Summer Reading 2021: Middle School

A small village on a Jamaican island; A girl who doesn't remember the previous summer; A best friend who is no longer acting like one; A new girl who fills that hole in her heart.
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Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee might have lived a normal life if a freak accident hadn't made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run--and not just run away, but run. This is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.
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Margaret Simon has just moved from New York City to Farbook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends--Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong.
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A graphic novel adventure about a girl who discovers roller derby right as she and her best friend are growing apart.

For most of her twelve years, Astrid has done everything with her best friend Nicole. But after Astrid falls in love with roller derby and signs up for derby camp, Nicole decides to go to dance camp instead. And so begins the most difficult summer of Astrid's life as she struggles to keep up with the older girls at camp, hang on to the friend she feels slipping away, and cautiously embark on a new friendship.

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It's the last few days of her vacation in Pakistan, and Amina has loved every minute of it. The food, the shops, the time she's spent with her family--all of it holds a special place in Amina's heart. Now that the school year is starting again, she's sad to leave, but also excited to share the wonders of Pakistan with her friends back in Greendale. After she's home, though, her friends don't seem overly interested in her trip. And when she decides to do a presentation on Pakistani hero Malala Yousafzai, her classmates focus on the worst parts of the story. How can Amina share the beauty of Pakistan when no one wants to listen?
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Bell has spent his whole life - all eleven years of it - on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid - he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It's up to Bell - a regular kid in a very different world - to uncover the truth and save his family ... and possibly unite an entire planet.
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Marylin and Kate have been friends since nursery school, but when Marylin becomes a middle school cheerleader and Kate begins to develop other interests, their relationship is put to the test.

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Spoiled Jett Baranov has always gotten what he wanted. So when his father’s private jet drops him in the middle of the Arkansas wilderness, at a place called the Oasis, Jett can’t believe it. He’s forced to hand over his cell phone, eat grainy veggie patties, and participate in wholesome activities with the other kids, who he has absolutely no interest in hanging out with.

As the weeks go on, Jett starts to get used to the unplugged life and even bonds with the other kids. But he can’t help noticing that the adults at the Oasis are acting really strange...

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Sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to keep her head down and get along with everyone in her class. The trouble is, Lu's old friends have been changing lately -- acting boy crazy and making snide remarks about Lu's newfound talent for running track. Lu's secret hope for a new friend is fellow runner Belinda Gresham. But in 1970 in Red Grove, Alabama, blacks and whites don't mix. As segregationist ex-governor George Wallace ramps up his campaign, growing tensions in the state -- and in the classroom -- mean that Lu can't stay neutral about the racial divide at school. Will she find the gumption to stand up for what's right and to choose friends who do the same?
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Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again... starting with his own name. He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return. Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him. One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets. Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is – it's a question of who he was... and who he's going to be.
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If twelve-year-old Kingston James could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders! But just days before he died, King's brother Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy - that he thinks he might be gay.

"You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?"

But when Sandy goes missing, King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, & agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father. The two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies.

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Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?

A crime he says he never committed.

Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family.
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When thirteen-year-olds Aaron and Audrey meet at a wilderness camp in the desert, they think their quirks are enough to prevent them from ever having friends. But as they trek through the challenging and unforgiving landscape, they learn that they each have what it takes to make the other whole.
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Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift- to find her birth parents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she's black and almost everyone she knows is white. Then her mom's grandmother--Imani's great-grandma Anna--passes away, and Imani discovers an old journal among her books. And as Imani reads the diary, she begins to see her family, and her place in it, in a whole new way.
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After dying at age sixteen, Travis Coates' head was removed and frozen for five years before being attached to another body, and now the old Travis and the new must find a way to coexist while figuring out changes in his relationships.

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