The head news editor is 11 years old, the masthead designer likes to wear ruffles, and the newsroom is actually a barn that’s home to a goat named Stuff. Welcome to the first meeting of the Newspaper Club.

Nellie misses her old life in the city, where her parents worked at a fast-paced newspaper. Now her father is away in Japan, and Nellie and her mom have moved to the small town of Bear Creek, where nothing ever happens—or so it seems. The proprietor of the local ice cream parlor, where flavors like Merry Marmalade and Cheery Chocolate Cream abound, is always sad, and the sole newspaper in town is about to shutter its doors. When Bear Creek Park, the only place in town where Nellie gets good reception to talk to her father, closes due to a series of unexplained nuisances, Nellie knows what she has to do. The time has come to start her own newspaper, staffed entirely by cub reporters (that’s newspaper-speak for new journalists) like herself, along with local kids who might just become her new friends.

Beth Vrabel’s The Newspaper Club is a mystery and a friendship story rolled into one; at its climax, both combine for a conclusion that’s remarkably profound. It’s also an affectionate account of the newspaper business, complete with a glossary of newspaper terms for budding cub reporters.

Newbery Honor author Pam Muñoz Ryan (Echo) demonstrates her ability to tell poignant adventure stories with Mañanaland, which is certain to become an instant classic. 

It’s the first day of summer break, and Max is full of the sweet anticipation of weekend visits to the local swimming hole and daily soccer drills to increase his chance of achieving the dream held by every young boy in the village of Santa Maria: making the fútbol team. But almost as soon as Max forms these plans, they begin to fade right before his eyes. His father won’t allow him to go to the elite fútbol clinic that all of his friends will be attending, and even worse, Max soon learns that the mother who left when he was a baby took his birth certificate with her, leaving him no way to register for the team. 

His dreams crumbling, Max takes drastic action and embarks on a quest to find his mother and set everything right. But his family history is not what he thought it was, and Max must uncover many secrets before he can return home. 

Ryan’s unadorned prose offers readers lush depictions of life in Max’s small village, which she populates with characters that spring instantly to life. Max is the kind of protagonist that readers love to root for, equipped with a good heart and growing emotionally along his journey. Though Mañanaland can feel a bit bittersweet at times, Ryan counterbalances this with heartening representations of kindness in the face of adversity and the courage required to live out that ideal.

Black Brother. Black Brother. That’s all Dante hears. It’s the only way anyone sees him. Not as a student, or as a friend, or even as a person. Just as Black Brother. Something has to change. 

In Black Brother, Black Brother by Coretta Scott King Honor author Jewell Parker Rhodes (Sugar), Dante is confronted with the stark realization that merely hoping for change isn’t going to work. He’ll have to make change happen.

Dante and his brother, Trey, both attend Middlefield Prep. But Dante is singled out, mistrusted and unfairly targeted by both students and teachers because his skin is significantly darker than Trey’s. When he is suspended and arrested for something that he didn’t do, Dante knows he must take a risk and fight for justice for himself. Fencing might not seem like the obvious route, but Alan, the lead aggressor in Dante’s bullying, holds the role of team captain, and Dante wants to beat Alan at his own game. He finds an unlikely mentor in Arden, a local youth center employee and former Olympic fencer. 

Rooted in Dante’s heartbreaking search for a place to belong, Black Brother, Black Brother is a moving look at systemic racism and the school-to-prison pipeline. Strong, believable characters drive the action, making readers feel invested in its outcome. This exhilarating and emotional story shows young readers the power in fighting for what you believe and surrounding yourself with people who will fight with you.

Isaac Fitch’s family aren’t big Buckeyes fans. Their house doesn’t have an Ohio State flag waving above the front door, and Isaac doesn’t bleed scarlet and gray like the other 6th graders in his small Ohio town. But rooting for the wrong team is not his only problem.  

His mom is far away, working in China, his best friend has stopped talking to him and he has idiopathic angioedema, a condition that can make his hands swell like sausages and can cover his entire body in red welts at a moment’s notice. Kids at school are less than understanding and give him the nickname “Itch.”   

Despite all this, Isaac goes to great lengths to be accepted. His extreme attempts to make and keep friends underscores the very human need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. But the reckoning Isaac faces in Itch goes beyond the need to be accepted. He must face who he really is and who he wants to be—a tall order for any 12-year-old.

Author Polly Farquhar, who has also been diagnosed with idiopathic angioedema, perfectly depicts Isaac’s experiences. She also artfully conveys the familiar milieu of the 6th grade social order and the difficulties Isaac has in navigating it. The desire to fit in is a theme that will resonate with readers of any age. Isaac’s endearing personality, coupled with Farquar’s strong pacing and distinctive spin on a familiar narrative, will leave readers eager for more books from this debut author.

In order to get out of the nightmare that is her sixth grade lunch period, April takes on the job of Bench Buddy for fourth grade recess, watching over the playground and encouraging conversation and participation. It isn’t long before she notices Joey Byrd, a loner who spends the recess period dragging his feet through the dirt or laying on his back with his eyes closed.

Curious, April talks to Joey, and he eventually divulges that he is making what he calls “spirals of sadness” and other land art with his feet. Land art, April learns, is art made using natural and often “found” materials, such as soil, rocks and plants. It’s usually created on a large scale and best viewed from a high vantage point. As her friendship with Joey grows, April gains an appreciation for what life looks like through Joey’s eyes.

Shelley Pearsall puts upper elementary and middle school life into perspective in Things Seen From Above, a sweet and kindhearted story. As readers make their way through the book’s alternating points of view, with April’s chapters narrated in text and Joey’s primarily in images, they will love seeing Joey’s world unfold right alongside April. A fascinating author’s note reveals that Joey’s character is based on a member of Pearsall’s own family.

Things Seen From Above offers a creative introduction to a unique art form and an appealing story about learning to fit in to a crowd that’s still learning what fitting in truly means.

Ware’s parents have decided this is the summer they’re going to work overtime and save up enough money to buy a house. But just when 11-year-old Ware settles into a routine with his grandmother who’s caring for him, she suffers a fall—and Plan B is the dreaded Rec Camp, complete with fitness drills, peppy chants and stifling “art” projects. Creative, introverted Ware doesn’t need any more reminders that he’s not a “normal kid,” so when he spots a chance to escape, he jumps a fence and lands in a vacant lot, the remnants of a demolished church.

There Ware encounters Jolene, a tough-as-nails girl with an ambition to grow her own forest of papaya plants. When they look at the ruins of the lot, Jolene sees a garden and Ware sees a castle, but the adults around them only see a strip mall. Jolene, who’s seen enough of life to become jaded, is convinced their project is doomed. But Ware, ever optimistic, hatches a plan to try and save this special place.

Sara Pennypacker’s latest novel is a tender celebration of the quirks that make each person different. In an era when many young people are finding their voices as activists, Here in the Real World is also a hopeful account of collective social action. As Ware says, “I don’t want things to be magically what they’re not. I want them to be what they could be. And somebody has to want that, or nothing bad will ever get better.” True to the book’s title, Pennypacker doesn’t impose a fairy-tale ending on Ware’s story—but she does lovingly honor the beauty found in the people and places that too often go overlooked.

Crickets, anyone?

During the summer after seventh grade, Mia Barnes and her parents move from Boston to Vermont to be near her Gram, a retired entomology professor who is recovering from a stroke and running her own business, Green Mountain Cricket Farm. After a series of alarming mishaps, Mia becomes convinced that someone is trying to sabotage the farm, so she and some new friends decide to track down the culprit. Fascinating details about cricket farming (think Thai cricket pizza and chocolate chirp cookies) dovetail nicely with Mia’s mystery, which grows increasingly urgent as it threatens to destroy Gram’s beloved enterprise.

Chirp, Kate Messner’s latest middle grade novel, is a delightful hodgepodge of a book. It’s expertly organized and seamlessly pulls together a variety of intriguing themes in a truly organic way. Mia, like Gram, is also recovering, having badly broken her arm during a gymnastics competition. And she’s nursing an even more invasive, invisible wound that she hasn’t told anyone about: Phil, one of her gymnastic coaches, touched her inappropriately on several occasions, repeatedly holding her too close and too long, as well as texting her to ask for a photo. This disturbing experience has robbed Mia of her confidence and forced her into the habit of trying to remain invisible. Even though Phil is no longer a threat, she realizes, “Once you got in the habit of being small, it was hard to feel safe being your normal size anymore.”

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Chirp author Kate Messner.

At her parents’ insistence, Mia enrolls in two summer camps, one for her body (a ninja warrior-style camp) and one for her brain (a young entrepreneurs program). Warrior Camp helps Mia regain her mental confidence and physical strength, while Launch Camp gives Mia innovative ideas about how to make Gram’s cricket farm a success. In Messner’s skilled hands, even business camp becomes exciting, and her sensitive, subtle prose beautifully captures Mia’s thoughts, feelings and actions.

For readers who haven’t experienced anything like what Phil does to Mia, Chirp is an excellent introduction to the difficult but necessary subject, and to the warning signs that are sometimes present. For readers who can personally relate to Mia’s experience, Chirp could well be a lifesaver. Mia eventually finds the courage to tell an understanding adult about her trauma; soon after, she also informs her mother about Phil’s behavior, which launches an investigation. Chockfull of strong female role models, Chirp is a riveting middle grade novel of empowerment that deftly tackles a delicate, imperative subject. Crickets may chirp, but readers will be ready to roar.