Bounce Back by Misako Rocks! Graphic Novel Manga Realistic Fiction Sports (Basketball) Tween/Middle School * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Liliko’s family moves to Brooklyn New York just before she’s about to play in the championship basketball tournament with her team. She has to leave all of her friends behind and can’t lead her team to victory. But she’s hoping to join the basketball team at her new middle school (and make new friends, … Read more
In the Key of Nira Ghani by Natasha Deen #own voices Realistic Fiction Teen * * * * Stars (Great!) Nira Ghani’s parents have high expectations for her. She’s supposed to focus on her studies, get good grades, and become a doctor – something that would have been impossible if they’d stayed in Ghana. But Nira has other aspirations. She’s a talented musician and she wants study music and play trumpet professionally. Standing up for … Read more
Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy Funny Realistic Fiction Romance Suspense Teen * * * * Stars (Great!) Yuri Strelnikov is a 17-year old boy genius physicist, on loan from Russia, whose research and theories on antimatter are suddenly in demand when an asteroid is sighted hurtling toward Earth. He and a team of scientists are responsible for finding a way to blast it out of existence or, failing that, knock it off … Read more
Sunny Makes a Splash Sunny #4 by Jennifer and Matthew Holm Graphic Novel Historical Fiction Realistic Fiction Tween (grades 4+) * * * * Stars (Great!) Summer is here! And most of Sunny’s friends are off doing other things while Sunny is home babysitting her little brother. Until she lucks into a job at the pool working at the concession stand. She makes lots of new friends there among the life guards and gets to … Read more
Horse Trouble by Kristin Varner Juvenile Graphic Novel Realistic Fiction Tween * * * Stars (Pretty good) Kate is a middle schooler who loves horses and has been obsessed with them since she was 7 (she’s now 12). Although she can’t afford to have her own horse, she has been taking riding lessons over the past 4 years and is becoming an accomplished rider, though she does seem to fall off a lot. She pays … Read more
Space Boy (series) by Stephen McCranie Graphic Novel Mystery Realistic Fiction Science Fiction Teen Tween * * * * * Stars (Amazing) When Amy’s father loses his job at the mine, the family is forced to leave the mining colony and return to Earth – a journey that will require them to be cryogenically frozen (so they will not age) and will take 30 years. By the time they arrive, Amy’s best friend Jemma will … Read more
The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin Realistic Fiction Adult/older teen * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Alice Holtzman, now in her forties, always wanted to do something special with her life, but after losing her much beloved husband and facing up to the facts that her job is a placeholder for the things she really wants, she’s starting to question her choices. Now she’s planning to expand her beekeeping hobby into a business, … Read more
Better Together by Christine Riccio Funny LGBTQ+ Realistic Fiction Romance YA (older teen) * * * Stars (Pretty good) Two sisters, separated in early childhood, are reunited in their young adulthood at a retreat where they form a plan to get revenge on their parents, whose poor decisions have torn their family apart. Jamie, the older sister, is an aspiring stand-up comedian, who was just evicted from her apartment after bombing her first long set. … Read more
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley Realistic Fiction Romance (sort of) Teen * * * * Stars (Great!) Rachel and Henry were best friends for years and just when Rachel decided to declare her love for him, pretty, perky Amy came along and swept him off his feet, but was wrong for him in so many other ways. Rachel moved away and successfully put Henry out of her mind and started dating someone else, … Read more
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson LGBTQ+ Magical Realism Realistic Fiction Science Fiction Teen * * * * Stars (Great!) Henry Denton has been abducted by aliens countless times. They perform all kinds of experiments on him, then return him to Earth – naked and inconveniently far from home. He made the mistake of talking about it once, which earned him eternal bullying and the moniker “Space Boy.” Now the aliens have given … Read more