2025-26 Truman Books

Good Different

By Meg Eden Kuyatt

"Seventh-grader Selah Godfrey knows that to be 'normal' she has to keep her feelings tightly controlled when people are around, but after hitting a fellow student, she needs to figure out just what makes her different--and why that is ok"

The Lost Year

By Katherine Marsh

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, thirteen-year-old Matthew discovers a shocking secret about his great-grandmother's past as he learns about her life during the Holodomor famine in Soviet Ukraine.

The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn

By Sally J. Pla

Follows thirteen-year-old neurodivergent Maudie during an eventful summer in California with her father, where she struggles with whether to share a terrible secret about life with her mom and stepdad.

Once There Was

By Kiyash Monef

When fifteen-year-old Iranian American Marjan discovers her murdered father was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures, she realizes she must take up his mantle, despite the many dangers.

The Labors of Hercules Beal

By Gary D. Schmidt

Seventh-grader Hercules Beal has to figure out how to fulfill his teacher's assignment of performing the Twelve Labors of Hercules in real life, and discovers important things about friendship, community, and himself along the way.

Nic Blake and the Remarkables:  The Manifestor Prophecy

By Angie Thomas

All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she's never heard of . . . to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed"

What Happened to Rachel Riley

By Clair Swirnarski

"Thirteen-year-old new girl Anna Hunt decides to make an investigative podcast about how fellow classmate Rachel Riley went from being the most popular girl in school to the most hated"--Provided by publisher.

The Carrefour Curse

By Natalie Mae

"When twelve-year-old Garnet finally gets to meet her magical extended family she discovers they're all trapped in the ruins of their crumbling manor and Garnet must break a curse that has decimated three generations of Carrefours"--Provided by publisher.

It Found Us

By Lindsay Currie

Hazel, a twelve-year-old aspiring detective, must decode a series of ominous clues tied to a century-old tragedy to find a missing teenager before it is too late.

Iceberg

By Jennifer A. Nielsen

Twelve-year-old Hazel Rothbury stows away aboard the Titanic and, with the help of a porter named Charlie and a first-class passenger named Sylvia, she sets out to explore the great ship, uncovering a haunting mystery--until the ship hits an iceberg and she must fight to save herself and her friends

Free Throws. Friendship and Other Things We Fouled Up

By Jenn Bishop

New to Cincinnati, where her father is now coach of the University basketball team, eighth-grader Aurora (called Rory) finds herself isolated by the heated team rivalries--especially when it turns out her new friend Abby's father has a mysterious feud with Rory's father that threatens her new friendship.

The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry

By Chad Morris

Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry lives off the grid in the California woods with her family, but when her brother gets sick, they have to leave to get help.