YA Books for Middle Schoolers

Books in the Young Adult Collection that may be appropriate for those in the 6th through 8th grade or ages 10 to 14. The Young Adult Collection is made up of books for a wide range (12-18 years old) and includes a variety of different topics and interests. Not all titles will be appropriate for all readers.

Showing 1 - 20 of 44  There are a total of 87 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "The great Jeff"
Star rating for The great Jeff
Description:
Thirteen-year-old Jeff's life spirals downward into homelessness after his alcoholic mother loses her job.

2. Booked

Book cover for "Booked"
Star rating for Booked
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
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.
Book cover for "The crossover"
Star rating for The crossover
Series:
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
Book cover for "The thing about jellyfish"
Star rating for The thing about jellyfish
Average Rating:
4.9 stars
Description:
Twelve-year-old Suzy Swanson wades through her intense grief over the loss of her best friend by investigating the rare jellyfish she is convinced was responsible for her friend's death.
Book cover for "The perfect score"
Star rating for The perfect score
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Series:
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Told from different viewpoints, this is the story of five sixth-graders facing various challenges and under pressure to do well on statewide assessment tests who agree to a plan for acing those tests.
Book cover for "The princess diaries"
Star rating for The princess diaries
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
3.8 stars
Description:
Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.
Book cover for "City of the plague god"
Star rating for City of the plague god
Series:
Average Rating:
3.3 stars
Description:
"Thirteen-year-old Sikander Aziz has to team up with the hero Gilgamesh in order to stop Nergal, the ancient god of plagues, from wiping out the population of Manhattan in this adventure based on Mesopotamian mythology"--
Book cover for "Artemis Fowl"
Star rating for Artemis Fowl
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
When twelve-year-old evil genius Artemis Fowl tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.
Book cover for "The city of Ember"
Star rating for The city of Ember
Series:
Books of Ember volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
Book cover for "Better Nate than ever"
Star rating for Better Nate than ever
Author:
Series:
Nate volume 1.
Average Rating:
2.5 stars
Description:
An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in a Broadway musical concocts a plan to run away to New York and audition for the role of Elliot in the musical version of "E.T."
Book cover for "The tournament at Gorlan"
Star rating for The tournament at Gorlan
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Description:
In this prequel to the Ranger's Apprentice series, Halt and Crowley travel north seeking Prince Duncan's royal warrant to stop Morgrath from corrupting the Corps, but if they are to prevent a coup that is nearing success, the young Rangers will have to tread a dangerous path toward the annual tournament at Gorlan.

12. Rick

Book cover for "Rick"
Star rating for Rick
Author:
Average Rating:
2.3 stars
Description:
Eleven-year-old Rick Ramsey has generally gone along with everybody, just not making waves, even though he is increasingly uncomfortable with his father's jokes about girls, and his best friend's explicit talk about sex; but now in middle school he discovers the Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities can express themselves--and maybe among them he can find new friends and discover his own identity, which may just be to opt...
Book cover for "Prisoner B-3087"
Star rating for Prisoner B-3087
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
Based on the life of Jack Gruener, this book relates his story of survival from the Nazi occupation of Krakow, when he was eleven, through a succession of concentration camps, to the final liberation of Dachau.

14. Shug

Book cover for "Shug"
Star rating for Shug
Author:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Twelve-year-old Annemarie "Shug" Wilcox feels that she is freakishly tall, freakishly flat-chested, and freakishly freckled. And now she's starting junior high where her friends all act like complete strangers and her life seems like a blur. A twelve-year-old girl learns about friendship, first loves, and self-worth in a small town in the South.
Book cover for "Cuckoo song"
Star rating for Cuckoo song
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
In post-World War I England, eleven-year-old Triss nearly drowns in a millpond known as "The Grimmer" and emerges with memory gaps, aware that something is terribly wrong, and to try to set things right, she must meet a twisted architect who has designs on her family.
Book cover for "Seraphina"
Star rating for Seraphina
Series:
Seraphina volume 1
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents.
Book cover for "Meet the Austins"
Star rating for Meet the Austins
Series:
Average Rating:
3.4 stars
Description:
The life of the Austin family is changed by the arrival of self-centered young Maggy Hamilton, orphaned by the sudden death of her pilot father.
Book cover for "The colossus rises"
Star rating for The colossus rises
Series:
Seven wonders volume 1.
Average Rating:
3.8 stars
Description:
Teens Jack, Marco, Aly, and Cass begin a quest to find seven pieces of Atlantis' power that were hidden long ago and that will, if returned to Atlantis, save them from certain death due to the genetic abnormality that also gives them superior abilities. Teens Jack, Marco, Aly, and Cass begin a quest to find seven pieces of Atlantis's power that were hidden long ago and that will, if returned to Atlantis, save them from certain death due to the genetic...
Book cover for "The giver"
Star rating for The giver
Author:
Series:
Giver quartet volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Living in a "perfect" world without social ills, a boy approaches the time when he will receive a life assignment from the Elders, but his selection leads him to a mysterious man known as the Giver, who reveals the dark secrets behind the utopian...
Book cover for "The Unwanteds"
Star rating for The Unwanteds
Author:
Series:
The Unwanteds volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
In a society that purges thirteen-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic.