Sorted By: Bullying
Jess Callans
OLLIE IN BETWEEN
April 2025, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 256 pp
As endearing as it is humorous, this debut middle grade novel by Jess Callans is a tender, queer coming of age story about the courage it takes to find your own voice and choosing to just be. Puberty...
Sorted By: Bullying
Kathryn Ormsbee
VIVIAN LANTZ' SECOND CHANCES
June 2023, HarperCollins, 320 pp
Vivian Lantz is cursed. Every year, terrible things happen on her first day of school—and her first day of eighth grade makes the rest of them look like child’s play. Her family’s house floods in a su...
Sorted By: Bullying
Lin Thompson
THE BEST LIARS IN RIVERVIEW
March 2022, Little, Brown/Hachette, 336 pp
In the woods of a small Kentucky town, Aubrey sets off on a journey about growing up, self-discovery, and acceptance while searching for their missing best friend—perfect for fans of KING AND THE DRAG...
Sorted By: Bullying
Ben Clanton
ROT: THE CUTEST IN THE WORLD
Spring 2018, Simon & Schuster, 32 pp
A fun and silly picture book about a mutant potato named Rot who enters a beauty pageant and must overcome the doubts of the other contestants (a baby bunny, cuddly kitten, and jolly jellyfish) as wel...
Sorted By: Bullying
Ben Clanton
ROT: THE BRAVEST IN THE WORLD
June 2020, Simon & Schuster, 32 pp
In this second Rot book, we meet Rot’s big brother Snot, who is a bit of snot to poor Rot. He’s made up a creature called the Squirm that has Rot feeling super scared. But with the help of a cape, bro...
Sorted By: Bullying
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
BLUE ETHEL
May 2017, Margaret Ferguson Books/Macmillan, 40 pp
Ethel was old. She was fat. She was black. She was white. And she was very set in her ways – until the day she turned blue. Ethel, with the help of her friend Fluffy, learns to appreciate the wonders ...
Sorted By: Bullying
Cynthia Leonor Garza
LUCÍA THE LUCHADORA
April 2017, POW!, 32 pp
Girls can be superheroes, too. When the boys on the playground tell Lucía that girls can’t be superheroes – despite her high-flying leaps – she comes up with a plan to disguise herself as a masked luc...
Sorted By: Bullying
Alina Chau
MARSHMALLOW AND JORDAN
October 2021, First Second/Macmillan, 384 pp
Beautiful watercolor illustrations bring to life this middle grade graphic novel about former youth basketball star Jordan, who was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident. She misses playing her...
Sorted By: Bullying
Kacen Callender
HURRICANE CHILD
March 2018, Scholastic, 224 pp
A lyrical, debut middle grade novel with a touch of magical realism and LGBTQ+ themes, about first friendship, first love, and finding self-acceptance. 12-year-old Caroline Murphy is a Hurricane Chil...
Sorted By: Bullying
Kacen Callender
FELIX EVER AFTER
May 2020, Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 368 pp
From Stonewall and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a poignant story of identity and self-discovery, layered with romance. Felix Love has never been in love, and he’s painfu...