Our Middle Grade book spotlight this week is focused on books that are all school inspired to get us into the back to school groove! The start of a new school year is filled with all sorts of different emotions and these stories are ones that are as well but in all of them, the school plays an integral role either in the setting, developing friendships and relationships, making decisions for the future, and so much more. Hopefully these titles will help to get the school year started off right. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthschoolstories as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new Middle Grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Merci Suarez Can’t Dance by Meg Medina--Merci Suarez is having a rough start to seventh grade with new teachers, new friends, and new feelings for boys like Wilson Bellevue, her co-manager at the school store. Then there is Merci's annoying classmate Edna Santos who takes charge of the annual Heart Ball. Merci knows for sure she won't be going to the ball because she can't dance. She wishes she could talk to her grandfather, Lolo, about her troubles at school but his Alzheimer's makes it difficult. Could Merci's Tía Inés, her dancing aunt, help her make sense of it all?
Wink by Rob Harrell--Seventh-grader Ross Maloy tries to navigate middle school after he's diagnosed with eye cancer. His radiation technician, Frank, helps him discover music as an outlet, and teaches him to play guitar. As one of Ross's close friends abandons him, he sees another side to a school bully who has ties to Frank.
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea--As the school year begins, seven fifth graders find themselves overcome by problems and internal conflicts that begin at school and lead all the way back to their home lives. Each chapter, narrated by a different student, guides readers through this turbulent year, eventually revealing the prank that resulted in tragedy and started all their problems. Through it all, Mr. Terupt, their teacher, is the one person who seems to truly understand them and accept them as they are. Though some try to shut him out, Mr. Terupt continues to offer his guidance and friendship, eventually teaching them all a valuable lesson that they will hold onto forever.
Stuck by Jennifer Swender--As the new kid at yet another school, fourth-grader Austin has learned how to cope in order to hide his reading disability: fly under the radar at school. Even though he's perfected his skills of getting passed on in class, this school is proving different, with a teacher who is observant and kind, and a rambunctious classmate named Bertie who almost has Austin convinced to join the Safety Squad, a group of kids who help younger kids on and off the bus each day. But in order to join, Austin will need to pass the safety test, a feat that he may not be brave enough to overcome.
Muffled by Jennifer Gennari--When fifth-grader Amelia learns to cope with her noise sensitivity, she steps outside of her comfort zone and makes new friends. Includes information about noise sensitivity.
The Smartest Kid in the Universe by Chris Grabenstein--Twelve-year-old Jake accidentally eats a bowl of experimental jelly beans at the hotel where his mother works. It turns out, the jelly beans are ingestible information pills and eating them has suddenly made Jake the smartest person in the universe--which is a good thing, because Jake and his friends have been trying to figure out a way to prevent their middle school from closing down.