Gordon Korman
1) Slugfest
Author
Language
English
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Description
"Forced to take Physical Education Equivalency, aka "Slugfest," in summer school so he can maintain his star spot on the JV football team, Yash recruits his fellow PE rejects to train with him and pass this course, an endeavor that turns into a summer he'll never forget"--
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
"Mason and Ty were once the very best of friends, like two nerdy sides of the same coin . . . until seventh grade, when Ava Petrakis came along. Now Mason can trace everything bad in his life to that terrible fight they had over the new girl. The one thing he'd give anything for is a do-over. But that can't happen in real life--can it? As a science kid, Mason knows do-overs are impossible, so he can't believe it when he wakes up from a freak accident...
3) Ungifted
Author
Series
Language
English
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Description
Due to an administrative mix-up, troublemaker Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students, after pulling a major prank at middle school.
4) Unplugged
Author
Language
English
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Explore, Discover, S'more! for Kids
OBD Must-Read Mysteries- YOUTH
OBD Read Beyond The Beaten Path - YOUTH
OBD Must-Read Mysteries- YOUTH
OBD Read Beyond The Beaten Path - YOUTH
Description
As the son of the world's most famous tech billionaire, Jett Baranov has always gotten what he wants. So when his father's private jet drops him in the middle of nowhere at a place called the Oasis, Jett can't believe it. He's forced to hand over his cell phone, eat grainy veggie patties, and participate in wholesome activities with the other kids, whom he has absolutely no interest in hanging out with. As the weeks go on, Jett starts to get used...
5) Masterminds
Author
Series
Masterminds trilogy volume 1
Language
English
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Description
"A group of kids discovers they were cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history for a sociological experiment"--
7) The fort
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
2023 March Book Madness at Blackhawk
2025 Caudill Nominees
2025 Rebecca Caudill Award Nominees
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2025 Caudill Nominees
2025 Rebecca Caudill Award Nominees
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Description
Five middle schoolers find a fully stocked bomb shelter constructed decades ago in the local woods by an eccentric tycoon and lost until a hurricane exposes the entrance. So, how to keep the hideout secret from interfering grown-ups--and, more particularly, from scary teen psychopath, Jaeger Devlin.
8) Swindle
Author
Series
Swindle mysteries volume 1
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palomino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino's heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father's failing invention, the SmartPick fruit picker.
10) Criminal destiny
Author
Series
Masterminds trilogy volume 2
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"A group of kids discovers they were cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history for a sociological experiment, and they must find a way to prove it to the rest of the world"--
11) One false note
Author
Series
The 39 clues. Main series volume 2
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
A million dollars, or a clue? Police report a break-in at an elite hotel, and the suspects sound suspiciously like Amy and Dan. There's a car and speedboat chase and an angry mob! When there's a clue on the line, anything can happen.
12) Linked
Author
Series
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Jewish American Heritage Month (kids & teen titles)
Jewish American Heritage Month (SCPL-YS)
Jewish American Heritage Month (WPLD)
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Jewish American Heritage Month (SCPL-YS)
Jewish American Heritage Month (WPLD)
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Description
"Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing? Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's...
13) Restart
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Bullying Awareness Month (kids)
Middle Grade Friendship Reads (SCPL-YS)
November 2023 Fifth Grade Book Jam Books
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Middle Grade Friendship Reads (SCPL-YS)
November 2023 Fifth Grade Book Jam Books
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Description
Chase does not remember falling off the roof, in fact he does not remember anything about himself, and when he gets back to middle school he begins to learn who he was through the reactions of the other kids--trouble is, he really is not sure he likes the Chase that is being revealed, but can he take the opportunity amnesia has provided and restart his life?
14) War stories
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
2021 Summer Top Picks for Middle Schoolers
Eisenhower Public Library Veterans Day 2022 - Kids
Talking to Children About War, Violence, and the Refugee Crisis
Veterans Day Books for Youth
Eisenhower Public Library Veterans Day 2022 - Kids
Talking to Children About War, Violence, and the Refugee Crisis
Veterans Day Books for Youth
Description
Twelve-year-old Trevor Firestone loves playing war-based video games and he idolizes his great-grandfather Jacob who came home from World War II a celebrated hero; now ninety-three Jacob wants to retrace his journey in memory and reality and return to the small French village that his unit liberated, and Trevor is going with him--but not everyone in the town want Jacob to come, and Trevor is going to learn an important lesson: real war is not a video...
15) Schooled
Author
Language
English
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Description
Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.
Author
Series
The 39 clues. Main series volume 8
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
As they continue their search for the 39 Clues in China, fourteen-year-old Amy is faced with a terrible dilemma when her eleven-year-old brother Dan suddenly disappears--keep on searching for the next Clue or try to find her brother.
17) Slacker
Author
Series
Slacker volume 1
Language
English
Description
When eighth-grader Cameron Boxer creates the Positive Action Group at school he intends it as a diversion to fool his parents, teachers, and sister into letting him continue to concentrate on his video-gaming--but before he knows it other kids are taking it seriously, and soon he finds himself president of the P.A.G., and involved in community service, so the boy who never cared about anything is now the center of everything, whether he likes it or...
18) Mixed up
Author
Language
English
Description
Twelve-year-olds Reef and Theo have a mutual problem: their memories are getting mixed up, and that means that Reef is losing his memory of his mother, recently dead of COVID, which terrifies him--but for Theo his new memories are helping him deal with his domineering father.
Reef and Theo don't know what's happening to them. They'll be going about their days and then suddenly they'll have these strange flashes of memory -- but the memories don't...
19) The hypnotists
Author
Series
The hypnotists volume 1
Language
English
Description
Twelve-year-old Jackson Opus is descended from two powerful hypnotist bloodlines, but he has just begun to realize that he can control other peoples' actions with sometimes frightening results--especially when the head of the Sentia Institute plans to use Jackson for his own benefit.
20) Notorious
Author
Language
English
Description
Told in different voices, on Centerlight Island, halfway between the United States and Canada, middle-schoolers Keenan and ZeeBee team up to seek gold rumored to be hidden there a famous gangster.