Realistic Fiction
Golden Maroni is a soccer fanatic, and there is no one this 8th grader worships more than Lionel Messi. With soccer season just around the corner, Golden works tirelessly to master the sport and reach the milestone of ten thousand hours of practice. He even tries to apply the concept of “ten thousand” hours to his dad, a former pro soccer player diagnosed with ALS.
Ahmed Aziz’s year starts out poorly when he learns that his father is sick. Things go from bad to worse when his Indian American Muslim family moves from Hawaii to Minnesota so his father can receive cutting-edge treatment and be closer to his family.
Libby desperately wants to break free from her family’s reputation, a reputation that they’re bullies. Jack wants to save his school, but as he tries, he struggles to understand and accept the need for gender-neutral bathrooms. Vincent is incessantly picked on about his clothes and interests. T, a nonbinary young person, is homeless after being kicked out of an unaccepting home. In Flight of the Puffin, Libby helps them all, including herself, by simply putting a little kindness into the world.
Alex Rufus has a superpower. He can see into the future. Every time he touches something with his hand, he can see a snapshot of what will happen seconds, minutes, hours, or even years from that moment. Yet, as incredible as a superpower may seem, it’s exhausting and anxiety-inducing for Alex.
As Emma begins sixth grade, she feels like she has changed. Her best friend, Becca, does not seem to “get her” as much, and she’s eager to heed her brother’s advice to find her people. Emma does just that when she joins the Art club and meets others with the same affinity for art as her. While Emma navigates the perils and pitfalls of evolving friendships, her brother Austin, a popular star quarterback, faces struggles of his own.
Violet is math whiz, Pi fan, and pie fan. She can calculate numbers at lightning speed, has extensive knowledge of Pi, and loves making math charts for everyday life. But when her father suddenly leaves the family equation, Violet’s world becomes much harder to figure out, much harder to chart.
