The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm

Imagine if a 14-year-old kid named Melvin showed up at your house and told you he was really your grandpa? That's what happens to Ellie at the beginning of this book. Grandpa is a scientist who has discovered the "fountain of youth," and he needs Ellie to help him break into his research lab and steal an important jellyfish. Yes, it's a strange story, but the characters are likable and the pages fly by as you meet Ellie's actor parents, her newly sporty former best friend, and her interesting new friend, Raj. Ellie adjusts to middle school, learns a bit about her strengths, and dares to ask the question, can science go too far? This is a fun book for 3rd-6th graders.

The Vine Basket by Josanne La Valley

Mehrigul is a 14-year-old girl who belongs to a group of people living in East Turkestan. Her language and people are called Uyghur, but the Chinese have invaded their land and control everything. Mehrigul longs to stay in school, but her father wants her to work on their farm, and her mother is depressed and unable to speak up for her. So she works the land and lives in fear that her father will send her to work in a Chinese factory far away. On market day, things change for Mehrigul. She encounters an American woman who pays her a huge amount of money for a decorative basket made of vines that Mehrigul has made. The woman says she will return in three weeks to buy more of the baskets. Mehrigul begins to dream of being an artisan and helping her family with the money, but her father, who gambles and drinks, has other plans for her.