‘Big Shark, Little Shark Go to School’
Written by Anna Membrino, illustrated
by Tim Budgen
Odd-couple Big Shark and Little Shark are off
to school. Little Shark shows up extra early
for the bus, but Big Shark is running so far
behind, he doesn’t arrive until the bus has
come and gone. Now how will the friends get
to school? While the plot line won’t happen
to many human students, young readers will
enjoy these fun shark antics.

‘The Buddy Bench’
Written by Gwendolyn Hooks,
illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez
Padma loves school and playing with her
friends. When she notices a boy sitting all by
himself at recess, she works to create a Buddy
Bench—a place for kids to sit to signal that
they would like to be asked to play. This early
reader is a great introduction to the Buddy
Bench, which are becoming more common on
school playgrounds.

MIDDLE GRADE
‘Insignificant Events in the Life of
a Cactus’
Written by Dusti Bowling
Due to a rare genetic condition, Aven Green
was born without arms, but she likes to tell peo-
ple she lost them wrestling alligators. Moving
across country so her parents can take over an
old theme park is hard enough, but Aven also
must deal with all the questions and comments
about her body as she starts at a new school.

After a rocky start she befriends a boy with a dis-
ability of his own, and the two work together to
solve a mystery about the history of theme park.

‘Real Friends’
Written by Shannon Hale, illustrated by
LeUyen Pham
Award-winning author Hale tells a poignant
and familiar story of changing friendships in
this graphic novel memoir. Shannon always
felt like the odd-one out, but she found a
great best friend in Adrienne. Over the years,
Adrienne becomes one of the most popular
girls in school, and Shannon suddenly feels
like an outsider looking in. Hale is careful to
show the sympathetic side to mean charac-
ters as well as highlighting her own mistakes
as she finds her own place and real friends.

‘New Kid’
Written by Jerry Craft
Jordan loves art—especially drawing cartoons
about his life. He wants to go to art school, but
his parents send him to Riverdale Academy
instead, a prestigious school known for its aca-
demics. At his new school, Jordan is one of one
a few non-white students, which brings many
challenges, such as regularly being confused
with the few other Black kids. Meanwhile, he
also struggles to stay true to his friends from
the neighborhood even though they are no lon-
ger classmates. A moving graphic novel about
staying true to yourself.

YOUNG ADULT
‘Her Royal Highness’
Written by Rachel Hawkins
In this fizzy companion to Prince Charming,
heartbroken Millie decides to apply to board-
ing schools far, far away from her Texas home.

She lands at a prestigious school in Scotland,
where her roommate is a literal princess. At
first, Flora seems every bit the selfish entitled
brat the tabloids make her out to be, but Millie
soon gets to know the troubled and unhappy
girl beneath the tiara and a wonderful friend-
ship and possible romance bloom. But if start-
ing a new school in a new country was hard,
dating a royal is a whole new level of intensity
that Millie doesn’t know if she’s prepared for.

‘Popular: A Memoir’
Written by Maya Van Wagenen
At her Texas middle school, Maya is at the
bottom of the popularity ladder. Figuring
things couldn’t get any worse, she decides to
live by the advice she finds in a 1950s popu-
larity guide and document the results. While
the pearls and girdle work against her, Maya
gains a lot by widening her social circles and
interactions. Maya’s voice shines as she docu-
ments the harder parts of living on the Texas/
Mexico border during the drug war as well
as her failures and ultimate successes with
decades-old, but timeless, advice.

‘Middle School is Worse Than
Meatloaf: A Year Told Through
Stuff’ Written by Jennifer L. Holm, illustrated
by Elicia Castaldi
Full-color pages feature a collage of maga-
zine articles, school assignments, notes, bank
statements and ephemera to tell the story of
Ginny’s first year in middle school. It’s a fun
and revealing way to show the highs and lows
of the school year. For example, drug store
receipts for hair dye are followed by signifi-
cantly higher salon bills for dye-reversal, while
notes with her friends reveal changes in her
house as she gets used to living with her new
stepfather. It’s a fun and revealing way to show
the highs and lows of the school year. n
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