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Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes

For as long as he can remember, Will's father has seemed dissatisfied. Will never knows what it will take to make his father, a sharecropper in Texas, happy. Until, one day he comes back from town with a notice about a land rush that will be happening in Oklahoma the following April. Right away, everything changes when the decision is made for the family to try to get some land of their own. But Will's dad acts like he isn't sure Will is up for the journey. Will thinks he is, but as their travel begins, things happen along the way that make Will begin to doubt himself.

Recommended for 6th grade and up.

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Very Bad at Math by Hope Larson

Verity, or Very, as everyone calls her, has everything going for her in 8th grade, except for Math. Even though she is the Student Council President and has tons of great ideas and plans, she can't get out from under the issue of Math and how she can try super hard, and it just doesn't seem to make sense to her! But now, if she can't figure out how to bring up her Math grade, all the things that she has worked so hard for might just be taken away from her!

Recommended for grades 6 and up.

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Louder Than Hunger by John Schu

In 8th grade, Jake finds himself lost, except for the voice in his head, that tells him things will get better if he can just make himself small enough. As in, physically small, so no one will see him and therefore, can't hurt him. He feels the only one who really sees him is his grandmother, who is becoming concerned about his weight. And when things get really bad, Jake finds himself in a treatment center, that he really doesn't want to be in. Because if the voice he has listened to for it feels like, a very long time, is wrong, than how will he figure out what is right? How can he stop the voice and create a new path for himself?

Recommended for grades 6 and up.

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