The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McNaulty

 

Lucy Callahan is a math genius and she is only 12 years old. She was struck by lightning as a child, and it left her with incredible math ability. She lives with her grandmother and she's so far advanced academically that she has never been to middle school. Lucy wants to go straight to college, but her grandma says she has to spend one year in 7th grade and learn some social skills. Lucy reluctantly goes off the middle school. Her number one goal is to not let other students or her math teacher know she is a math genius. Lucy also has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which causes her to count every word in books she reads, tap her feet 3 times when entering a room, and sanitize her hands religiously. Lucy is fortunate to meet a friend named Windy, and they team up for a community service project at an animal shelter. They are joined by a boy named Levi, and with Lucy's influence, they use data and math to get more dogs adopted. It's a year in the life of a quirky, unique girl who has normal obstacles to overcome in spite of her unusual abilities. Lucy is joined by memorable adults characters in her grandma, her uncle Paul, and the math teacher. This book includes math of all kinds--it would make a great read-aloud for a math teacher. A thoroughly enjoyable book recommended for younger middle schoolers. 

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

 

An awkward kid goes on a 3-week school trip to Europe in 1989 in this "embarassingly true" memoir. Dan Santat is an illustrator, so it was natural for him to write up his teenage memories into a graphic novel. In this book, Dan is off on a trip to Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and England. He doesn't have any friends signed up for the trip, and doesn't even want to go, but his parents want him to see the world and he is eager to shed his middle school humiliations and missteps. As he travels from country to country, his friendship with Amy turns into his first romantic relationship, and it is helped and hindered by the other kids on the trip. He also experiences an amount of freedom that kids today would never enjoy--and along with it he has some harrowing adventures. It is rare to find a romance story for middle schoolers that is about kids who are 13 years old. The illustrations beautifully capture the sights of Europe, and the writing is full of humor and compassion for the kid that Dan once was. A wonderful story about first love and so much more that is perfect for middle schoolers (and anyone who ever was that age).