Middle Readers

In this elegant dual narrative, Essie is a 13-year-old girl feeling glum about starting a new school after her professor dad takes a temporary teaching position in a different town. She has 110 days here and can't wait for them to end. Then she meets Ollie: delicate, blue eyes, short hair, easy smile. At first, Essie thinks she has a typical crush on a beautiful boy. But as her crush blossoms, she soon realizes that Ollie is not a boy or a girl, but gender nonbinary.

Twelve-year-old Zach Clark has some pretty common troubles: single mom, bully at school. But he's also got one problem all his own when he wakes up one morning on the ceiling. Gravity seems to have no effect, and one false step will send Zach toppling up into the sky, gone for good. Zach and his friend Sophie try to hide his condition and then cure it, but soon enough, their luck runs out and forces close in on them from all sides. A thrilling fantasy for fans of fast-moving and inspirational storytelling! A legendary "lost novel" finally made available to the public!

Speaking Up for Each Other has 24 award-winning short stories by talented young writers. These stories are original, enjoyable, and contain a rich variety of themes and situations ranging from a helpless girl living in fear of her own family to a robot contemplating what's best for its employer.

This young listeners edition of the worldwide best seller Three Cups of Tea has been specially adapted for younger listeners and updated by Greg Mortenson to bring his remarkable story of humanitarianism up to date for the present.

Mimi has a plan for her seventh grade year: play piano in the Young Artists competition at Carnegie Hall with her best friend, Lee; enjoy a good old Massachusetts snow day or two; and work in her community garden plot with her dad. But all that changes when her family’s Greek restaurant falls on hard times. The Laskarises’ relocation to Wilford Island, Florida, is a big key change for Mimi. Where does she fit in in this shell-covered paradise without Lee? Mimi is taken by the beauty of the island and alarmed by the plastic pollution she sees on the beaches.

As part of an elite team of Marines, Craig Grossi was sent on his most dangerous assignment to the Sangin District of Afghanistan. He expected to face harsh conditions and violence from Taliban fighters.

It's the end of term for Roman - the last week ever of primary school, in fact. And in what should be an unremarkable, tying-things-up kind of week, Roman's class get the opposite - a very special visitor. One Jason Grooves - ex-pupil turned mega-famous singer. Jason is back at school to film his new reality TV show - Jason: Grooving on to the Next Chapter. He's got big plans, and he wants Roman and all the class to get in with the action. Filming, proms, auditions, charity gigs and the launch of his brand-new food lines, including some very special spaghetti hoops....

It is the month before Christmas, and Roman's class is preparing for the Christmas fete and the school pantomime. The new teacher at the helm - the awful Mr Le Salle, a flamboyant, theatrical and downright nasty piece of work - is the least of Roman's worries. He also has to contend with the most rubbish role in the panto (being a box) as well as organising the Santa's grotto stall at the Christmas fete with loose cannon Darren Gamble. As the panto nears, it seems that everything that could possibly go wrong is about to. It is left to Roman to save the panto and the day....

Sixth graders Dominic, Loop, and Z stumble upon a new magic shop in town and can't wait to spend their summer mastering cool tricks to gain access to the Vault, a key holders-only back room bound to hold all kinds of secrets. And once they get in, they set their sights even higher: a huge competition at the end of the summer. They work on their card tricks, sleights, and vanishing acts, trying to come up with the most awesome routines possible....Problem is, the trip is expensive, and it's money that each guy's family just doesn't have.

Meet Shivers, the scaredy-est pirate to ever sail the Seven Seas. Along with his best friend Margo, and his loyal fishmate (yes, you read that correctly), Albee, Shivers battles a giant squid, discovers hidden treasures, and gets pooped on by a pigeon to save his parents from the clutches of evil. (Yep, that's right: evil!) You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll never eat snails again. So put on your pantaloons, batten down the hatches, and join Shivers on his first (but still very dangerous) adventure.

This time Shivers must set sail again to get his beloved ship, the Land Lady, back from Mayor Sheila B. President. Shivers won't be going alone, however. He'll be bringing his best pal, Margo, and his loyal fishmate, Albee, on a clingy-clam and hot dog-filled adventure. Like all good pirates, Shivers will just have to grab his swimmies (and his bunny slippers) and jump right into this epic tale.

The Best Life Stories by Reader's Digest are 150 of the best hand-picked real-life tales of resilience, joy, and hope - all in 150 words or less! People think I'm crazy for teaching middle schoolers.

Even and Odd are sisters who share magic. Lately, though, it seems like that’s the only thing they have in common. Odd doesn’t like magic, and Even practices it every chance she gets, dreaming of the day she’ll be ready to be a hero. When the hidden border between the mundane world the sisters live in and the magical land they were born in shuts abruptly, the girls are trapped, unable to return home. With the help of a unicorn named Jeremy, they discover a wizard is diverting magic from the border to bolster her own power.

Growing up as the child of former sharecroppers in a segregated Baltimore, Elijah Cummings saw firsthand how injustice could run rampant, even in a democracy that promises fairness and equality. But with a strong support system and fiery self-discipline, Elijah utilized the momentum of the civil rights movement to overcome the obstacles of poverty and racism to effect change at a time when our country so badly needed it.

As Violet Sidhu and her friends prepare to sell hats at the Halloway Hills Middle School Christmas fair, they discover their hats have gone missing! In book two of the Halloway Hills Middle School Mysteries, after a box of crocheted hats goes missing, Violet and her friends must come up with an alternative plan to raise money at the annual Christmas fair. When Violet discovers what’s happened to her hats, thanks to the new guy at school, getting them back turns out to be harder than she thought. Will Violet get her hats back in time for the school’s Christmas fair?

Mystery Behind the Doors is a mystery novel about self-discovery, confidence, intentional action, choice, focus, and new ways of thinking. This inclusive book full of mystery and riddles holds the listeners' attention as they join the three friends on an enchanted journey between realms. There, they learn lifelong self-empowering lessons, applicable to tweens and beyond.

Abraham Lincoln may have returned to history books, but other historical figures saw what he did - and now they know they can escape from their times, too. When Abigail Adams decides there's more to life than doing chores in the White House, she joins a crew of Caribbean pirates! Can siblings Abby and Doc set history straight? Or will they be the ones who need to be rescued?

Griffith, Graham, and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. When all three kids hold the ball, strange things begin to happen.

Twelve-year-old JoJo is confused about his gender identity. He does lots of research and, after struggling, trying to decide what category he fits into, finally decides that he’s non-binary. The realization leaves him out in the cold as far as his best friend is concerned, who shuns him and wants nothing more to do with him. His only support is from his mom and his English teacher, but he has started on a path from which there is no turning back, whatever the costs and whatever courage he must muster.