Prepared by
Revised
December 9, 2022
Fiction
Rain Rising
2022
Thirteen-year-old Rain, who struggles with low self-esteem, must overcome sadness after her older brother is severely beaten up at a frat party, but through the help of an after-school circle group, Rain finds the courage to help herself and her family heal.
A Perfect Mistake
2022
Eleven-year-old Max struggles with his ADHD and making mistakes, so when a mistake leaves one friend in a coma and another shutting him out, Max resolves to find out what really happened that night.
Moonwalking
2022
When punk rock-loving JJ Pankowski and graffiti artist Pie Velez stumble into an unlikely friendship, they use their love of music and art to get through a tough semester until a run-in with the police changes everything.
Miracle Season
2022
Never having met a plant that wouldn't bloom or bud for her, 13-year-old Persephone, whose brother has an irreversible brain injury, finds the only things growing are the lies and secrets she's been keeping to save her family.
Lexile level
760
Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone
2022
When Jennifer Chan, a new girl who believes she can find aliens, goes missing, Mallory Moss sets out to find her and must figure out why Jennifer might have run-- and face the truth inside herself.
Lexile level
640
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
2022
Through letters he writes in his journal, 13-year-old Amos finds a confidante in a queer historical figure from the Civil War.
Fight + Flight
2022
Two girls find friendship-- and more-- when they bond over a traumatic event that took place in their middle school.
Swift and Hawk: Cyberspies
2022
When their families are violently kidnapped, Swift and Hawk-- tween experts in AI and robotics-- are sent on a life-or-death rescue mission by the secretive Möbius group that leads them straight into the hands of a dark and chilling enemy.
Witchlings
2022
Every year, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. When Seven isn't placed in one of the covens, she invokes her only option: she and two other Spares will be assigned an impossible task.
Lexile level
800
Mapmaker
2022
Walt's magical ability to bring maps to life puts him, his twin sister Van and new friend Dylan in danger when an enchanted heirloom strands them in the fantastical world of Djaruba, where they discover a malevolent rival to the kingdom has nefarious plans for Walt.
Graphic novels
Invisible
2022
When five overlooked students are forced to complete their school's community service hours, they meet someone in need and must each decide if they are willing to expose their own secrets to help, or if remaining invisible is the only way to survive middle school.
Lexile level
260
Rabbit Chase
2022
Aimée, a non-binary Anishinaabe middle-schooler, is on a class trip. When they accidentally wander off, they are transported to an alternate dimension populated by traditional Anishinaabe figures in a story inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
Lexile level
550
The Aquanaut
2022
With her father lost at sea, Sophie wanders aimlessly around Aqualand, a marine theme park, until an "aquanaut" breaks into the park's research lab, revealing Aqualand's dark side and vowing to free the captive marine life with her help.
Anne of West Philly
2022
In this modern retelling of Anne of Green Gables, Anne is fostered into the West Philly home of siblings Marilla and Matthew, and while she initially has a hard time at school, she ends up joining the robotics team and competes for a spot in an elite STEM program.
Nonfiction
Buzzkill
2022
J 595.7 MAL
This funny and fascinating book about bugs lays out the critical role they play on our planet, from sustenance to pollination to medicines and more, discussing their possible extinction and the ways that everyday people can prevent their decline.
Lexile level
930
Save the People!
2022
J 576.84 MCA
Filled with science, jokes and black and white illustrations, this action-packed look at past extinctions and current threats to humanity’s survival shows how we may be capable of avoiding most world-ending catastrophes.
How To Build a Human
2022
J 599.938 TUR
A celebrated science writer draws upon the most recent discoveries in paleoanthropology and evolutionary biology to present the seven most important steps leading to Homo sapiens.
Lexile level
990
Star Child
2022
JB BUTLER OCTAVIA
Through poems and prose, an acclaimed novelist paints a vivid portrait of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler.
Chaz C
I am a youth services librarian and it is a hazardous profession. Too many books, too little time! Don't make me, but if I HAD to choose my favorite book recipe, it would be a romance novel with a healthy dash of horror, topped with the latest picture book. Add some outside time, epic soundtracks and I'm feeling groovy.
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