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Gift Guide--Chapter Books ages 8-12

Chapter books for ages 8-12!

Witchlings By Claribel A. Ortega Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781338745528
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Press - April 5th, 2022

An instant New York Times Bestseller! Disney's The Owl House meets Nevermoor, in a brilliant new adventure from Claribel A.


The Marvellers (The Conjureverse #1) By Dhonielle Clayton, Khadijah Khatib (Illustrator) Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250174949
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) - May 3rd, 2022

Dhonielle Clayton makes her middle-grade debut with a fantasy adventure set in a global magic school in the sky an instant New York Times and #1 Indie Bestseller!

"The Marvellers deserves the highest compliment I can give a book: I want to live in this world." —Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling–author


Valentina Salazar is not a Monster Hunter By Zoraida Córdova Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781338712711
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Press - June 28th, 2022

"Monsters, mayhem, and a little family magic will have readers rooting for Valentina!" -- Kwame Mbalia, New York Times bestselling author

It takes a special person to end up in detention on the last day of school.

It takes a REALLY special person to accidentally burn down the school yard while chasing a fire-breathing chipmunk.

But nothing about Valentina Salazar


You Only Live Once, David Bravo By Mark Oshiro Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780063008151
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - September 20th, 2022

From Mark Oshiro, award-winning author of The Insiders, this time-bending adventure is perfect for fans of Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and When You Reach Me.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * An ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 Selection


Alice Austen Lived Here By Alex Gino Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781338733891
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Press - June 7th, 2022

From the award-winning author of Melissa, a phenomenal novel about queerness past, present, and future.

Sam is very in touch with their own queer identity. They're nonbinary, and their best friend, TJ, is nonbinary as well. Sam's family is very cool with it...


New from Here By Kelly Yang Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781534488304
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - March 1st, 2022

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

This “timely and compelling” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience follows an Asian American boy fighting to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox Wei-Evans&


Anisa's International Day By Reem Faruqi Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780063206236
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - September 20th, 2022

From the award-winning author of Unsettled, meet Anisa, the adorable Pakistani American heroine of this irresistible younger middle grade novel about a girl who introduces her class to the art of mehndi for International Day.


Golden Girl By Reem Faruqi Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780063044753
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - February 22nd, 2022

From the award-winning, ALA Notable author of Unsettled and Lailah’s Lunchbox, this is a captivating coming-of-age middle grade novel in verse about seventh grader Aafiyah Qamar, a Pakistani American girl who hatches a special plan to help her family but finds that doing what’s right isn’t always easy.


The Vanquishers By Kalynn Bayron Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781547609772
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Bloomsbury Children's Books - September 20th, 2022

In the world of the Vanquishers, vampires were history . . . until now.

"A sharp vampire tale full of bite, heart, and humor." --Rena Barron, author of the Maya and the Rising Dark series

"Boog and her friends will capture your heart in an instant." --Mark Oshiro, author of The Insiders


Maizy Chen's Last Chance: (Newbery Honor Award Winner) By Lisa Yee Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781984830258
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House Books for Young Readers - February 1st, 2022

NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR YOUTH LITERATURE

Twelve year-old Maizy discovers her family’s Chinese restaurant is full of secrets in this irresistible novel that celebrates food, fortune, and family.


Eden's Everdark By Karen Strong Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781665904476
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - September 6th, 2022

Hailed by Newbery winner Kelly Barnhill as “stunning, moving, and marvelously strange,” this tale of a young girl who stumbles into a magical realm ruled by a wicked witch is a haunting and ultimately uplifting middle grade novel about grief, family, and decades-old magic.

Still grieving the loss of her mother, Eden visits Safina Island, her ancestral home, as a healing b


Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion By K. Tempest Bradford Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780374388799
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) - September 27th, 2022

Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion is a backyard adventure-mystery by debut children’s author K. Tempest Bradford, perfect for fans of Clean Getaway, The Last Last Day of Summer, and Sideways School.


Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution By Sherri Winston Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781547608461
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Bloomsbury Children's Books - September 6th, 2022

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

Member of the 2023 Notable Books for a Global Society (NGBS) List

From the beloved author of President of the Whole Fifth Grade, a story about a young Black girl who summons the courage to fight against a discriminatory dress code--and stand up for herself.


Futureland: Battle for the Park By H.D. Hunter, Khadijah Khatib (Illustrator) Cover Image
By H.D. Hunter, Khadijah Khatib (Illustrator)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780593479421
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House Books for Young Readers - November 8th, 2022

When an extraordinary flying theme park arrives above Atlanta, one boy must stop a sinister force from stealing the park's tech and taking over the world. An electrifying illustrated series with the Afrofuturism of Black Panther that took the world by storm. Perfect for fans of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.


King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold) By Kacen Callender Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781338129342
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Press - May 3rd, 2022

A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book!

Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature!

Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry!


Moonflower By Kacen Callender Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781338636598
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Press - September 6th, 2022

Kacen Callender, National Book Award winner of King and the Dragonflies, delivers a stunning novel that invites readers into a child’s struggles with mental health, and their journey to wholeness.

Moon’s depression is overwhelming. Therapy doesn’t help, and Moon is afraid that their mom hates them because they’re sad.


Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations #1) By B. B. Alston Cover Image
$11.99
ISBN: 9780062975171
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Balzer + Bray - January 4th, 2022

New York Times bestseller!

Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this exhilarating debut middle grade fantasy, the first in a series filled with #blackgirlmagic. Perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor.


Healer of the Water Monster By Brian Young Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062990419
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Heartdrum - May 3rd, 2022

American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner: Best Middle Grade Book! Brian Young’s powerful debut novel tells of a seemingly ordinary Navajo boy who must save the life of a Water Monster—and comes to realize he’s a hero at heart.


Last Gate of the Emperor By Kwame Mbalia, Prince Joel Makonnen Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781338665901
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Inc. - June 7th, 2022

From Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel David Makonnen comes an Afrofuturist adventure about a mythical Ethiopian empire. Sci-fi and fantasy combine in this epic journey to the stars.

Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime -- a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family...


Omar Rising By Aisha Saeed Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780593108581
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - February 1st, 2022

“Irresistibly appealing and genuinely inspiring—a story that helps us to see the world more clearly, and to see ourselves as powerful enough to change it.” —Rebecca Stead, author of Newbery Award Winner When You Reach Me


The Shape of Thunder By Jasmine Warga Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062956682
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Balzer + Bray - May 3rd, 2022

An extraordinary new novel from Jasmine Warga, Newbery Honor–winning author of Other Words for Home, about loss and healing—and how friendship can be magical.

Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year.


Sisters of the Neversea By Cynthia L. Smith Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062869982
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Heartdrum - May 3rd, 2022

Five starred reviews! In this beautifully reimagined story by NSK Neustadt Laureate and New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek), Native American Lily and English Wendy embark on a high-flying journey of magic, adventure, and courage to a fairy-tale island known as Neverland…


Melissa (previously published as GEORGE) By Alex Gino Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781338843415
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Press - April 19th, 2022

BE WHO YOU ARE.

When people look at Melissa, they think they see a boy named George. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.

Melissa thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. Melissa really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte.


Zara's Rules for Record-Breaking Fun By Hena Khan, Wastana Haikal (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Hena Khan, Wastana Haikal (Illustrator)
$6.99
ISBN: 9781534497580
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for You - April 19th, 2022

From the beloved author of Amina’s Voice comes the first book in a humor-filled middle grade series starring a young Muslim girl with an endless list of hobbies who searches for ways to maximize fun for her family and neighborhood friends.


Prairie Lotus By Linda Sue Park Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9780358454632
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Clarion Books - March 22nd, 2022

Prairie Lotus is a powerful, touching, multilayered novel about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father’s shop, and making at least one friend.


Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids By Cynthia L. Smith Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062869951
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Heartdrum - February 8th, 2022

Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride.

Native families from Nations across the continent gather at the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow in Ann Arbor, Michigan.


Root Magic By Eden Royce Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062899590
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Walden Pond Press - April 5th, 2022

“A poignant, necessary entry into the children’s literary canon, Root Magic brings to life the history and culture of Gullah people while highlighting the timeless plight of Black Americans.


Maya and the Robot By Eve L. Ewing, Christine Almeda (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Eve L. Ewing, Christine Almeda (Illustrator)
$8.99
ISBN: 9781984814654
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Kokila - May 3rd, 2022

From award-winning author Eve L. Ewing comes an illustrated middle grade novel about a forgotten homemade robot who comes to life just when aspiring fifth-grade scientist Maya needs a friend -- and a science fair project.


That Thing about Bollywood By Supriya Kelkar Cover Image
$8.99
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781534466746
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - May 10th, 2022

Bollywood takes over in this “effervescent” (Booklist) and magical middle grade novel about an Indian American girl whose world turns upside down when she involuntarily starts bursting into glamorous song-and-dance routines during everyday life.

You know how in Bollywood when people are in love, they sing and dance from the mountaintops?


Finding Junie Kim By Ellen Oh Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062987990
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - May 3rd, 2022

For fans of Inside Out and Back Again and Amina’s Voice comes breathtaking story of family, hope, and survival from Ellen Oh, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. When Junie Kim is faced with middle school racism, she learns of her grandparents’ extraordinary strength and finds her voice.


The Insiders By Mark Oshiro Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9780063008113
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - August 23rd, 2022

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * An ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 Title for Young Readers

Three kids who don’t belong. A room that shouldn’t exist. A year that will change everything.


Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey By Erin Entrada Kelly, Erin Entrada Kelly (Illustrator) Cover Image
$9.99
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9780062970435
Published: Greenwillow Books - May 3rd, 2022

“Utterly endearing!” —Annie Barrows, New York Times-bestselling author of the Ivy + Bean books

“Hilarious and heart-melting.” —Sara Pennypacker, New York Times–bestselling author of Pax


We Dream of Space: A Newbery Honor Award Winner By Erin Entrada Kelly Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062747310
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Greenwillow Books - March 22nd, 2022

A Newbery Honor Book • BookPage Best Books • Chicago Public Library Best Fiction • Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee • Horn Book Fanfare • New York Times Notable Children’s Book • School Library Journal Best Book • Today Show Pick • An ALA Notable Book


The Sea in Winter By Christine Day Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062872050
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Heartdrum - January 4th, 2022

American Indian Youth Literature Award: Middle Grade Honor Book! In this evocative and heartwarming novel for readers who loved The Thing About Jellyfish, the author of I Can Make This Promise tells the story of a Native American girl struggling to find her joy again.


Frankie & Bug By Gayle Forman Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781534482548
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Aladdin - October 25th, 2022

“Joyful, occasionally heartbreaking, deeply moving.” —R. J.


Rez Dogs By Joseph Bruchac Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9780593326220
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Dial Books - June 7th, 2022

Renowned author Joseph Bruchac tells a powerful story of a girl who learns more about her Penacook heritage while sheltering in place with her grandparents during the coronavirus pandemic.