Gentle Reads

By Blue Balliett
Grade(s): 5+

When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven–year–olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

By Jeanne DuPrau
Series Books of Ember

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.

By Pam Muñoz Ryan

Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny in the darkest days of the twentieth century, struggling to keep their families intact, and tied together by the music of the same harmonica.

By Cece Bell

Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful—and very awkward—hearing aid.

The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear—sometimes things she shouldn’t—but also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is. After some trouble, she is finally able to harness the power of the Phonic Ear and become “El Deafo, Listener for All.” And more importantly, declare a place for herself in the world and find the friend she’s longed for.

By Raina Telgmeier

Catrina and her family have moved to the coast of Northern California for the sake of her little sister, Maya, who has cystic fibrosis--and Cat is even less happy about the move when she is told that her new town is inhabited by ghosts, and Maya sets her heart on meeting one.

By Siobhan Dowd

When Ted and Kat’s cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye Ferris Wheel, the two siblings must work together – Ted with his brain that is "wired differently" and impatient Kat – to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim.

By Jerry Spinelli
Grade(s): 4+

Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Donald Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

By Virginia Euwer Wolff

In order to earn money for college, fourteen–year–old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.

By Brian Selznick

In 1766, a boy, Billy Marvel, is shipwrecked, rescued, and goes on to found a brilliant family of actors that flourishes in London until 1900--and nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis, runs away from home, seeking refuge with his uncle in London, and is captivated by the Marvel house, with its portraits and ghostly presences.

By Elise Broach
Grade(s): 4+

After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

By Kathryn Erskine

Ten-year old Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.

By Avi
Grade(s): 5

A ninth–grader's suspension for singing "The Star–Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.

By Gary Schmidt

As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends, an abusive father, and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him until he finds an ally in Lil Spicer--a fiery young lady. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon's birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. 

By Sharon M. Draper
Grade(s): 5+

Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

By Victoria Jamieson

A graphic novel adventure about a girl who discovers roller derby right as she and her best friend are growing apart.

By Cynthia Lord

Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve–year–old Catherine longs for a normal existance but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

By Ingrid Law
Grade(s): 4-5

This book recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy"––a magical power unique to each member of her family––just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

By Gordon Korman

After his hippie grandmother ends up in the hospital, Cap Anderson is forced to leave the commune where he is homeschooled and attend Claverage Middle School, where his odd looks and behavior make him the target of bullies.

By Joan Bauer

Moving to Hillcrest, Ohio, when his adoptive father accepts a temporary job, twelve-year-old Jeremiah, a heart transplant recipient, has sixty days to find a baseball team to coach.

By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.

By Rebecca Stead
Grade(s): 5

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve–year–old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

By R.J. Palacio
Grade(s): 5+

Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.