For a reader who just finished
after With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo · ages 14–18
Verse novel · grades 9–12 · 780L
A verse novel that refuses pity—Emoni's story of balancing single motherhood and culinary ambition is funny, sensual, and fundamentally about refusing to shrink herself.
Same style
by Sara Nović
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L
A genuinely original YA-crossover novel that treats Deaf culture as protagonist, not obstacle—kids learn to think in sign while wrestling with identity questions that feel urgent, not didactic.
by Darcie Little Badger
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 780L
A luminous, unapologetic celebration of Comanche identity and queerness for kids learning to claim all of who they are — exceptionally well-written and genuinely funny.
by Stephanie S. Tolan
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 780L
A rare middle-grade novel that trusts kids to grapple with genuine alienation and unconventional family life without sentimentality—the Applewhites are weird in ways that stick.
Complementing on courage
by Russell Freedman
Nonfiction · ages 9–12 · grades 4–7 · 820L
Freedman's accessible, photo-rich biography makes FDR's disability and determination feel immediate without sentimentality; kids grasp both the man and the era.
by Eloise Greenfield
Picture book · ages 6–9 · grades 1–4 · 620L
Eloise Greenfield's only children's book about the Great Migration—lyrical, historically grounded, and emotionally honest without being heavy; the illustrations anchor abstract history in real bodies and faces.
by Rick Riordan
Middle grade · ages 9–12 · grades 4–7 · 740L
The gold standard entry point for myths, quests, and kids who love witty protagonists — the ADHD/dyslexia angle feels earned, not decorative, and Riordan's voice carries slow readers through.
