Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn't reveal even to herself.

Playbook by Kwame Alexander

You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. What can we imagine for our lives? What if we were the star players, moving and grooving through the game of life? What if we had our own rules of the game to help us get what we want, what we aspire to, what will enrich our lives?

Aesop’s Fables by Milo Winter

Passed down for thousands of years, Aesop’s Fables is a collection of moral stories by the famed storyteller from ancient Greece. Many of these fables bestow human traits upon animal characters and place them in human situations to highlight desirable and less desirable traits. Their intent, through the telling of these tales, is to teach readers important moral lessons.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking out of the pages of twelve-year-old Percy Jackson's textbooks and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Now, he and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is traveling in a small plane to visit his father for the first time since his parents divorced. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the sole survivor is Brian. He is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present. At first consumed by despair and self-pity, Brian slowly learns survival skills—how to make a shelter for himself, how to hunt and fish and forage for food, how to make a fire—and even finds the courage to start over from scratch when a tornado ravages his campsite. Through his experiences in the wilderness, Brian learns to view himself, his parents, and the world with more patience and maturity.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Based on a true story, A Long Walk to Water follows two eleven year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

Indian Chiefs By Russell Freedman

In this award-winning book, author and historian Russell Freedman profiles six Western chiefs who led their people in a time of crisis: Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux, Santanta of the Kiowas, Quanah Parker of the Comanches, Washakie of the Shoshonis, Joseph of the Nez Perces, and Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Sioux. Each man had to decide whether his people should fight or cooperate with the white pioneers encroaching on their lands, and each faced the decision in his own way. In addition to the written profiles, black-and-white photos and period prints help bring Indian Chiefs to life.

Secrets of Pompeii: Buried City of Ancient Rome by Tim O'Shei

Dig through the ruins at the base of the mighty Mount Vesuvius to discover the archeological wonder of the once-buried city of Pompeii. What do the site’s ornate buildings and sculptures tell us about how the ancient Romans lived? And what can be gleaned from the body casts of those who died in Mount Vesuvius’ massive outburst? Travel along with scientists to find out how their discoveries shed light on this historic site’s deepest mysteries. Unlocking the secrets of the past is just an artifact away!

1942: The Year That Tried Men's Souls by Winston Groom

Revisit America's entrance into the war with this sprawling account of the pivotal year that decided the ultimate direction of World War II. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Forrest Gump comes an exploration of the strategies, battles, and fateful decision-making that defined the turning point of the war. A must read for any WWII history buff.

Holes by Louis Sachar

The Yelnats family has been under a curse ever since the days of Stanley Yelnats’s “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.” Now Stanley has been unfairly sent to Camp Green Lake, a detention camp for boys, where he’s forced to spend all day every day digging holes. Specifically, holes 5 feet wide and five feet deep. While this is supposedly meant to build character, Stanley soon realizes there’s a greater mystery surrounding Camp Green Lake. It’s likely you’re already familiar with this book, but every good list needs a classic, and Holes is the perfect example.

Don't Look Behind You by Lois Duncan

How can April give up her name, her friends, her boyfriend Steve, and everything she's ever known? April Corrigan feels like her life is over when she learns that her father has been working undercover for the FBI and the family must relocate under the Federal Witness Security Program.

No one can reach them now... or can they?

Wonder by Wonder is a middle grade fiction about August Pullman and how he is defined by his facial deformity. After being home-schooled he starts fifth grade in a private school. August just wants to be accepted and fit in without being treated like he has the Plague but he is still unique and stays true to himself which I think is wonderful. Even though he looks different, he is funny, intelligent, and a loyal friend.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Mia and her parents have struggled ever since moving to America from China. When her parents take a new live-in job at a motel, they end up working around the clock for very little pay. Mia helps out by working at the front desk. She befriends the weekly tenants and uses her English skills to write letters advocating other people in tough spots— like her uncle whose sweatshop boss has taken his passport and weekly, Hank, who needs a letter of recommendation to get a job.

Cinder by Marissa Meyers

Cinder barely heard him above the blankness in her mind. With her heartbeat gathering speed, her retina display scanned his features, so familiar from years spent watching him on the netscreens. He seemed taller in real life and a gray hooded sweatshirt was like none of the fine clothes he usually made appearances in, but still, it took only 2.6 seconds for Cinder’s scanner to measure the points of his face and link his image to the net database. Another second and the display informed her of what she already knew; details scribbled across the bottom of her vision in a stream of green text.

Found - The Missing Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

One night a plane appeared out of nowhere, the only passengers aboard: thirty-six babies. As soon as they were taken off the plane, it vanished. Now, thirteen years later, two of those children are receiving sinister messages, and they begin to investigate their past. Their quest to discover where they really came from leads them to a conspiracy that reaches from the far past to the distant future—and will take them hurtling through time.

Wings of Fire by Tui Sutherland

Clay has lived his whole life under the mountain. The MudWing dragonet knows that war is raging between the dragon tribes in the world outside — a war that he and four other dragonets are destined to end, according to the mysterious prophecy they’ve been taught The five “chosen” dragonets were stolen from their homes while they were still in their eggs — and hidden away for years — all to fulfill the prophecy.

But when danger threatens one of their own, Clay and his friends may choose freedom over fate . . . leave the mountain . . . and set the dragon world on a course that no one could have predicted.

Land of Stories - The Wishing Well by Chris Colfer

When the twins’ grandmother gives them a treasured fairy-tale book, they have no idea they’re about to enter a land beyond all imagining: The Land of Stories, where fairy tales are real. But as Alex and Conner soon discover, the stories they know so well haven’t ended in the magical land - Goldilocks is now a wanted fugitive, Red Riding Hood has her own kingdom, and Queen Cinderella is about to become a mother!

The Twins know they must get back home somehow. But with the legendary Evil Queen hot on their trail, will they ever find their way?

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

John Smith seems like an ordinary teenager, living a normal life with his guardian Henri in Paradise, Ohio. But for John, keeping a low profile is essential, because he is not an ordinary teenager. He’s an alien from the planet Lorien, and he’s on the run. A group of evil aliens from the planet Mogadore, who destroyed his world, are hunting anyone who escaped.

Nine Loric children were sent to Earth to live in hiding until they grew up and developed their Legacies, powers that would help them fight back—and help them save us. Three of them are now dead. John is Number Four, and he knows he’s next….

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to dim. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. Now, she and her friend Doon must race to figure out the clues to keep the lights on. If they succeed, they will have to convince everyone to follow them into danger. But if they fail? The lights will burn out and the darkness will close in forever.

Big Nate: The Gerbil Ate My Homework by Lincoln Pierce

You’ve got to know where you stand to survive sixth grade, and Nate Wright’s found the perfect spot: right next to Sherman, the class gerbil. Can Nate’s furry friend bail him out of his latest homework jam with Mrs. Godfrey? Or will there be a paper trail leading straight to detention? Nate has no answers, but plenty of ideas—

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Former United States first lady Michelle Obama published in 2018 a book about her roots and how she found her voice, as well as her time in the White House, her public health campaign, and her role as a mother.