Back to School Fiction for Teens
Get your mind ready for the fall by reading these great school stories. GN = graphic novel
MS = middle school (Created July 2026)
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Band Nerd
Lucy’s dedication to playing the flute for the school band knows no bounds and helps her deal with her dad’s reliance on alcohol. But another girl is equally determined to be the best, and their competitive streaks may hurt them both. GN MS
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Coach
Before he becomes Coach, young Otie Brody is a sprinter on his school’s track team with two idols: Olympian Carl Lewis and his father, who gives him a pair of Jordans. When the Jordans disappear one morning, Otie has to figure out who took them and how he can get them back. MS
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Fireblooms
Sebas leaves his papa and abuela to care for his estranged mother and attend a new high school. Student ambassador Lu helps Sebas integrate with the TECH system at school, which blocks all hate speech but limits regular speech as well. When Sebas resists TECH, Lu questions their relationship and the city threatens to withhold cancer treatment for Sebas’s mother. Can he fix this?
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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King of Nothing
Anton is the “king” of his school mostly due to his friends’ awe of his incarcerated father. After one fight too many, Anton is ordered to volunteer in the community, where he meets Matthew, a boy whose gentle nature challenges Anton’s sense of masculinity.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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King of the Neuro Verse
Pernell, who has undiagnosed ADHD, navigates his third summer in school with a bullying English teacher and a gift for impromptu rap battles in the cafeteria.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Love Me Tomorrow
Emma’s skepticism about love stems from watching her parents’ bitter divorce, so when her grandfather persuades her to make a wish, she asks for proof of love. When she receives letters from someone who knows specific details of her life and claims to be from her future, she wonders who is sending them: her dear longtime classmate, her gifted musical tutor, or the rich boy whose house she cleans? MS
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Lying, Stealing, and Other Ways to Save the Planet
High school reporter John tries to blackmail and humiliate the students who cruelly pranked him. When he learns that the boys who pranked him belong to a family whose country club is going to pave over the bird sanctuary John’s grandfather fought to save, he knows there is nothing that can stop him from bringing them down, not even his best friend.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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One Word, Six Letters
Dayton yells a homophobic slur during a school assembly and must face the consequences. Farshid thinks the slur was directed at him, and now he must face the truth of who he is. MS
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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This Could All Go Bad
Risk-averse Jensen joins his friends in an all-night dare contest to face his fears, impress his crush, and save his friendship when huge secrets are revealed. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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This Thing of Ours
Ossie recovers from a career-threatening injury and must join a creative writing class to have a chance at getting into college. When the teacher is threatened by some of the other students for being woke, Ossie must work with his two new friends to find his voice if he is to be able to help her keep her job.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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