25 Wonderful Books 12 Year Olds Love!

It’s the 1970s, and Judi loves to shoot hoops in the driveway with her brother and his friends. She hopes she can join a basketball team someday, but her school doesn’t have a female team. So when she gets to high school, she chooses the next best thing: cheerleading with her best friend, Stacey. But one day, the school announces that they’re starting a team for the girls because of the Title IX ruling. Unfortunately, as willing as the girls who sign up are (Judi inclusive), there’s little to no funding for their team. Can Judi and the team make it work? Hoops is a fantastic, historical middle grade graphic novel about equality and basketball set against the backdrop of the rise of a female basketball team in the 1970s.

Star athlete Yash is shocked to discover that he won’t be able to graduate middle school because he missed most of his PE classes while playing for the high school team. There, he meets Jesse, Sarah, Stewart, Arabella, Cleo, and Kaden, who are also re-doing PE for different reasons. When these seven (very different) middle schoolers are forced to share space in summer school for failing PE, they experience a mindset-altering summer and find unexpected friendships and team spirit. is a funny, thoughtful exploration of identity and what it means to be part of a team. Full of Korman’s trademark story elements, this book especially shines for its incorporation of sports, teamwork, and navigating new friendships across middle school social ranks.

When Rory moves to Cincinnati, Ohio, with her dad after her parents’ separation, she meets Abby, a tall fellow basketball lover, and the two become fast friends. Imagine their shock when they find out that their dads can’t stand each other — and not because they coach the city’s rival basketball teams but because of something that happened years ago when THEY were middle schoolers. Bishop takes us through the girls’ lives as they dig into what happened between their dads, telling the story from multiple perspectives: the girls’, their dads’, and a ball-playing nun in their lives. Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up is a fast-paced and compelling book about true friendships, family secrets, forgiveness, and basketball.

Ramona is a shy 16-year-old who loves cosplay. After she leaves a picture of her cosplay character with a poem in her crush’s locker, the two start communicating via email. In class, though, she can’t seem to work up the courage to talk to that same crush, Caleb. But when Caleb suddenly starts working at the same restaurant she does, the two form a friendship that forces Ramona to re-evaluate their internet relationship. NerdCrush is a sweet young YA romance about finding the courage to be oneself, especially on the journey toward finding true love.

I just adored this new young adult novel about high schooler Aisha who, nudged by the writing prompt of her college admission essay, decides to change her life by stepping outside her comfort zone. Her manifesto includes many bucket list items but mostly revolve around Brian Wu, the boy she’s loved since childhood. The earnest voice, longing, and complete relatabilty in this novel make it a winner in my book — not to mention the sweetest love interest! Hand to fans of To All the Boys and fans of YA with awkward, messy, and ambitious female leads. Some mild languague.

This was very sweet, all about a boy who can’t seem to work up the courage to tell his crush how he feels! I loved the message of putting yourself out there instead of living in your head. I also liked that while we’re in Darren’s head, we learn enough about his love interest that she’s not just a manic pixie dream girl. Lovely teen-parent relationships and main characters who attend church without it being a preachy book. Really fun and perfect for younger teens with nearly no language!

I LOVED this verse novel told from the perspective of young Lettie, her mother Sylvie, and a teenage teacher, Philomena, about their perilous journey from 1870s Mississippi to Nebraska during the Great Migration. With narrators of varying ages, this suspenseful, at times heartbreaking story has plenty to offer readers between the ages of 9 and 13 and would make a great readaloud for families with older kids.

Set in 1913, Mexico, Petra Luna is forced to flee with her Abuelita and siblings when the Revolution reaches their small village. Despite her grandmother’s chiding that escaping to the US is simply “barefoot dreams,” Petra Luna is determined to reach for a better life. This was fantastic on audio and utterly moving to read.

This young adult thriller for fans of McManus’s One of Us is Lying follows four Native teenagers under suspicion for the murder of a classmate. It integrates the Missing Indigenous Women issue with other challenges of Native Americans, one of the teens is half Native, and another one is raising his sister because his drug-addict father has abandoned them. I loved seeing the way this mystery came together, and the culprit was definitely shocking. Although this one has a slower start and picks up around the 20% mark, I think it will appeal to 7th-grade readers and older.

Thirteen-year-old Maddie is on her community’s swim team and loves hanging out with her friends at the community pool her parents run. Her one big issue is that a boy in her class, Lucas, wants to date her and won’t take no for an answer even though Maddie isn’t interested. When she rejects his gift of a snow globe, odd vandalism incidents start happening at the pool, threatening her parents’ source of income and causing them to consider selling to a bigger sports company. Maddie feels sure that Lucas is responsible and teams up with her friend Esmeralda to get to the bottom of the mystery. But are they on the right track? This is an enjoyable, insightful, and summer-infused debut about navigating unwanted advances, managing anxiety, and maintaining good friendships.

When Oli finds a girl buried alive in the same spot where her murdered sister was discovered, she’s convinced that the two disappearances are linked. She and the newly discovered girl start to trace clues, leading them to uncover a sinister serial kidnapper, murky family history, and friends who aren’t what they seem. This one took me on a WILD ride, and I was invested from start to finish, although the ending still left a couple of questions unanswered.

Sincerely Sicily features young Panamanian-American Sicily who’s dealing with a major social upheaval: she’s changing schools. After planning to coordinate first-day-of-school outfits and looking up each other’s schedules, she won’t be attending the same middle school as her best friends (the group calls themselves the Tether Squad). At the new school, Sicily, fortunately, reconnects with an old friend and decides to do her first school project on the culture of the Panamanian people. But her classmates protest the fact that she — a Black girl–can’t possibly be Latin American. Sicily is rattled. Sincerely Sicily is a sweet, triumphant debut middle grade novel about being Afro-Panamanian, finding pride in your roots, and discovering the joy of writing. Grades 6+

My favorite Korman book yet. It’s about Trey and his conman father, who moves from town to town, scamming wealthy people in his orbit under the claim that the rich won’t miss their money. At first, Trey admires his father’s scamming skills, viewing him as smart, but when they move to Boxelder, a town with a rich area called The Pointe, Trey finds friends with whom he really gets along, and starts getting concerned about his father’s schemes. This is a solid, suspenseful mystery about ethics when it’s right to steal, activism, changing your mind, morality, and growing up. It will make a great discussion book and fans of Korman’s books will gobble it up.

When Skye’s brother, who’s been missing for the past couple of years, returns, Skye isn’t convinced that the boy in their home is Finn. He can’t seem to remember memories they shared when they were younger or the special sibling code words they made up. So Skye decides to investigate for herself, and the results are both heartbreaking and heartwarming. This is a richly drawn, introspective mystery about an unbreakable sibling bond and a fractured family in repair.

Stevie is a five-foot-ten 7th grader who becomes even more aware of her height when older guys start noticing her in public. It doesn’t help that her best friend says guys prefer girls who are shorter than they are, and her parents never seem to have enough money to buy her new clothes–even though her brother gets whatever he wants. When Stevie joins the debate club, she finally feels like she has her thing, but self-esteem woes threaten to thwart her success. This story was painful to read. I felt Stevie’s growing pangs and was enraged at her parents for most of this book, although they do redeem themselves later. Tall kids–especially girls–struggling to accept their heights/bodies or dealing with unwanted attention will relate strongly to Stevie’s issues in this engaging novel.

After his stepdad goes to jail for violating his parole and hitting his mom, Trev feels like he needs to get bigger and stronger to protect them when his stepdad is released. But is fighting back the best way? This is a slim, poignant look at what life is like for some kids and why it’s easy to feel like throwing hands is the most effective way to stay safe. The author shows that with community and education, there can be more far-reaching positive effects.

Allie and Sage are forced together when their families’ plan to swap houses goes awry. Allie is a British girl living in the countryside who is preparing to be a spy when she grows up. She’s also the (overlooked, she feels) middle child, stuck between a teen brother and a talkative little sister. Sage is an only child in sunny California, growing up with parents who seem to be growing apart. She gets more worried when she discovers that only her mom will be coming with her to the English countryside. Both girls realize that they have more in common than they think and decide to help each other — Ally with Sage’s parents and Sage with being Allie’s friend. The House Swap is a cozy, charming middle grade book about family (history & secrets), new friendships, and navigating parental divorce.

I LOVE this book! I couldn’t put it down, and it had me on the edge of my seat so many times. The fact that the main character has kleptomania, the whole witness protection plot, and a genuinely interesting protagonist (among many other things) make this story enjoyable. 10/10 would recommend.

The first book in Kwame Alexander’s latest series about the journey of a family from Africa to America is a Roots retelling for the new generation. Kofi Offin lives in Upper Kwanta with his parents and siblings, warned regularly not to prowl the streets or go swimming (a pastime of his) at night. Caught up in his daily routines and preparing to contest against his cousin in a swimming match, Kofi’s life suddenly takes a scary turn when he is abducted and sold as a slave. This book has an awfully SLOW start but picks up just around the halfway mark — I hope the verse format keeps readers going (I loved the audiobook). The second half of this book is gripping and compelling, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. It’s a brilliant and necessary ode to storytelling, a beautiful look at the history of many African Americans, and a truly heartwarming celebration of African culture.

Raj and Iqbal are two best friends, one Hindu and one Muslim, who lived in Singh just before India’s partition. After the country’s independence, Raj and his family are forced to flee, encountering many hardships along the way as they struggle to resettle in Bombay. Raj is not great at math and prefers to be in the kitchen (the place of the women, according to his father), much to his father’s chagrin. But that love for food ends up saving them as his mom starts using food as a source of income. There’s plenty of sibling strife as Raj feels far from his older brother and, at times, jealous of his little sister Maya, who goes missing during the partition. While The Night Diary is more introspective, this book truly digs deep into what really happened to families during this time of grand migration and is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn about that time period. It is unflinching, beautifully written, and doesn’t shy away from hard events. 

Thirteen-year-old Ava lives in 80s California and loves to catch a wave with her best friend, Phoenix, whom she’s beginning to crush on. Her mom is a single mother and her dad lives in Iran with his new family and rarely contacts them. Amidst all the drama, Phoenix’s lymphoma returns aggressively, and he doesn’t want to pursue treatment anymore. Can Ava convince him to keep trying? Wave by Diana Farid is a lyrical, captivating, and heartwrenching middle grade verse novel about first crushes, surfing, and the grief of losing a friend.

I was skeptical (as I am of all superhero stories) of this book, especially because I thought it was more supernatural than sci-fi. But I’m happy to report that I was hooked from the very first chapter of its audiobook. Coal is a foster kid taken in by the boisterous McKay family when his foster parent has a mental breakdown. Not long after, he realizes that his skin has camouflaging abilities, essentially making him invisible. This is more than a superhero origin story with plenty of family humor (for fans of The Vanderbeekers), lots of male friendship banter, musings on the foster care system, and a heartwarming ode to Black history and culture. I can’t wait for book two, and I expect young, hesitant readers to love this if they crack open the first couple of pages.

When Rahim’s friend Kasia gifts him her newest invention, he has no idea that it’s a time travel device. Rahim ends up in 1997 meeting his father as a tween before he became the strict dad he is. Can Kasia get him back in time for dinner–and before his actions change the future? Hand this funny, suspense-filled sci-fi release to fans of time travel stories.

Ike Pressure is an Army Brat living in Mercury, Nevada. His parent are both in the military even though he isnt sure exactly what they do. When Eesha, an old family friend, moves into the area with her parents and twin siblings, full of alien conspiracy theories, and Ike stumbles on an old radio with an intriguing code, the two kids discover that there’s more to Mercury Nevada than meets the eye. Don’t read the descriptions of this one — just dive in. It was so much more fun that way and this story is full of surprises. It’s short and not bogged down with too many descriptions or dialogue, which allows it to be propulsive enough and engaging for sci-fi fans and skeptics alike.

In a world where all the books have been destroyed, one girl embarks on a journey to find the last library. This dystopian middle grade book is thrilling and suspenseful. I loved the premise and the overarching theme of books as knowledge and knowledge as power. While the world-building could be better, I enjoyed the humor and friendship, and I think some dedicated dystopian readers will love this, especially if they’re book lovers, too.