Sporty Middle Grade Books for Tween Readers

Vivy Cohen is an autistic, baseball-obsessed girl who really wants to play the sport. Unfortunately, her mom is holding back because she’s a girl and she has autism. But when Vivy writes to a famous Black baseball player as part of her social skills homework, things start to change. For one, VJ Capello writes back, and the two become pen pals. Then, a Little League coach asks Vivy to join his team. As they overcome unique hurdles, Vivy and VJ soon realize that they’ll need to put up a fight for the sport they love. This is an endearing middle grade book about the love of baseball, life with autism, and figuring out your strengths. Grades 6+

Dani and Eric have been best friends since Dani moved next door in second grade. They bond over donuts, comic books, and camping on the Cape. But one summer, Eric saves Dani from a fire in his family’s camper. Unfortunately, the accident prevents Dani from doing what she loves the most: playing baseball. It also drives a wedge between the friends as they discover the real reason behind the fire. Can Dani forgive her best friend? Hidden Truths is an insightful, realistic, and touching middle grade book about forgiveness and evolving friendships.

This summer, Quinnen isn’t playing baseball with her team — she decided to quit after her sister, Haley died the summer before. But when her family decides to host a player from a Minor League Baseball team, Quinnen starts to bond with the a couple of the players. Her family is also reeling from her sister’s death the previous summer and trying to figure out how to be a family of three, instead of four. The book alternates between “last summer” and “this summer,” taking readers back to see Quinnen and Haley’s relationship and what happened to Haley. The Distance to Home is a moving, realistic portrayal of grief due to the loss of a sibling. Grades 6+

Lupe Wong Won’t Dance is Donna Barba Higuera’s debut middle-grade novel. Her protagonist Lupe is a Mexican-Chinese girl who loves baseball. Her Chinese father died several years ago, so she lives with her Mexican mom and her brother Paolo. Lupe is excited to get all A’s this year because her uncle has promised her a meeting with baseball star Fu Li Hernandez, who’s Chinacan/Mexinese like her if she does. But all of a sudden, there’s a new development in her gym class: Coach wants them to do square dancing instead of like, actual sports. Between her anti-square dance plans, managing her friendships with Andy (Andralusia, her Black female BFF), and Niles (her autistic male best friend), dealing with her funny grandparents, and missing her father, Lupe learns a lot about herself and being kind. This is a strong, funny debut about the trials of middle school, especially for a sports-loving girl who refuses to stay boxed in by society. Grades 5+

Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper follows 7th grader Gemma Hopper whose mother has left their family. Gemma lives with her dad, older brother Teddy, and their twin younger brothers. While their dad works overtime to fend for the family materially, Gemma is saddled with caring for the home and her twin siblings while also serving as a ball machine/practice partner for her brother, who’s a baseball prodigy of sorts. This is an engaging graphic novel about family (absent mothers), baseball, and sibling relationships. Although the plot and ending could be more satisfying, it develops many important themes, including making kids overly responsible, social media and going viral, and the grief of being left behind by a parent and yearning for their return. Grades 5+

After Gloria and her family lose their farm to an unending drought, they move to California to find work and eventually start picking peaches on a farm. The family is also reeling from the loss of Gloria’s baby brother and struggling to contain Gloria’s spunky attitude which often gets her in trouble. At the farm, Gloria quickly discovers a baseball team (with only boys! who don’t want a girl on the team!) and is ready to do what it takes to join the team. At the same time, ripples of discontent with working wages lead to organizing that puts Gloria and her family in a precarious position. This is a punchy, inspiring historical middle grade book about family, baseball, and life on farms during the Great Depression. Grades 5+

This middle-grade book follows Lucy, a short Chinese-American girl caught between two cultures. Lucy plays basketball (very well) and would choose mac and cheese over most Chinese dishes. Her older siblings seem to fit the “perfect Chinese child” stereotype more than she does. Still Lucy perseveres with interests, eagerly anticipating her sister’s move to college so she can have their room all to herself, but that is not to be. Lucy’s dreams are intercepted when her parents insist she attend Chinese school instead of basketball practice. On top of that, her father returns from China with her late grandmother’s long-lost sister, Yi Po, who will now share Lucy’s room. Add to that the bullying she has to deal with from Sloane, a girl who competes with Lucy for a coveted basketball captain spot, and Lucy may just be having the worst year ever. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu is a humorous, immersive middle-grade book with a memorable protagonist. Grades 4+

When Rory moves to Cincinnati, Ohio, with her dad after her parents’ separation, she meets Abby, a tall fellow basketball lover, and the two become fast friends. Imagine their shock when they find out that their dads can’t stand each other — and not because they coach the city’s rival basketball teams but because of something that happened years ago when THEY were middle schoolers. Bishop takes us through the girls’ lives as they dig into what happened between their dads, telling the story from multiple perspectives: the girls’, their dads’, and a ball-playing nun in their lives. This is a fast-paced and compelling book about true friendships, family secrets, forgiveness, and basketball. Grades 6+

Alyson Gerber is one of my favorite middle grade authors (you can tell by the fact that I’ve read all of her books so far). She writes about impactful topics in a sincere, realistic, and immersive way. This title is about a girl whose mother’s issues with food are starting to affect her. Add puberty, friend drama, and disordered eating, and Sarah is finding it hard to take up space. For grades 6+

Still adjusting to a move from Florida to Milwaukee, Aliya is excited to start playing basketball at her new Islamic school, but the girls’ team is well known for losing all their games. With a new coach and renewed team spirit, the girls find something better than high scores in this soaring, sporty graphic novel. Grades 4+

13-year-old Nikki Doyle feels one step closer to her pro basketball player dreams when she gets signed on to an elite-level club team. But her mother doesn’t have enough to pay for the club, and so Nikki offers to watch her little brother after school so they can save on daycare money. Unfortunately, playing for the club isn’t nearly as easy as Nikki expects. Shorter than her teammates and suddenly no longer point guard on the new team, she feels out of place. Between juggling all her responsibilities and proving herself a valuable member of the team, it feels like everything is on the line for Nikki. This is a fantastic, dynamic, and highly relatable middle grade book about identity, the ways family can be different for everyone, and pursuing a love of basketball. Grades 5+

When a bunch of popular kids seems to welcome Kate into their clique, she is torn about ditching her longtime best friend, Haddie. Haddie marches to the beat of her own drum and could care less about being accepted. Things get complicated, however, when Kate is a passive participant in a bullying incident that leads to Haddie sinking on thin ice. Then, Kate is captured on camera saving Haddie, and the video goes viral. While news outlets hail “Kate the Great” as a shining example for tweens who should not be bullying other kids, Kate continues to oscillate between craving acceptance from the popular kids and trying to keep her friendship with Haddie, all the while maintaining her public image by appearing in newspapers and on popular YouTube channels. But how long can she keep up the charade? And, is Kate great? Or is she a bad person? The Kate in Between is a timely, complex, and engaging middle grade book about identity, popularity, bullying culture, and going viral. Grades 5+

In Falling Short, we meet Marco and Isaac. They’ve been besties for as long as they can remember and now they share one pain in common: both their dads aren’t in their lives as they’d like. Isaac’s dad is attentive but currently struggling with alcoholism. Marco’s dad wishes Marco were more athletic, instead of nerdy. At the start of middle school, both boys decide to help each other reach their goals. For Isaac, it’s getting better at more than just basketball — getting better grades and being more responsible. And for Marco, it’s learning a sport: basketball. Can they reach their goals? And will their friendship survive it? I loved this look at a warm friendship bond between boys. Grades 5+

When Raam Patel is schooled by another kid in front of his NBA idol and the video goes viral, he escapes to LA to take a break from basketball, the sport he loves. But there, he soon realizes he can’t escape the sport. With his cousin and some new friends, he learns to get better at basketball not just by physical improvement but also by becoming more mentally and emotionally resilient. I’m in the middle of this debut right now and I think sports fans and male readers will enjoy it. Grades 5+

It’s the 1970s, and Judi loves to shoot hoops in the driveway with her brother and his friends. She hopes she can join a basketball team someday, but her school doesn’t have a female team. So when she gets to high school, she chooses the next best thing: cheerleading with her best friend Stacey. But one day, the school announces that they’re starting a team for the girls because of the Title IX ruling. Unfortunately, as willing as the girls who sign up are (Judi inclusive), there’s little to no funding for their team. This is a fantastic, historical middle grade graphic novel about equality and basketball set against the backdrop of the rise of a female basketball team in the 1970s. Grades 5+

Magic Pointdexter is her family’s “ugly duckling.” Her father is an ex-NBA player, her sister a famous cheerleader, and her late grandmother was also a ceiling-shattering cheerleader. Magic is awkward, chubbier than your typical cheerleader, and loves sweets more than anything else. But she’s decided: she’s going to cheer camp to try her hand out at becoming a Honeybee. Her best friend and child star Capricorn is coming with her (mostly for moral support — Cappie is an athletic, talented dancer). But once they arrive at camp and get sorted into teams by ability, Magic and Cappie’s friendship starts to show cracks. Magic is struggling with getting fit and flexible enough, learning stunts, dealing with the breakup of a lifelong friendship, and trying to figure out who she wants to be. Can she survive Planet Pom Poms? This is a feel-good summer camp story perfect for fans of friendship stories, summer camp tales, and coming-of-age books. Grades 6+

I was so excited about Soontornvat’s debut graphic memoir, and it lived up to my expectations. The Tryout follows young Christina as she tries out for her middle school’s cheerleading team. As one of the few Asians in her small Texas town, Christina and her Iranian-American best friend are nervous about trying out, but determined to give their best. Unfortunately, tryouts quickly lead to heartbreak when Megan decides to partner up with another girl, leaving Christina to fend for herself. Can the girls make it work? The Tryout is a fantastic graphic memoir that will appeal to fans of sports stories and books about life as a minority and child of immigrants. Grades 5+

Astrid and Nicole are best friends who do nearly everything together. Until Astrid’s mom takes them to watch roller derby. While Astrid can’t get enough of the cool girls and all the derby action, Nicole is immediately put off. So when Astrid signs up for junior derby, Nicole chooses a ballet elective instead. However, Astrid never tells her mom that she’s derby rolling instead of doing ballet with Nicole. Things get more difficult when Astrid realizes that roller derby is no joke — physically, mentally, and emotionally. Will she make it? Roller Girl is an action-packed exploration of roller derby, the thrill of finding a passion, and the power of perseverance. Grades 5+

Sisters Gigi and Lucy haven’t seen eye to eye since their father died. Their mother is worn out by her grief and her demanding job and doesn’t have the capacity to deal with their constant bickering. Now Lucy is a new 6th grader at the school where Gigi is the 8th grade Queen Bee and on Lucy’s first day, the girls get into an altercation that ends with Lucy challenging her sister (and school fencing champion) to a duel. What follows are chapters alternating between each girl’s first-person narration as they go between the past and present, exploring their relationship and where it went wrong and planning their fencing duel. There’s sports, friendship, sisterhood, family, grief, and even a grandparent relationship in this story, lending it some major kid and adult appeal! Grades 5+

Cyrus Olson does not think he’s “brave like that.” He’s not brave like his adoptive firefighter father who was also a star football player in his day. Although he plays football for his school team, he does not enjoy it, and would much rather be doing something else, but he’s afraid to let his dad (and the town that knows him to be an Olson) down. But Cyrus gets some motivation to stand up for himself and his desires when a dog is abandoned at the fire station (just like Cyrus was). This is a refreshing look at what it means to be a “man” and the journey to finding one’s identity in the world — or at least exploring enough options. Grades 5+

One Last Shot follows 12-year-old Malcolm who has an anxious streak and never feels good enough, especially for his dad. It doesn’t help that his parents are always arguing, and Malcolm is typically caught in the middle. Malcolm’s father loves competitive sports (especially baseball) and is disappointed when Malcolm decides to stop playing because he isn’t good at it and does not enjoy it. But he finds some respite when Malcolm becomes interested in miniature golf — and actually enjoys it. As usual, Malcolm’s father goes overboard, hiring a coach called Frank and signs Malcolm up for a tournament. The book alternates between the events of the tournament day and past events leading up to the tournament as Malcolm and Frank forge a sweet friendship, Malcolm befriends a smart girl named Lex, and his parents relationship deteriorates. This is a moving story of learning to listen to one’s inner voice. Grades 6+

When she’s twisting backward and flipping forward on the balance beam, Claire feels on top of the world. As the best gymnast on her school team, it’s always a good time for her. Unfortunately, reading isn’t quite as easy. The words swirl and shuffle, and she can never seem to recognize them. When her principal wants to evaluate her for dyslexia, Claire’s mom refuses, protesting against wanting her child to be labeled. But how can Claire get help if she isn’t diagnosed as dyslexic? Twisting Backward Flipping Forward is a compelling, eye-opening, and empowering verse novel about dyslexia and gymnastics. Grades 4+

Izzy and Wren, two very different 12-year-olds are unwittingly brought together at just the right time in their lives. Izzy, a sweet, creative artist with a love for stickers lives in Boston with her parents and older brother Nate. Wren, on the other hand, is a determined figure skater whose little sister, Hannah has epilepsy. Wren is understandably upset when her parents mention that instead of spending her winter break practicing, they’ll be moving into a home several hours away to be closer to the hospital where Hannah will have brain surgery for epilepsy. As Wren stays in Izzy’s room for the week, Izzy and Wren begin a tentative friendship, but a misunderstanding with Phoebe and Daphne threatens to ruin their connection. This is a heartwarming middle-grade book about finding friendship in unexpected places. Grades 5+

Maxine loves figure skating and is pretty good at it too. Her parents are extra supportive and make financial sacrifices so that Maxine can pursue her passion. Still, they’re balanced and never pressure her to do anything she doesn’t. They also always ensure that she prioritizes school work and is not too hard on herself. Maxine is a confident skater and feels sure that she’s got at least third place in the bag during her contest, but things start to get complicated when a new skater named Holly shows up. Holly is better trained and more experienced on the ice and Maxine begins to feel jealousy and other negative emotions. Maxine is also struggling with a bully at school who makes racial jokes about Maxine, such as about her monolid. As she prepares for and competes, Maxine learns a lot about standing up for herself and the value of true friendships. The Comeback is a fun, insightful middle-grade book about ice skating, friendship, and bullying that is perfect for fans of books about sports. Grades 5+

Rosie’s dad wants her to play racquetball even though she says she wants no part and has no interest. He used to love it when he was a kid and he pushes Rosie to improve by constantly critiquing her game. But Rosie has a bad attitude about the sport because of the pressure he puts on her. Blair is a new student with a warm family who are all into racquetball and Rosie wants her to compete in her behalf. But as Rosie hangs out with Blair’s family away from her father’s harsh supervision, she realizes what it means to play for fun. Match Point is a delightful graphic novel about racquetball, female friendship, and the value of true sportsmanship. Grades 5+

This book is about Castle Crenshaw (aka Ghost), who has PTSD from a dad who tried to fire a gun at him as a child. When he meets Coach and the rest of the team, he can finally harness his talent as a sprinter and stop running away from his problems. I love how powerful these kids’ stories are (in the Track series) and that they’re super short — this one is only 185 pages long. Grades 5+

Drew and Mia were born on the same day in Half Moon Bay, California, but their lives have taken different paths. When Mia returns to Half Moon Bay where Drew still lives, both kids form a friendship and start training for a half-marathon together for different reasons. Mia wants to solve her family’s housing issues while Drew is doing it for his dad, who’s received a crushing diagnosis of ALS. Half Moon Summer is a moving, insightful, and hopeful book about dealing with devastating life changes with the aid of strong friendships and a supportive community. Grades 6+

Half-marathon training brings overachieving friends-turned-rivals Grace and Jonah together during one life-changing summer. This young romance is swoony with authentic dialogue and a powerful message about perfectionism and ambition. Grades 6+

Grant Falloon is a super fast track runner, so it’s a no brainer when he gets the chance to sign up for the million dollar race organized by Babblemoney. The mega-rich sneaker company wants to give back a million dollars to the winning kids from their international contest. Unfortunately Grant runs into a couple of snags. First, his best friend Jay is also super fast and competing in the race. He doesn’t want their rivalry to strain their relationship. Then, even worse, he’s disqualified from the race because he doesn’t have a real birth certificate, thanks to his unconventional parents who had him while they were living in a commune off the grid. Still, with the help of his eccentric younger brother who happens to be a vlogger, Grant decides to come up with a crazy plan that will enable him participate: start his own country. On top of the chaos from their plan, the kids also realize that there is more to the million dollar race than meets the eye. The Million Dollar Race is a quirky middle grade book about male friendships, sports, unconventional families, and identity. Grades 6+

Greer, Joya, and Kiki are three best friends born just after Hurricane Katrina. Now 12 years after the catastrophe, they’re dealing with personal life struggles. Greer feels responsible for an accident that left her sister paralyzed from the waist down and has stopped running track–something she loved dearly before the accident, Kiki is grappling with an absentee father, and Joya is trying to help her financially strained family. Kiki decides that the three girls will sign up for a triathlon to get Greer back into running, but the plan ends up changing all three girls’ lives. The Hurricane Girls is a warm, stirring, and sparkling middle grade book about female friendships, body image, sports, and self-forgiveness. Grades 6+

When Luchy’s BFF Cami returns from Colombia just in time for 6th grade, she’s like a new person who is now obsessed with boys and fashion. Luchy’s efforts to rekindle their closeness only bring disastrous results in this painfully funny story with strong Latino roots and soccer action. Grades 5+

Bea Is for Blended is Lindsay Stoddard’s fourth middle grade novel. Bea’s mother has married her school arch-nemesis’s father. Bryce (her arch-nemesis) is friends with bullies in Bea’s class and they always make fun of her best friend Maximillian who’s on the autism spectrum. Now, as if it wasn’t bad enough that Bea and Bryce share the exact same birth date, now they’ll also share a house and blended family. Bea and her friend are hoping to start a girls’ soccer team. But there are some issues. Coach Meesely doesn’t think that girls play as well as boys do and he’s refusing to invest in their team. Can Bea navigate new family dynamics, starting a new soccer team, and finding her place on the new team? This is a heartwarming book about blending families, team work, unlikely friendships, and community. Grades 5+

Alex Manalo and his father have moved from Silicon Valley to Sacramento where his dad is taking over his Lolo and Lola’s grocery store. His grandparents have retired and his dad is tired of Silicon Valley living and wants to revamp the family’s Filipino Market. Alex is struggling to adjust to a new place and also feeling burdened by his father’s expectations of him — that he cut his hair short, play more sports, and make less slime. At school, Alex is quickly befriended by Logan, a boy who thinks he should sell his slime. Unfortunately, a girl named Meadow has monopoly over the school’s slime market and is not pleased about Alex joining. So they decide to have a contest to determine the champion, once and for all. This is a fun, heartwarming story about identity, family, Filipino culture, soccer, and entrepreneurship. Grades 5+

Golden Macaroni is having a tough year. First, he really wants to get bigger and become the captain of his middle school soccer team. As a dedicated Messi fan, he’s working on putting in ten thousand hours of soccer practice so that he can become as good as Messi. His former-soccer-star father has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). His best friend, Lucy Littlehouse is also moving away from her home next door to Golden’s. This is a moving, heartwarming story about family, friendship, community, soccer, and the love of a father. Grades 5+

Peter, or Petey, as he’s affectionately called by his sister Charlotte aka L.B is obsessed with dinosaurs. He wants to be a paleontologist when he’s older and is constantly digging in the sandpit at his grandparents’ (Haji and Hammy) house. Peter also plays soccer and is super tall for an 11-year-old Korean boy. On and off the pitch, he’s constantly harassed by an obnoxious classmate, Ryan. This is a sweet, adventurous, illustrated middle grade novel set in Canada. Grades 4+

Rachel Brooks has finally scored a spot as a forward on her soccer team. She just needs one more doctor’s visit to check on her scoliosis — one she hopes will be the last. Unfortunately, the doctor has bad news for her: the curve has worsened and she’ll have to wear a back brace. Worse still, she needs to be in a back brace for twenty-three hours a day. How will she still play soccer? What will her friends think? And what about Tate, the boy she’s crushing on? This is an engaging, realistic story of a girl dealing with scoliosis in middle school. Grades 6+

Alex loves soccer and playing for her city’s Rec League. Her coach is nice, and she has many good friends on the team. But during one of the games, a coach from an elite league spots Alex and convinces her mom to let Alex play for his team. Her dad isn’t the picture, and their family finances are tight, so Alex wants a soccer scholarship shot for college in the future and accepts the offer. But when she starts playing for the team, she notices disturbing things like her coach verbally abusing the players, talking down to the girls because of their gender, and punishingly working them out when don’t perform to his standards. This is a sporty, enjoyable, and inspiring middle grade book about sports spirit and standing up for oneself. Grades 5+

Henrietta Weldon feels out of place in her family. Her brother is always off doing his own thing, and her sister, Kat, seems to always be frustrated with her inability to figure certain things out on her own or keep their room clean. Henri has dyscalculia and struggles with processing math problems. As she settles into her new school, she befriends a group of foster kids whom her sister can’t stand. Then she decides to join the soccer team (which her parents are super uncomfortable with — studies are the priority), and she’s writing a poem to submit to the school’s magazine. This is a super slice-of-life book featuring a highly relatable protagonist with dyscalculia. Grades 6+

Weatherby is a new kid at the Boston School on a sailing scholarship and is immediately thrust into a world she knows nothing about. Old school phone booths, scrambled phone service at school, friends with kids who go to the country club.. and a boy who seems to hate her guts. It is told from two perspectives, Weatherby’s and Jack Hunt’s, a rich kid at the school who is also on the sailing team. When Jack, Weatherby, and their friends Pres, Iris, and Harper are contacted by what they think is the school’s famed secret society, they get sucked into a mission, only to unravel a deep secret about the Hunt family that involves Weatherby. This is an intriguing, fast-paced, and tightly-plotted middle-grade mystery for younger middle-school readers who are hungry for some thrilling, suspenseful mysteries but aren’t old enough for traditional YA. Grades 5+

Bea is winning at being a shortstop, finally making headway with her crush, and is excited to go to summer camp with her friends when her dad’s legal license is suspended in a town scandal. Suddenly, she develops a case of the yips and begs her parents to send her to another softball summer camp on Gray Island, where her mom grew up. Throughout the summer, Bea learns more about her parents’ previous marriages and other secrets. This is a sporty, summery, and serious coming of age story about a girl dealing with difficult emotions and circumstances.

Fast Pitch is a companion title to Nic Stone’s Clean Getaway, which I really enjoyed! It stars Scoob’s crush Shenice, an U12 softball team captain whose concentration is shot when she stumbles upon a decades-long family mystery. Shenice and her team are preparing to win the Fastpitch World Series, when she discovers that a crime her great-grand father was accused of — which cost him his reputation and place in the Negro leagues — may have actually been a set-up all along. And now, Shenice is the only one who can clear his name. This is a fast-paced, poignant sports mystery about family, racism, and community.

Veronica’s life seemed like it was on track until her parents announced that her mom is going to rehab for alcoholism. Veronica is frustrated, sad, worried, and even angry at her mom for being unable to stop drinking. She also worries that things will never be the same again. So she throws herself into softball — their family sport — even though she isn’t sure she’s all that into it anymore. At the same time, she’s afraid to share her family’s secret with her best friend (whose parents are getting divorced). This is a rare portrayal of alcoholism, addiction, and rehabilitation in the family — especially in a parent.

Daphne is spending the summer with her alcoholic (now sober) dad in Oakland after a long estrangement. Her mom is away in Prague, shooting a movie, so she has no choice but to leave Daphne with her dad. The last interaction with her dad was when he failed to show up for her at a skating rink, and she broke her arm trying to do something he’d find impressive. Now she’s with him and his skating buddies, including his best friend Gus, Gus’s girlfriend, and her son Arlo who’s a wannabe filmmaker. As time passes, Daphne learns more about her dad and reconnects with him. This is a tender exploration of father-daughter love, the impact of addiction, and a love for skateboarding. Grades 6+

Maudie is a sweet, autistic girl spending the summer with her dad. When her dad’s home is razed in a California wildfire, they move to the small beach town where her father grew up. Throughout the summer, as Maudie makes new friends, starts learning to surf, and enters a surfing contest, a secret tugs at her–one her mother has asked her to keep from her dad. The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn is a vivid, triumphant, and authentic coming-of-age story about discovering one’s inner strength. Grades 6+

Thirteen-year-old Ava lives in 80s California and loves to catch a wave with her best friend, Phoenix, whom she’s beginning to crush on. Her mom is a single mother and her dad lives in Iran with his new family and rarely contacts them. Phoenix’s lymphoma returns aggressively and he doesn’t want to pursue treatment anymore. Can Ava convince him to keep trying? This is a lyrical, captivating, and heartwrenching middle grade verse novel about first crushes, surfing, and the grief of losing a friend. Grades 7+

Annabelle is a fantastic swimmer who happens to have learning difficulties. She’s happy to finally be getting something right when she’s moved up to the high school team in the summer. However, things get a bit complicated when an older boy starts showing her attention and her estranged father seems to want to return to her life. In Up for Air, Laurie Morrison perfectly captures the issues of competitive female friendships, the desire to be liked and accepted by an older crowd, and the search for identity. Grades 6+

Nat is a chubby 12-year-old with major swimming skills and a fiery temper. After spotting The LA Mermaids, a synchronized swimming group at a neighborhood pool, Nat is convinced that it’s the sport for her. Her parents aren’t so sure. So Nat auditions for and joins the team behind their backs, getting her older cousin to take her to practice. This book is compulsively readable, and Nat is a well-drawn, rarely represented type of female character with many flaws and a lot of confidence. She learns how to be a good friend and why it’s important to be honest. The author also delves into discourse about body image. Readers may also want to know that a side character is disowned by her parents after coming out as gay. Grades 6+

When her family moves from Pakistan to Peachtree City, all Nurah wants is to blend in, yet she stands out for all the wrong reasons. Nurah’s accent, floral-print kurtas, and tea-colored skin make her feel excluded, until she meets Stahr at swimming tryouts. And in the water Nurah doesn’t want to blend in. She wants to win medals like her star athlete brother, Owais—who is going through struggles of his own in the U.S. Yet when sibling rivalry gets in the way, she makes a split-second decision of betrayal that changes their fates. Ultimately Nurah slowly gains confidence in the form of strong swimming arms, and also gains the courage to stand up to bullies, fight for what she believes in, and find her place. Grades 6+

Thirteen-year-old Maddie is on her community’s swim team and loves hanging out with her friends at the community pool her parents run. She also has clinical anxiety and uses medications to manage it. Her one big issue is that a boy in her class, Lucas, wants to date her and won’t take no for an answer even though Maddie isn’t interested. When she rejects his gift of a snow globe, odd vandalism incidents start happening at the pool, threatening her parents’ source of income and causing them to consider selling to a bigger sports company (which, coincidentally, Lucas’s brother is part of). Maddie feels sure that Lucas is responsible and teams up with her friend Esmeralda (Ez) to get to the bottom of the mystery. But are they on the right track? This is an enjoyable, insightful, and summer-infused debut about navigating unwanted advances, managing anxiety, and maintaining good friendships. Grades 6+

After she and her dad move from Brooklyn to Florida, Bree is excited for her first day in middle school. But also, she’s super anxious about whether she’ll make friends and fit in. Thankfully, she makes a new friend in the housing complex where they live. Unfortunately, when Bree goes to choose her math club elective, it’s fully booked. As a math lover who can’t swim, she’s crushed to hear that the only elective left is swim 101. At first, Bree avoids getting in the water, but after a near-drowning in her housing complex, an elderly neighbor (who used to be part of her swim team) decides to coach Bree. Bree gets so good that she joins her swim team, but can the team get past the drama and win? Swim Team is a highly engaging graphic novel about swimming, Black history (and why many Blacks don’t swim), and friendship. Grades 4+

Mo loves taekwondo and wants to pursue the sport as a career, but lately, she’s been losing her fights to her nemesis, a boy called Dax. It also doesn’t help that she’s under five feet tall and much smaller than her opponent. When she sees that her favorite martial artist and actor is holding auditions for a role in his latest movie, Mo is disappointed to see that Dax is also auditioning. A plan to increase her height, save the movie set and get to the bottom of what’s distracting her dad make this book a funny, adventurous, kick-butt summer story. Grades 6+

This story about a girl forced to do jiu-jitsu and discovering her inner strength on and off the mat is funny, relatable, and perfectly sporty for kids who love books about combat sports. Grades 5+

Mikayla is a wrestler; when you grow up in a house full of brothers who wrestle, it’s inevitable. It’s also a way to stay connected to her oldest brother, Evan, who moved in with their dad. Some people object to having a girl on the team. But that’s not stopping Mikayla. She’s determined to work harder than ever, and win. Lev is determined to make it to the state championships this year. He’s used to training with his two buddies as the Fearsome Threesome; they know how to work together. At the beginning of sixth grade, he’s paired with a new partner–a girl. This better not get in the way of his goal. Mikayla and Lev work hard together and become friends. But when they face each other, only one of them can win. Grades 6+

In Tumble, we meet 12-year-old Addie, who lives with her pregnant mom and stepdad. Her stepdad wants to adopt her (but only if she wants) and Addie loves him but can’t shake the curiosity about her biological father, especially because her mom is so hush-hush about it. While investigating, she discovers that her father is part of a famous wrestling family living on a nearby New Mexico ranch. As Addy gets to know her father, Manny, her cousins, grandparents, and uncles, she learns that family can be complicated. This is a poignant, exciting, and heartrending middle grade book about family secrets, wrestling culture, and identity. Grades 6+