Young Readers Fiction

Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. And one thing she’s learned as editor of her school newspaper is that a journalist’s job is to find the facts and not let personal biases affect the story. But all that changes the day she finds the body of a murdered boy. Jawad Ali was fourteen years old when he built a cosplay jetpack that a teacher mistook for a bomb. A jetpack that got him arrested, labeled a terrorist—and eventually killed. But he’s more than a dead body, and more than “Bomb Boy.” He was a person with a life worth remembering.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times best-selling author Malala Yousafzai introduces some of the people behind the statistics and news stories we read or hear every day about the millions of people displaced worldwide.

Your identity is defined - not by changing circumstances - but an unchanging God! Whether you're celebrating an incredible victory or facing life's biggest disappointment, your response will reveal who you really are. In this powerful book designed specifically for young Christians, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow provides an intimate look into how he's been able to face professional triumphs and defeats and still emerge with his faith and identity intact.

She's been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she's been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last. Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they've given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do—or see—that landed them in this god-awful mess?

Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. Here, leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall: not quite dead, but not quite alive…just like Clare. Long ago, he was struck by a car, and, hovering between life and death, he was given the choice to either cross into the Afterlife or become an Usher of wandering souls. Clare chose the latter: stepping into a solitary life of helping souls meet their destiny. Clare’s quiet and predictable days are met with upheaval when a badger soul named Gingersnipes knocks on his door.

There's a new girl at camp and Rebekah's mind and detective's notebook are filled with questions about her. Natasha is very mysterious and she certainly does not seem interested in making friends any time soon. And what's with that blood-red liquid that she drinks every day? Could she really be a vampire? Rebekah is determined to solve this mystery, even if she might feel slightly scared around the strange girl.

When four recent high school graduates return home from a weekend of camping, they expect to go back to life as usual. Instead, the boys discover empty streets, abandoned cars, and utter silence - everyone has disappeared. As the friends attempt to solve the mystery, they stumble upon more questions than answers. Why won’t the electronics work? Where did the wind go? What do the notebooks full of gibberish mean? With each new discovery, they learn that nothing was ever quite what it seemed on Echo Island and that a deep secret is drawing them in - if only they'd surrender to it.

"Talk about out of the frying pan, into the fire! I was pretty sure that my freaky stepsister and that freaky field guide of hers would ruin my life. But now it looks like they're going to ruin all of Florida, too! Okay, maybe that's not fair. Maybe all these stupid giants would be waking up anyway, but if it wasn't for her and that book, I'd be home playing video games and this would be someone else's giant problem!"

Mr. and Mrs. Puddleduck have found the perfect place to nest: a cozy planter by a theater in a sunny seaside village. While Mrs. P is warming the eggs, Mr. P is drawn to the spellbinding songs, fabulous feathered costumes, and dazzling dances he’s secretly watching during rehearsals. He’s even showing off some fancy new footwork to Mrs. P! But it turns out he’s been learning much more than how to put on a show.

Thirteen-year-old Jakob’s family has hidden their true identity as Jews and are living as Catholics in Budapest during WWII. One day, in a burst of loyalty, Jakob decides to reveal that he is Jewish, a choice that puts his whole family in danger. Jakob hopes his best friend Ivan, a Christian whose father is a high-ranking military official, will help his family, but he comes to believe that Ivan has abandoned them. Sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz, Jakob is kept alive by his passion for revenge against Ivan. When Jakob is freed, he discovers that Ivan, too, made a choice that day.

On an island at the edge of a wide, wild sea, a girl and her grandmother gather gifts from the earth. Salmon from the stream, herring eggs from the ocean, and in the forest, a world of berries. Through the seasons, they sing to the land as the land sings to them. Brimming with joy and gratitude, in every step of their journey, they forge a deeper kinship with both the earth and the generations that came before, joining in the song that connects us all.

Thirteen-year-old Nikki Doyle's dreams of becoming a basketball great feel within reach when she's selected to play on an elite-level club team. But in a league with taller, stronger, and faster girls, Nikki suddenly isn't the best point guard. In fact, she's no longer a point guard at all, which leaves her struggling to figure out who she is and how she fits in.

Twelve-year-old Ann understands there is only one thing to be grateful for as a slave: having her family together. But when the master falls into debt, he plans to sell both Ann and her younger brother to two different owners. Ann is convinced her family must run away on the Underground Railroad. Will Ann's family survive the dangerous trip to their freedom in the North? This Girls Survive story is supported by a glossary, discussion questions, and nonfiction material on the Underground Railroad, making it a valuable resource for young listeners.

Goel, their spiritual leader, has sent the Seven Sleepers on yet another adventure. The Dark Lord is threatening the Kingdom of Camelot, and Joshua Adams and his six companions seek to aid the king in fighting off the invaders. Bob Lee Jackson, "Reb" to his friends, finds himself a key player in this frightening game. Having become expert with shield and sword, Reb takes the fate of the kingdom upon his shoulders. But the situation grows grim as the physical dangers make way for spiritual dangers. The Sleepers must call upon the power of Goel to combat the servants of the Dark Lord.

Twelve-year-old Anna Krawitz is imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto with her older sister, Lina, and their father. Happy days spent reading about anatomy and science in Papa’s bookshop are long gone, and the knowledge they have is used to help their neighbors through the illnesses caused by starvation and war.

Ultramarathons. Bike sprints. Squats and deadlifts. Naps. Kitchen dance parties! All of it is in preparation for meeting Pequeno, the “Little One” growing in this strong mama’s belly. From first heartbeats and fluttery kicks to grinning grandparents and that first loud cry - pregnancy might just be the biggest workout yet! But there's nothing this mom and new baby can't tackle together as a team.

When Princess Faith discovers a hidden garden within the castle walls, she asks for permission to plant a flower garden. When her father approves, she and her sisters share the experience, only to find out gardening isn’t all that easy.

When Tessa and her sisters are told they will be staying at their grandparents in Japan, Tessa is thrilled. But her hopes are dashed when she realizes that life in Japan is just like being in California: her sisters are old enough to go into Tokyo, while her grandparents want her to stay home with the neighbor kid, Jin. When Tessa is finally allowed to go to Tokyo, it’s only to join her grandpa’s retiree aerobic class with none other than Jin. Their forced hang out comes crashing to a halt when Tessa and Jin break the Miyata family’s heirloom—releasing the malicious samurai god Taira Masakado.

Four teens have dug up the time capsule that their parents buried in 1986 and never bothered to recover. But in addition to the expected ephemera of mixtapes, Walkmans, photographs, letters, toys, and assorted junk, Elayah, Liam, Marcie, and Jorja discover something sinister: a hunting knife stained with blood and wrapped with a note. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill anyone."

Aria Patel likes stability, certainty, predictability. It’s why she’s so into science. It's why she dumped her boyfriend before they went to different colleges because the odds were that something would go wrong, eventually. In a life that’s already so chaotic, why obsess over complicated relationships and shadowy unknowns when the scientific method gives you direction and a straight path to avoid all the drama. But there’s no avoiding anything when Aria finds herself suddenly falling through parallel universes and there’s no formula that can save her.