Miles Morales is done being Spider-Man. His spidey sense has gone haywire and got him in trouble at school. He has enough to worry about with a confederacy-obsessed history teacher who has it out for him and the nightmares about his uncle that have been plaguing Miles ever since his death. His best friend thinks he should just use his powers to pull stunts and make money. But when people from his neighborhood start disappearing, he discovers a supernatural conspiracy designed to keep Miles and his family down. Miles knows he has to don the suit once more and fight for what's right.

I love how this story has a solid grounding in real-life issues that teens can relate to. As an educator, I hated every moment reading about Miles's awful history teacher obsessed with teaching the lost-cause propaganda of the civil war. Unfortunately, teachers like that do exist and I love how Miles and his fellow students stand up to him. I love all the supporting characters from Miles's mom to his best friend Ganke. A great mix of real-world social justice and super hero justice.

Miles Morales Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
Erica's Picks
5th - 8th
​Tags: adventure, family life, friendship, issues fiction, people of color, school stories, social justice, supernatural

Daniel's grandmother is always warning about spirits that take children away, especially if they go out in the snow. Nevertheless, Daniel and Iris sneak out on the night of the first snowfall. When they see a ghost and discover they've been accidentally playing in an abandoned graveyard, they run back home. But even in her warm room, the cold doesn't leave Iris entirely. Ever since that night, strange things have been happening. She has the overwhelming urge to go back, into the dark and the cold and find the ghost again.

This is a spooky story about forgotten histories. Daniel and Iris start to research the graveyard and discover that it was an African-American cemetery from when the town was segregated. They try to discover more about the ghost of the girl that's haunting them, but the forgotten spirit has plans of its own. Strongly recommended.

The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown
Erica's Picks
3rd - 6th
​Tags: family life, friendship, horror, people of color, school stories, supernatural

Moving stinks for everyone, but it's especially awful for Maya. Maya is deaf and she's used to going to a school with other deaf kids where everyone can sign and understands what Deaf culture is about. But in Colorado she has to go to a regular, hearing high school, which means she has to have an interpreter in all her classes. Outside of class, she has to rely on lip reading, which is never 100% effective, and deal with the ignorance of her hearing classmates. But one boy is different. Beau starts learning sign language and seems interested in getting to know Maya a lot better. Will they be able to bridge their differences and get together? Or is their relationship doomed before it even starts?

I love reading books that explore Deaf culture, and Maya is a wonderful character. She's fiercely loyal to her younger brother, who has cystic fibrosis and is not acclimating to the higher elevation well. With her friends at school she can be flawed and moody, which is perfectly understandable considering all she has to put up with and makes her well-rounded and relatable. I'd whole-heartedly recommend this to students looking for a realistic school story or a romance. 

The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
Erica's Picks
Grades 6-8
Tags:character driven, contemporary fiction, disability, family life, romance, school stories

Norris can’t believe it when his mother says they’re moving to Texas. Norris is a black French-Canadian who hates the heat and loves hockey.  When he first gets to Texas, it seems like all the stereotypes he’s seen about Americans on TV are true. There’s the mean cheerleaders, the aggressive jocks, and overly cheerful but ultimately useless guidance counselor. Norris describes it all with biting humor in his notebook. It’s an outlet that keeps him sane in the ridiculous heat. But when Texas surprises him and he starts to build a nice life for himself, it’s his notebook that might be his undoing.

Norris’s voice is hilarious and I enjoyed seeing life through his eyes. If you want a classic American high school story, this Canadian will deliver!

Erica's Pick
7th & 8th Grade
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe
​Tags: Character Driven, Contemporary Fiction, Friendship, Humor, People of Color, School Stories

Life is not easy for Mason Buttle. He's the biggest kid in his grade, has overactive sweat glands, and severe dyslexia. On top of all that, his best and only friend died a year ago in an accident and everyone blames him. When he makes a new best friend, it happens again. His new best friend disappears and everyone fears the worst. How can Mason clear his name and find his friend?

This is a heart-warming story with a unique protagonist. Mason is so earnest and kind it's impossible not to root for him. 

Erica's Picks
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

Grade 5 - 7
​Tags: Character Driven, Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Friendship, Mystery, School Stories

​

Suzy and Franny have been best friends for a long time. Then they get in a fight just before Franny goes on vacation for the summer. Suzy is sure they’ll make up in the fall, but something terrible happens. When she hears that Franny has drowned, at first she doesn’t believe it. It just doesn't make any sense--Franny was an excellent swimmer. How could something like this happen? Franny becomes obsessed with finding out how Suzy really died. That’s how she learns about jellyfish so small they're practically invisible and so venomous they could kill an adult. Sure they're usually found near Australia, but with climate change and sea temperatures rising, maybe their territory is expanding. Everyone keeps telling Suzy to move on, but she can’t until she gets to the bottom of the mystery.

“There are so many things to be scared of in this world: blooms of jellies. A sixth extinction. A middle school dance. But maybe we can stop feeling so afraid. Maybe instead of feeling like a mote of dust, we can remember that all the creatures on this Earth are made from stardust. And we are the only ones who get to know it. That's the thing about jellyfish: They'll never understand that. All they can do is drift along, unaware. Humans may be newcomers to this planet. We may be plenty fragile. But we're also the only ones who can decide to change.”

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Erica's Picks
4th - 6th
Tags: character driven, contemporary fiction, school stories, tear jerker

Jordan Sun is beginning her junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing arts and once again she does not get cast for the fall musical.  Her low alto 2 voice is jeopardizing her whole life!  A cappella is a real thing at this school; there is more than one group and they have elite status.  Think Glee. Then she gets a mass email. The Sharpshooters have an opening in their group.  Unfortunately it is an all-male group. Is this going to stop Jordan whose voice range is a perfect fit? No. She becomes Julian Zhang. The hair gets cut, baggy clothes bought, tips on how to walk and move from trans kids on-line and voila. Jordan-Julian gets the spot.  The book focuses on Julian and how moving through the world as a male is a revelation to Jordan.
Enter the Sharps.  All seven of them become real people who you are invested in. They are such a diverse group.  Jordan is bisexual and Chinese, and also represented are Japanese, queer, Sikh, Indian, learning disabled, and underrepresented body type. Jordan’s ethnicity and economic status have made her feel like an outsider on campus.  Friendships are formed and Jordan feels part of a group for the first time.  If the Sharps win the Holiday competition, they will be opening for an internationally known group and tour Europe over break.
Family economic trouble looms and all may come crashing down.  Jordan is an engaging character as she struggles to find out who she is and where she is going.   You leave this book wanting to follow all the characters’ stories into the future.
 

​Tessa's Picks, 8th Summer 2018, Character driven, Contemporary fiction, Friendship, People of color, School stories

​Malu's parents are divorced, and she wonders how they were ever together. Her dad owns a record store that hosts punk rock concerts while her mother is always telling her to act like a proper 'senorita.' When Malu's mother drags her away from her home and her father to move halfway across the country to Chicago, it's Malu's worst nightmare. She hates her new school and the popular girls who make fun of her punk style. But when she sees a flyer for the school's talent show she knows one sure-fire way to make it all better: form her own band!

Malu's love of punk is infectious and her zines interspersed throughout the book made my fingers twitch for scissors and and glue sticks. 

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez

Erica's Picks
3rd - 6th
Tags: ​character driven, contemporary fiction, family life, humor, people of color, school stories

When Chase wakes up in a hospital room, he doesn't even recognize his own mother. As the weeks pass, his body recovers, but his past is still a complete blank. His dad tells Chase that he was the star of the football and lacrosse teams and his mom points out his best friends to him. But when school starts, he notices that kids shrink away from him in the hallways and his 'best friends' are jerks. He has a lot of questions about his past, but people are reluctant to answer him. As his memories come back and he learns who he was, the main question on everyone's mind is who will he be? Will the old Chase return, or is this a fresh start?

I loved this book! There's sports, humor, viral YouTube videos, and a lot more to enjoy. I particularly like that it shifts perspective so I got a sense of how the other students responded to Chase and how he affected their lives.

​Restart by Gordon Korman

Erica's Picks
4th - 7th Grade
Tags: ​contemporary fiction, friendship, humor, issues fiction, school stories, sports