Stories about Friendship for Middle Schoolers

Although Jeff and Tad, encouraged by a new friend, Lindsey, make a deal to help one another overcome aftereffects of their cancer treatments in preparation for eighth-grade graduation, Jeff still craves advice from his older brother Stephen, who is studying drums in Africa.

Edgar Award–winning novelist Frances O’Roark Dowell explores the shifting terrain of middle-school friendship in this follow-up to the beloved The Secret Language of Girls. 

Eggs is a quirky and moving novel about two very complicated, damaged children. Despite their age difference (David is 9, Primrose is 13), they forge a tight yet tumultuous friendship, eventually helping each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

Winner of the Newbery Medal Winner. The National Book Award. #1 New York Times Bestseller.

A modern classic in which boys are forced to dig holes day in and day out. The main character tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.

This outstanding book for children is the sensitive portrayal of a boy who struggles to hide his dyslexia from his friends. Based on the author’s personal experience as a dyslexic, this novel is drawn from real insight.

Clandestine e-mail exchanges, secret trips, fake press releases, and a tree-house standoff are among the clever stunts and pranks the kid heroes pull in this exciting ecological adventure. 

For an eighth grader, Molly Williams has more than her fair share of problems.

Over the course of one baseball season, Molly must figure out how to redefine her relationships to things she loves, loved, and might love: her mother; her brilliant best friend, Celia; her father; her enigmatic and artistic teammate, Lonnie; and of course, baseball.

With their mother caring for relatives in Israel and their father driving a cab all hours of the day, Roxanne and her sister, Gayle, spend a lot of time watching television reruns of Little House on the Prairie, The Brady Bunch, and Wonder Woman — perfect examples of perfect Americans. Roxanne is desperate to be like them.

When Liat, a fellow Israeli, moves into the “Cursed House” next door, things begin to change and Roxanne realizes that maybe real life isn’t like TV—maybe it’s even better. 

1999 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. 

With understated elegance, Kimberly Willis Holt tells a compelling coming-of-age story about a thirteen-year-old boy struggling to find himself in an imperfect world. At turns passionate and humorous, this extraordinary novel deals sensitively and candidly with obesity, war, and the true power of friendship.

Here is a story about how life, like sports, can be unpredictable, frustrating, and exhilarating. 

Top of the Order by John Coy is part of the 4 for 4 series, an action-packed middle grade series for young readers about four boys from diverse backgrounds who deal with family, friendship, and school situations.

With the Dragon Wars over, Creel finds herself bored with life as a seamstress.

Then word comes that a bordering country has been breeding dragons in preparation for an invasion.

Never one to miss out on the action, Creel throws herself headlong into an adventure that will reunite her with Shardas, the king of the dragons, pit her against a vicious new dragon, and perhaps rekindle a friendship with Prince Luka. 

In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride.

But when Rowley’s star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend’s newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion. 

Violet Raines is happy with things just the way they are in her sleepy Florida town, but when Melissa moves to town from big-city Detroit, all of a sudden things seem like they’re changing whether Violet likes it or not.

It’ll take a few run-ins with lightning and a whole lot of courage for her to realize that growing up doesn’t have to mean changing who you are.

It’s not always easy being friends with a witch, but it’s never boring.

At first an apprentice and then a journeyman witch, Elizabeth learns to eat raw eggs and how to cast small spells.

And she and Jennifer collaborate on cooking up an ointment that will enable them to fly. That’s when a marvelous toad, Hilary Ezra, enters their lives. And that’s when trouble starts to brew.

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. 

The last thing Harry “Dit” Sims expects when Emma Walker comes to town is to become friends. Proper-talking, brainy Emma doesn’t play baseball or fish too well, but she sure makes Dit think, especially about the differences between black and white in the 1910s.

But soon Dit is thinking about a whole lot more when the town barber, who is black, is put on trial for a terrible crime. Together Dit and Emma come up with a daring plan to save him from the unthinkable.

The Wild Girls brilliantly explores friendship, the power of story, and how coming of age means finding your own answers.