Megan Wagner Lloyd
Allergic
A vital, realistic look at the invisible labor of managing chronic illness in school, written with enough warmth to keep it from feeling like a lecture.
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Release Me
by Tahereh Mafi
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 740L · 2026
A genuinely moving debut about a girl learning to claim her power (literal and metaphorical)—smart, warm, and unsentimental about the cost of hiding who you are.
A Stage Set for Villains
by Shannon J. Spann
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · 780L · 2026
A thoughtful, character-driven story about finding your people through theater; the nonbinary protagonist and ensemble of misfits feel genuinely drawn, and the metaphor of 'villain roles' lands without preaching.
The Other Half of Happy
by Rebecca Balcárcel
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 730L · 2019
A genuinely moving exploration of hyphenated identity for kids who live it — avoids preciousness, lets Juniper's internal contradiction feel real, and models repair with family.