Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

  A devastatingly honest, age-appropriate account of events that no child should have to endure. Sisters Della, 10, and Suki, 16, are put in foster care after escaping a sexually abusive home. Della’s story slowly reveals itself as she copes with a new school, a new foster home and her sister’s night terrors and moods. Betrayed by their now incarcerated mother who took them to a motel to cook meth. Betrayed by the boyfriend who gave them a place to live but left them for days while on the road. Readers will understand the girls’ reluctance to trust new friends, their new foster mother, and the other adults in their lives. This intense book has a powerful, hopeful resolution, but a trusted adult will help readers understand what’s going on.

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

On the drive from California to move in with her grandmother, Lily mysteriously sees a tiger in the road that no one else notices. She has always known, thanks to her Halmoni’s stories, that tigers can’t be trusted. And when she tells Halmoni what she saw, she learns that when Halmoni was Lily’s age, Halmoni stole something from the tiger. Then the magical tiger appears in her grandmother’s basement with a deal to heal the ailing woman, Lily is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means trapping the tiger. A beautiful mix of Korean folklore and magic realism.

Wolfpack by Abby Wambach

 

The co-captain of the 2015 Women's World Cup championship shares her rules for being a champion. How to lead on and off the field, whether you're on the field or on the bench. Initially intimidated by the request to give the commencement speech at a prestigious college, she takes eight common leadership themes, and give them her own spin with the goal of empowering girls to "find their voice, unite their pack, and change the world."

Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson & Kwame Alexander

 

It's a biographical novel, its a novel in verse. Cassius Clay was just a kid growing up in Louisville, Kentucky in the 1950s. Patterson frames the story in prose written as a friend of Cassius, and Alexander adds the verse in Cassius' voice. Together they tell the story of the proud Clay family, and a young boy's trouble at school, growing awareness of the racism around him, and most of all, his drive to become the greatest. At the age of twelve his prized bike is stolen and Cassius discovers a gym where young boxers train. The book reveals the drive and passion that took him to Chicago for victory in the Golden Gloves and to Rome for an Olympic Gold Medal.

Glitch by Laura Martin

 

Glitchers travel through time to preserve important historical events from meddling time travelers. Regan Fitz and Elliot Mason were enemies in training school, but now they must join forces when they uncover a letter from future Regan warning the Glitchers of coming disaster. Will they be able to set aside the past in order to save the future?

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

 

Everyone loves to play at ZJ's house because ZJ's dad is an all pro tight end with a Super Bowl ring. But then ZJ senior is mysteriously benched, suffering with chronic migraines. He yells at ZJ and his friends, he mysteriously starts forgetting things. Sudden outbursts disturb the neighbors. Finally testing reveals that ZJ's dad has developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor

 

Nnamdi's father kept his Nigerian village safe from crime as chief of police., After his murder, Nnamdi dreams of avenging the crime and keeping everyone safe again like his favorite superhero, the Hulk. But in real life, how is a 12-year-old boy supposed to do that? Then exactly one year after the murder, Nnamdi meets a shadowy figure who gives him a magical object. When Nnamdi gets angry enough, he becomes The Man: a legend, a shadowy avenger.

Willa and the Whale by Chad Morris and Stella Brown

 

Willa's world is turned upside down for a second time when she is pulled out of her Japanese school class tragic news: her mother has been rushed to the hospital. By the time Willa arrives, her mother has died. Now she is living a world away on an island off the coast of Washington state with her father and his new family. Willa's mother was a famous marine biologist, and Willa inherited her passion, especially for the giants of the ocean--whales. When her dad takes her on a whale watching expedition, Willa is ready to capture the whales with her phone. And the humpback whale the ship encounters doesn't disappoint. She shows off in front of the boat and the passengers get soaking wet. While the other passengers think the show is over, the whale sneaks up from behind the boat and cocks an eye at the deck, catching Willa alone. Willa starts talking to the whale....and amazingly, the whale talks back. 

For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington

 

Eleven-year-old Makeda is black and adopted. Her parents and older sister are white. She loves her family but moving across the country to a new home and a new school in New Mexico accelerates her feeling of being different. Until this year, she's never been confronted with the "N" word, she's never been to a black beauty salon, and she and her sister Eve have never had to deal with their mother's mental health issues so directly before. 

Doodleville by Chad Sell

 

Serious graphic artists put all their emotions into their drawn characters, but Drew's doodles each have their own personalities and a mischievous streak that takes them off the page of her sketchbook and into the paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago. Then there's Leviathan, Levi for short. Her Art Club friends think he should be scarier, but when Drew tries to make him scarier, he becomes the ultimate supervillain. He threatens to destroy Drew's doodles and it takes all of the Art Club's characters to band together and rescue the doodles.