Middle School Fiction

The best part of Kat's day is getting to walk her neighbor's irresistible pug, Meatball. So when her parents insist she start an extracurricular this year, she makes her own, by turning her hobby into a business: a dog-walking business, that is. She and her best friends, Taz and Lucy - as well as the cute new boy, Declan - try to get Four Paws Dog Walking into shape. But wrangling puppies and pleasing customers turns out to be harder than they thought! Can Kat keep taking care of the dogs she loves without hurting her friendships?

When Alex finds out he is Unwanted, he expects to die. That is the way of the people of Quill: Each year all the 13-year-olds are labeled as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Wanteds get more schooling and train to join the army. Necessaries keep the farms running. Unwanteds are set for elimination. It’s hard for Alex to leave behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted, but he makes peace with his fate - until he discovers that instead of a “death farm”, what awaits him is a magical place called Artime.

When Heidi finds out about a magical wishing well at her school, she’s amazed and delighted—even though students are forbidden to use it. Then, an important exam is scheduled at the very same time her crush invites her on a nature walk, and Heidi needs a magical assist. Usually, she tries to follow the rules—really!—but she decides to use the well to wish to be in two places at once. What could go wrong?

In How to Read Literature like a Professor: For Kids, New York Times best-selling author and Professor Thomas C. Foster gives tweens the tools they need to become thoughtful readers. With funny insights and a conversational style, he explains the way writers use symbol, metaphor, characterization, setting, plot, and other key techniques to make a story come to life.

Thanks to a series of unfortunate bites, 11-year-old Tom is a triple threat: he's a Vam-Wolf-Zom. And just in time for the first day of middle school. So much for his Invisible Tom Plan. He never thought to make a What If I Turn Into a Vampire Werewolf Zombie Plan. Maybe it's time for a Run Away and Live Somewhere Else Plan?

The Avery Diary: The Party Invitation! Hilarious Books for Kids 9-12 Middle school was supposed to be simple: survive classes, avoid humiliation, and maybe not trip over your own feet. But for eleven-year-old Avery, it’s more like a reality show called Surviving Middle School: Awkward Edition. With her besties Claire and Ellie dishing out constant warnings about her life choices, Avery is just trying to dodge gym class disasters, keep her locker shut, and avoid the cafeteria pizza (which might be alive). Then, the unthinkable happens—she gets invited to the birthday party. Not just any ...

When Sam comes home one day to find two mystery pugs left on her porch, she's sure it's destiny. She's always wanted a dog of her own, even though her parents say that their catering business keeps the family too busy for a pet - let alone two! But Sam has to take in the sweet, abandoned pups...at least until their real owners turn up. Only she's not quite prepared for how hard it is to wrangle two frisky dogs, especially when she sneaks them into the parties her parents cater.

In this hilarious fourth book in the Middle School and Other Disasters series that started with New York Times bestseller Worst Broommate Ever, witch-in-training Heidi Heckelbeck tries to keep magic hidden when Lucy Lancaster comes to visit. Featuring black-and-white illustrations and doodles throughout and sparkly foil on the cover!

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she's unstoppable. She's the fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she's asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she's got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she's somebody special - and Annabelle thinks she'll finally stand out in a good way.

Eleven-year-old Tom was bit by a vampire, a werewolf, and a zombie right before the first day of middle school. It was a weird and crazy day. And the worst part? Even a Vam-Wolf-Zom needs to go to sixth grade. At least his neighbors and classmates seem to have accepted him. Annie even wants him to join her band!

Heidi is settling in at Broomsfield Academy. She and Melanie are trying to get along, and Heidi is getting used to her classes, all her new friends, and her very first crush, Hunter! The problem is: Hunter is really popular. How will Heidi get him to notice her? Her friends tell her to just be herself, but that sounds so boring! After all, Heidi is a witch-in-training. What good is having magic if you can’t use it? She knows she can find the perfect love spell to make Hunter fall in love with her. What could possibly go wrong?

Six-year-old Apple Blossom Orchard runs through the Louisana swamps and makes her home in the grasses and trees she sees. Living in a make-believe world, Blossom finds an old railroad car and turns it into the castle she has always wanted. A princess who reigns, a little girl who is lost, neglected by the woman she believes is her mother. Her castle is where she stays and sleeps until waking one morning and finding her castle is moving. How? She is unsure? Why? She doesn't really know, but in her heart she knows that a great adventure awaits her. Momma won't miss her she says to her ...

Greg had started looking around the cafeteria, and everywhere he looked, he saw quarters. He saw kids trading quarters for ice-cream sandwiches and cupcakes and cookies at the dessert table. There were quarters all over the place, buckets of them. At that moment, Greg’s view of school changed completely and forever. School had suddenly become the most interesting place on the planet. Because young Greg Kenton had decided that school would be an excellent place to make his fortune.

Ken is an EngiNerd: one of a super-smart group of friends - all nerds - who have been close since kindergarten. They may be brainiacs, but they're just like everyone else: They fight with one another, watch too much TV, eat Chinese food, and hate walking their dogs. Well, maybe not just like everyone because Ken's best friend Dan has been building robots. He then secretly sent one to each of the EngiNerds, never letting them know he's the mastermind. At first Ken is awed and delighted: What kid hasn't dreamed of having a robot all their own?

Jamie Grimm is a middle schooler on a mission: he wants to become the world's greatest standup comedian—even if he doesn't have a lot to laugh about these days. He's new in town and stuck living with his aunt, uncle, and their evil son Stevie, a bully who doesn't let Jamie's wheelchair stop him from messing with Jamie as much as possible. But Jamie doesn't let his situation get him down. When his Uncle Frankie mentions a contest called The Planet's Funniest Kid Comic, Jamie knows he has to enter.

Seventh grader Estefania "Stef" Soto is itching to shake off the onion-and-cilantro embrace of Tia Perla, her family's taco truck. She wants nothing more than for her dad to get a normal job and for Tia Perla to be put out to pasture. It's no fun being known as the "Taco Queen" at school. But just when new city regulations are proposed, and her family's livelihood is threatened, she will have to become the truck's unlikely champion.

A teen girl’s simulated trip to the moon takes a shocking turn in this unputdownable mystery suspense thriller full of jaw-dropping twists. Sixteen-year-old Lois and her mom, dad, and sister have signed up for a top-secret competition, hoping to win a life-changing prize. They have agreed to be locked in a state-of-the-art bunker with nine other families to go on a thirty-day simulated trip to the moon. During their "journey," their every move will be judged by anonymous evaluators. Families that don't have what it takes will be eliminated. Lois thought losing the competition was the ...

Emily Bennett works as a therapist in Pennsylvania, helping children overcome their troubled pasts—even as she struggles to forget her own. Once upon a time, Emily was part of a middle school clique called the Harpies—six popular girls who bullied the new girl to her breaking point. The Harpies took a blood oath: never tell a soul what they did to Grace Farmer. Now, fourteen years later, it seems karma has caught up to them when one member of that vicious circle commits suicide.

Austin Davenport is back as he travels back in time to battle his timeless nemeses for honor and glory. Well, sort of. When Austin is embarrassed by baby-faced villain Randy Warblemacher in front of the whole school, he decides to drop the gauntlet! And the upcoming Medieval Renaissance Fair is the perfect place for an epic showdown.

Olivia Grace Clarisse Mignonette Harrison should be having fun. Her best friend is visiting from America, her sister’s royal coronation is only three days away (the first coronation of a female ruler in two centuries), and she’s even got a new boyfriend who is actually a very smart and charming prince! But it’s hard to celebrate when her royal cousins are scheming to take over the throne. And with everyone running around, Olivia and her friends have been saddled with royal babysitting duties. Then, to make matters worse, Olivia's snobby cousin Luisa insists on gossiping about her....