Middle School Must Reads | Ocean County Library

The Long Beach Island Branch has a delayed opening at 1:00pm on Thursday, 04/04/2024, due to inclement weather.

Submitted by Lauren on Thu, 02/28/2019 - 13:15

Booked
By Kwame Alexander (J Alex, CD J Alex)
Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer and hates books, but soon learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.
Fish in a Tree
By Lynda Mullaly Hunt (J Hunt, CD J Hunt)
Ally's greatest fear is that everyone will find out she is as dumb as they think she is because she still doesn't know how to read.
Long Way Down
By Jason Reynolds (YA Reyn, CD YA Reyn, PLAY YA Reyn)
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.
George
By Alex Gino (J Gino, CD J Gino, PLAY J Gino)
Knowing herself to be a girl despite her outwardly male appearance, George is denied a female role in the class play before teaming up with a friend to reveal her true self.
Projekt 1065
By Alan Gratz (YA Grat, CD YA Grat)
It is 1943, and thirteen-year-old Michael O'Shaunessey, son of the Irish ambassador to Nazi Germany in Berlin, is also a spy for the British Secret Service, so he has joined the Hitler Youth, and pretending that he agrees with their violence and book-burning is hard enough--but when he is asked to find out more about "Projekt 1065" both his and his parents' lives get a lot more dangerous.
Scythe
By Neal Shusterman (Ya Shus, CD YA Shus)
In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ('gleaned') by professional reapers ('scythes'). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position neither of them wants. The one who becomesa scythe must kill the one who doesn't.
Short
By Holly Goldberg Sloan (J Sloa, CD J Sloa)
Very short for her age, Julia grows into her sense of self while playing a munchkin in a summer regional theater production of The Wizard of Oz.
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World
By Shannon Hale (J Hale, CD J Hale)
After Doreen, uses her extraordinary powers to stop a group of troublemakers she becomes a full-fledged superhero called Squirrel Girl.
Slider
By Pete Hautman (J Haut, CD J Haut)
Hoping to win a cash prize in a pizza eating contest after racking up a tab on his mother's credit card, David must juggle his competitive eating training with the responsibility of looking after his autistic younger brother.
Maybe a Fox
By Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee (J Appe, CD J Appe)
When her sister Sylvie goes missing on a snowy morning and is never seen again, Jules refuses to believe she is gone forever, meanwhile, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born.