Meri-Jo Borzilleri
Who Is Caitlin Clark?
A timely and energetic profile that captures the 'Clark-ception' phenomenon without getting bogged down in sports jargon, making it accessible to non-fans.
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by Shawn Pryor
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 650L · 2024
A punchy, action-oriented bio that captures the adrenaline of extreme sports without getting bogged down in dry facts.
Call It Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 720L · 1999
A Newbery-winning survival story that actually earns its courage theme through real peril and self-discovery, not sentimentality — Mafatu's terror is palpable, and his ocean ordeal sticks with kids.
The Witches
by Roald Dahl
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 730L · 2009
Dahl at his darkest and funniest—witches are genuinely menacing, the stakes feel real, but the boy's scrappy resourcefulness and the grandmother's rock-solid love make it empowering, not traumatizing.