The High King, written by Lloyd Alexander and published in 1968, concludes the Chronicles of Prydain series. This fantasy novel follows the adventures of Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, as he leads his companions in a perilous quest to defeat...

Writers are sometimes advised to write what they know. Author Kevin Powers, who served in the United States Army during the Iraq War, took that advice to heart. In one way or another, each of his novels has involved veterans. The same is true for...

Sea in Winter is a contemporary middle-grade novel written by Christine Day. It was published in 2021. Day's debut novel I Can Make This Promise (2019) garnered recognition as one of the best books that year. Continuing her streak of success, Day...

Boy, Everywhere is a novel written by A. M. Dassu, an English writer of fiction and non-fiction. The book was published in 2020 by Old Barn Books, and it tells the story of Sami, a thirteen-year-old boy from Damascus, Syria. Sami and his family...

Falling Short is a YA novel published by Ernesto Cisneros in 2022. The book is targeted toward readers aged ten to thirteen attending late elementary to middle school grades. This readership directly reflects the experience of the characters....

Efrén Divided is a Young Adult novel published by Ernesto Cisneros in 2020. The book is targeted toward a middle school readership that reflects the lives of its two protagonists. Isaac Castillo and Marco Honeymoon are just beginning middle school...

The Benefits of Being an Octopus (published in 2018) by Ann Braden looks into how poverty impacts the lives of children and families. It centers around a seventh-grade girl named Zoey, who lives with her family in a trailer park in Vermont....

Return to Sender (published in 2009) by Julia Alvarez unfolds on the Tyler family's dairy farm in Vermont, where the family, struggling after a series of unfortunate events, hires a group of undocumented Mexican workers to help keep their business...

Blended (2018) is Sharon M. Draper's novel about an eleven-year-old girl named Isabella. At the start of the novel, Isabella is still reeling from the recent news of her parent's divorce. Because of their divorce, Isabella also has to adjust to a...

Listen, Slowly (published in 2015) by Thanhha Lai is a coming-of-age tale that bridges the gap between two contrasting cultures. The narrative unfolds from the perspective of a young Vietnamese American girl named Mai, who prefers her American...

Goddess of Yesterday is a YA adult published by Caroline B. Cooney in 2002. The story is an example of historical fiction that reimagines a famous event from the perspective of a minor participant. In this case, the event is the Trojan War, and...

Steve Sheinkin's The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery (2010) is a biography about one of the most complex figures in American history: Benedict Arnold, the man who betrayed the United States. Sheinkin's...

The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts (2004) by Ricard Peck is a novel that begins with an unexpected line: "If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it." Set in 1904, The Teacher's Funeral follows a young man named...

Time Windows (published in 1991) by Kathryn Reiss is a historical fiction/paranormal mystery novel about 12-year-old Miranda, who moves into an old Victorian house in a small Massachusetts town with her parents. When Miranda finds a miniature...

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert (published in 2011) by Marc Aronson is a compelling real-life account of the 2010 rescue of 33 miners trapped in Chile's San José copper-gold mine. The novel unfolds...

Bystander (2011) is James Preller's novel about one of the impactful things affecting children today: bullying. The novel follows Eric, a seventh grader who recently moved schools. After he gets situated in his new school, Eric meets Griffin, a...

The Only Ones presents a dystopian narrative in a world where adults and most children have inexplicably disappeared, leaving behind deserted cities and a group of surviving children. The protagonist, Martin Maple, who has lived isolated from his...

In 2010, esteemed thriller author John Grisham decided to publish Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, the first novel in his Theodore Boone series, which was written for children—a first for Grisham. The novel is set in the small town of Strattenburg and...

Zero Days (2023) is Ruth Ware's novel about Jack and her husband Gabe, who are two of the foremost "penetration specialists" who are hired by companies across the world to test their physical and internet security. More specifically, they are...

Elin Hilderbrand was born on 17 July 1969 and is best known for writing fiction romance novels. Most of Hilderbrand's novels are set on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts, where she lives. Some of the renowned fiction novels authored by Hilderbrand...

The Henna Artist (2020) by Alka Joshi revolves around Lakshmi, a gifted henna artist in 1950s Jaipur, who escapes an abusive marriage to build her own life. She services the high-class women of Jaipur, maintaining their secrets as she navigates...

Saint X (2020) is a novel by Alexis Schaitkin that centers around Claire, who was a child when her older sister Alison mysteriously died during a family vacation on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint X. In the aftermath of Alison's death,...