Sorted By: Friendship
Lee Wind
LIKE THAT ELEANOR: THE AMAZING POWER OF BEING AN ALLY
April 2025, Cardinal Rule Press, 32 pp
What can you do when you see unfair things happening to other people? Eleanor’s not sure, but she wants to make things more fair, like her namesake Eleanor Roosevelt. Robin’s excluded from a boys-only...
Sorted By: Friendship
Ben Clanton
PAPILIO
March 2025, Viking/Penguin, 48 pp
A tale told in three parts by three friends! Powerhouse creators, Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, and Andy Chou Musser, have come together to create a wholly inventive picture book that is perfect for fa...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Yamile Saied Méndez
THE REEL WISH
April 2025, Tu Books/Lee and Low, 368 pp
After a panic attack prevents Florencia from performing as Clara in The Nutcracker and her best friend takes the lead, a new dance style helps her face her anxiety as well as a troubled friendship. B...
Sorted By: Friendship
Camryn Garrett
THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER OF SENECA
April 2025, Amulet/Abrams, 256 pp
From acclaimed author Camryn Garrett comes a middle-grade mystery with a magical twist. Everything is changing, and twelve-year-old Rowan Robinson hates it. She’s dreading having to spend her summer ...
Sorted By: Friendship
Nina Crews
BIG FAMILY BEACH DAY
Summer 2025, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 32 pp
An extended family enjoys a day at the beach in this intergenerational tribute to family, friendship, new experiences, and summertime fun by the acclaimed author-artist Nina Crews. A fresh take on Cyn...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Yamile Saied Méndez
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
September 2024, Little Brown/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: Friendship
Dana Alison Levy
NOT ANOTHER BANNED BOOK
September 2024, Delacorte/Random House, 320 pp
A ripped from the headlines middle grade novel about a group of students who must fight book banning at their school to save their club…and their world as they know it. No matter what was going on i...
Sorted By: Friendship
Ben Clanton
PAINT WITH PLOOF
October 2024, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 56 pp
From the co-creator of Science Explorers Andy Chou Musser and NYT bestselling author of the Narwhal and Jelly series Ben Clanton. Ploof is a little cloud who’s eager to make their first rainbow! But ...
Sorted By: Friendship
Shakirah Bourne
BEWARE THE HEARTMAN
September 2024, Scholastic, 336 pp
Ten months after her terrifying escape from a sea spirit, Josephine is happy to settle back into life in Fairy Vale, playing on her cricket team, and spending time with her Dad, Miss Alleyne......
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
William Alexander
A PROPERLY UNHAUNTED PLACE
August 2018, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 208 pp
From National Book Award–winning author William Alexander comes a wryly humorous story about two kids who try to save their town by bringing back its ghosts. Rosa Ramona Díaz has just moved to the sm...
Sorted By: Friendship
William Alexander
A FESTIVAL OF GHOSTS
May 2019, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 228 pp
National Book Award winner William Alexander conjures up a spooky adventure full of excitement in this entertaining sequel to A Properly Unhaunted Place, which was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Ro...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
K. O’Neill
THE MOTH KEEPER
March 2023, Random House Graphic, 272 pp
Being a Moth Keeper is a huge responsibility and a great honor, but what happens when the new Moth Keeper decides to take a break from the moon and see the sun for the first time? A middle-grade fanta...
Sorted By: Friendship
Megan Brennan
Magic Girls
KIRA AND THE (MAYBE) SPACE PRINCESS
March 2024, Random House Graphic, 225 pp
Welcome to Neo-Earth Junior High school, where the corridors are filled with heroines, geniuses and magic! 6th grader Kira just wants to escape her horrible fate: being totally and completely average....
Sorted By: Friendship
Madeline McGrane
THE ACCURSED VAMPIRE: CURSE AT WITCH CAMP
February 2023, HarperCollins, 256 pp
Vampires at witch camp? What could go wrong? It’s summertime in Baneberry Falls and Drago and their vampire pals Eztli and Quintus are heading to witch camp where they’ll learn spells and magic along...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
Ben Clanton
NARWHAL AND JELLY BOARD BOOK SERIES
BLANKIE
February 2021, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 22 pp
Dive into a brand new Narwhal and Jelly story for the youngest readers! A big, yellow blankie is one of Narwhal's favorite things; not only because it keeps Narwhal warm and cozy, but also because it'...
Sorted By: Friendship
Madeline McGrane
THE ACCURSED VAMPIRE
July 2021, HarperCollins, 176pp
A spooky and funny graphic novel debut that’s perfect for fans of Molly Knox Ostertag’s THE WITCH BOY and Kristen Gudsnuk’s MAKING FRIENDS. Dragoslava is a vampire kid. And that’s not even the worst ...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Sorted By: Friendship
Suzanne Weyn
EMPTY
Fall 2010, Scholastic, 192 pp
A dystopic look at what happens to one American town when all the fossil fuels run out... It's the future - the very near future - and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no...
Sorted By: Friendship
Ben Clanton
IT CAME IN THE MAIL
June 2016, Simon & Schuster, 40 pp
Liam really wants some mail, so he writes a letter to his mailbox asking for something in return. His mailbox delivers, sending Liam more than he could have hoped for…and how! But as the mail starts t...
Sorted By: Friendship
Ben Clanton
REX WRECKS IT!
March 2017, Candlewick, 32 pp
Uh-oh! Here comes Rex! Every time Gizmo, Sprinkles, and Wild build something with their blocks, Rex wrecks it! That’s just the way Rex plays. Is there a way to make playtime fun for everyone?...
Sorted By: Friendship
Ben Clanton
BOO WHO?
August 2017, Candlewick, 32pp
A shy little ghost who’s new to the group has trouble fitting in — until his special talent comes to the fore. Boo is new. And even if the other kids are welcoming, it can be scary being new, especia...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Ben Clanton
NARWHAL AND JELLY SERIES
NARWHAL'S SWEET TOOTH
July 2024, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 76 pp
In the hilarious ninth book of this blockbuster graphic novel series, Narwhal’s sweet tooth leads to some very funny feelings! Dive into four new stories so sweet they’ll make your teeth tingle! Ever...
Sorted By: Friendship
Betty G. Birney
OG THE FROG SERIES
WILDLIFE ACCORDING TO OG THE FROG
Book 3 – May 2020, Putnam/Penguin, 144 pp
In the third book in the spinoff of the Humphrey series, Og and Humphrey head to summer camp to see what’s hopping in the wilderness! Og didn’t know where he would end up when school was over, but it...
Sorted By: Friendship
Betty G. Birney
HUMPHREY SERIES
SPRING ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY
Book 12 – January 2016, Putnam/Penguin, 160 pp
Join Humphrey, the classroom hamster, as he navigates the wilds of school with the students of Room 26. Each book is a funny and unique look at life from the perspective of an adorable and caring cla...
Sorted By: Friendship
Suzanne Weyn
THE BAR CODE PROPHECY
October 2013, Scholastic, 208 pp
The third book in the Bar Code series, in which one girl struggles to escape the conformity of a dystopian world. Grace lives a normal life. She goes to school during the day and works part-time at th...
Sorted By: Friendship
Andy Rash
THE HAPPY BOOK
Winter 2019, Viking/Penguin, TBD pp
A funny and sweet story about not always being happy, and how that’s okay. It isn’t always sunny for Happy Camper and Clam. But when the best friends fight over their newly discovered feelings, can S...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
PLAYING POSSUM
July 2020, Clarion/HMH, 32 pp
Alfred the possum, who plays dead, and Sophia the armadillo, who rolls up in a ball, stand in for shy or anxious humans whose discomfort keeps them from fitting in. Jennifer Black Reinhardt has cast a...
Sorted By: Friendship
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
ALWAYS BY MY SIDE
March 2021, Random House, 32 pp
A sweet story about a boy and his stuffed animal (standing in for a guardian) that has seen him through his ups and downs, and will always be there for him as he grows up....
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
Josanne La Valley
FACTORY GIRL
January 2017, Clarion/HMH, 256 pp
In order to save her family’s farm, Roshen, sixteen, must leave her rural home to work in a factory in the south of China. There she finds arduous and degrading conditions and contempt for her minorit...
Sorted By: Friendship
Carolyn Hennesy
MYTHIC MISADVENTURES SERIES
PANDORA GETS FRIGHTENED
Book 7 – July 2013, Bloomsburg, 288 pp
Mythic Misadventures series in which Pandora tries to recapture all the great evils of the world and return them to the infamous box....
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Stephanie Greene
SOPHIE HARTLEY SERIES
SOPHIE HARTLEY AND THE FACTS OF LIFE
Book 4 – November 2013, Clarion/HMH, 144 pp
The indomitable, quirky, passionate Sophie faces challenges and challengers with determination and resourcefulness. She does so with down-to-earth, realistic, humorous take on friendships and family r...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
Wook Jin Jung
BLACK CAT, YELLOW BUNNY
October 2019, Newmark/Reycraft Books, 32 pp
This nearly wordless book shows the slowly developing friendship between a cat and a bunny who meet on a chance encounter in the park. Through small acts of kindness, they reveal the powerful effect t...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
Sophie Blackall
FINDING WINNIE
October 2015, Little, Brown/Hachette, 56 pp
The remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He na...
Sorted By: Friendship
Jeanne DuPrau
CITY OF EMBER SERIES
THE CITY OF EMBER
May 2003, Random House, 288 pp
City of Ember Series...
Sorted By: Friendship
Jeanne DuPrau
THE CITY OF EMBER: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
September 2012, Random House, 144 pp
Experience Jeanne DuPrau’s vision anew as artist Niklas Asker faithfully brings to life the glare of lamps, the dinginess of the streets, and the brilliance of the first sunrise....
Sorted By: Friendship
Paige Britt
THE LOST TRACK OF TIME
March 2015, Scholastic, 320 pp
Penelope longs to be a writer, but her mother won’t allow it—scribbling in your notebook all day is a complete waste of time! One morning, a strange hole opens up in her otherwise busy schedule, and s...
Sorted By: Friendship
Isaiah Campbell
ABRAKAPOW
November 2016, Simon & Schuster, 304 pp
Based on a true World War II story, Isaiah Campbell tells a charming mystery about a mishap at a magic show in a POW camp—featuring magic how-to diagrams throughout....
Sorted By: Friendship
Pat Cummings
TRACE
December 2018, HarperCollins, 320 pp
Coretta Scott King Award winner Pat Cummings’s debut TRACE, about a boy who stumbles into a ghost story born in the turmoil of New York City’s 1863 Draft Riots. Weighed down by guilt for an accident ...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
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: Friendship
Kacen Callender
THIS IS KIND OF AN EPIC LOVE STORY
October 2018, Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 304 pp
A fluffy romantic comedy that plays with the friends-to-lovers and second-chance tropes featuring diverse LBGTQ+ teens. Nathan Bird is a film buff, but he’s a firm disbeliever in real-life happy endi...
Sorted By: Friendship
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: Friendship
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...