by Loretta Lopez First sentence: “My body is still getting used to hers.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: While this is super short, and the main characters are eleven, it deals with some pretty heavy themes (including sexual and physical abuse, divorce, sickness, and death). It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.   This slim book is three interconnected short stories, each one following a girl in a Manhattan Middle School. Elisa is fresh from El Salvador and is petitioning the US government for asylum so she can st ..read more

by A. J. Sass First sentence: “Day one of my new normal began on the Sunday before I started my first-ever day of public school.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is some talk of crushes and like-liking people, there is mention of anxious self-mutilating behaviors, and it’s on the longer end for the age range. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. Shai has a plan to create their new normal: come out as non-binary to their mom and their closest friends (done), wear sleeves to cover their arms so they stop picking and pul ..read more

by Kelly Yang First sentence: “‘Mom!’ Millie, my sister, protests, banging on the door.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Others in the series: Finally Seen Content: There is talk of puberty, crushes, and social media. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but I’d give it to the older end of the age range. Lina’s mom’s business making bath bombs has stalled, and the thing that they need to save it? Social media. It’s also taken over the 5th grade- everyone in Lina’s class seemed to have gotten phones over spring break, and there’s no stopping t ..read more

by Nicola Baker Read by Kristin Atherton Listen at Libro.fm (I think it’s only in e-book and audio) Content: There are some intense moments. It would be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore if it were a print book. Ava is stuck at Whistledown Farm for two whole weeks while her parents make an important trip to America. She’s a city girl, and during the only visits she’s ever made to the sheep farm she’s mostly kept to the house. She’s not sure she wants to spend two whole weeks with her aunt, uncle, and cousin (especially since her cousin is less than thrlled to see her ..read more

by Rhonda Roumani First sentence: “Kareem picked up the black spray paint and studied the sandy-colored wall.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is some talk of war and protests where gunfire opens up. There are also instances of microaggressions and blatant racism. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. Kareem is a 13-year-old in Syria in 2011, right as the protests and the civil war began. He is fired up about the abuses by his government and wants to help do something so he and his friends take to spray painting slogans and art ..read more

by Nina La Cour illustrated by Sonia Albert Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! First sentence: “1106 Wildflower Place was what many considered to be a perfect building, plunked right in the middle of Poppy Hill, a not entirely perfect hill but a good one all the same.” Content: There are three sections of short chapters. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but I’m considering suggesting it move down to the Beginning Chapter (grades 1-2) section instead. I think it fits better there. Ella has lived at the apartments at Poppy Hill her whole life ..read more

by Lisa Yee Read by Cindy Kay Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: It’s a fast-paced novel, and there are illustrations in the print version. Some intense moments may be scary to sensitive readers. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. Olvie Coben Zang has been an outcast her entire life. Her parents are too busy to pay her much attention, she doesn’t really fit in at school, she has no friends… the works. The only person who really saw her was her grandmother, Mimi, but she has passed on. And then, out of the blue, h ..read more

by Katherine Marsh First sentence: “Dark Beast Ganon charged.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is talk of starvation and the deaths of children. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore. I read this book for the Cybils, and this reflects my opinion and not that of the whole panel. It’s spring of 2020, which means that Matthew is trapped in his home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s bored out of his mind, mostly because his great-grandmother – whom they call GG – has come to live with them and his mom is super strict about not interacting wit ..read more

by Caroline Huntoon First sentence: “Time with Katya, my figure skating coach, is in high demand.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is some bullying and misgendering. It’s in the Middle Grade section (graes 3-5) of the bookstore. I read this book for the Cybils, and this reflects my opinion and not that of the whole panel. All Mars wants to do is skate. They feel the most at home on the ice, especially since their dad’s death. But, things off the ice aren’t simple: they haven’t come out to their family as nonbinary, their best friend is making new friends ..read more

by Kelly Yang First sentence: “I listen to the quiet hum of the plane and the not-so-quiet flutter of my heart in my chest.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is bullying and microaggressions both by other children and adults. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. I read this book for the Cybils, and this reflects my opinion and not that of the whole panel. Lina Gao has lived with her grandmother in China for the past five years while her parents and younger sister start a new life in America. She has missed her family but loved h ..read more