Realistic Fiction (Middle Grade)

Ungifted is a 2012 novel for children written by Gordon Korman and is the recipient of the 2014 Red Cedar Award. Narrated from multiple perspectives, the story follows Donovan Curtis, an average student at Hardcastle Middle School who is accidentally sent to an academy for gifted kids. It chronicles the characters’ growth and change as they learn to balance intellectual achievement with experience and social engagement.Donovan is a prankster who struggles to control his impulses... Read Ungifted Summary

Walk Two Moons is perhaps the most famous work of Sharon Creech, a celebrated author of young adult fiction. The novel blends elements of both a coming-of-age narrative and a road story, and is set in the same literary universe as several of Creech’s other works, including Absolutely Normal Chaos (1990) and Chasing Redbird (1997). Following its 1994 publication, Walk Two Moons won numerous awards, including the 1995 Newbery Medal and the 1995 Children’s Book... Read Walk Two Moons Summary

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Lauren Wolk is a novelist, poet, visual artist, and associate director of the Cultural Center in Cape Cod. Dutton Children’s Books published Wolf Hollow, Wolk’s first children’s novel, in 2016. It was a New York Times bestseller and nominated for multiple awards, including the 2017 Newbery Honor Award.In her New York Times review of May 5, 2016, Jennifer Donnelly praises Wolf Hollow for its unsparing treatment of “dark truths,” most potently that “doing right can... Read Wolf Hollow Summary

Wonder is a middle-grade novel written by R.J. Palacio and published in 2012 by Alfred A. Knopf. The novel is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and also a major motion picture. Though multiple narrators tell the tale, the plot centers around August “Auggie” Pullman, a 10-year-old kid who has a genetic condition called mandibulofacial dysostosis that has left his face misshapen. People stare and judge him by his looks, but Auggie tries not to... Read Wonder Summary

Published in 1991, the adventure biography Woodsong recounts novelist Gary Paulsen’s experiences as a dogsled driver, including his participation in the Iditarod race across Alaska. He describes the hard-won lessons he learns, the strange and wondrous things he witnesses, and the love and admiration he feels for the dogs he trains with. Three-time Newbury Honor winner Paulsen wrote more than 200 works, most of them for middle-grade and young adult readers. His books often tell... Read Woodsong Summary

... Read You Should See Me in a Crown Summary