You've survived 8th grade, high school is waiting for you! You may wonder, is summer even enough time to get ready? When I started high school, I was leaving the majority of my friends behind in junior high school. It felt like I had to start all over again. Would I make any new friends? That summer, I spent every second I could with my Drama Club friends. May these favorite reads of mine assist you in prepping for the arrival of your first days in high school.
In Top Story, the next installment of Kelly Yang's Front Desk series, follow Mia Tang's adventures in San Francisco's Chinatown over winter break. Mia quickly discovers she is the only middle school student among a group of high schoolers from around the country in the exclusive journalism camp. Meanwhile, she is also coming to terms with her feelings about her two best friends, Lupe and Jason. Where will Mia's adventures lead?
You can just feel the sheer excitement of graduation around the corner at the end of the school year. Imagine finding out you need to complete community service hours just before you graduate. That's exactly what happens to five Spanish-speaking kids, George, Sara, Dayara, Nico and Miguel in Invisible! They discover that they have more in common with each other than they thought as they team up in their last days at Conrad Middle School. With text in English and Spanish, this modern day Breakfast Club tale will appeal to fans of Drama and New Kid.
Getting to a take a school trip to five European countries in three weeks sounds amazing, right?! Dan Santat didn't think so. Find out why by following his travel adventures from Paris to Switzerland to London in his graphic novel memoir, A First Time for Everything. What will be your favorite first that Dan experiences? Mine was when he sees the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick your Ass gets right to the point. Piddy Sanchez is the new girl at Daniel Jones High and is seen as "not Latina enough" and "stuck up." To top it off, Piddy is also grappling with first love, new friendships and her best friend, Mitzi Ortega, recently moving away from Queens. Can she survive her sophomore year with all this turmoil? This all too-real high school story shows how Piddy is able to embrace her heritage while standing up for herself.
You don't need to love basketball to enjoy The Crossover. Told in free verse and hip hop poetry, readers follow seventh grade twins, Josh and Jordan Bell, through Josh's eyes. Basketball Rule #1 was my favorite one. "In this game of life your family is the court and the ball is your heart. No matter how good you are, no matter how down you get, always leave your heart on the court." Which basketball rule will be your favorite?
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