Middle School Girls

The transition from elementary school to middle school skirts the borders of traumatic for many girls. Their bodies are changing, their moods are shifting, their friendships are tested, and boys can become a big distraction. Girls may begin to struggle with grades, behavior, and relationships with family and friends. How do they know what to do and what not to do in this new environment with new expectations? Erica and Jonathan Catherman offer girls ages 10 to 12 the practical help they need to make the move to middle school as painless as possible.

It's not easy being Rafe Khatchadorian's sister. He's got quite a reputation around school, and Georgia's got it hard enough as is! Georgia can't help but throw all her energy into the one thing that makes her happy: her kick-butt, all-girl rock band, We Stink! When Georgia's favorite rock band, Lulu and the Handbags, advertises a major music competition where the winner gets to jam with Lulu herself, Georgia will pull all the stops to make sure We Stink wins - even if it means asking her annoying older brother, Rafe, for help!

She grew up in a world where women were supposed to be quiet. But Malala Yousafzai refused to be silent. Discover Malala's story through this powerful narrative telling, and come to see how one brave girl named Malala changed the world.

Life gets tough. People get mean. How do we push through? What does God's plan mean for our lives? What does it mean to be God's girl in middle school? Well, that's what Just Us Girls is all about.

For seventh-grader Mila, it starts with some boys giving her an unwanted hug on the school blacktop. A few days later, at recess, one of the boys (and fellow trumpet player), Callum, tells Mila it's his birthday, and asks her for a "birthday hug." He's just being friendly, isn't he? And how can she say no? But Callum's hug lasts a few seconds too long, and feels...weird. According to her friend, Zara, Mila is being immature and overreacting. Doesn't she know what flirting looks like? But the boys don't leave Mila alone.

After a botched escape plan from her boarding school, Abigail is stunned to discover the school is actually a cover for an elite spy ring called The Center, along with being training grounds for future spies. Even more shocking? Abigail's mother is a top agent for The Center and she has gone MIA, with valuable information that many people would like to have - at any cost. Along with a former nemesis and charming boy from her grade, Abigail goes through a crash course in Spy Training 101, often with hilarious - and sometimes painful - results.

Best friends Tamanna and Yasmine cannot believe their good fortune when a school is set up in their Afghan village; however, their dreams for the future are shattered when the Taliban burn down the school and threaten the teacher and students with death. As Tamanna faces an arranged marriage to an older man, and the Taliban target Yasmine’s Western-educated family, the girls realize they must flee.

Emily Bennett works as a therapist in Pennsylvania, helping children overcome their troubled pasts—even as she struggles to forget her own. Once upon a time, Emily was part of a middle school clique called the Harpies—six popular girls who bullied the new girl to her breaking point. The Harpies took a blood oath: never tell a soul what they did to Grace Farmer. Now, fourteen years later, it seems karma has caught up to them when one member of that vicious circle commits suicide.

Today’s middle school girls have it rough. In those few short years, girls go through an incredible number of biological and emotional changes, making it the most formative - and risky - time in their lives. Groups form and turn on each other, childhood friends can reveal trusted secrets just by sending a text message or updating a Facebook status, and deciding where to sit in the cafeteria can be a daily struggle. As any tween will tell you, life for a middle school girl can be summed up in one word: drama.

Everyone at The Smith School is obsessed with Monster Mayhem, the latest reality video game craze. But when Drexel Caine, the mastermind behind the game, is suddenly kidnapped, it becomes clear that the kidnappers are playing for more than just special badges. After Drexel's son - who is Abby's friend, Toby - receives a cryptic message, Abby and her friends discover the kidnapping is part of a bigger scheme that could take down The Center for good.

Abby and her classmates have all been invited to Briar Academy to participate in the Challenge, a prep-school competition where teams compete for prizes and the glory of being the best of the best. While there, they figure out their nemesis, the Ghost, is using Briar as headquarters to plan a devastating attack on his enemies (a.k.a. pretty much everyone) using a brand-new invention Toby developed. And this time, the Center and Mrs. Smith will be of no help as Abby suspects there is someone working for the Ghost on the inside - and they can trust no one.

Seeds: Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead. Roots: Jo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a busgirl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer.

Twelve-year-old Tahlia Wilkins is ready to start off her perfect summer when her dreamy crush invited her to his birthday pool party. But the Red Goddess of Panties, a.k.a. her first period, arrives 24 hours before the pool party and completely messes up all her plans. To make matters worse, her mom is out of town, and there’s no way she’s going to ask her awkward dad for help! Thalia was always afraid growing up would be tough, but this is just not fair.

Katie Brown is miserable when her best friend is invited to join the Popular Girls Club and Katie is left out. Is there an Unpopular Girls Club she can join? Fortunately, Katie finds her way with a great new group of friends - Mia, Emma, and Alexis - and together they form the Cupcake Club. Sometimes starting from scratch turns out to be the icing on the cupcake!

Warning: Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties! is a captivating anthology of fifteen standalone stories, each one a unique exploration of youth, camaraderie, and the trials and triumphs of growing up. The book, penned by the talented Gene J. Miller, is a delightful blend of Tom Sawyer's mischief, Stand by Me's nostalgia, and The Sandlot's youthful exuberance.

The best part of Kat's day is getting to walk her neighbor's irresistible pug, Meatball. So when her parents insist she start an extracurricular this year, she makes her own, by turning her hobby into a business: a dog-walking business, that is. She and her best friends, Taz and Lucy - as well as the cute new boy, Declan - try to get Four Paws Dog Walking into shape. But wrangling puppies and pleasing customers turns out to be harder than they thought! Can Kat keep taking care of the dogs she loves without hurting her friendships?

I'm Becky. The new girl. Again. Dad's work keeps us moving a lot, so I'm sort of used to it. Still, being the new girl in middle school for the umpteenth time isn't exactly easy. And to make things worse, the mean girls AKA Thing One and Thing Two, already have it out for me on day one. Good thing I have a plan to beat them. I've been tweaking it for years in every school I've been to. Time to test it, and myself, out for real.

When Brianna Justice's hero, the famous celebrity Chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and traces her own success back to being president of her fifth-grade class, Brianna determines she must do the same. She just knows that becoming president of her class is the first step toward her own cupcake-baking empire! But when new student Jasmine Moon announces she is also running for president, Brianna learns that she may have more competition than she expected.

Middle school hasn’t gotten any easier. The pressure to fit in skyrockets, and our self-confidence takes a dive. We’re trying to be God’s girl in middle school, but what does that look like? What’s God’s girl to do when the drama kicks in, when you’re bullied, or when that boy doesn’t like you back? We need to find our confidence. We need some time for Just Us Girls.

Malala's memoir of a remarkable teenage girl who risked her life for the right to go to school is now abridged and adapted for chapter book listeners. Raised in a changing Pakistan by an enlightened father from a poor background and a beautiful, illiterate mother, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. Her story of bravery and determination in the face of extremism is more timely than ever.