Book picks similar to
To Tell You the Truth by Beth Vrabel


middle-grade
realistic-fiction
juvenile-fiction
grief

The Blind Colt


Glen Rounds - 1941
    Relates the adventures of a blind colt as he roams with a band of mustangs and is eventually adopted and trained as a saddle horse by ten-year-old Whitey.

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

Blind Sight


Meg Howrey - 2011
    Having spent a short lifetime swinging agreeably between the poles of Eastern mysticism and New England Puritanism, Luke is fascinated by the new fields of brain science and believes in having evidence for his beliefs. “Without evidence,” he declares, “you just have hope, which is nice, but not reliable.” Luke is writing his college applications when his father—a famous television star whom he never knew—calls and invites him to Los Angeles for the summer. Luke accepts and is plunged into a world of location shooting, celebrity interviews, glamorous parties, and premieres. As he begins to know the difference between his father’s public persona and his private one, Luke finds himself sorting through his own personal mythology.      By the end of the summer Luke thinks he has found the answers he’s been seeking, only to discover that the differences between truth and belief are not always easy to spot, and that evidence can be withheld: when Luke returns home, his mother reveals something she knows will change everything for him.      With Blind Sight, Meg Howrey gives us a smart, funny, and deeply moving story about truth versus belief, about what we do and don’t tell ourselves—with the result, as Luke says, that we don’t always know what we know.

Varmints


Andy Hirsch - 2016
    These two youngsters only have each other, but with all their squabbling it's a miracle they still have that.When they get wind of the mysterious Pa ("crime kingpin of the West!"), Opie and Ned suddenly have something new: a mission. But tracking down the elusive (and deadly) Pa is going to take all the wiles these two kids have, and some new friends to boot.Clever, explosive, and deeply moving by turns, Varmints is a perfect middle-grade comedy. Hirsch brings an old-school Western style to bear on a story full of nuance, humor, and surprises.

Elon Musk: A Mission to Save the World


Anna Crowley Redding - 2019
    He is working on unique and daring improvements to both public transit and solar energy. And then, there's his highly-publicized plans for colonizing Mars...But behind the mind-blowing headlines and legendary drive is the story of a bullied and beaten school boy, who through creativity and determination decided to rewrite his story and find his own way to make the world a better place. And to do so with a sense of fun and style.From hosting raves to pay for college to re-writing the rules on space travel, Elon Musk has always gone his own way. And now, award-winning investigative journalist, Anna Crowley Redding takes readers on a well-researched trip through Elon's life and accomplishments.

Runs with Courage


Joan M. Wolf - 2016
    Set in the Dakota Territory, it is the year 1880. Four Winds has been taken away from her family and brought to a boarding school run by whites. It is here she is taught English and learns how to assimilate into white culture. But soon she discovers that the teachers at this school are not interested in assimilation but rather in erasing her culture. On the reservation, Four Winds had to fight against starvation. Now she must fight to hold on to who she is.

Wink


Rob Harrell - 2020
    Not to have a rare eye cancer, not to lose his hair, not to have to wear a weird hat or have a goopy eye full of ointment. Just normal. But with a sudden and horrifying diagnosis, Ross can't help standing out. His new life is medical treatments that feel straight out of a video game, vision loss in one eye, disappearing friends who don't know what to say to "the cancer kid," cruel bullying, and ultimately, friendships new and old that rise above everything.Just when Ross starts to feel like he's losing his footing, he discovers how music, art, and true friends can change everything. Filled with Rob Harrell's comic panels (Batpig for the win!) and spot art, this novel brings effortless humor and hope to an unforgettable, uplifting story of survival.

Ali-A Adventures: Game On!


Ali-A - 2017
    Can he defeat the end-of-game boss and save the day? With a little help from his fans and a very special dog named Eevee, he's going to give it his best shot!

The Sea in Winter


Christine Day - 2021
    With everything she’s dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.But soon, Maisie’s anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pain in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?

Next


Kevin Waltman - 2013
    Especially for inner-city black kids like Derrick Bowen. He's a 6'3" freshman, lightning quick, and he can slam the rock. He wants to start at point guard for Marion High, but senior Nick Starks has that nailed down. Besides, the coach is old school. He thinks D-Bow needs to work on his game, his shot, and his attitude. That means bench time. And that's when Hamilton Academy, the elite school in the suburbs, comes sniffing around. They want D-Bow for the next three years. His mom wants no part of that. But his father needs a job, and Uncle Kid, who is a bitter ex-star at Marion High, has his own plans. Yeah, there's a pretty girl and a best friend in the mix. Plus plenty of basketball action and suspense just like high school boys like to read.Kevin Waltman, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, was a high school player and remains a huge basketball fan. Next is his third YA novel. His first two, both from Scholastic, are Nowhere Fast (2002) and Learning the Game (2005). Kevin is an instructor at the University of Alabama where he lives with his wife Jessica, their daughter Calla, and their dog Henry.

Kyle Finds Her Way


Susie Salom - 2016
    On the first day of sixth grade, Kyle Constantini lands in the principal's office after standing up against (that is, punching) Ino Nevarez, who was teasing a deaf girl at school. Her punishment? Join the NAVS program, which teaches constructive problem-solving (that is, not punching).Kyle loves NAVS, where her team competes in a challenge to navigate a maze. But her parents refuse to let her participate . . . so Kyle may just have to fudge the truth a bit to get around them. Then her best friend starts to crush on a cute new English boy, who seems to be interested in -- Kyle? As the NAVS competition approaches, she has to trust her instincts, take some good advice, and figure out her way through the amazing maze of middle school.Rich characters, a big heart, and a witty, warm voice make Kyle Finds Her Way a debut worth discovering.

Who Is RuPaul?


Nicolas David Medina - 2021
    Even as a young child, he loved to dress up and imitate the glamorous women he saw on television. When he turned fifteen, he began studying theater in a performing arts school in Atlanta and never looked back. Ru developed his drag-queen personality and launched his career in the 1980s. He now hosts and judges the widely popular and long-running show RuPaul's Drag Race, which has raised the profile of the art of drag, and drag queens around the world.

City of Thieves


Alex London - 2021
    But in the city of Drakopolis, humans domesticated them centuries ago. Now dragons haul the city’s cargo, taxi its bustling people between skyscrapers, and advertise its wares in bright, neon displays. Most famously of all, the dragons battle. Different breeds take to the skies in nighttime bouts between the infamous kins—criminal gangs who rule through violence and intimidation.Abel has always loved dragons, but after a disastrous showing in his dragon rider’s exam, he's destined never to fly one himself. All that changes the night his sister appears at his window, entrusting him with a secret...and a stolen dragon.Turns out, his big sister is a dragon thief! Too bad his older brother is a rising star in Drakopolis law enforcement...To protect his friends and his family, Abel must partner with the stolen beast, riding in kin battles and keeping more secrets than a dragon has scales.When everyone wants him fighting on their side, can Abel figure out what's worth fighting for?

Flight of the Puffin


Ann Braden - 2021
    She wants to be different, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. Now she's suspended again.On the opposite side of the country lives Vincent, a kid who loves the mathematician Katherine Johnson and being a non-conformist, who’s trying hard not to get stuffed into lockers at his new school. But that’s not working out too well either.   Nearby is T, who couldn’t take living at home anymore and is determined to survive on a rainy sidewalk.And then there’s Jack, a big-hearted kid so engaged in the fight to keep his small rural school open that he’s lost focus on the ones who need him most.Four kids. Four different lives. And then… one card with a message of hope takes flight and starts a chain reaction, helping each kid summon the thing they need, whether it’s bravery, empathy, or understanding. But best of all, it makes each one realize they matter -- and that they're not flying solo anymore.

Harbor Me


Jacqueline Woodson - 2018
    There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it's safe to talk about what's bothering them—everything from Esteban's father's deportation and Haley's father's incarceration to Amari's fears of racial profiling and Ashton's adjustment to his changing family fortunes. When the six are together, they can express the feelings and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world. And together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.