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Though it’s unusual for a girl in colonial India, 15-year-old Vidya’s father supports her dream of attending college. When her father — an advocate of nonviolence — is severely injured in a protest against British rule, Vidya not only loses her best advocate, but she’s forced to live with her very traditional grandfather. Vidya’s quest for independence mirrors that of her country.

Seventh grader “Crash” Coogan is a jock who, as he begins narrating this humorous, touching novel, is a downright bully. He takes aim most often at a neighbor and classmate named Penn. Penn not only wears hand-me-downs but joins the cheerleading squad. This is an unusual glimpse at “jockdom.”

Mexican-American poet Herrera wrote one of the first novels in verse for the teen audience. Sixteen-year old Cesar is the son of migrant workers, and he shares his coming-of-age experiences.

When his nemesis makes an origami Darth Vader, chaos ensues. Dwight gets kicked out of school and sent to a school for bad broods! Humor abounds in this silly but satisfying saga that combines parody of popular figures with comedy.

When sixteen-year-old Walker gets caught up in a witch-hunt against homosexuals, he is left to stand by and watch as a tragedy unfolds.

It’s the first day of school for Dexter and he’s already mad at everyone in the building. When his teacher tells the class to write a story, Dexter writes about how tough he is — and how he’s already gotten into a fight. Is any of Dexter’s story true?

Greg Heffley’s mom makes him keep a journal — NOT a diary! — Greg forcefully asserts. In his journal, Greg uses words and comics to recount life in middle school beginning at the end of summer school. Greg’s voice and stick figures ring true and set the tenor for tales told in other Wimpy Kid books.

Summer, according to Greg, is all about video games and other indoor activities. His mom does not agree, however. Of course, that Greg had a falling out with his best buddy doesn’t help calm his mother’s enthusiasm for getting Greg involved in other things. Another recognizable saga comes to life in word and comics.

Liliana Cruz is a hitting a wall — or rather, walls. There’s the wall her mom has put up ever since Liliana’s dad left — again. There’s the wall that delineates Liliana’s diverse inner-city Boston neighborhood from Westburg, the wealthy — and white — suburban high school she’s just been accepted into. And there’s the wall Liliana creates within herself, because to survive at Westburg, she can’t just lighten up, she has to whiten up. But then light is shed on some hard truths: It isn’t that her father doesn’t want to come home — he can’t…and her whole family is in jeopardy. And when racial tensions at school reach a fever pitch, the walls that divide feel insurmountable. But sometimes a wall can be a foundation for something better. And Liliana must choose: Use this foundation as a platform to speak her truth, or risk crumbling under its weight. ALA/YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults List.

Gene understands stories — comic book stories, in particular. Big action. Bigger thrills. And the hero always wins. But Gene doesn’t get sports. As a kid, his friends called him “Stick” and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it’s all anyone can talk about. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. Once Gene gets to know these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he’s seen on a comic book page. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn’t know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons’ lives, but his own life as well.

“A forced pen-pal exchange turns into an opportunity for real communication between Illinois sixth-grader Abby Carson and Sadeed Bayat, the best English-language student in his Afghan village. When Abby’s first letter arrives in Bahar-Lan, 11-year-old Sadeed is asked by the elders to compose his sister Amira’s reply; it isn’t proper for a boy and girl to correspond with one another. But soon Sadeed can’t resist telling Abby that it is he who has been writing to her. The third-person narrative alternates points of view, allowing for inclusion of intriguing details of both lives.” — School Library Journal

Twelve-year-old Korean American Junie Kim, who’s kept quiet about the bullying and racism she encounters at school, is diagnosed with depression but is later inspired to speak out after learning about her grandparents’ experiences during the Korean War.

Imagine being asked to be one of the first black students to integrate an all-white school in the Fifties. Such is the case for Sylvia Patterson when she must decide whether or not to be an agent of social change or to stay in the comfort of her inferior all-black school. Readers may want to refer to Melba Pattillo Beals’s memoir Warriors Don’t Cry, for her personal account of what happened when she was one of the nine teenagers who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.

Luther, a high school sophomore, works for a vet who rehabilitates falcons. His work with these birds leads him to support forest preservation and puts him in conflict with his stepfather, a long-time logger.

Gretchen Yee, 16, feels painfully ordinary in a school where everyone is an overachiever. She longs to understand what others think of her, and her wish to be a fly on the wall of the boys locker room comes true. She spends a week there observing her classmates, learning and seeing more than she ever expected. With this knowledge, Gretchen gains confidence, which ultimately allows her to be a better person. Although containing some strong language and mature situations, this novel is a good choice for teens who are unsure of their place in the world, including reluctant readers. 

When Max—Maxine Zelaster—befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, part of Vanguard One Middle School’s new Robot Integration Program, she helps him learn everything he needs to know about surviving middle school—the good, the bad, and the really, really, ugly. Little do they know that surviving seventh grade is going to become a true matter of life and death, because Vanguard has an evil presence at its heart: a digital student evaluation system named BARBARA that might be taking its mission to shape the perfect student to extremes!

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down.

Tanya Lee Stone deftly uses new research to illuminate the dramatic facts behind the 2013 film of the same name, focusing both on the girls captured on camera and many others. She examines barriers to education in depth—early child marriage and childbearing, slavery, sexual trafficking, gender discrimination, and poverty—and shows how removing these barriers means not only a better life for girls, but safer, healthier, and more prosperous communities.

Black twelve-year-old Shayla is a rule follower. But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s questioning who her best friends are and questioning where she fits in in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Short ditties introduce math problems and critical thinking — and entertain as the rhymes are read. Colorful illustrations that are computer-generated add to the fun and understanding of how to approach word problems.

It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat. There, in the room they soon dub the “ARTT Room” they discover it’s safe to talk about what’s bothering them—everything from Esteban’s father’s deportation and Haley’s father’s incarceration to Amari’s fears of racial profiling and Ashton’s adjustment to his changing family fortunes. Together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.

A middle-school boy begins to question his sexual orientation, while dealing with the crush his female friend, 13-year old Hispanic Xio, has on him. Sanchez is sensitive and insightful when talking about both gay and Hispanic culture, and he’s created a delightful heroine in Xio.

“You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours,” Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets. Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

Jack’s life is a crazy roller-coaster ride. At his fifth school in six years, he has a crackpot teacher who wont give him a break about his lousy handwriting and a secret crush who wants to be a policewoman. At home, he has a pesky little brother with a knack for breaking an arm whenever Jack’s supposed to be looking after him, a terror for an older sister, all sorts of weird neighbors, and, last but not least, ferocious alligators in the canal behind his house.