National Network for Equitable Library Service

Award-winning adult author Benjamin Markovits delivers a poignant coming-of-age middle grade story that will give comfort to anyone feeling like a small fish in a Texas-size sea. Perfect for fans of Kevin Henkes, Rebecca Stead, and Kate DiCamillo. Twelve-year-old Ben is a shy, quiet kid. His life isn't perfect, but he feels at home in his New York City apartment. Then his dad takes a job in London, and everything changes. His parents separate, and Ben's mom moves them back to her hometown of Austin, Texas. Ben's simple life is suddenly complicated.

Chosen as a 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist for Young Readers' Literature! A Malaysian folk tale comes to life in this emotionally layered, chilling middle grade debut, perfect for fans of The Book of Boy and The Jumbies. I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother's legacy. I am yours to command. Suraya is delighted when her witch grandmother gifts her a pelesit. She names her ghostly companion Pink, and the two quickly become inseparable.

Good and bad luck battle to control the world in this hilarious and enchanting middle grade novel about a lucky rabbit, an evil black cat, and one hapless boy caught between them from award-wining screenwriter and debut author Adam Kline. We all have good luck and bad, courtesy of our very own lucky rabbits and bad-luck black cats. Most people never notice them. Cecil Bean certainly never noticed the villainous cat, Millikin, that lurked around every corner or his devoted rabbit, Leek, who was never far from his side.

Perfect for fans of Wing & Claw, this must-have middle grade novel is from We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh! "Filled with strange terrains, creatures, and magic, this is an enthralling read!" —Soman Chainani, author of the New York Times bestselling School for Good and Evil series. "A rich and wonderfully imagined story about the many ways young people can be powerful and the tremendous benefits of awakening your inner dragon." —Annie Ursu, National Book Award for Young People's Literature nominee for The Real Boy.

A 31st-century boy and a 21st-century girl team up to save the universe, evade an evil race of bog mutants, and make a quick pit stop to visit the moon in Dimension Why. John Cusick's middle grade debut will transport you to a vast fantasy world full of absurd humor that will keep you gasping all the way to the twist ending. Lola Ray was a normal 21st-century girl until a poorly timed sneeze in an X-ray machine flung her a thousand years into the future. To get back home, she'll have to team up with Phineas T.

Soar into adventure with Pippa, an orphaned girl in Ancient Greece, and her beloved winged horse, Zephyr, who head out on a daring adventure to save Mt. Olympus in the second book in the Wings of Olympus series by beloved, award-winning author Kallie George. Ever since Pippa lost the winged horse race of the ancient gods and was banned from the slopes of Mount Olympus, she and her beloved horse, Zephyr, have tried to adjust to living a normal life on the ground.

Find yourself. Find your place. Find your brave. This uplifting tale, which award-winning author Leslie Connor dubbed "a perfectly paced journey of the heart" is perfect for fans of Lisa Graff and Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Cyrus Olson's dad is a hero—Northfield's former football star and now one of their finest firefighters. Everyone expects Cyrus to follow in his dad's record-breaking footsteps, and he wishes they were right—except he's never been brave like that.

Fans of Sara Pennypacker and Katherine Applegate will love this thrilling environmental fable—filled with laughter, music, and adventure. There's no other place Tubs Marshfield would rather be than singing a song in his perfect little swamp along the Louisiana bayou. His music can make anyone feel happy. But something terrible is happening within the swamp that even Tubs' songs can't fix—and it's making his neighbors feel sick! No one knows what to do, least of all Tubs. A mysterious prophecy may hold the key... or send Tubs away from his friends forever.

The Dragon Masters have defeated the evil wizard Maldred, but not before the Kingdom of Bracken was devastated by Naga, the earthquake dragon; now Drake and his dragon, Worm, must appeal to the spring dragon, Fallyn, who is their only hope of restoring Bracken before its people starve -- but Fallyn lives deep inside a secret fairy world, and Drake must pass a series of tricky tests before he can even make his appeal.

The dark wizard Maldred has trapped Dragon Master Eko as well as wizards who have opposed him, all of them frozen in time and space inside a wall in his hideout; so Drake and Worm set out to seek the help of the Time Dragon -- but when an imp named Beezel interferes Drake ends up back in his own past, and he must find a way to get back to the present.