Newton Free Library: Tween Booklists: New Year, New Books

New Year, New Books 2020

Welcome to the New Year, New Book List! The best books of the year for middle schoolers selected by us!

Please see the printed listed here: New Year, New Books 2020.

Please note: Not all formats are available at the library. We've linked the physical book format. Search by title in our catalog to find additional formats. If you'd like to look at additional available formats, please look next to call number and correlate with the following legend: CD= Book on CD, P= Playaway, EB = E-Book, EA = E-Audiobook, R = Reluctant Reader

Adventure/Mystery

Alone in the Woods by Rebecca Behrens
Call Number: TWEEN BEHRENS, R (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
Rising eighth-graders Jocelyn and Alex, former best friends forced together on a family vacation, must cooperate to survive when they get lost in the Wisconsin Northwoods. Told in two voices.
Premeditated Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery 1) by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Call Number: TWEEN BRUCE, E (CD, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
When twelve-year-old aspiring detective Myrtle Hardcastle learns her neighor in quiet Swinburne, England, a breeder of rare flowers, has died she is certain it was murder and that she must find the killer.
The Invisible Boy by Alyssa Hollingsworth; Deborah Lee (Illustrator)
Call Number: TWEEN HOLLINGSWROTH, A (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
A superhero-inspired friendship adventure follows the efforts of a comic-book enthusiast’s Lois Lane-style investigation into the identity of an invisible superhero who saves her from almost drowning.
Beast by Watt Key
Call Number: TWEEN KEY, W (CD, EB, EA, R)
Publication Date: 2020-04-14
Adam says he can’t remember where he was for the two months he went missing in a Florida swamp. That’s not true. He does remember: he was driving with his parents, and the car crashed when his father swerved to avoid colliding with a giant Sasquatch-like creature. Haunted by his parents’ disappearance and hounded for claiming to have seen Bigfoot, Adam sets off into the deadly wilderness on a hunt for answers as to what really happened that night.
The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristin Lambert
Call Number: TEEN LAMBERT, K (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
Working as the emcee at an LGBTQ-friendly speakeasy in the French Quarter of 1929 New Orleans, Millie is approached by a young socialite whose scandalous murder places Millie's best friend, the show's drag star, under suspicion.
Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter by Beth McMullen
Call Number: TWEEN MCMULLEN, B (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-08-25
Sent to a private school after multiple brushes with the law, twelve-year-old Lola Benko recruits classmates to help find her archaeologist father, who disappeared while seeking a powerful mythical stone.

Realistic and Historical Fiction

Gold Rush Girl by Avi
Call Number: TWEEN AVI (CD, P, EB)
Publication Date: 2020-03-10
Finding freedom and friendship in 1848 San Francisco while her father searches for gold, Tory embarks on a mud-caked search for her kidnapped brother throughout San Francisco Bay’s treacherous Rotten Row area and its hundreds of abandoned ships.
The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert
Call Number: TWEEN COLBERT, B (CD, P, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-03-10
The only two black girls in town discover a collection of hidden journals, revealing shocking secrets of the past.
Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone
Call Number: TWEEN FIRESTONE, C (CD, P, EB, EA, R)
Publication Date: 2020-07-07
Fed up with sexist dress codes and unfair conduct standards at a school where girls’ bodies are considered a distraction, Molly starts a podcast to protest the school’s disciplinary inequality before her small rebellion swells into a full-blown empowerment revolution.
A Song Only I Can Hear by Barry Jonsberg
Call Number: TWEEN JONSBERG, B (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-04-07
Thirteen-year-old Rob, a painfully shy wallflower, receives a series of mysterious text messages challenging him to leave his comfort zone as he tries to impress new student Destry Camberwick.
Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Call Number: TWEEN KYI, T (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-01-07
A protest against cameras in classrooms brings a group of middle-grade students together. Dominica's private school is covered in cameras, and someone hacks into them and posts embarrassing moments for the whole school to see. Dominica and her best friends are determined to find out who is doing it.
Village of Scoundrels by Margi Preus
Call Number: TWEEN PREUS, M (P, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-02-25
In the 1940s, remote Les Lauzes, France, houses Jews, unregistered foreigners, forgers, and others who take great risks to shelter refugees and smuggle them to safety in Switzerland.

Graphic Novels

Cub by Cynthia L. Copeland
Call Number: TWEEN GRAPHIC CUB (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-01-07
Twelve-year-old Cindy has just dipped a toe into seventh-grade drama--with its complicated friendships, bullies, and cute boys--when she earns an internship as a cub reporter at a local newspaper in the early 1970s
One Year at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks
Call Number: TWEEN GRAPHIC ONE (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-07-14
Winning a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, Juniper endures bullying from a popular queen bee before investigating rumors about a mythical beast in the nearby forest.
Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
Call Number: TWEEN GRAPHIC SNAPDRAGON (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-02-04
Snap's town had a witch. At least, that’s how the rumor goes. But in reality, Jacks is just a crocks-wearing, internet-savvy old lady who sells roadkill skeletons online—after doing a little ritual to put their spirits to rest. They make a deal: Jacks will teach Snap how to take care of the baby opossums that Snap rescued, and Snap will help Jacks with her work.
The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith
Call Number: TWEEN GRAPHIC DEEP
Publication Date: 2020-01-07
When a political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee for their lives and assume new identities before joining an order of magical women before their quest for vengeance is compromised by Grayson’s longing to remain behind and finally live as a girl.
School for Extraterrestrial Girls #1 by Jeremy Whitley; Jamie Noguchi (Illustrator)
Call Number: TWEEN GRAPHIC SCHOOL (EB,R)
Publication Date: 2020-08-04
When Tara Smith loses her bracelet and is outed as an alien, she is captured by government agents, who demand that she join a school for extraterrestrial girls, but after managing to escape, she begins a search for her parents and her true identity.
Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang; Gurihiru (Illustrator)
Call Number: TEEN GRAPHIC SUPERMAN (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
When Dr. Lee moves his family to Metropolis, his son Tommy adjusts to the new neighborhood while daugher Roberta feels out of place, so when the evil Klan of the Fiery Cross begins a string of terrorist attacks on the city, Superman fights them, and Roberta and Superman soon learn to embrace their own unique features that set them apart.

Fantasy

Spindlefish and Stars by Christiane M. Andrews
Call Number: TWEEN ANDREWS, C (CD, P, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-09-22
When Clo's father goes missing, she takes the mysterious items he left behind and journeys across the sea to find him, but is stranded on a strange island and must learn to spin fish into yarn to unravel the secret of all that has happened.
Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron
Call Number: TWEEN BARRON, R (CD, EB, EA, R)
Publication Date: 2020-09-22
Struggling to understand why nobody else in her South Side Chicago neighborhood can see strange phenomena, 12-year-old Maya discovers that her missing father has been protecting a supernatural boundary between worlds.
The Language of Ghosts by Heather Fawcett
Call Number: TWEEN FAWCETT, H (CD, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
Princess Noa, aged eleven, Prince Julian, sixteen, and Princess Mite, five, flee their palace when a coup leads to their mother's death, and unlock a long-forgotten magic to reclaim the stolen throne
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
Call Number: TEEN HARDINGE, F (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-04-14
When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he's becoming a monster?
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
Call Number: TEEN LU, M (P, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish--to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she'll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her.
Avatar, the Last Airbender: the Rise of Kyoshi by F. C. Yee
Call Number: TWEEN YEE, F (EB, CD, P)
Publication Date: 2019-07-16
The origin story follows the life of the longest-living Earth Kingdom-born Avatar, Kyoshi, detailing her humble origins, establishment of the Kyoshi Warriors and secret founding of the corrupt and nation-destroying Dai Li.

Science Fiction

The List by Patricia Forde
Call Number: TEEN FORDE, P (P, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2017-08-01
Letta, charged with collecting and saving words, uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language, robbing the people of Ark of the power of speech, and realizes she must also save the culture, itself.
The Secret Deep by Lindsay Galvin
Call Number: TWEEN GALVIN, L (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-02-04
When Aster wakes alone, stranded, on a tropical island, she has no idea what has happened, why she is there, or where to find her younger sister, Poppy. The answers lie in the secretive underwater world surrounding the desert island, populated by the beautiful and the unexpected.
The Unstoppable Wasp by Sam Maggs
Call Number: TEEN MAGGS, S (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-07-14
An original story based on the world of Marvel comics series The Unstoppable Wasp finds Nadia Van Dyne leaving her work in the hands of a too-good-to-be-true A.I. sidekick before confronting illuminating realities about her own past.

Horror/Supernatural

Whispering Pines by Heidi Lang; Kati Bartkowski
Call Number: TWEEN LANG, H (P, EB)
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
When several kids go missing and then show up like zombies with their eyes removed, many locals brush it off. Just another day in Whispering Pines. But Caden has a dark secret, one that may explain why someone is stealing eyes. And Rae, who knows how it feels to not be believed, may be just the person Caden needs to help him put things right.
The Stitchers (Fright Watch #1) by Lorien Lawrence
Call Number: TWEEN LAWRENCE, L (CD, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-08-18
Thirteen-year-olds Quinn Parker and Mike Warren uncover the awful truth about their strange neighbors and the gruesome secret of how they stay young.
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger; Rovina Cai (Illustrator)
Call Number: TEEN LITTLE BADGER, D (P, EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-08-25
Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.
Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Call Number: TWEEN MEJIA, T (P, EB, EA, R)
Publication Date: 2020-08-04
In Silver Springs, Arizona, her mother's stories of the monstrous La Llorona are thrilling but unbelievable to science-loving Paola until she and her best friends Dante and Emma take a walk through a cactus field near the Gila River.
Ghost Hunter's Daughter by Dan Poblocki
Call Number: TWEEN POBLOCKI, D (P, EB)
Publication Date: 2020-07-07
Informed by a psychic classmate that her ghost-hunter father has been abducted, a girl who does not believe in ghosts and her new friend journey to the town of Hush Falls, where legend claims that disappearances are tied to a mysterious man in a tattered coat.

Biographies and Non-fiction

World of Glass by Jan Greenberg; Sandra Jordan
Call Number: J 748.09 CHIHULY (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
Over the past five decades, Dale Chihuly (b. 1941) has created some of the most innovative and popular works of art in museums and gardens around the world. The book includes a step-by-step look at how blown glass is created, a list of places to see Chihuly's artwork, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
Bill Nye's Great Big World of Science by Bill Nye; Gregory Mone
Call Number: J 500 NYE
Publication Date: 2020-10-27
Science educator, TV host, and New York Times-bestselling author Bill Nye is on a mission to help kids understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Featuring a range of subjects--physics, chemistry, geology, biology, astronomy, global warming, and more--this profusely illustrated book covers the basic principles of each science, key discoveries, recent revolutionary advances, and the problems that science still needs to solve for our Earth.eatures photographs, illustrations, diagrams, glossary, bibliography, and index.
Rise up! the Art of Protest by Jo Rippon; Mari Copeny (Foreword by)
Call Number: J 303.4 R48R (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
Celebrate the right to resist! Human rights belong to every single one of us, but they are often under threat. Developed in collaboration with Amnesty International, Rise Up! encourages young people to engage in peaceful protest and stand up for freedom. Photographs of protest posters celebrate the ongoing fight for gender equality, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, refugee and immigrant rights, peace, and the environment.
How We Got to the Moon by John Rocco
Call Number: J 629.45 R58H (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
The Moon landing is one of the most ambitious, thrilling, and dangerous ventures in human history. This exquisitely researched and illustrated book tells the stories of the 400,000 unsung heroes--the engineers, mathematicians, seamstresses, welders, and factory workers--and their innovations and life-changing technological leaps forward that allowed NASA to achieve this unparalleled accomplishment.
The Girl Who Rode a Shark by Ailsa Ross; Amy Blackwell (Illustrator)
Call Number: J 920 R73G
Publication Date: 2019-09-24
A moving collection of biographies focused on women and girls who have written, explored, or otherwise plunged headfirst into the pages of history. Undaunted by expectations, they made their mark by persevering in pursuit of their passions. The tales come from a huge variety of times and places, from a Canadian astronaut to an Indian secret agent to a Balkan pirate queen who stood up to Ancient Rome.
All Thirteen: the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
Call Number: J 959.2 SOONTORNVAT (EB, R)
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
Combining firsthand interviews of rescue workers with in-depth science and details of the region's culture and religion, author Christina Soontornvat masterfully shows how both the complex engineering operation above ground and the mental struggles of the thirteen young people below proved critical in the life-or-death mission. Meticulously researched and generously illustrated with photographs, this page-turner includes an author's note describing her experience meeting the team, detailed source notes, and a bibliography to fully immerse readers in the most ambitious cave rescue in history.

Poetry

Flooded by Ann E. Burg
Call Number: TWEEN BURG, A (CD, P)
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam built to create a man-made lake for America's wealthiest businessmen collapsed, unleashing twenty million tons of water onto the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Told in the voices of six children, their losses and their survival--and of the bitter aftermath when those for whom the dam was built denied all responsibility for the shoddy dam and the unnatural disaster which it caused.
With a Star in My Hand by Margarita Engle
Call Number: TWEEN ENGLE, M (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-02-18
Rubén Dario traveled across Central and South America seeking adventure and connection. As he discovered new places and new loves, he wrote poems to express his wild storm of feelings. He began to improvise his own poetic forms so he could capture the entire world in his words. At the age of twenty-one, he published his first book Azul, which heralded a vibrant new literary movement called Modernismo that blended poetry and prose into something magical.
All He Knew by Helen Frost
Call Number: TWEEN FROST, H (CD,EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-08-11
In 1939 six-year-old Henry, who is deaf, is taken from his family and placed in a home for the feeble-minded where, years later, his friends include a conscientious objector serving there during World War II.
Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins
Call Number: TWEEN HOPKINS, E (EB, EA, R)
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
Told in two voices, sixth-grade cousins Hannah and Cal learn a lot about family when circumstances throw them together under one roof and Hannah's love of order clashes with Cal's chaotic behavior.
On the Horizon by Lois Lowry; Kenard Pak (Illustrator)
Call Number: J BIO LOWRY L (EB, EA, R)
Publication Date: 2020-04-07
Lois Lowry looks back at history through a personal lens as she draws from her own memories as a child in Hawaii and Japan, as well as from historical research, in this stunning work in verse.

Challenging Reads

Contagion by Erin Bowman
Call Number: TEEN BOWMAN, E (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2018-07-24
Responding to a distress call on the distant planet of Achlys, Thea Sadik and her search-and-rescue crew are confronted by a zombie-like outbreak that forces them to uncover a monstrous enemy.
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Call Number: TEEN CHEE, T (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Growing up together in the community of Japantown, San Francisco, four second-generation Japanese American teens find their bond tested by widespread discrimination and the mass incarcerations of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Call Number: TEEN DEONN, T
Publication Date: 2020-09-15
Wanting to escape her previous life after the accidental death of her mother, 16-year-old Bree enrolls in a program for high school students at the local university before her witness to a magical attack reveals her undiscovered powers as well as sinister truths about her mother’s death.
The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming
Call Number: TEEN BIO LINDBERGH, C. FL 2020 (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-02-11
A riveting biography of one of America's most celebrated heroes, and most complicated, troubled men, Charles Lindberg.
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Call Number: TEEN INFUEKO, J (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-08-18
Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince's Council of 11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.
Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan
Call Number: TEEN MILAN, M (EB)
Publication Date: 2018-09-04
When the notorious I.A. Cōcha is captured by the Olympus Commonwealth and revealed to be a sixteen-year-old girl, she is sentenced to correctional rehabilitation at a training ground for the elite Star Force where she forms unlikely alliances.
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
Call Number: TEEN MUNDA, R (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2019-10-15
When a brutal revolution opens dragonrider classes to everyone, two orphans from very different backgrounds become rising stars in a new regime that is challenged by violent survivors of the former government.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Call Number: TEEN NIX, G (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-09-22
Searching for the father she has never met in an alternate-world 1983 London, Susan is drawn into an extended family of magical, left-handed, fighting booksellers who police intruders from the mythical Old World of England.
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Call Number: TEEN THOMAS, A (EB, EA)
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Yadriel, a trans boy, summons the angry spirit of his high school's bad boy, and agrees to help him learn how he died, thereby proving himself a brujo, not a bruja, to his conservative family.
The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
Call Number: TEEN WEIN, E (EB)
Publication Date: 2020-11-03
Told in multiple voices, fifteen-year-old Jamaican Louisa Adair uncovers an Enigma machine in the small Scottish village where she cares for an elderly German woman, and helps solve a puzzle that could turn the tide of World War II.
The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep by Allan Wolf
Call Number: TEEN WOLF, A
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
A novel in verse by the author of The Watch That Ends the Night recounts the chilling survival tale of the Donner party during the 1846-1847 winter from the perspectives of its leaders, a scholarly wife, two Miwok guides, the Reed children, and other historical figures