Ms. Kochel's Book Blog

I've been a middle school librarian for over 27 years and I believe that middle school kids deserve great books! Learn more at youngteenlit.com

Monday, February 16, 2026

Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer

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  Ezra Cloud is a Native kid living in the city. He hates it there but his dad is a professor of Ojibwe language with a job in Minneapolis. ...

Westfallen by Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares

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  Imagine if your actions today could change absolutely everything about the society you live in. Henry, Frances, and Lukas are three modern...

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Kaylani is spending a few weeks on Martha's Vineyard with family friends when a local teenager goes missing. When it is determined that ...
Monday, January 12, 2026

Slugfest by Gordon Norman

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  Yash is a JV football star looking forward to a summer of football practices before his freshman year of high school begins. When he gets ...

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Kids are clamoring for this series from the author of The Inheritance Games series. The Naturals was first published in 2014 but has had a...
Monday, January 05, 2026

Dropping Beats by Nathanael Lessore

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  Dropping Beats is the rare book for teens that had me laughing out loud multiple times. Growls, a highly confident 13-year-old rapper fro...

Outsider Kids by Betty C. Tang

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  I wasn't expecting to love this book even more than Parachute Kids , but the continuing story of the Lin siblings is even more compell...
Monday, December 22, 2025

Wish I Was a Baller by Amar Shah

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  In 1995 when author Amar Shah was a ninth grade sports journalist, he had the opportunity to meet and report on some of the greatest playe...
Wednesday, December 10, 2025

The Dysfunctional Family's Guide to Murder by Kate Emery

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  The Dysfunctional Family's Guide to Murder by Kate Emery is thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery with a quirky, funny 14-year-old Austr...
Sunday, November 30, 2025

The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez

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 Yulieta Lopez should have gotten the lead in the school play. But the role goes to a white girl whose looks fit the character in the tradit...
Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Away by Megan Freeman

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  I am a big fan of Alone by Megan Freeman, the story of a 12-year-old girl who lives on her own for 3 years after being left behind in a m...
Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Confessions from the Group Chat by Jodi Meadows

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  Virginia is a popular girl with an enviable friend group, but she hides her love of the library and her crush on social-outcast Greyson fr...
Saturday, August 09, 2025

Top Heavy by Rhonda DeChambeau

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  Esme is a 15-year-old dancer who has worked her whole life to make the elite dance team. When she and her best friend get the coveted spot...

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

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  Maddie's Dad is a secret service agent, and when a plot to kill the First Lady of the United States goes wrong, he quits the secret se...

I Witnessed: The Lizzie Borden Story: A Graphic Novel by Jeramey Kraatz (Author)and Crystal Jayme (Illustrator)

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  Middle school kids are very interested in murder mysteries, so this graphic novel caught my attention. It features a 14-year-old boy who i...
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