Published by Balzer + Bray

Summary:  Cora and Quinn used to be best friends.  On November 11, almost a year ago, Quinn’s brother Parker went to school with a gun and killed four people, including Cora’s older sister Mabel and himself.  The two girls haven’t spoken since, but as the new school year begins, Quinn needs to talk to Cora.  She’s been researching time travel, and has some ideas for finding a wormhole that can take them back in time to save their siblings.  Cora has the scientific curiosity and perseverance Quinn needs to make her idea a reality, so she reaches out with an unusual gift for Cora’s twelfth birthday.  Cora is intrigued, but both girls are so weighted down with grief, anger, guilt, and regrets that it’s difficult for them to reconnect.  Slowly, as the days count down to the anniversary of the shooting, they start to put pieces together and to believe that, just maybe, they can change the past and create a different present.  Includes an author’s note about how her fear and frustration around gun violence led to this book.  288 pages; grades 5-8.  

Pros:  This beautifully written, heartbreaking book told in the alternating voices of Cora and Quinn, may get more Newbery recognition for Jasmine Warga. Cora’s dad’s explanation near the end of the book of how he applies Newton’s laws of motion to grief was one of the best lessons about loss I have ever read.   

Cons:  The subject matter definitely makes this a difficult story to read.

Published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Summary:  When Sonali’s parents announce that they are separating, Sonali acts like everything is fine.  Years ago, she tried to find a way to help her parents stop fighting, and the message she got was to never share problems or feelings outside of the immediate family.  The morning after her parents’ announcement, Sonali wakes up to find that her life has taken on some aspects of a Bollywood movie.  Huge posters of her are hanging in her bedroom and a soundtrack plays wherever she goes.  When she unexpectedly–and uncontrollably–breaks into a song and dance at a field trip, Sonali knows she has to fix the problem–fast.  Clearly there is magic at work, but try as she might, Sonali can’t figure out how to break the spell.  Everything in her life seems to be falling apart, and slowly, Sonali realizes that the answer lies in showing her true feelings–if she can find the courage to do so.  352 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  The story takes the serious themes of dealing with divorce and the importance of expressing your emotions and adds a fun twist of Bollywood magic.  Having never seen a Bollywood film, I had to take a break partway through the book to head over to YouTube and see what the singing and dancing was all about. Other aspects of Indian culture will surely resonate with Indian-American readers, and there’s a bit of Indian and Pakistani history worked into the story as well.

Cons:  It seemed like it took Sonali a painfully long time to realize that she needed to express her feelings in order to get the magic to end.

Published by Harry N. Abrams

Summary:  Shira gets pushed by her friend Cassie into auditioning for her middle school’s production of The Music Man, and she’s not sure she wants the role she gets: Jacey Squires, a member of the barbershop quartet.  No one is surprised when eighth-grade diva Monica gets the part of Marian the Librarian, but it comes as a shock when Shira is asked to be her understudy.  Cassie has been Shira’s only friend for the last couple of years, but as the play gets underway, her confidence slowly increases and she finds herself with some new friends…and a crush or two.  There’s plenty of drama outside the play itself, and a surprise or two in the final production, all of which leads to a heartfelt and satisfying conclusion.  288 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Middle school musical fans get two excellent new books this year: The Chance to Fly and now Upstaged.  This one has a much more low-key cast of characters who are all dealing with some insecurities that many middle school kids will relate to.  There’s plenty of humor, too, and the middle school boys especially rang true for me.

Cons:  It would have been nice to give Monica and Ms. Channing, the ditzy director, a little more substance.

Published by Albert Whitman and Company

Summary:  Lilla is known as the quiet one in her trio of her, Vivi, and Knox.  But it’s getting harder for her to keep quiet about all the changes going on in her life: her parents’ divorce, their pressure for her to try for a magnet school that doesn’t feel like the right choice, and a possible crush on Knox.  When she gets chosen for a position as a junior camp counselor instead of Vivi, life gets even more complicated.  Then she’s involved in a sexual harassment issue with one of the senior counselors, and she realizes she can no longer keep quiet.  Encouraged and supported by her friends, Lilla begins to find the courage to figure out what’s right for her and to speak up, even when she’s afraid of the consequences.  240 pages; grades 5-8/

Pros:  I found this book hard to put down; I could so relate to Lilla’s struggles to speak up for herself…still working on that myself even though it’s been a long time since I was Lilla’s age.  Her confusion around sexism and harassment felt very real as well, and this is undoubtedly a book many middle school girls will relate to and find helpful.

Cons:  There were a lot of topics being tackled in 240 pages, and it felt a little rushed to get them all resolved before the end.