If You Liked...Try This Book: Reynolds - Zusak

Suspended unjustly from elite Middlefield Prep, Donte Ellison studies fencing with a former champion, hoping to put the racist fencing team captain in his place. Grade 5-8

When Norris, a Black French Canadian, starts his junior year at an Austin, Texas, high school, he views his fellow students as clichâes from "a bad 90s teen movie. Grade 7+ (Lexile: HL 830)

After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity. Grade 5-8

In this contemporary fantasy, Maya's search for her missing father puts her at the center of a battle between our world, the Orishas, and the mysterious and sinister Dark world. Grade 5-7 (Lexile: 720)

Losing his father during a giant creature attack on Washington, D.C., young Fort becomes a student at a secret government school where he studies the magic in a mysterious collection of books to protect the world from dangerous forces. Grade 4-7 (Lexile: 790)

In order to heal after his mother's death, thirteen-year-old Sal learns to reach into time and space to retrieve things--and people--from other universes. Grade 4-7

PSS 118 is just your typical school-except that it's a rickety old spaceship orbiting Jupiter. When the school is mysteriously attacked, thirteen-year-old Jack receives a cryptic message from his father (the school's recently-fired-for-tinkering-with-the-ship science teacher). Amidst the chaos, Jack discovers that his dad has built humanity's first light-speed engine-and given Jack control of it. To save the ship, Jack catapults it hundreds of light-years away and right into the clutches of the first aliens humans have ever seen. School hasn't just gotten out: it's gone clear across the galaxy. And now it's up to Jack and his friends to get everyone home. Grade 4-7 (Lexile: 670)

When Titans Astraea and Zephyr find a human boy on their world, they must figure out how he got there and why. What they uncover is a plot to take over Titus and ultimately the universe. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: 590)

The Zodiac Legacy Usagi can hear a squirrel's heartbeat from a mile away, and soar over treetops in one giant leap. She was born in the year of the wood rabbit, and it's given her extraordinary zodiac gifts.But she can never use them, not while the mysterious, vicious Dragonlord hunts down all those in her land with zodiac powers. Instead, she must keep her abilities--and those of her rambunctious sister Uma--a secret.After Uma is captured by the Dragonguard, Usagi can no longer ignore her powers. She must journey to Mount Jade with the fabled Heirs of the Twelve, a mystical group of warriors who once protected the land.As new mysteries unfold, Usagi must decide who she stands with, and who she trusts, as she takes on deadly foes on her path to the elusive, dangerous Dragonlord himself. Grade 4-7 (Lexile: 810)

Follows alchemists Imelda, Adrian, and Pippa as they reach for their dreams of glory riding phoenix horses at The Races, the modern spectacle that has replaced warfare within their empire. Grade 7+

on a quest to defeat a tyrannical ruler and protect a magical book. Rachel and Robert live a gray, dreary life under the rule of cruel and calculating Charles Malstain. That is, until one night, when their librarian father enlists their help to steal a forbidden book.
Before their father is captured, Rachel and Robert are given one mission: find the missing final page.
But to uncover the secrets of The Book of Stolen Dreams, the siblings must face darkness and combat many evils to be rewarded with the astonishing, magical truth about the book. Nevertheless, they resolve to do everything in their power to stop it from falling into Charles Malstain's hands. For if it does, he could rule their world forever. Greade 4-8

When Alex is turned in by her foster sister for practicing Enchantment, which is illegal in the city of Luma, she flees only to discover that she is not safe outside the city either. Grade 4-7

When his mother loses her job, Jeff, who is already struggling with changing schools and problems with his best friend, finds his life spiraling out of control. Grad 6+ (Lexile: HL550) . Companion to Firegirl

The year is 1941. Krystia lives in a small Ukrainian village under the cruel -- sometimes violent -- occupation of the Soviets. So when the Nazis march into town to liberate them, many of Krystia's neighbors welcome the troops with celebrations, hoping for a better life.
But conditions don't improve as expected. Krystia's friend Dolik and the other Jewish people in town warn that their new occupiers may only bring darker days.
The worst begins to happen when the Nazis blame the Jews for murders they didn't commit. As the Nazis force Jews into a ghetto, Krystia does what she can to help Dolik and his family. But what they really need is a place to hide. Faced with unimaginable tyranny and cruelty, will Krystia risk everything to protect her friends and neighbors? Grade 5+

An incredibly timely, page-turning story of family, survival, and sacrifice, inspired by the author's own family history,
Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation. But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, this novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor – the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades. Grade 4-7

Thirteen-year-old Hannah's first real babysitting job turns into a nightmare when a major earthquake knocks out power and phones, cuts off the island, and leaves her stranded with two children. Grade 4-8 (Lexile: 750)

Fifth period is hands down the best time of day in Connor U. Eubanks Middle School, because that's when Mr. Lewis teaches Jazz Lab. So his students are devastated when their beloved teacher quits abruptly. Once they make a connection between budget cuts and Mr. Lewis's disappearance, they hatch a plan: stop the cuts, save their class. Soon, they become an unlikely band of crusaders, and their quest quickly snowballs into something much bigger--a movement involving the whole middle school. But the adults in charge seem determined to ignore their every protest. How can the kids make themselves heard? grade 5-8

Once in your life, sometime after your first memory but before you can drive a car, something is going to happen to you that doesn't happen to anyone else you know. It might be something good. It might be something bad, or special, or funny, or shocking. For Millie, it's something really sad. Lolo, her neighbors' infant daughter, dies--unexpectedly, suddenly, inexplicably--on the night Millie babysits. There's nothing she could have done. There's nothing she can do now. So how does she go on? She does what you'll do. She finds her way. This poignant and profound coming-of-age story portrays a tragic experience of responsibility and its poisonous flip side: guilt. Cathartic and important, it's an honest and empathetic portrait of a girl at her most vulnerable--a mess of grief, love, and ultimately acceptance--who must reckon with those most difficult of demons: death ... and life. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: 820)

uring a massive blackout in rural Nevada, two brothers struggle to survive without their self-reliance-obsessed dad and without enough water cross the desert for help. Grade 6-9

A gripping and darkly humorous tale of Maximillian Fly--a human with cockroach features--whose quiet life is upended when he aids two human children in their escape from an oppressive governing power. Grade 5-7 (Lexile 810)

In New York in 1971, Jamila and Josie are bused across Queens where they try to fit in at a new, integrated junior high school while their best friend, Francesca, tests the limits at a private school. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: 590)

Snap's town had a witch. At least, that's how the rumor goes. But in reality, Jacks is just a crocks-wearing, internet-savvy old lady who sells roadkill skeletons online--after doing a little ritual to put their spirits to rest. It's creepy, sure, but Snap thinks it's kind of cool, too. They make a deal: Jacks will teach Snap how to take care of the baby opossums that Snap rescued, and Snap will help Jacks with her work. But as Snap starts to get to know Jacks, she realizes that Jacks may in fact have real magic--and a connection with Snap's family's past. Grade 5-8

Sometimes, the world is too much for Mona Starr. She’s sweet, geeky, and creative, but it’s hard for her to make friends and connect with other people, and her depression seems to take on a vivid, concrete form. She calls it her Matter.

The Matter seems to be everywhere, telling Mona she’s not good enough and that everyone around her wishes she’d go away. But with therapy, art, writing, and the persistence of a few good friends, Mona starts to understand her Matter and how she can turn her fears into strengths.

Heartfelt, emotionally vulnerable, and visually stunning, The Dark Matter of Mona Starris a story about battling your inner doubts and fears—and finding your creative genius. Grade 7+

Sixth grader Lucy is brand-new to middle school, and when her older sister GiGi--the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade--humiliates her in the cafeteria, Lucy snaps and challenges her to a fencing duel. Grades 5-8

Thirteen-year-old Dinah Lance knows exactly what she wants, who she is, and where she's going. First, she'll win the battle of the bands with her two best friends, then she'll join the Gotham City Junior Police Academy so she can solve crimes just like her dad. Who knows, her rock-star group of friends may even save the world, but first they'll need to agree on a band name. When a mysterious figure keeps getting in the way of Dinah's goals and threatens her friends and family, she'll learn more about herself, her mother's secret past, and navigating the various power chords of life.

With expressive and energetic art by Cara McGee to match the trademark attitude and spunk of Meg Cabot's characters and dialogue, this mother-daughter story embraces the highs and lows of growing up without growing out of what makes us unique. It's an inspirational song that encourages readers to find their own special voices to sing along with Black Canary! Grade 5-8

After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: 720)

Sixteen-year-old Emily and her little brother Aidan are onboard a plane bound for Anchorage. When the plane crashes, both kids and the pilot barely escape with their lives and are left to fight for survival in the Alaskan wilderness. But there is worse to come - Emily and Aidan are being chased, and their shady, unknown pursuers are closing in. As the kids go on the run, Emily finds herself in greater danger than she could have imagined. Because nothing in her life is what it seems - not even the things she holds dearest of all ...Grade 7-12 (Lexile: 630)

Deserted by his magic, Fionn Boyle, Storm Keeper of Arranmore, sees the island beginning to wither and illness sweeping the land and must find a way to summon Dagda's army of merrows. Grade 4-7

In 1977, after her mother's suicide, twelve-year-old Dulcie Louise Dixon is sent to live with her aunt and must rise out of her grief and find her voice again with the help of some surprising new friends. Grade 5-8 (Lexile 820)

In a vibrant city that thrives on trade and invention, two girls from very different walks of life join forces to fight censorship and protect the people they love. Grades 4-8

A visit to a private amusement park is the trip of a lifetime for a group of teen influencers, until they learn that getting off the island alive is not part of the plan.Grade 7-12 (Lexile: 580)

Thirteen-year-old Lucy Eberslee, the Gatekeeper's deputy at the end of the world, teams up with Arthur and Rosemary, who are from other worlds, to investigate why the doors between worlds are stuck. Grade 4-7

Told in multiple voices, after students from elite Brathelthwaite Boarding School and the Orphanage School compete in the Spindthrift Tournament, they team up to face the Whisperers. Grade 4-7

A violin and a middle-school musical unleash a dark family secret in this moving story by an award-winning author duo. For fans of The Devil's Arithmetic and Hana's Suitcase. It's 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers -- and the death of her beloved grandmother -- Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, but is crushed to learn that she's been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her "husband" is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school. Deciding to throw herself into the role, she rummages in her grandfather's attic for some props. There, she discovers an old violin in the corner -- strange, since her Zayde has never seemed to like music, never even going to any of her recitals. Showing it to her grandfather unleashes an anger in him she has never seen before, and while she is frightened of what it might mean, Shirli keeps trying to connect with her Zayde and discover the awful reason behind his anger. A long-kept family secret spills out, and Shirli learns the true power of music, both terrible and wonderful. Grade 5-7 (Lexile: 700)

A girl with undocumented family members goes viral after saving her crush’s life in disguise. It’s a classic story: girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, boy finally notices girl when he sees her in a homemade costume. At least, that’s what Sonia Patil is hoping for when she plans to meet her crush at the local comic-con in cosplay. But instead of winning her crush over, Sonia rescues him after he faints into a canal and, suddenly, everything changes. Since she was in disguise, no one knows who the masked do-gooder was . . .but everyone is trying to find out. Sonia can’t let that happen—her sister is undocumented, and the girls have been flying under the radar since their mother was deported back to Mumbai. Sonia finds herself hiding from social media detectives and trying to connect with her crush and his family. But juggling crushes and a secret identity might just take superpowers. Can Sonia hide in plain sight forever? Grade 8-11

Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase.
Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? foster families? a boyfriend? Nope! There's no room for any additional baggage. Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything--or anyone--that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean. And everything changes. Grade 7+ (Lexile: 690)

Beatrice Fox deserves to go straight to hell. At least, that's what she believes. Her last day on Earth, she ruined the life of the person she loves most--her little sister Emmy. So when Bea awakens from a fatal car accident to find herself on an airplane headed who knows where, she's confused, to say the least. Once on the ground, Bea receives some truly harrowing news: she's in purgatory. If she ever wants to catch a flight to heaven, she'll have to help five thousand souls figure out what's keeping them from moving on. Grade 7-10

In 1893 twelve-year-old Audra lives on a farm in Lithuania, and tries to avoid the Cossack soldiers who enforce the Russian decrees that ban Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and even the language; but when the soldiers invade the farm Audra is the only one who escapes and, unsure of what has happened to her parents, she embarks on a dangerous journey, carrying the smuggled Lithuanian books that fuel the growing resistance movement, unsure of who to trust, but risking her life and freedom for her country. Grade 4-8 (Lexile: 820)