Always on the lookout for books to add to my classroom library shelves, I think this year especially has been a banner year for great books that I am sure will appeal to my students. Rising to the top for me, these are My Top 10 Middle School Books for 2022:

1. The Unforgettable Logan Foster by Shawn Peters)

A unique take on superheroes, action packed, and so many laugh out loud moments, this book grabs you from the beginning and never lets you go.

2. Operation Do-Over by Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman never disappoints. Operation Do-Over comes with the engaging plot, unique characters, and life lessons that we can count on in his books.

3. Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee

In addition to the main story of Maizy adjusting to her summer in a new place with grandparents she hardly knows, there is the story within a story of Chinese immigration and the Paper Sons.

4. Wishing Upon the Same Stars by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman

This is a powerful book about the immigrant experience, and it tackles some difficult issues--racism, how to interpret history, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the Holocaust--but handles them sensitively, exactly how they should be presented to young readers.

5. New from Here by Kelly Yang

Kelly Yang never disappoints. The writing is masterful, the story is engaging, and the characters are truly unique and memorable. Embedded throughout are many life lessons, especially dealing with racism.

6. Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly

Told through the eyes of different characters, the story centers on a new girl who enters the class and focuses on many of the issues that middle school students deal with - fitting in, friendships and cliques, dealing with bullies to name just a few that the author gently weaves in her story.

7. Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros

An engaging story of two unlikely friends - one who excels in academics and the other excels in basketball - as they deal with adjusting to middle school and life in general - so darn good!!! You are going to need multiple copies of this one!

8. Consider the Octopus by Nora Raleigh Baskin

An engaging story that at the heart is one of friendship of two 7th graders who think they don't fit in. But it is also a primer on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: what it is, how it was created, and why it's a problem.

9. Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tolá Okogwu

Touted as Black Panther meets X-Men, this story follows Onyeka, a British Nigerian girl whose Afro has psychokinetic abilities!

10. A Song Called Home by Sara Zarr

This book brings blended families to the forefront, along with other life lessons about friendship, family, and growing up.

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