Books In the Middle Podcast

Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango

This is it! A new school year full of new opportunities - like making good grades again, and maybe making some new friends even though she has a great one in her friend Amir, and this year, she will not get into any trouble at school. Well, these are all goals that Iveliz has for herself as she starts seventh grade, but having them come true is a bit harder than she ever imagined. She is struggling with the fact that her grandmother has come to live with them from Puerto Rico (PR)  and she is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, which Iveliz doesn't really know much about. And while she loves her grandmother, she doesn't understand why her Mimi keeps saying that the medicine that Iveliz takes is not necessary.

Things begin to spiral at home and at school, and Iveliz thinks she can manage it all on her own, especially since she is not very close with her mother, after the incident, which is the whole reason she is having mental health issues. So where do you turn when every door seems to be closed?

Recommended for grades 7 and up. 

Impossible Escape by Steve Sheinkin

For Rudi, escape was all he thought about. Escape and getting information about what was actually happening in the concentration camps in Europe out to the world. After all, how could people really know just how awful things were in Poland and some of the other countries where the Nazis had established these killing centers. For Greta, it was all about trying to stay out of the concentration camps, and avoid being rounded up. For both Rudi and Greta, time is running out. 

Recommended for grades 7 and up. 

The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling

When Nora and her father set out on a hike to a canyon they have never visited before, Nora is hopeful. After all, this year has been awful. First, to lose her mom on her birthday to a shooter has been horrific, but then to see her father change from a confident outgoing person, to someone afraid of everything, has been incredibly hard. The fact that he has removed himself from the world is bad, but he wants to remove Nora from it as well and so when she asks if she can start going back to school again, she is met with her father shutting that idea down fast.

But just as fast as that conversation is over, something neither of them thought was possible or had considered happens. A flash flood...and they are in a slot canyon with high sides and no way to outrun the water!

Recommended for grades 6th and up. 

In the Same Boat by Holly Green

It is redemption time, at least that is how Sadie feels after wanting to quit the Texas River Odyssey with her dad last year. They didn't quit, but they did have to pull out after Sadie was injured during the race.  She figures that she will do better this year since she is teaming up with her older brother, Tanner, because her dad has decided that last year would be his final year of racing. Sadie is determined to do well this year, but when Tanner bails on her at the last minute, she is left without a partner - since she can't run the race solo at her age. Much to her surprise, and old friend turned enemy, named Cully, volunteers to be her partner. She can't figure out why after all these years Cully is willing to step up and work with her, but she badly wants to run the race and be successful. But can she trust the boy she once thought was her everything, after all so long?

Recommended for grades 8 and up. 

Once in a Blue Moon by Sharon Flake

One night, James Henry and his mom were at the lighthouse and then something happened that made James Henry scared. Very scared. So scared that he doesn't like to leave the house because who knows what could happen to him and to other people too. He used to have no problem being outside, but now everything feels too much, including school. Luckily, his twin sister Hattie is there to help him along.

But when a new girl moves to town and starts taking Hattie away from the house, James Henry feels like his one main supporter is leaving him. Hattie is convinced that a blue moon that will be coming up soon makes anything possible. If she can only get James Henry to the lighthouse the night of the blue moon, he will be fine again. However, as with any plan, things always go wrong!

Recommended for grades 6 and up. 

Lumara by Melissa Landers

It was supposed to be a fun trip to meet her boyfriend, Nathaniel's parents and family. After all, it was a wedding, the first one that Talia had ever been to. And she was super surprised that her dad agreed to let her go during her Fall break, since he only got to see her during her breaks from boarding school. Maybe she should have known something was up by how easily he agreed to let her go. But even she could never have imagined what was to come. 

Recommended for grades 7 and up. 

Busted by Gina Ciocca

When Marisa catches her best friend's boyfriend cheating on her, she has to tell her. But what she doesn't expect is that others will start to think she should help them as well! It seems crazy to Marisa, but then she gets caught up in helping an old friend of hers figure out what is going on with HER boyfriend, and things start to get out of control!

Recommended for mature 8th graders due to content and language. 

The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

Matthew is stuck at home during Covid, just like the rest of the world. Still, it isn't too bad, except that his parents are divorced and his dad took a job assignment right before Covid hit...in Paris! So now his dad is stuck there and Matthew is stuck with his mom and his GG - his great grandmother who is 100 years old. So not a lot of excitement happening around his place.

Until his mom tells him he needs to help his GG clean out the boxes that are still packed along the side of her bedroom wall from when she came from the nursing home. When he shows his GG a picture of her from when she was young, she gets very upset. It turns out that his GG went through something horrible as a child and it is up to Matthew to see if he can get the story, the true story, of what life was like in Ukraine in the 1930s from her.

Recommended for grades 6 and up. 

The Island by Natasha Preston

Paisley thinks this is it! Her big break! She has been invited along with five other teenage influencers to
 come to an island amusement park created by a billionaire to drum up business before it does its official launch to the public. And this isn't your regular park. No, this is an exclusive resort that caters to rich people and is not designed for little kids. It has a dark, gothic theme to it, which is perfect for Paisley, since she does true crime podcasts. The others do a wide range, from make up to video games. Still they all have in common the fact that they have a large following, and it is about to get bigger with this invite.

At first, it is everything Paisley and her fellow influencers could wish for. The resort is amazing, the staff - although limited in number - helpful, and Paisley finds herself surrounded by attractive guys that she has her pick of crushing on! But very quickly, something feels off. Is it the resort owner, Malcolm, who is reserved and a bit dismissive of his guests? Or his assistant, Camilla, who seems to be a shadow but always there? Before long, things go terribly, terribly wrong. And Paisley and her fellow influencers are stuck on an island with a killer on the loose.

Recommended for grades 8 and up. 

Shot Clock by Caron Butler and Justin A. Reynolds

Tony, or Tone as most people call him, is in shock. Shock that his best friend has been shot and killed by police. And for no reason. Wrong time, wrong place, or so it seems. Because Dante had it all going for him. He was great at school with a 4.0, an amazing basketball player who was nationally ranked and already had his college picked out, even though he was only a sophomore in high school. So, why? And how is Tone or anyone else supposed to know how to move on? After all, you are told if you do everything right, you will be able to come out on top. But now Tone knows that isn't true.

Recommended for grades 7 and up.