons. As if that's not bad enough, Marigold's mom takes on a new job--teaching drama at Marigold's school! Now all the kids know instantly just how weird her mom is, and Marigold's worried she'll never be able to have a friendship that can survive her mother.

Nice and Mean


Jessica Leader - 2010
    Sachi is nice. Marina is Barney’s. Sachi is Burlington Coat Factory. It’s bad enough they’re forced to coexist in their middle-school’s high-profile video elective—but now they’re being forced to work together on the big semester project. Marina’s objective? Out her wannabe BFF as a fashion victim to the entire middle school. Sachi’s objective? Prove that she’s not just the smiley class pencil-lender and broaden her classmates’ cultural horizons. Work together in harmony? Yeah, that would be a "no." How can Sachi film something meaningful, and Marina, something fabulous, if they’re yoked to each other?

Listening for Lucca


Suzanne LaFleur - 2013
    Now Mom and Dad are moving the family from Brooklyn to Maine hoping that it will mean a  whole new start for Lucca and Siena. She soon realizes that their wonderful old house on the beach holds secrets. When Siena writes in her diary with an old pen she found in her closet, the pen writes its own story, of Sarah and Joshua, a brother and sister who lived in the same house during World War II. As the two stories unfold, amazing parallels begin to appear, and Siena senses that Sarah and Joshua's story might contain the key to unlocking Lucca's voice.

My Name Is Mina


David Almond - 2010
    It's been there for an age. I keep on saying that I'll write a journal. So I'll start right here, right now. I open the book and write the very first words: My name is Mina and I love the night. Then what shall I write? I can't just write that this happened then this happened then this happened to boring infinitum. I'll let my journal grow just like the mind does, just like a tree or a beast does, just like life does. Why should a book tell a tale in a dull straight line?And so Mina writes and writes in her journal, and through her stories and poems there grows an opus of her life - her lessons, her loves, her beliefs, her mum, her dad, her thoughts and her dreams.In this stunningly designed book, David Almond revisits Mina before she has met Michael, before she has met Skellig, in what is a thought-provoking and extraordinary prequel to his best-selling debut novel, Skellig. From the winner of the Whitbread Children's Book Award the Carnegie Medal and the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Award comes the extraordinary prequel to the award-winning Skellig.

Look Into My Eyes


Lauren Child - 2011
    She and her slick side-kick butler, Hitch, foil crimes and get into loads of scrapes with evil villains, but they're always ice-cool in a crisis.

Queenie


Jacqueline Wilson - 2013
    Elsie Kettle can't wait to go to London with her beloved nan to see the Coronation Day celebrations. Then tragedy strikes. Nan and Elsie both fall ill with tuberculosis and Elsie is whisked away to the children's ward of Miltree Hospital. Confined to bed for months, Elsie misses Nan desperately, and struggles to adapt to the hospital's strict rules. But every night after lights-out she tells magical tales of adventure to the other children on the ward. For the first time, Elsie finds herself surrounded by true friends - including Queenie, the hospital's majestic white cat.Finally Elsie is well enough to leave the hospital. But before she does, she has one very special, very unexpected visitor ...

A Year Without Autumn


Liz Kessler - 2011
    Now she discovers that in the year that's gone by, tragedy has struck and her friendship with Autumn will never be the same again. But what caused the tragedy?

How the Pops Stole Christmas


Nancy E. Krulik - 2009
    Everyone except the Pops, that is! Jenny can't wait for the holidays, but her good mood quickly evaporates when she picks Dana as her "Secret Snowflake" in English class and finds out that her friend Sam is heading home to England for the holidays. Things go from bad to worse when Jenny doesn't get invited to her friend Mark's New Year's Eve party. What's going on? Is Mark angry with Jenny about something she did? Or could the Pops have something to do with it?

Scarlett


Cathy Cassidy - 2006
    Again. With black fingernails and dyed ketchup-red hair, she's not your average twelve-year-old Londoner. So her mum sick of trying to get her into "another" school ships Scarlett to her father's cottage in Ireland. Having to learn Gaelic in a one-room schoolhouse and enduring a new stepmum and younger stepsister is just too much. Scarlett wants to leave until she meets Kian. He seems too good to be true with his dark, rugged looks, kind nature, and horse named Midnight. As Kian helps Scarlett let go of her anger, she begins to accept her family, her friendships, and most of all, her dreams. A captivating new novel from a writer reviewers have called "a British import with a refreshingly light touch." " School Library Journal" on "Indigo Blue.""

Pranked


Katy Grant - 2008
    While my best friend was sunbathing on the beach in Hawaii, I was stuck with outdoor showers, a rickety cabin, and only one friend—quiet, boring Melissa. Then the "Evil Twins" showed up. It turned out they're totally cool and they wanted to be my friend! They're not really evil—well, not to me, at least. They AREN'T too nice to Melissa. We started playing a few pranks and it's kind of gotten out of control... I know I should put a stop to things, but I don't want to lose my only friends here. I just hope that I don't do anything I regret.Love,Kelly

Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog


Garth Stein - 2011
    Most dogs love to chase cars, but Enzo longs to race them.He learns about racing and the world around him by watching TV and by listening to the words of his best friend, Denny, an up-and-coming race car driver, and Denny's daughter, Zoë, his constant companion. Enzo finds that life is just like being on the racetrack - it isn't simply about going fast.Applying the rules of racing to his world, Enzo takes on his family's challenges and emerges a hero. In the end, Enzo holds in his heart the dream that Denny will go on to be a racing champion with his daughter by his side.For theirs is an extraordinary friendship - one that reminds us all to celebrate the triumph of the human (and canine) spirit.