Middle School Literature

Everyone at The Smith School is obsessed with Monster Mayhem, the latest reality video game craze. But when Drexel Caine, the mastermind behind the game, is suddenly kidnapped, it becomes clear that the kidnappers are playing for more than just special badges. After Drexel's son - who is Abby's friend, Toby - receives a cryptic message, Abby and her friends discover the kidnapping is part of a bigger scheme that could take down The Center for good.

It all started with a peanut butter cup...which leads Ben Braver to a secret school for kids with super abilities. Ben has never had any special powers - and maybe never will. But could this be his chance to become the superhero he's always dreamed of? The Super Life of Ben Braver is the first book in a hilarious adventure series about the greatness that lies within any middle schooler who dreams big from Marcus Emerson, the author of the smash hit Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja series.

When Mia asks the Cupcake Club girls to be junior bridesmaids in her mother's wedding, everyone is superexcited about the idea...especially when they find the perfect dress for the occasion! It's Emma's dream dress, except it's a little more expensive than she expected. And with her mom recently out of work, there's not a lot of room at the Taylor house for extras.

Rafe Khatchadorian has never been cool. But all that changes when he becomes the guitarist in an awesome rock band and wrangles a part-time job at Hills Village's trendiest new coffee shop slash yoga studio. No more being at the bottom of the middle school food chain—Rafe is finally going to be popular! He just has two teeny problems: the awesome rock band is led by none other than the school bully. And the band actually isn't awesome—they absolutely stink, and Rafe has to whip them into shape for the Best Band Competition.

After a mostly-successful stint at Hills Valley Middle School, Rafe is excited to visit the incredible city of London with his class. Sightseeing around a foreign country sounds like a blast, until Rafe finds out his roommate is Miller the Killer, bully extraordinaire! Then he's forced to work on a class project side by side with his crush Jeanne Galletta and her too-perfect boyfriend, which might be even worse than rooming with Miller.

When Mia arrives at her new school, her motto is to be open and friendly with everyone. However, not everyone at Park Street School believes in mixing with different groups of friends. When the Popular Girls Club takes interest in Mia's awesome fashion style and wants to recruit her, Mia has to decide between them and her great new Cupcake Club friends. It's like choosing between her divorced mom and dad and her old house and new house. Is it always going to be Mia in the middle, or can she mix it up?

When Brianna Justice's hero, the famous celebrity Chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and traces her own success back to being president of her fifth-grade class, Brianna determines she must do the same. She just knows that becoming president of her class is the first step toward her own cupcake-baking empire! But when new student Jasmine Moon announces she is also running for president, Brianna learns that she may have more competition than she expected.

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?

Eric is the new kid in seventh grade. Griffin wants to be his friend. When you're new in town, it's hard to know who to hang out with - and who to avoid. Griffin seems cool, confident, and popular. But something isn't right about Griffin. He always seems to be in the middle of bad things. And if Griffin doesn't like you, you'd better watch your back. There might be a target on it. As Eric gets drawn deeper into Griffin's dark world, he begins to see the truth about Griffin: He's a liar, a bully, a thief.

After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone. Wrong! It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum.

Olivia Grace Clarisse Mignonette Harrison still finds it hard to believe that she's a real live princess of Genovia. Not only does she get to live in an actual palace with her newly discovered family and two fabulous poodles (who all love her and think that she's anything but ordinary!), but she also gets her very own pony!

Eleven-year-old Matt is struggling in school, and he has to set up his own business to save his failing math grade. But what is he even good at? The only thing he truly loves is his team of dogs, and so Matt's Sled Dog School is born. Teaching dogsledding should be easy, right? But people, just like dogs, can be unpredictable. And sometimes the bravest thing a person can do is admit they need help.

Discover the ins and outs of middle school in this guide from an older sister to her younger sister. From tackling a new building to meeting new people like the assistant principal, the class pet, the Huggers, the renegade, the tomato kid, your old best friend's new best friend, this is a must-listen for everyone starting middle school.

Olivia Grace Clarisse Harrison has always known she was different. Brought up by her aunt's family in New Jersey, book-and-music-loving Olivia feels out of place in their life of high fashion and fancy cars. But she never could have imagined how out of place she really was until Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia, pops into her school and announces that Olivia is her long-lost sister.

A.J. and his friends are starting fourth grade. A new school year means a new teacher, and Miss Banks may be their weirdest one yet. She won’t stop playing practical jokes on the class, and A.J. has reached his breaking point. Will he and the gang learn to not fall for their teacher’s tricks? Or will Miss Banks prevail as the ultimate prankster?

To 12-year-old Molly Nathans, perfect is: the number four; the tip of a newly sharpened No. 2 pencil; a crisp white pad of paper; her neatly aligned glass animal figurines. What's not perfect is Molly's mother leaving the family to take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year. Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so she hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the Lakeville Middle School Poetry Slam Contest. The winner is honored at a fancy banquet with white tablecloths. Molly is sure her mother would never miss that. Right?

Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight. She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin. Except now that she's in middle school everything feels different. Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the "cool" girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more "American." Does Amina need to start changing too? Or hiding who she is to fit in? While Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized.

Monsters Unleashed - where you catch virtual-reality monsters on your cellphone - is one of the hottest mobile games around, and Bex and Charlie just can't stop playing. They even check out an old map in Charlie's grandfather's attic in hopes of discovering some forgotten places in town where the rarest monsters might hide. But they find a strange machine up there, too, and after Charlie switches it on, the wifi goes down...and Bex's entire catalog of monsters vanishes!

For once, Claudia's studied really hard for her math test. And when she gets her paper back, it has an A- on it. All right! But then Claudia's math teacher calls her to his desk and accuses her of copying off of Shawna Riverson's test. Claudia can't believe it, and neither can the baby-sitters. Claudia would never cheat! And they're not going to rest until they help clear Claudia's name!

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.