Great New Children’s Books for Older Readers
Title: It's Not Bragging If it's True
By: Avant-garde, Zaila
Published: 2023
Suggested ages and title descriptions are from the publisher or each item's library catalog record.
Non-Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
After Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021, she turned into an overnight sensation. People wanted to know who she was and how she'd achieved so much while so young. In this nonfiction book, Zaila shares the personal anecdotes that have shaped her life and extends advice to readers on living authentically.
Title: The Takeout
By: Badua, Tracy
Published: 2023
Magic/Family/Friendship
Ages 8 to 12
Twelve-year-old Mia uses Filipino folk magic to take down the shady chef brothers who are threatening her family's food truck.
Title: Crowned: Magical Folk and Fairy Tales from the Diaspora
By: Bethencourt, Kahran
Published: 2023
Folktales/Photography
Ages 7 and up
A collection of reimagined classic fairy tales, African, and African American folktales that bring to life past, present, and future visions of Black culture.
Title: Flora la Fresca & the Art of Friendship
By: Chambers, Veronica
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Ten-year-old larger-than-life Flora Violeta LeFevre uses humor and a little mischief to navigate her best friend moving away, her sister's overbearing and all-consuming quince preparations, and a surprising new friendship.
Title: Squire & Knight
By: Chantler, Scott
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Adventure
Ages 8 to 12
Squire is brainy, bookish, and terribly under-appreciated by the brawny, inept knight Sir Kelton, who somehow always gets all the glory. So when the two mismatched heroes find themselves in a cursed village plagued by a demonic dragon, Kelton rides off to slay it and Squire stays behind to catch up on some reading. But Squire starts to notice that something isn't quite right about this town . . . Can he uncover its strange secrets?
Title: The International House of Dereliction
By: Davies, Jacqueline
Published: 2023
Paranormal/Ghost Stories
Ages 8 to 12
When Alice arrives at her new home, she can't take her eyes off the house next door, the stately dark house that hulked in the dimming light. The once-grand mansion, now dilapidated and condemned, beckons Alice; it's the perfect new repair job! As Alice begins to restore the House to its former splendor, she senses strange presences. Is there a heartbeat coming from the House's walls? Is someone looking at her? Soon she realizes she's not alone.
Title: We Still Belong
By: Day, Christine
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Wesley's hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and asking her crush to the dance) go all wrong-until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at the intertribal powwow.
Title: The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow
By: Dimopoulos, Elaine
Published: 2023
Animal Adventure
Ages 8 and up
Butternut, a young rabbit who loves stories, makes friends among the other animals and birds of Milkweed Meadow, and convinces them to help her rescue a litter of orphaned coyote pups.
Title: The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz: Young Reader's Edition
By: Dronfield, Jeremy
Published: 2023
Historical Non-Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholsterer in Vienna, was seized by the Nazis. Along with his teenage son Fritz, he was sent to Buchenwald in Germany. When Gustav was set to be transferred to Auschwitz--a certain death sentence--Fritz refused to leave his side. Throughout the horrors they witnessed and the suffering they endured, there was one constant that kept them alive: the love between father and son.
Title: The Eyes & the Impossible
By: Eggers, Dave
Published: 2023
Animals/Humor/Adventure
Ages 8 to 12
Free dog Johannes' job is to observe everything that happens in his urban park and report back to the park's three bison elders, but changes are afoot, including more humans, a new building, a boatload of goats, and a shocking revelation that changes his view of the world.
Title: Will on the Inside
By: Eliopulos, Andrew
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Will loves playing center midfield on his middle school soccer team. This year, though, Will hasn't felt like himself; his stomach has been bothering him, and he has no energy at all. When his new doctor diagnoses him with Crohn's disease, Will hopes that means he'll start feeling better soon and he can get back to playing with his team before the season ends.
Title: The Probability of Everything
By: Everett, Sarah
Published: 2023
Speculative Fiction/End of the World
Ages 8 to 12
When an asteroid has an 84.7% chance of colliding with the Earth in four days, eleven-year-old Kemi, who loves scientific facts and probability, assembles a time capsule to capture her family's truth as she tries to come to terms with saying goodbye.
Title: Lolo Weaver Swims Upstream
By: Farquhar, Polly
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Stuck in summer school and grieving over her grandfather's death, everything seems to be falling apart for Lolo Weaver, so she hatches a plan to fix things by stealing back her grandfather's dog, whose new owner happens to be a new classmate from summer school.
Title: Once in a Blue Moon
By: Flake, Sharon
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Ages 8 to 12
James Henry used to be brave. He hasn't been the same since that fateful night at the lighthouse when his ma went searching for Dog. Now months later, he feels as small as the space between the numbers on a watch, nervous day and night, barely able to go outside. Even words have a hard time leaving his mouth. The only person he speaks to is Hattie, his courageous twin sister, who fiercely protects him, especially from bullies.
Title: Search for a Giant Squid: Pick Your Path
By: Forrester, Amy Seto
Published: 2023
Non-Fiction/Nature/Interactive
Ages 6 to 9
A choose your own path style story that guides the reader through the very real job of being a teuthologist.
Title: Cosmos Camp (Epic Ellisons)
By: Giles, Lamar
Published: 2023
Mystery
Ages 8 to 12
Twin sisters and budding geniuses Wiki and Leen Ellison have never been apart, but this summer Leen is going to Cosmos Camp and secretly Wiki is looking forward to being alone--but when the camp founder disappears, both girls are recruited to solve the mystery before his newest invention goes terribly wrong.
Title: The Bawk-ness Monster (The Cryptid Kids)
By: Goetter, Sara
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Monsters
Ages 10 to 14
Before she moves away to a new city, Penny wants to prove that she was truly saved from drowning by the Bawk-ness Monster but instead must rescue kidnapped cryptids from an evil collector.
Title: Things in the Basement
By: Hatke, Ben
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Fantasy/Adventure
Ages 6 to 11
It was supposed to just be a normal basement--some storage boxes, dust, you know, the usual basement stuff. But when Milo is sent by his mother to fetch a sock from the basement of the historic home they've moved into, Milo finds a door in the back that he's never seen before. Turns out that the basement of his house is enormous. In fact, there is a whole world down there. As Milo travels ever deeper into the Basement World, he meets the many Things that live in the shadows and gloom...and he learns that to face his fears he must approach even the strangest creatures with kindness.
Title: Skating on Mars
By: Huntoon, Caroline
Published: 2023
Sports/LGBTQ+
Ages 8 to 12
Still coping with the death of their father, twelve-year-old Mars tries to figure out their place on and off the rink as they navigate being nonbinary in a traditionally gendered sport.
Title: In the Tunnel
By: Lee, Julie
Published: 2023
Historical Fiction (Korean War, 1950s)
Ages 8 to 12
Fourteen-year-old Myung-gi flees North Korea with his family during the height of the devastating Korean War, beginning an epic struggle for survival that pushes them to the brink.
Title: The Jake Show
By: Levy, Josh
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
For TV-obsessed Jake Lightman, his parents' divorce is like his favorite show getting canceled: The worst. Now he's stuck between playing the role of 'Yaakov' for his mother and 'Jacob' for his father. On Jake's first day at a new school, Caleb and Tehilla barrel into his life. Suddenly, he has two friends who seem to like the real Jake. And when they invite him to Camp Gershoni for the summer, Jake knows he has to go--even if his parents won't let him.
Title: Ruby Lost and Found
By: Li, Christina
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Thanks to her Ye-Ye's epic scavenger hunts, thirteen-year-old Ruby Chu knows San Francisco like the back of her hand. But after his death, she feels lost, and it seems like everyone--from her best friends to her older sister--is abandoning her. After Ruby gets in major trouble at school, her parents make a decision about how Ruby will spend her summer.
Title: Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir
By: Martin, Pedro
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Memoir/Humor
Ages 10 to 14
Pedro Martin's grown up in the U.S. hearing stories about his legendary abuelito, but during a family road trip to Mexico, he connects with his grandfather and learns more about his own Mexican identity in this moving and hilarious graphic memoir.
Title: The Firefly Summer
By: Matson, Morgan
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction/Mystery/Family
Ages 8 to 12
When her estranged grandparents invite her to stay with them at an old summer camp in the Poconos. Ryanna accepts. She wants to learn about her mom. She wants to uncover the mystery of why her father hasn't spoken to her grandparents all these years. But what she finds are relatives...SO MANY MORE RELATIVES than she knew she had. Aunts and Uncles and cousins upon cousins-a motley, rambunctious crew of kids and eccentric, unconventional adults.
Title: Pack Your Bags, Maggie Diaz
By: Moreno, Nina
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Maggie can't wait for her first overnight trip away from her overprotective parents, lovesick sister, and busybody abuela. Nothing will get in the way of Maggie having the best time ever with her two best friends, Zoey and Julian! But all of Maggie's plans for their unforgettable trip start to fall apart as everyone gets carried away with the upcoming dance instead.
Title: Haru, Zombie Dog Hero
By: Oh, Ellen
Published: 2023
Horror/Humor
Ages 8 to 12
Eleven-year-old Luke and his dog, Haru, are the best of friends. Totally inseparable. But when their nasty landlord falsely accuses Haru of biting her, Haru is kidnapped! As Luke and his friends go on a serious mission to find and bring Haru home again, they discover mysterious experiments happening at the old laboratory at Painted Lake, owned by an evil multibillionaire named Mr. Thomas Sinclair.
Title: Girls Make Movies
By: O'Meara, Mallory
Published: 2023
Non-Fiction
Ages 10 and up
While we see them acting on-screen, there are also countless women working every single job possible behind the scenes as part of the film's crew. Are you a girl who is interested in film making? Do you wonder how you actually make a movie? Well, this is the book for you.
Title: Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures
By: Pamment, Jason
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Ages 8 to 12
Fitting in can be hard, especially when you're as small as Ember, a tiny boy living alone in a city of giants. But Ember's luck changes when he meets Lua, a kindly sea turtle, who escorts him across the ocean to a school for little creatures on a wondrous island. Here, Ember learns that first days can be hard, too--especially when they involve bizarre, fantastical cave dwellers, ferocious storms, and classmates that, from the very start, aren't at all interested in making friends.
Title: Hope in the Valley
By: Perkins, Mitali
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
After a falling out with her best friend, Pandita is planning to spend most of her summer break reading and writing in her favorite secret--the abandoned but majestic mansion across the street. But then the unthinkable happens. The town announces that the old home will be bulldozed in favor of new, maybe affordable housing. With her family on opposing sides of the issue, Pandita must find her voice and the strength to move on in order to give her community hope.
Title: Stuntboy, In-Between Time
By: Reynolds, Jason
Published: 2023
Superheroes/Heavily illustrated
Ages 7 to 12
Portico Reeves, or Stuntboy the greatest superhero people have never heard of, tries to manage his frets and navigate his new normal with divorced parents, bullies in his building, and a newfound friend.
Title: Conjure Island
By: Royce, Eden
Published: 2023
Magic/Fantasy/Family
Ages 8 to 12
From the award-winning author of Root Magic comes the story of a girl forced to spend the summer with a great-grandmother she's never met--only to discover she runs a school for Southern conjure magic.
Title: Buzzing
By: Sattin, Samuel
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel
Ages 8 to 12
Isaac is a shy boy with OCD, but one day at school he meets new friends who introduce him to role-playing games, which lead him on a journey of self-discovery and growth.
Title: Picture Day
By: Sax, Sarah
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Viv never looks forward to picture day. Her mom always makes her wear a boring braid, and no one at school notices her--aside from her two best friends, Milo and Al, of course. But enough is enough. This year, Viv is taking matters into her own hands. Literally. Enter: a pair of scissors. And, well, a new hairstyle. Just in time for photos! Suddenly Viv is an overnight trendsetter at Brinkley Middle School.
Title: Boomi's Boombox
By: Sekaran, Shanti
Published: 2023
Time Travel/Family
Ages 8 to 12
Twelve-year-old Boomi accidentally travels back in time to 1986 Thumpton-on-Soar, England, where she meets her late father as a child, changing her life forever.
Title: Shakti
By: Sindu, SJ
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel
Ages 8 to 12
When the three meanest girls in school start casting spells, 12-year-old Shakti draws on ancient Indian magic to stop them but instead curses the entire town and must harness her own strength, power, and empathy to save those she loves and end the hate.
Title: Let's Fill This World With Kindness: True Tales of Goodwill in Action
By: Stewart, Alexandra
Published: 2023
Non-Fiction/Empathy
Ages 8 to 12
Kindness is a superpower! We all feel the weight of the world on our shoulders sometimes. It's easy to forget how powerful we are. Through more than twenty-five true stories in these pages, you'll discover that no matter who you are or where you live, kindness to yourself and others can be an amazing source of strength.
Title: Control Freaks
By: Thomas, J.E.
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction/Inventors
Ages 8 to 12
The kids at Benjamin Banneker College Prep are a little... competitive. Okay. They're a LOT competitive. The minute Principal Yee announces an epic competition for the golden B-B trophy, seventh-grader Frederick Douglass Zezzmer knows he has to win. But it won't be easy. The competition doesn't just include science, technology, engineering and math. It also has arts and sports. Not Doug's best subjects. Even worse, it’s a TEAM competition. Instead of being in a superstar group, Doug gets paired with four middle school misfits no one else wants.
Title: Half Moon Summer
By: Vickers, Elaine
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
Ages 8 to 12
Two seventh graders, Drew and Mia, spend their summer in Half Moon Bay, California, training for a half-marathon, and supporting each other as their families struggle with medical and financial problems.
Title: Grace Needs Space
By: Wilgus, Benjamin
Published: 2023
Graphic Novel/Sci Fi
Ages 8 to 12
Grace's excitement to accompany her "fun" mom on delivery to Titan quickly turns to frustration when her mom is too preoccupied with her mission to spend time with Grace, yet when their ship stops working on their return home it is up to Grace to save the day.
Title: The Braid Girls
By: Winston, Sherri
Published: 2023
Realistic Fiction
When Maggie learns that her father has a second daughter, Callie, she won't let a new family member get in the way of her summer plans with best friend Daija. They are determined to make tons of money braiding hair for kids around the neighborhood.Daija doesn't want Callie to interfere with their new Braid Girls business-- she needs the money to pay for extra ballet lessons so she can earn a spot in the fall dance showcase.