Sorted By: Contemporary
Alexis Castellanos
GUAVA AND GRUDGES
September 2024, Bloomsbury, 336 pp
Ana Maria Ybarra dreams of becoming a world-famous pastry chef, but dreams have a cost. Her family can barely keep the family business running, let alone pay for culinary school. Ana Maria helps out a...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Robin Yardi
THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ
March 2016, Carolrhoda Books/Lerner, 184 pp
Life is confusing for Mateo Martinez. He and Johnny Ramirez don’t hang out anymore, even though they used to be best friends. He and his new friend Ashwin try to act like brave, old-time knights, but...
Sorted By: Contemporary
H.D. Hunter
SOMETHING LIKE RIGHT
August 2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan, 336 pp
Zay’s ma always said his mouth would get him in trouble. Sure enough, it got him into his first and only fight in his junior year of high school. Expelled from his district, Zay’s only hope for redemp...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Yamile Saied Méndez
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
September 2024, Algonquin Young Readers/Hachette, 336 pp
A powerful story about family, fútbol, and playing like a girl from the award-winning author of Furia. At thirteen years old, Valeria "Magic" Salomón is already the best soccer player her town has ev...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Dana Alison Levy
NOT ANOTHER BANNED BOOK
September 2024, Random House Children's Books, 320 pp
No matter what was going on in Molly's life at home, she always had book club at school. Whether she's dealing with a death in the family or her parent's breaking the news they want to move she is abl...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Brittany J. Thurman
FOREVER AND ALWAYS
January 2024, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 40 pp
In this lyrical picture book from two breakout picture book creators, a young Black child waits for—and worries about—her father while he’s away from home. A sensitive, poignant portrayal of a family’...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Randy Ribay
EVERYTHING WE NEVER HAD
August 2024, Kokila/Penguin Random House, 352 pp
From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, mascul...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
YOU'RE BREAKING MY HEART
January 2024, Levine Querido, 304 pp
Harriet Adu knows that her brother's death is her fault. I mean, it's not actually her fault, but it still kinda is, isn't it? She would do anything to live in a world where she could take back what...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
OPERATION SISTERHOOD: STEALING THE SHOW
Spring 2025, Crown/Random House, TBD pp
When Sunday's plans for a spectacular neighborhood theatre production go awry because of a new celebrity neighbor, her sisters need to help her find the way back to the community connections that spar...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Bianca Xunise
PUNK ROCK KARAOKE
April 2024, Viking/Penguin Random House, 256 pp
A debut young adult graphic novel from Ignatz Award-winning and nationally syndicated cartoonist, Bianca Xunise. School is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jone When life gives you guitars, smash them!...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Aida Salazar
ULTRAVIOLET
April 2024, Scholastic, 256 pp
Can love break your heart-literally? For Elio, eighth grade fizzes with change. In his body. With his pops, who makes them join a father-son group to talk about puberty and manly stuff and being Mexi...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Ellen Oh
HARU, ZOMBIE DOG HERO
July 2023, HarperCollins Children's Books, 176 pp
An evil laboratory causes a zombie apocalypse through illegal animal testing and a kidnapped dog, Haru. When Haru turns into a zombie, it is his love for his human boy that keeps him from turning into...
Sorted By: Contemporary
C.G. Esperanza
KICKS IN THE SKY
September 2023, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 40 pp
Pura Belprè Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor winner C. G. Esperanza delivers color, rhythm, and style in this rollicking tale about everyday treasures turned magical! Red kicks, green kicks, yellow...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Ellen Oh
YOU ARE HERE
March 2023, Allida/HarperCollins, 272 pp
An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport. As their disrupted journeys cri...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Justin A. Reynolds
HOUSE PARTY
June 2023, Joy Revolution/Random House, 384 pp
Welcome to HOUSE PARTY. The biggest event of the year is happening tonight, and you’re invited! Join us for Florence Hills High seniors’ last hurrah before graduation. Over a few wild, transformativ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
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: Contemporary
Camryn Garrett
OFF THE RECORD
May 2021, Knopf/Random House, 320 pp
Ever since seventeen-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds her when everything else is a garbage fire. So when she wins a contest to write a celebri...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Camryn Garrett
FULL DISCLOSURE
December 2020, Knopf/Random House, 320 pp
Simone Garcia-Hampton is absolutely positive that having a crush is more dangerous than having HIV; after all, she’s got her viral load under control. Simone knows that her status isn’t a death senten...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Camryn Garrett
FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE
January 2023, Knopf/Random House, 288 pp
A love letter to romantic comedies, sweet sixteen blowouts, black joy and queer pride—this is a novel about finding yourself, falling in love, and celebrating what makes you you. Sixteen-year-old Mah...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Randi Pink
WE ARE THE SCRIBES
October 2022, Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, 320 pp
Ruth Fitz is surrounded by activism. Her mother is a senator fighting for legislative social change, her father, a professor of African American history, is a walking encyclopedia, and her sister is a...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Lin Thompson
THE HOUSE THAT WHISPERS
February 2023, Little, Brown, 336 pp
From the author of The Best Liars in Riverview comes a subtle exploration of gender identity, family, and the personal ghosts that haunt us all, perfect for fans of Kyle Lukoff and Ashley Herring Blak...
Sorted By: Contemporary
E.L. Shen
THE QUEENS OF NEW YORK
June 2023, Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 336 pp
Three best friends have one life-changing summer in this contemporary, Asian American Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Jia Lee, Ariel Kim, and Everett Hoang have been best friends since their paren...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kacen Callender
LARK AND KASIM START A REVOLUTION
September 2022, Abrams, 336 pp
From National Book Award–winner Kacen Callender, a contemporary YA that follows Lark's journey to speak the truth and discover how their own self-love can be a revolution Lark Winters wants to be a w...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
OPERATION SISTERHOOD
January 2022, Crown/Random House, 272 pp
ans of the Netflix reboot of The Babysitters Club will delight in this blended-family story about four sisters who band together in the heart of New York City. A jubilant novel about the difficulties ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Victoria J. Coe
MAKE WAY FOR FENWAY
FENWAY AND THE GREAT ESCAPE
October 2023, Putnam/Penguin Random House, 96 pp
The little dog with a GIANT personality from Fenway and Hattie is starring in his own chapter book series! The little dog with the GIANT personality from Fenway and Hattie just knows he is meant to r...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Schuyler Bailar
OBIE IS MAN ENOUGH
September 2021, Crown/Random House, 352 pp
A coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie who didn't think being himself would cause such a splash. For fans of Alex Gino's George and Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz. Obie knew his transition would ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
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: Contemporary
Kathryn Ormsbee
CANDIDLY CLINE
November 2021, HarperCollins, 320pp
Born in Paris, Kentucky and raised on her Gram’s favorite country music, Cline dreams of making it big with her own songs—even if her mother has always told her that music won’t pay the bills. So whe...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Sorted By: Contemporary
C.G. Esperanza
BOOGIE BOOGIE Y'ALL
August 2021, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 40pp
A rhythmic picture book celebrating the Bronx and street art culture....
Sorted By: Contemporary
Selina Alko
ONE GOLDEN RULE AT SCHOOL: A COUNTING BOOK
Summer 2020, Henry Holt/Macmillan, 40 pp
Award-winning creator Selina Alko's One Golden Rule at School is a charming story that's two books in one―a counting book and a school primer for little ones. Set against the familiar and dynamic back...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kelly Quindlen
SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY
April 2021, Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 304 pp
From author Kelly Quindlen comes a new laugh-out-loud romp through the ups and downs of teen romance. After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first basketball game since their break ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Justin A. Reynolds
OPPOSITE OF ALWAYS
March 2019, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 464 pp
Debut author Justin A. Reynolds delivers a hilarious and heartfelt novel about the choices we make, the people we choose, and the moments that make a life worth reliving. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yo...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Ellen Oh
FINDING JUNIE KIM
May 2021, HarperCollins, 368pp
From We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh comes an extraordinary story about a girl who must understand her family’s past to embrace her present, finding herself along the way. Junie Kim just wan...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kathryn Ormsbee
LUCKY FEW
June 2016, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 384 pp
A quirky black comedy about oddball teens facing mortality. Focused on strong friendships and madcap adventures, this is a John Hughes movie in novel form. The life of homeschooler Stevie Hart gets a...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kathryn Ormsbee
TASH HEARTS TOLSTOY
June 2017, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 384 pp
A refreshing LGBTQ+ coming-of-age novel about Internet fame, peer pressure, and YouTube. After a shout-out from one of the Internet’s superstar vloggers, Natasha “Tash” Zelenka suddenly finds herself...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kathryn Ormsbee
THE GREAT UNKNOWABLE END
February 2019, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 400 pp
A humorous, lightly speculative novel for fans of “Welcome to Nightvale” with points of view from two teens with opposing beliefs who come together at what might be the end of the world in a small Ame...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kathryn Ormsbee
THE SULLIVAN SISTERS
May 2020, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 384 pp
For readers who were riveted by mysteries like SADIE by Courtney Summers and TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET by Karen McManus. The Sullivan Sisters used to be close, sharing secrets inside homemade blanket cas...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Yamile Saied Méndez
ON THESE MAGIC SHORES
April 2020, Tu Books/Lee & Low, 288 pp
Twelve-year-old Minerva Soledad Madrid does not believe in fairies (or peques, as mamá calls them), despite the fact that her family insists peques followed them from Argentina to the US watch over th...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Yamile Saied Méndez
FURIA
September 2020, Algonquin/Workman Publishing, 368 pp
Camila “Furia” Hassan has a dream—to play professional fútbol. She lives in the cradle of fútbol legends, Rosario, Argentina, but Rosario only exports fútbol players of the male kind. No one believes ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Dana Alison Levy
THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER
July 2014, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 260 pp
Modern Family meets modern classics like Beverly Cleary’s Quimbys and Judy Blume’s Hatchers in this heartwarming and hilarious middle grade novel. Four adopted brothers, two dads, and an ever-changing...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Dana Alison Levy
THE FAMILY FLETCHER TAKES ROCK ISLAND
May 2016, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 272 pp
Fans of The Penderwicks and other summer tales will enjoy this stand-alone companion novel to the acclaimed Misadventures of the Family Fletcher. Set on a fictional New England island, the boys, ages ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Dana Alison Levy
THIS WOULD MAKE A GOOD STORY SOMEDAY
Spring 2017, Penguin Random House, 260 pp
Fans of Dan Santat’s Are We There Yet and Geoff Rodkey’s The Tapper Twins will enjoy this cross-country train trip of a middle grade novel. Twelve-year-old Sara loves her family, but she’s less than t...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Dana Alison Levy
IT WASN’T ME
November 2018, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 336 pp
The Breakfast Club meets middle school in this story of six 12-year-old students — five potential perpetrators and Theo, one seriously annoyed victim — forced to spend vacation week together in school...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Dana Alison Levy
ABOVE ALL ELSE
April 2020, Charlesbridge, TBD pp
Into Thin Air meets The Sun is Also a Star in this tale of two teens who trained their whole lives to summit Mount Everest. High school seniors and best friends Rose and Tate have always climbed toget...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Aida Salazar
THE MOON WITHIN
Spring 2019, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 250 pp
This free verse middle grade novel tells the story of 11-year-old Cely, whose life swirls with questions about her changing body, her first attraction to a boy, her best friend’s exploration of what i...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Aida Salazar
LAND OF THE CRANES
September 2020, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 256 pp
This free verse middle grade novel, inspired in part by the author’s own childhood as an undocumented immigrant, tells the story of 9-year-old Betita, who believes that she and other migrants follow a...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Randi Pink
INTO WHITE
September 2016, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 288 pp
Sixteen-year-old Latoya Williams, who is black, attends a mostly white high school in the Alabama. In a moment of desperation, she prays for the power to change her race and wakes up white. Randi Pink...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Ashley Woodfolk
THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS
March 2018, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 336 pp
Autumn always knew exactly who she was: a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister and her love of music. And Logan has always turned to writin...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Ashley Woodfolk
FLYY GIRLS
TOBYN: THE IT GIRL
Book 4 - August 2021, Penguin Workshop/Penguin, 144 pp
Meet the Flyy Girls. The group of girls who seem like they can get away with anything. Veteran author Ashley Woodfolk pens a gorgeous and dynamic series about four Harlem highschoolers, each facing a ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Randy Ribay
PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING
June 2019, Kokila/Penguin Random House, 304 pp
A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder. Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Justin A. Reynolds
EARLY DEPARTURES
September 2020, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 320 pp
Jamal’s best friend Q does not know he’s about to die . . . again. He also doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save his life, rescuing him from drowning only to watch Q die in the hospital. Even more co...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kelly Quindlen
LATE TO THE PARTY
April 2020, Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 304 pp
A story of friendship and first love, featuring a diverse cast of LGBTQ+ characters. Codi wants to score her first kiss—with a girl—but she may have to expand her social world first. Can she fall in ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Amparo Ortiz
BLAZEWRATH GAMES
October 2020, Page Street Kids, 368 pp
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangero...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Megan Jean Sovern
THE MEANING OF MAGGIE
May 2014, Chronicle, 220 pp
Twelve-year-old Maggie lives in a house too small for all the big problems plaguing a shy girl just trying to survive adolescence armed with Little Debbies and deep thoughts. When her father’s legs p...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Stephanie Greene
PRINCESS POSEY SERIES
PRINCESS POSEY
Multiple Dates, Putnam/Penguin, Each 96 pp
In her 12th chapter book, everyone’s favorite first grade friend, Princess Posey, learns that sometimes exciting news comes with big changes. When Posey’s grandpa announces that he’s marrying her nei...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kayla Harren
A VOICE LIKE YOURS
March 2024, Sleeping Bear Press, 32 pp
Each of us has a unique and powerful voice, whether we speak loudly or softly, sing or sign, or without any words at all. What matters is how we use that voice--because voices are meant to be used. So...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Mary E. Lambert
FAMILY GAME NIGHT AND OTHER CATASTROPHES
February 2017, Scholastic, 256 pp
A novel about throwing things out -- and letting people in. Annabelle has a secret so big she won’t allow friends within five miles of her home. Her mom collects things. Their house is overflowing wi...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Mary E. Lambert
DISTRESS SIGNAL
October 2020, Scholastic, 272 pp
In this edge-of-your-seat survival story, four classmates are stranded in a desert wilderness after a flash flood separates them from the rest of their grade. Can they make it to safety? Lavender’s c...
Sorted By: Contemporary
David Kreizman
THE YEAR THEY FELL
September 2019, Imprint/Macmillan, 384 pp
In the wake of their parents’ tragic plane crash, five very different teenagers must find a way to navigate their senior year of high school and forge a new family. Josie, Jack, Archie, Harrison, and...
Sorted By: Contemporary
David Kreizman
THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL
October 2020, Candlewick, 304 pp
When his friends begin disappearing, eleven-year-old Mars Patel uncovers a mystery that will take him to the stars…and beyond.The first novel in a series written by Sheela Chari based on the award-win...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Jessie Haas
RESCUE
April 2018, Boyds Mills, 200 pp
In this coming-of-age story perfect for horse fans, twelve-year-old animal lover Joni clashes with her new neighbor and animal rights activist Chess. Their bumpy friendship reaches a crisis when Chess...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Jessie Haas
THE HUNGRY PLACE
October 2020, Boyds Mills, TBD pp
A middle-grade novel told in 2 points of view. Rae grows up longing for, and working to afford, a pony, until at age twelve she crosses paths with Princess, a show-ring champion left to starve by an u...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Kat Fajardo
MISS QUINCES
May 2022, Graphix/Scholastic, 272 pp
A coming-of-age middle grade graphic novel about a girl forced to celebrate her quinceañera despite hating all things pretty and pink. Suyapa “Sue” Gutierrez was planning a fun summer at camp with he...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Stephanie Barden
CINDERELLA SMITH SERIES
CINDERELLA SMITH: THE SUPER SECRET MYSTERY
Book 3 – April 2013, HarperCollins, TBD pp
Stephanie Barden has created a great role model for tweens. Cinderella Smith is confident, smart, and very real. Readers will love watching Cinderella conquer the problems of third-grade life, with en...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Victoria J. Coe
FENWAY AND HATTIE SERIES
FENWAY AND HATTIE IN THE WILD
Book 4 – May 2019, Putnam/Penguin Random House, 176 pp
In the fourth book in this adorable middle-grade series, all told from the dog’s point of view, Fenway gets a taste of the wild when he goes on a back-to-school camping trip with his human, Hattie. Th...
Sorted By: Contemporary
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: Contemporary
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...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Shakirah Bourne
JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA
July 2021, Scholastic, 304 pp
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste meets R.L.Stine’s The Girl Who Cried Monster. 11 year-old Jo discovers that her Dad’s new girlfriend is a powerful sea creature and has to convince everyone of the woma...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Mary Amato
GOOD CROOKS SERIES
GOOD CROOKS: SNIFF A SKUNK!
Book 3 – Spring 2015, Darby Creek/Lerner, 128 pp
A hilarious series for K-4. Billy and Jillian Crook have a big problem. Their parents are crooks, but they want to do good deeds! Sniff a Skunk! brings back our favorite pair of do-gooder crooks in a ...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Mary Amato
OUR TEACHER IS A VAMPIRE
March 2016, Holiday House, 256 pp
It all begins when Alexander H. Gory Jr. passes around a notebook in which he reveals a tantalizing secret: he has proof that their teacher, Mrs. Penrose, is a vampire. Soon the entire class is specul...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Mary Amato
OPEN MIC NIGHT AT WESTMINSTER CEMETERY: A NOVEL IN TWO ACTS
September 2018, Lerner Publishing Group, 264 pp
Surprising emotions emerge in this darkly hilarious literary ghost story—part stage play, part novel—about truth, forgiveness, and love. Sixteen-year-old slam-poet Lacy Brink wakes up dead—and confus...
Sorted By: Contemporary
Mary Amato
LUCY MCGEE SERIES
STAR ON TV, LUCY MCGEE
Book 4 – October 2020, Holiday House, 176 pp
Lucy McGee and Phillip Lee are invited to perform a song on their school’s morning show--this is their big break! First, they agree to keep it a secret from spotlight-stealing classmate Scarlett Tandy...