New & Coming Soon
Books for Middle Schoolers
November 2025
Click on the title to check availability, and to log in and place holds online. 
To place holds by phone, please call us at (708) 366-5205. 
During library hours, you can also chat directly with us by clicking on this link to our website: www.riverforestlibrary.org
 
Fiction
Their Just Desserts by Tracy Badua
Their Just Desserts
by Tracy Badua

Baker extraordinaire Laila Thomas and budding journalist Lucy Flores are living it up at the top of the junior high food chain as eighth graders. But between busy schedules and kinda-boyfriends, these two best friends haven't gotten to hang out as much. So, when Jaden, an ex-competition rival, begs the duo to step back into the world of cooking competitions and crime--the answer is yes. Jaden is desperate: His father is accused of stealing prized jewels on the set of an amateur kids' holiday baking show. The plan is for Laila to smash the competition while Lucy investigates behind the scenes--but their half-baked plan gets turned totally upside down when Lucy ends up in front of the cameras instead. As the investigation and competition heat up, Lucy and Laila's bond is put to the ultimate test. Can they solve this bakeoff mystery, or will they--and their friendship--crack under pressure?-Provided by publisher.
Moonleapers, Book 1: Moonleapers by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Moonleapers, Book 1: Moonleapers
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

A girl learns she's part of a network of time travelers who fight evil in this suspenseful series starter--
Chris Makes a Friend by Alex Gino
Chris Makes a Friend
by Alex Gino

From the award-winning author of Melissam a sweet and tart story about unexpected friendship and family reconciliation.
This is not the summer Chris had planned...Chris does not want to be spending the summer with her grandparents and her little sister. Her grandparents aren't bad -- they just don't let Chris do what she wants to do, which is sit around and read all day. And her sister, Becca, is the opposite, never sitting still and never being quiet. The good part is that Chris's grandparents are always telling her to go outside and get some air -- so she can escape into the woods with a book and get some alone time. Or at least it's alone time until Mia comes along. Mia is also in town for the summer, and she understands Chris in a way that Chris's family just can't. Soon Chris is sneaking off to spend as much time with her friend as possible. But is there more to Mia than Mia is saying?
How to Free a Jinn by Raidah Shah IDIL
How to Free a Jinn
by Raidah Shah IDIL

When twelve-year-old Insyirah moves back to Malaysia to care for her ailing grandmother, she discovers she not only has the power to control jinn, but she will soon inherit one.
Bad Cheerleader by Alex Thayer
Bad Cheerleader
by Alex Thayer

A dyslexic bookworm joins her school's cheerleading squad to investigate her sister's strange behavior in this insightful and sharp middle grade novel about the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. Seventh grader Bag loves to read. It doesn't come easy to her, thanks to her dyslexia, but she's determined, and she spends every afternoon after school at the library. It's a ritual she refuses to miss. Then a new career opportunity for her mother means Bag will no longer have a ride to her cherished library. Instead, Bag will have to wait for a ride at school. With her sister, Minerva. At cheerleading practice. Bag is uncoordinated and completely uninterested in school spirit. But she is curious about what her sister has been hiding. Minerva has been acting stranger than usual, and Bag has been noticing. So while cheerleading practice may be the last place Bag wants to be, she's going to use her time wisely and get to the bottom of Minerva's secrets.
The Last Ember: The Aerimander Chronicles Book 1 by Lily Berlin Dodd
The Last Ember: The Aerimander Chronicles Book 1
by Lily Berlin Dodd

Twelve-year-old Eva and orphan Dusty race against time to keep a rare aerimander egg, an unhatched dragon-like creature, out of the wrong hands.
Nonfiction
Delish the How-To Cookbook for Young Foodies: 75 Skills + Recipes That'll Make You a Great Cook for Life by Joanna Saltz
Delish the How-To Cookbook for Young Foodies: 75 Skills + Recipes That'll Make You a Great Cook for Life
by Joanna Saltz

Boost a budding foodie's kitchen confidence with a beginner-friendly cookbook, organized from simple techniques to more complex ones, that includes step-by-step photos and instructions for 35 essential cooking techniques, 50 recipes and fun food facts--
An Immense World (Young Readers Edition): How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets by Ed Yong
An Immense World (Young Readers Edition): How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets
by Ed Yong

Did you know that there are turtles who can track the Earth's magnetic fields? That some fish use electricity to talk to each other? Or that giant squids evolved their enormous eyeballs to look out for whales? The world is so much BIGGER and more immense than we humans experience it. We can only see so many colors, we can only feel so many sensations, and there are some senses we can't access at all. Exploring the amazing ways animals perceive the world is an excellent way to help understand the world itself. And this young readers adaptation of the mega-bestseller AN IMMENSE WORLD is perfect for curious kids and their families. Sure to capture young readers' interest it is filled amazing animal facts and stunning full-color illustrations. Along the way are tons of amazing animal facts: Did you know that leopard pee smells like popcorn? That there is a special kind of shrimp whose punches are faster than a bullet? That it's important to take your dog for dedicated smell walks? Want to know the real reason zebras have stripes? (hint: it's not for camouflage)? Pick up this enthralling and enormously entertaining book to find out!--Provided by publisher.
How the Ghost Army Hoodwinked Hitler: The Story of American Artistry and Deception in World War II by Rebecca Siegel
How the Ghost Army Hoodwinked Hitler: The Story of American Artistry and Deception in World War II
by Rebecca Siegel

The unbelievable true story of the American soldiers who used inflatable tanks and fake radio broadcasts as weapons in World War II. Right around D-Day of World War II, a small, unarmed American army unit deployed to Nazi-occupied France. Instead of artillery, this unit fought with stagecraft, artistry, and deception. Their weapons included inflatable rubber tanks and giant speakers broadcasting fake military maneuvers. The soldiers called themselves the Ghost Army. Many of them had creative backgrounds in fashion, theater, and music, and they used their talents to trick and confuse the enemy. Often, their mission was to draw enemy fire away from other soldiers and toward themselves. One of the most stunning parts of this story is just how effective the Ghost Army was. They successfully carried out mission after mission and undeniably helped secure Allied victory. Rebecca Siegel uses original research, declassified records and photos, and a boots on the ground narrative style to tell the incredible experiences of these heroic soldiers.
Graphic Novels & Manga
Hikaru in the Light! (Volume 1) by Mai Matsuda
Hikaru in the Light! (Volume 1)
by Mai Matsuda

Middle-school student Hikaru Ogino is known as the songbird of her family's bathhouse in Tokyo. Her beautiful singing echoes from room to room as she cleans up after school, but she dreams of holding a microphone, not a mop! When her best friend, Ran -- a former girl group idol -- invites her to try out for a pop star survival camp together, it's the chance of a lifetime to put her talents to the test. Can Hikaru outshine the competition and make her stage debut, or will she fall flat?--
Sugar Shack: (A Graphic Novel) by Lucy Knisley
Sugar Shack: (A Graphic Novel)
by Lucy Knisley

It's winter at Peapod Farm with Jen still learning a lot about living life outside the city, and with her stepsister Andy, she'll have a chance to understand what it means to be family.
Agent Cupcake by Mel Hilario
Agent Cupcake
by Mel Hilario

Go undercover and crack the case in Agent Cupcake, perfect for fans of Mac B. Kid Spy and Spy School! Twelve-year-old Miguel Mangayayam has always loved one thing: mystical beasts. So he's thrilled when he's hired by the Mystical Beasts Bureau (MBB) to be their first ever human spy where he'll use his encyclopedic knowledge of hippogriffs, mermaids, dragons, and more to solve the latest cases. Even better? He's partnered with the supercool unicorn superspy, Agent Cupcake! Together, they'll go undercover, gather intel, crack codes, and collect clues to solve the MBB's toughest mysteries. But when they receive reports that unicorns are losing their magical powers, Miguel and Agent Cupcake will have to put their spy skills to the test to figure out why, even if it means going up against a mega corporation like HOARD. Could someone be trying to steal magic to put unicorns out of business? Join the MBB and solve the case in the candy-colored mystical world of Agent Cupcake, all while learning facts about real life spies and spycraft!
River Forest Public Library
735 Lathrop Ave, River Forest, Illinois 60305
(708) 366-5205

https://www.riverforestlibrary.org/