Back to School Books

With the sequel, A Copycat Conundrum, coming in 2025, the time is now to check out our Children’s Book Awards overall winner, The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum. For any kids out there that feel outcasted or othered at school, The Misfits is a fantastic (and fantastically fun) reminder that it’s okay to be weird. With mysteries afoot, this oddball group of friends makes it easy for readers to see themselves on the page.

Vibrant, colorful artwork brings this heartfelt graphic novel to life. It’s the story of a young girl overcoming her fear of the water on the school swim team. Johnnie Christmas blends historical fact with fiction, delivering a fun, informative and powerful read of courage and resilience. This is the kind of book that gives young readers the perspective needed to be the best version of themselves.

For any readers out there with sibling rivalries, look no further. This is the story of two sisters who never got along, navigating a school of cliques and factions, drama and politics. But there is one thing these sisters share: a love of fencing. Could that be what holds them together, or will it only drive them further apart? Duel is hilarious, heartfelt and immensely relatable.

It’s not easy being the new kid, especially when you don’t look like everyone else. This instant classic (which also won the Newbery) is about existing in two worlds and not belonging in either. It’s the story of finding yourself so that others can find you too. Any readers struggling to fit in at school or in general will find characters on the page that reflect their struggle. And they’ll also find the kind of humor that makes reading kids’ books so much fun.

Jay begins his freshman year of high school with a flurry of emotions, and thus begins the journey to sort through them all, figure out who he is, what he enjoys, who is a friend and who isn’t. It’s all the things young minds face when stepping into high school for the first time, making A For Effort a tremendous resource for adolescents hoping to make the most of their burgeoning new feelings.

Gordon Korman just gets what it is to be a middle schooler, and here he takes a fresh and hilarious (albeit slightly traumatizing) happenstance and turns it into Schooled. It’s the story of Cap, formerly homeschooled, now in middle school, and his new gig as the class president. Getting him elected was a prank at his expense, but now he has to make the most of it. It’s a fun and meaningful fish-out-of-water narrative that hits all the right notes.