Middle School Literature

If you asked eleven-year-old Fred to draw a map of her family, it would be a bit confusing. Her birth father was never in the picture, her mom died years ago, and her stepfather, Luca, is now expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. According to Fred’s teacher, maps don’t always give the full picture of our history, but more and more it feels like Fred’s family is redrawing the line of their story . . . and Fred is feeling left off the map.

Here are 33 Stories of first love, finding your passion and self-esteem for younger teens. Topics include "Finding Your Passion", "In Like, In Love, and Just Not Into You", and "Being Happy with Yourself".

Here are 35 stories of life’s ups and downs, and family, mentors and doing what’s right for younger teens. Topics include "Tough Times", "That's My Family", "The People Who Are There for Us" and "Doing What's Right".

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.

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?

In this Halloway Hills Middle School Mysteries series premiere, Avery is the first person to borrow the Super Ultimate Minecraft Hacks book from the school library, much to the dismay of the school bully Becky. When Avery accidentally splashes Becky with an invisibility potion he learned from the book, she not only disappears from Minecraft, but from the real world too. Trying to ease his guilt about Becky’s disappearance, with the help of his friend Jordan and a black cat who appears to be stalking him, Avery sets out to find Becky.

Meet Phillip. His mom relocates him to a new school in the middle of the school year. Things do not go well. Phillip lands himself a trip to the dean of student's office when he tries to forge his mother's signature. Maybe if he spelled her name correctly it would have gone better. Phillip also finds himself having more and more anxiety. And the song some bullies are singing is certainly not helping: Phillip Willip, Puddin, and Pie. Got a bad grade and made him cry.    

Her life is a shadow of a life. Her future is not her own to fashion. Her family is a tangle of secrets. She cannot read. She cannot write. But she is Parastrata Ava, the Captain's eldest daughter, the so girl of a long-range crewe - her obligations are grave and many. And when she makes a mistake, in a fragrant orchard of lemons, the consequences are deadly. There are some who would say, "there but for the Mercies go I". There are some who would say Parastrata Ava is just a silly earthstruck girl who got what was coming to her.

Charlotte Andrews is perfectly fine being quiet - in fact, she prefers it. When she doesn't speak, people can't make fun of her stutter. But when she witnesses bullying on the school bus and doesn't say anything, her silence comes between her and her best friend. As if that wasn't bad enough, her parents signed her up for musical theater. Charlotte doesn't want to speak onstage, but at least she doesn't stutter when she sings. Then, just as she starts to find her voice, the arts program is cut. Charlotte can't stay silent anymore.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Jordan Cartwright is about to learn the meaning of true love...from her cat! In book three of the Halloway Hills Middle School Mysteries, after feeling rejected by her best friend Avery because of Valentine’s Day, Jordan wonders if she can still be friends with him. As she tries to avoid Avery, Jordan witnesses some strange behavior from her cat Blizzard. When Blizzard goes missing during a snowstorm, Jordan enlists Avery’s help to find him. Will Jordan and Avery find Blizzard, or will his strange behavior remain a secret forever?

In this first volume of the series, Felix (together with his good friends Max and Alex) suddenly finds himself in a summer camp, sent there by his parents. What he's doing here is what he knows best: He's making a fool of himself by getting into the craziest situations, he's playing pranks (pretty nasty ones) on other fellow campers, or he's simply annoying everyone. Anyway, it's the kind of tricks you definitely haven't heard of before!  

When Sam comes home one day to find two mystery pugs left on her porch, she's sure it's destiny. She's always wanted a dog of her own, even though her parents say that their catering business keeps the family too busy for a pet - let alone two! But Sam has to take in the sweet, abandoned pups...at least until their real owners turn up. Only she's not quite prepared for how hard it is to wrangle two frisky dogs, especially when she sneaks them into the parties her parents cater.

Before his grandmother moved from India to the island of Mariposa, Muki Krishnan’s life was good. But now? He has to share his bedroom with Paati, his grandmother, who snores like a bulldozer and wakes him up at dawn to do yoga. Paati’s arrival coincides with even bigger changes in Mariposa. The president divides citizens into Butterflies - families who have lived in Mariposa for three generations - and Moths, who, like Muki’s family, are more recent immigrants.

Bud Collins can't win at anything. His daughter calls him a loser, his ex is taking him to the cleaners, and he can't beat his bookie. Getting lucky with women is also a lost cause until a strange package from his eccentric uncle arrives in the mail and offers him the opportunity of a lifetime. Bud suddenly sees a way to make a fortune and turn his miserable life around, if he doesn’t destroy it first, because there are people like the greedy loan shark, the deranged hit man, and a wicked cast of others who don’t want him to succeed at all costs.

All Margie Majors ever wanted was the mythical American dream she was taught to want: a hard-working husband, a house in a place that had neighborhood BBQs, a white picket fence, two kids, and a dog. Instead, she got “destiny.” Hers was to be a plus-sized, day-drinking, foul-mouthed, bisexual, retired vampire slayer with crushing debt and no idea what to do with the rest of her life.

Lenny has no idea of the adventure he’s in for when his parents decide to take an extended research trip and sign him up for a boarding school in an old German castle. But even before leaving for the school, it seems like something is trying to prevent Lenny from going… Once he arrives at Shadowsnout Castle Academy, a couple more things become clear: (1) this is not your average school, and (2) Lenny is probably in some serious danger. Lenny needs an escape plan—and fast.

When sixteen-year-old Cynda goes to stay with her father and his second wife, Susan, at their remote bed-and-breakfast inn in Maine, everything starts off well despite legends about ghosts and a murder at the inn. But Cynda feels like a visitor in Dad's new life, an outsider. Then intense, handsome stranger Vincent Morthanos arrives at the inn and seems to return Cynda's interest. At first, she is blind to the subtle, insistent signs that Vincent is not what he seems—that he is, in fact, a vampire. Can Cynda free herself—and her family—from Vincent's power before it's too late?

No teacher has ever liked Carter Avery. So he doesn’t expect that Ms. Olivia Krane will be any different. In fact, he heard the rumor that the new teacher—nicknamed Owl-livia, or the Owl, for short—can twist her head all the way round to catch any kid who’s up to no good. And since Carter has a hard time sitting still and not blurting stuff out, he’s sure he’s in for rough times being sent to the principal’s office. Making things worse: annoying know-it-all Missy Gerber is in his class! But the Owl knows just how to handle Carter’s energy, showing his classmates another side of him.

Rylee Swanson is beginning eighth grade with zero friends. A humiliating moment at the end-of-seventh-grade pool party involving a cannonball, a waterlogged updo, and some disappearing clothes has Rylee halfway convinced she’s better off without any friends—at least friends like those. The one question Rylee can’t shake is . . . why? When a group assignment in journalism pairs Rylee with science geek DeNia Alonso, DeNia’s annoyingly know-it-all, nerdy personality is both frustration and fuel to Rylee’s search for answers.

Lavinia “Vin” Lucas is out of control and out of options. Stranded by parents who would rather use their average magical abilities to study dung beetles than raise her, Vin's been on her own for years. But she’s never been able to corral her own powerful, unpredictable magic. After years of detention, suspension, and expulsion from magic schools far and wide, she’s now being sent to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. If she gets expelled, it’s the end of the line. Now, Vin is determined to behave. Except no one at Last Hope seems to want her to.