Summer is flying by, and it will be time to go back to school before you know it. Ease into the transition with these back to school books for girls.
Stick up for Yourself! Every Kid’s Guide to Personal Power and Positive Self-Esteem
If you’re worried about bullying, peer pressure, or dealing with big emotions when you go back to school, Gershen Kaufman and Lev Raphael’s book can help. With tips for sticking up for yourself with other kids, siblings, and even adults, this guide shows you how to “store” positive experiences for when you need them most. Build your self-esteem to tackle any situation school might throw at you.
The 47 People You’ll Meet in Middle School
Wouldn’t you love to get expert middle school advice from someone who had been there? Kristen Mahoney’s book is set up as advice from an older to younger sister about the people she can expect to meet in middle school. Each chapter reveals a new encounter — from “your favorite teacher” to “the school custodian” to “that kid who talks to his lunchbox.” Get to know them along with Augusta and her sister Lou. Then consider keeping your own list of the people you meet in school this year!
The Next Great Paulie Fink
Starting a new school is never easy, and it throws some extra challenges at seventh-grader Caitlyn. Her new class has only 10 kids in it, and they’ve all known each other since kindergarten. Paulie Fink, the class oddball and evil genius, has moved away, and Caitlyn feels boring in comparison. Then her classmates decide to hold a competition to find someone to take Paulie’s place, and Caitlyn — the only person who didn’t know him — is elected judge. She learns a lot about her classmates in the process, and even more about herself in Ali Benjamin’s book.
The World Ends in April
If you knew the world was ending in a few months, how would you spend your time? That’s the question author Stacy McAnulty asked her kids and the inspiration behind her book. Although an asteroid is predicted to hit the earth, seventh-grader Eleanor feels like even the end of the world would be better than her best friend moving away and leaving her all alone in middle school. This is a book about all the big and little changes that can feel like the end of the world as you know it, even without an asteroid in sight.
Saving Fable
And of course, there’s nothing to get you into the back to school spirit like a book about magic school! To take a break from reality, dive into Scott Reinitgen’s book about Protagonist Preparatory, a place where characters go to learn to be heroes. Unfortunately for new student Indira, a failed audition leads to her being educated toward a role as a “side character.” In spite of that, can she find a way to be the hero of her own story?
More Back to School Books
Check out these additional recommendations.
Junior High Drama by Louise Simonson, Jessica Gunderson, Jane B. Mason, and Sumin Cho is a graphic novel that follows four middle-school girls as they learn to survive the school drama they can’t always escape.
For illustrated fun on the light-hearted side, check out Babymouse: Tales from the Locker by Jennifer and Matthew Holm.
In The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm, Ellie teams up with her Grandpa Melvin — who is stuck in a fourteen-year-old’s body — for a science fair project with unexpected results.
Does speaking the truth and not caring what people think of you in middle school make you mean? That’s the question Justin Sayre’s book Mean explores.
We’ve featured Kelly Starling-Lyons’ Jada Jones’ school antics before, and she’s back with her latest adventure, Dancing Queen. This time, she’s determined to learn to dance to help out at a school fundraiser.