The Wonder Series
by R.J. Palacio
August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. Wonder, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others.
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
*MATURE CONTENT*
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
On the Come Up
by Angie Thomas
*MATURE CONTENT*
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
See You in the Cosmos
by Jack Cheng
11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. But the people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he'll uncover.
Bubble
by Stewart Foster
Eleven-year-old Joe has never had a life outside of the hospital, with its beeping machines and view of London’s rooftops. His condition means he’s not allowed outside, not even for a moment, and his few visitors risk bringing life-threatening germs inside his bubble. Then a new nurse offers Joe the possibility of going outside. But Joe doesn’t know if the nurse is serious—or whether he could survive the adventure.
The If I Stay Series
by Gayle Forman
*MATURE CONTENT*
Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.
This is Where it Ends
by Marieke Nijkamp
*MATURE CONTENT*
10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03: The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05: Someone starts shooting.
In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.
Out of My Mind
by Sharon M. Draper
Melody isn't like most people. She can't walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she's experienced. She's smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom-the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it-somehow.
Restart
by Gordon Korman
Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof and hitting his head. He doesn't remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital and has to learn his whole life again... starting with his name. He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees many different reactions to his return. Some treat him like a hero. Some are afraid of him. One is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head. Soon, it's not a question of who Chase is-it's a question of who he was... and who he's going to be.
Mockingbird
by Kathryn Erskine
In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.
Amal Unbound
by Aisha Saeed
Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal’s Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she’s busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when–as the eldest daughter–she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn’t lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens–after an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt.
Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
*MATURE CONTENT*
From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda is outcast since she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. As time passes, she becomes isolated and practically stops talking altogether. It's through an art project that she's able to face what really happened at that party: she was raped by a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. This time Melinda fights back and refuses to be silent.
The Penderwicks Series
by Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwick sisters busily discover the summertime magic of Arundel estate’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. Best of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, the perfect companion for their adventures. Icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is less pleased with the Penderwicks than Jeffrey, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Is that any fun? For sure the summer will be unforgettable.
A Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
A girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover Africa on foot as they search for their families and a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing way.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexi
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
The Track Series
by Jason Reynolds
Running. That's all that Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But never for a track team. Nope, his game has always been ball. But when Ghost impulsively challenges an elite sprinter to a race -- and wins -- the Olympic medalist track coach sees he has something: crazy natural talent. Thing is, Ghost has something else: a lot of anger, and a past that he is trying to outrun. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed and meld with the team, or will his past finally catch up to him?
Rules
by Cynthia Lord
12-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules-from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"-in order to stop his embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?
The Poet X
by Elizabeth Aceveto
*MATURE CONTENT*
Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours her passion into a notebook, reciting the words like prayers. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she's invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could attend without her mami finding out. Still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems. In the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.
Everything, Everything
by Nicola Yoon
I have a form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I haven't left my house in 15 years. One day, a moving truck arrives. New next door neighbors. I look out the window, and I see him. His name is Olly. I want to learn everything about him, and I do. I learn that when I talk to him, my world opens up. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
The Sun is Also a Star
by Nicola Yoon
Natasha: I believe in facts. Not fate, destiny, or dreams that won't come true. I’m not someone who meets a boy on a NYC street and falls in love. Not when my family is 12 hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son and student, living up to my parents’ expectations. Not the poet or the dreamer. But something about Natasha makes me think fate has something extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Highly Illogical Behavior
by John Corey Whaley
16-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him. Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college. Is ambition alone enough to get her in? Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form a bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse, and their friendships threaten to do the same.
When I Was the Greatest
by Jason Reynolds
*MATURE CONTENT*
A lot of the stuff that gives his neighborhood a bad name, he don’t really mess with. Ali’s got enough going on. His best friend Noodles, though. There’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. Then there’s Needles, Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets ticks and blurts out the wildest things. But everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it. Yeah, it’s cool... until Ali, Noodles, and Needles find themselves somewhere where the people aren't so forgiving.
Where Things Come Back
by John Corey Whaley
*MATURE CONTENT*
Before Cullen Witter's senior year of high school, everything he thinks he understands about his small town vanishes. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes obsessed with the reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and his 15-year-old brother, Gabriel, disappears. As Cullen navigates a summer of holding his family together and muddling his way into adulthood, a young missionary in Africa searches for meaning wherever he can find it.