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Realistic FictionMiddle School |
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Love is in the hair
by Gemma Cary
When her BFF, who has facial hair due to PCOS, is targeted by bullies, 15-year-old Evia, who's had enough, creates the “Hairy Girls' Club” with hopes of making the world a more accepting, less judgmental place for girls to live in—one hairy leg at a time!
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Return to sender
by Lauren Draper
"After three years away, 17-year-old Brodie McKellon has returned to live with her eccentric grandmother above the last remaining Dead Letter Office--the place letters go when no one is left to claim them. But with her reputation as a troublemaker, things don't stay quiet for long, and Brodie soon reunites with her childhood best friend, Elliot, and her old sidekick-turned-nemesis, Levi, to investigate an unsolved mystery--the unclaimed letters of a group of friends who seemed to vanish without a trace nearly 20 years ago.
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Something Like Right
by H. D. Hunter
Expelled from his district after getting in a fight, high school junior Zay is transferred to Broadlawn Alternative School and over the course of a life-altering year, faces the stark reality of race, class, broken families and unrequited love.
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The colliding worlds of Mina Lee
by Ellen Oh
"Sucked into the world of her own web comic, Korean American teenage artist Mina must expose a conspiracy involving the evil corporation she created with the help of Jin, the handsome boy of her dreams.
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Hope ablaze
by Sarah Mughal Rana
When a scathing poem she writes about a politician who had her illegally frisked at a political rally goes viral, Nida, the niece of a famous Muslim poet, struggles to balance the expectations of her family, her Muslim community and the person she truly wants to be.
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Ellie Haycock is totally normal
by Gretchen Schreiber
Forced to return to the hospital while trying to balance her illness with the pressures of high school, Ellie Haycock finds this stay different when she becomes close with a group of friends, including optimistic Ryan, who, despite their differences, she can't stop thinking about.
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On the bright side
by Anna Sortino
After her deaf boarding school shuts down, Ellie is mainstreamed into public high school, which is extremely difficult, especially when she's paired with Jackson, a boy who gets it all wrong, but when he receives a life-changing diagnosis, they unexpectedly become each other's lifeline.
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Where wolves don't die
by Anton Treuer
After a terrible fight with bully Matt Schroeder, Ezra becomes the prime suspect when Matt's house burns down and is sent away to run traplines with his grandfather in a remote part of Canada while the investigation is ongoing, but the Schroeders are looking for him.
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Chronically Dolores
by Maya Van Wagenen
"Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn't life threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life. Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership. Beautiful, talented Terpsichore will helpDolores win back her ex-best friend, Shae. And Dolores will convince Terpsichore's mom that her daughter has the social skills to survive public school. It seems like a foolproof plan, but Dolores isn't always a reliable narrator, and her choices may puther in danger of committing an unforgivable betrayal"
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Imposter syndrome and other confessions of Alejandra Kim
by Patricia Park
"When a microaggression at her wealthy Manhattan high school thrusts her into the spotlight, half-Latinx/half-Korean Alejandra Kim, who feels like an outcast, must carve out a place for herself while dealing with the loss of her father.
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The renaissance of Gwen Hathaway : a novel
by Ashley Schumacher
Determined nothing in her life will change again after the death of her mother, Gwen Hathaway works the ren faire circuit with her father and meets Arthur, an actual lute-playing bard who ropes her into becoming Princess of the Faire, which dramatically changes her plans.
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The epic story of every living thing
by Deb Caletti
When a chance Instagram post connects teenaged Harper Proulx to a half sibling she's never met, Harper travels to Hawaii to track down and meet her sperm-donor father, discovering a charismatic deep-sea diver obsessed with solving the mystery of a fragile sunken shipwreck as well learning important lessons about herself.
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Debating Darcy
by Sayantani DasGupta
A life-long speech competitor, Leela Bose meets her match in Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elite private school, and as the tournament progresses, Leela finds her own winning streak at stake—as well as her heart.
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The first thing about you
by Chaz Hayden
Starting a new high school, Harris, a 15-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy, is armed with his favorite getting-to-know-you question and a new nurse by his side, who gives him the confidence to make a new friend and pursue the girl of his dreams.
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Tokyo Ever After
by Emiko Jean
After learning that her father is the Crown Prince of Japan, Izumi travels to Tokyo, where she discovers that Japanese imperial life--complete with designer clothes, court intrigue, paparazzi scandals, and a forbidden romance with her handsome but stoic bodyguard--is a tough fit for the outspoken and irreverant eighteen-year-old from northern California.
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The Lucky List
by Rachael Lippincott
Rising high school senior Emily felt lucky until her mother's death, but now, with childhood friend Blake, she sets out to accomplish every exciting, scary, and intimidating task on her mother's bucket list.
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You have a match
by Emma Lord
When a DNA service uncovers that Instagram star Savannah Tully is Abby's secret sister, Abby takes summer camp with Savannah as her chance to find out why their parents gave Savannah up for adoption.
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Not our summer
by Casie Bazay
Left a bucket list of places to visit together by their late grandfather, estranged cousins Becka and KJ ride mules into the Grand Canyon, spot bears at Yellowstone and steadily build trust while uncovering the truths behind a long-standing family feud.
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This will be funny someday
by Katie Henry
Sixteen-year-old Izzy, has stumbled across her dream of doing stand-up comedy, but hiding it from family and friends is causing her many untruths to quickly unravel.
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The summer of impossibilities
by Rachael Allen
Forced to spend time together at a lake house while their best-friend mothers reconnect, four girls navigate crushes and secrets, including an escalating health problem, during a transformative summer. By the award-winning author of 17 First Kisses.
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We didn't ask for this
by Adi Alsaid
When the school's annual lock-in begins, a group of students stage an ecoprotest that makes the other students hostages or allies and leaves the protest leader questioning how far she's willing to go to attain her goals.
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Fly back, Agnes
by E. J. Atkinson
Twelve-year-old Agnes hates everything about herself, starting with her name, so while spending a summer with her father, a cellist, she decides to become someone else.
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That's what friends do
by Cathleen Barnhart
Told in two voices, middle-schoolers Sammie and David's long-term friendship is endangered when new student Luke begins flirting with Sammie just when David decides to confess his crush on her.
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Furious thing
by Jenny Downham
Determined to make her family proud of her, Lexi tries to ignore the anger she feels, but it simmers below the surface waiting to explode.
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Pretty funny for a girl
by Rebecca Elliott
Haylah Swinton is an ace best friend, a loving daughter, and an incredibly patient sister to a four-year-old nutcase of a brother. Best of all, she's pretty confident she's mastered making light of every situation--from her mom's new boyfriend to unsolicited remarks on her plus-sized figure. Haylah's learning to embrace all of her curvy parts and, besides, she has a secret: one day, she'll be a stand-up. So when thirstalicious Leo reveals he's also into comedy, Haylah jumps at the chance to ghost-write his sets. But is Leo as interested in returning the favor? If Haylah's ever going to step into the spotlight, first she'll need to find the confidence to put herself out there and strut like the boss she really is.
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Every other weekend
by Abigail Johnson
A straight-A student whose home life has been devastated by the death of his brother and an aspiring director who wants to escape her dysfunctional parents become unlikely friends during weekends marked by new possibilities and spiraling troubles.
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Facing the sun
by Janice Lynn Mather
Weighing a terrible choice, four girls—including the daughter of a cancer patient, a talented dancer from a broken home, a rule-breaking poet and an oppressed artist—team up when a hotel developer purchases their beloved Caribbean beach.
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Bad best friend
by Rachel Vail
Devastated when her former best friend ditches her for a more popular crowd, eighth grader Niki Ames finds her efforts to pursue other friendships and interests complicated by her mother's refusal to believe that Niki's brother is on the autism spectrum.
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Most likely
by Sarah Watson
Four best-friend high school seniors, one of whom is unknowingly destined to be the President, navigate private insecurities, ambitions and obstacles while supporting each other through their setbacks.
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Suggested reading
by Dave Connis
Horrified when her draconian principal bans all awareness-raising and issue-centric books from the school library, passionate bibliophile Clara teams up with the student council president and other friends to start an underground library.
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All-American Muslim girl
by Nadine Jolie Courtney
A nonpracticing Muslim-American teen, the daughter of a famous conservative shock jock, witnesses acts of Islamophobia in her small town that prompts her courageous study and embrace of her faith. By the author of Romancing the Throne.
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Ordinary girls
by Blair Thornburgh
A lighthearted contemporary retelling of Sense and Sensibility finds two sisters, complete opposites in temperament, who discover that the secrets they have been keeping make them more alike than they realized.
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Watch us rise
by Renâee Watson
Fed up with gender imbalances at their progressive NYC high school, two friends start a women's rights club and post poems, essays and videos online until their work goes viral, compelling the principal to shut them down. Co-written by the Newbery Honor-winning author of This Side of Home.
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Moxie!
by Jennifer Mathieu
In a small Texas town where high school football reigns supreme, Viv, sixteen, starts a feminist revolution using anonymously-written zines.
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Unbroken : 13 stories starring disabled teens
by Marieke Nijkamp
Edited by the best-selling author of This Is Where It Ends, an inspirational anthology of stories featuring disabled and neurodiverse teen main characters includes contributions by such leading authors as Kody Keplinger, Katherine Locke and Fox Benwell.
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Losers bracket
by Chris Crutcher
When it comes to family, Annie is in the losers bracket. While her foster parents are great (mostly), her birth family would not have been her first pick. And no matter how many times Annie tries to write them out of her life, she always gets sucked back into their drama. Love is like that. But when a family argument breaks out at Annie's swim meet and her nephew goes missing, Annie might be the only one who can get him back. With help from her friends, her foster brother, and her social service worker, Annie puts the pieces of the puzzle together, determined to find her nephew and finally get him into a safe home.
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American road trip
by Patrick Flores-Scott
When his adored older brother returns from a tour in Iraq with devastating PTSD, a Mexican-American high school senior embarks on a road trip to visit loved ones and explore the illnesses, socioeconomic pressures and milestone anxieties that have challenged their family.
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Far from the tree
by Robin Benway
Feeling incomplete as an adopted child after placing her own baby up for adoption, teen Grace tracks down her biological siblings and finds herself struggling with the dynamics of being a middle child between an embittered older brother and an outspoken younger sister.
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Things I should have known : a novel
by Claire Scovell LaZebnik
Searching for her autistic sister's soulmate, a Los Angeles teen finds the ideal candidate only to clash with his older brother, who is just as devoted to his younger sibling as she is to hers. By the author of Epic Fail.
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Restart
by Gordon Korman
A standalone novel in the vein of No More Dead Dogs follows the experiences of a former bully who gets a chance at redemption after a memory-impairing accident tests whether he can change or will revert to his previous ways.
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The bitter side of sweet
by Tara Sullivan
Frantically working to escape punishment by their overseers, Ivory Coast child slaves Amadou and Seydou befriend a slave newcomer whose constant attempts to escape compel the brothers to plan their own flight. By the award-winning author of Golden Boy.
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Saint anything : a novel
by Sarah Dessen
Sydney's charismatic older brother, Peyton, has always been the center of attention in the family but when he is sent to jail, Sydney struggles to find her place at home and in the world until she meets the Chathams, including gentle, protective Mac, who makes her feel appreciated for the first time.
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Devoted : a novel
by Jennifer Mathieu
Preparing for a life of service to God, devout Rachel explores her questions about the outside world that her family avoids and harbors growing fears that her faith is actually harming her soul. By the author of The Truth About Alice.
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All American boys
by Jason Reynolds
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.
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Brownstone
by Samuel Teer
Left alone with her Guatemalan father for the summer while her mom goes on a once-in-a-lifetime trip without her, Almudena struggles to adjust to this new reality by getting to know the residents of his Latin American neighborhood while helping his dad fix his broken-down brownstone--and their relationship. (Young Adult– Grade 9+)
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The dark matter of Mona Starr
by Laura Lee Gulledge
A graphic-novel depiction of the inner life of a teen with depression follows the experiences of Mona Starr, who learns how to manage profound feelings of unworthiness through therapy, art, writing and the support of a few good friends.
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Go with the flow
by Lily Williams
Sick of an administration that puts football before female health, four high school friends band together to get the school to provide menstrual products to the students.
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