It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans—wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?

Aven Green was born without arms.  When her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven is afraid she will stick out.  Eating lunch with her feet in a middle school cafeteria seems overwhelming.    This book is full of bravery and courage.  If you like to read about people who are not exactly like you, this book is for you!

Nizhoni Begay is just trying to be known for something in her middle school, but then she starts seeing monsters and life getting really interesting. This is in the Rick Riordan Presents line of books and is a similar theme to Percy Jackson, but based on Navajo legends.

Joe has an Auditory Processing disorder that makes it difficult for him to concentrate when other noises are happening and many people think he is not smart. Ravi just moved from India where he was a great cricket player, and at the top of his class academically. Because of his accent, his classmates don't understand what he is saying and his teacher thinks he needs help from the resource room. How both of these characters find each other after many misunderstandings is a good story.

Roller Girl is an awesome graphic novel! Astrid is having friend issues and is in that difficult time in her life between 6th and 7th grade. Roller Camp provides a good place for her to gain independence and learn about herself. Strong females all over the place in this book!

Morrigan Crow is a cursed child.  Everyone blames anything that goes wrong on her.  Then she is taken away to a better land where there is a magical hotel and giant talking cats.  She has to go through three trials to become a member of the Wondrous Society.  There are surprises at every turn and wonderful characters. 

Emmie uses wheels to get around, and she loves going fast. This book is saucy and makes the reader see things from Emmie's point of view so readers might reconsider language and attitudes towards people who use wheels.

Jason Reynolds does a great job with this book of interconnected stories. A school bus brings them all together.  Some are funny, some a little tragic. The characters from one show up in a scene in another.

Callum's dad has told him for years that magic is bad and that he had to purposely fail the tests to get into the mage's school, the Magisterium. While Call thinks he fails even more spectacularly that he thought he could, he is still chosen to go. Everything he has ever believed is called into question. Plus magic is so cool. Plot twists and complications abound for such a short book.

Nolan wears his pants too short and is good with computers.  Bubba Bixby starts calling him “Nerd”.  When Bubba Bixby tells people to do something, they do it.  So everyone calls Nolan “Nerd”.  Nolan sees Bubba bully almost everyone else and finds a way to call him out on his bullying.  You will love Mr. Green, Nolan’s teacher and sidekick.  You will love hating Bubba.  You will want to read the rest of the series.

 Mia's family has come to the US from China recently, and find employment managing a motel. Mia runs the front desk while her parents clean the small rooms. If anything goes wrong, the owner takes it out of the manager's pay .This book addresses a lot of difficult, hot button issues- racism and profiling, poverty, and immigration. The author based the premise on her life, which makes it even more interesting.

A biracial girl lives in a family and a town where she is the only person of color. She discovers of her paternal grandmother, a famous artist, who she has never met. Fans of Wonder and Out of My Mind might like this, though the situation that Violet is in is not as extreme.

Stef Soto would love to shake off all of the association with her Dad's taco truck. It is embarrassing to be in 7th grade, anyway, but to be in 7th grade and be picked up by a taco truck after school is a bit much. Her former friend dubs her "taco queen" and claims she smells like salsa.  The story moves very quickly and is very funny. 

Leonora (Leo) belongs to a big family who run a bakery. She finds that they are keeping secrets from her, because she is the youngest. She discovers that she comes from a long line of baking bruhas- witches who can do magic through baking. This tale weaves together some information about Dia de Los Muertos without hitting the readers over the head about it. There is lots of middle school drama, as there would be if someone had a love potion go wrong on a 6th grader. Fun book.

Fun adventure story set in the craziest, best hotel imaginable. Who wouldn't want to stay in the Pinball room or the cake room? There are some rooms in the hotel that no one knows about! The creator of the hotel has been missing for 100 days and Leo has a mystery to solve that involves going into many of these crazy rooms.

Who doesn't like Otters? Odder is a curious otter who doesn't quite know how to be an otter, for good reason.   This is told in verse and has adorable illustrations.

A castle that can add rooms whenever it becomes bored?  Bring it on!   The castle can also give its opinion on the character of guests by making the rooms nicer or very uncomfortable. What fun!

Emmy’s life changes dramatically when her loving parents suddenly inherit a great deal of money and leave her with the dreaded nanny, Miss Barmy. To make matters worse, Emmy feels invisible at school until...she is bitten by the class rat and can suddenly understand everything he says.  Then she discovers that Joe, the cool kid, is in the same boat. These two embark on an adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and lots of humor. 

Ah, what a refreshing book about a summer adventure! Four sisters and their father rent a cottage on an estate. The girls, their dog and their adventures worm their way into the reader's heart.

Nate Brody has a great arm. He is an 8th grade quarterback who wins the chance to win a million dollars. Unfortunately, just when he needs it, his arm starts to fail him. His dad loses his job, and his best friend Abby is going blind. All Nate feels is a lot of pressure. Will he be able to make the throw?

Three sisters are sent to visit their mother in California for a month, even though she abandoned them in New York seven years before. Delphine has taken care of her sisters for years. Now they are shooed out of the house all day and go to a day camp run by the black panthers. Delphine worries about keeping her sisters safe amidst the new chaos they encounter.

Mason Buttle is big, super sweaty, and has problems reading and writing. His best friend died a few years ago, and the police keep asking him questions about that death. Life at home is not great; Mason calls his house "the tumbledown." Things are falling apart. The story is heart-warming and the characters are interesting.

Daniel is fast asleep on the first night of an overnight rafting trip when he is woken up by screams.  The dam has broken and he and his new acquaintances have to move fast to stay alive.  If you like adventure books and cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, this is for you!