Like many lists on important topics, this list of middle grade books on bullying has been on my mind for a long time. I was bullied in elementary school and also in what Americans call high school. it is quite easy for all kinds of children to be bullied and it can make children feel lonely, small and helpless. Parents often don’t know their children are being bullied, and even when they do, they may be dismissive or their desire to help seems to make things worse.
I wish I had these books about bullying when I was between 8 and 12 years old. In this list, you’ll find books where bullying is a major subplot. for several of these books, bullying is the plot. I like that in these stories, the harassers don’t succeed because the harassed party finally speaks up, shuts up the aggressor by winning him over, or finds someone else to speak for them. In some of these books, readers will get a glimpse into the minds of bullies and see how they are often driven by their own insecurities. Hopefully, overall, your kids will find these middle grade books about bullying empowering.
You are reading: Books on bullying for middle school
Just a note that while most of these books have already been published, I’ve also included a few upcoming titles, so feel free to bookmark it and come back to it as more are published.
let’s get started. click on the book covers to go to their amazon pages.
Disclaimer: I use affiliate links for amazon and will earn a cent or two if you buy using these links. it’s a great way to support a blog(ger) you love.
best high school books on bullying
Out of Place
Published: June 4, 2019
Twelve-year-old cove bernstein’s year has gone from bad to worse. First, her best friend, Nina, moved from Martha’s Vineyard to New York City. Then, with no girl around, Cove became the target of a bullying campaign at school. escape seems impossible.
but opportunities can appear when you least expect them. Cove’s visit to a thrift store leads her to a surprising opportunity to visit Nina, but only if she can win a coveted spot in a kids-only design competition. Cove can’t sew, but her friend at the retirement home, Anna, has promised to teach her. And things start to look up when a new kid at school, Jack, starts showing up everywhere Cove goes.
then cove makes a big mistake. one that could ruin everything good that has happened to him this year. one she doesn’t know how to undo.
stay with me
Looks like izzy’s best friend is ditching her for the queen of evil, daphne toll. izzy wants to fit in and have real friends, but all she has is pictures of her. and then her family rents her house for winter break for some extra money, and the daughter of that family sleeps in izzy’s room and attends the same camp!
wren is focused on perfecting her ice skating routine after failing at sectionals last year. But when Ella’s sister qualifies for life-changing treatment for her epilepsy, Ella Wren is taken to a rented house near Boston. It doesn’t help that she’s forced to attend the local drama camp, where it seems the mean girls have a thing for her.
will izzy and wren’s shared status as targets of phoebe and daphne bring them closer? Or will the high school drama stop them from becoming friends?
related: interview with author jennifer blecher: follow me and write for a reader
true friends
Published: May 2, 2017
shannon and adrienne have been best friends since they were little. But one day, Adrienne starts dating Jen, the most popular girl in class and leader of a circle of friends called the group. Everyone in the group wants to be Jen’s #1, and some girls will do anything to stay on top. . . even if it means bullying others.
every day is like a roller coaster for shannon now. will she and adrienne still be friends? Will she be able to defend herself? and is she in the group or not?
lucy wu’s great wall
Published: January 1, 2011
lucy wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is about to have the best year of her life. she’s ready to rule the school as a sixth grader, stand as captain of the school basketball team, and take over the room she’s always shared with her sister. However, in an instant, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, the sister of her beloved grandmother, is coming to visit for several months and staying in Lucy’s room.
Lucy’s vision of a perfect year begins to unravel, and in her place comes an unwanted roommate, thwarted birthday plans, a bully trying to scare Lucy out of the basketball team and school. china with the annoying know-it-all talent. changing lucy’s year is screwed, isn’t it?
a wonderfully funny, warm and moving story about the ways life often reveals silver linings in the most unexpected clouds.
the truth told by mason buttle
Published: January 23, 2018
Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason’s learning disabilities are exacerbated by pain. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, was found dead in the Buttle family’s orchard.
an investigation drags on, and mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why lieutenant baird won’t believe the story mason has told about that day.
Both Mason and his new friend, Tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly harassed by the other kids in their neighborhood, so they create an underground shelter for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He is desperate to find out what happened to Calvin and eventually to Benny.
but will anyone believe him?
me and the queen bee
Published: March 3, 2020
Meg has always found solace in the shadow of her best friend Beatrix. beatriz, sure of herself, is the one who makes the decisions, and the girls have been a couple since kindergarten. But high school has brought some changes to Beatrix, especially when Meg tries to break out of her role as her helper.
A special science elective is Meg’s first move, but when she’s paired with quirky new girl Hazel, Beatrix steps in to claim Meg. Meg is shocked at how mean Beatrix can be and how difficult it is to stand up to her friend. But as Meg meets Hazel while she’s working on her beehive project in the backyard, she begins to wonder: Is being friends with Beatrice worth turning down the chance to find her own voice? p>
This perfect exploration of the dynamics of high school friendship is brimming with heart and hope, and will resonate with readers of all ages.
wolf hole
Published: May 3, 2016
Despite growing up in the shadows of two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet and stable life in her small Pennsylvania town. until the day new student betty glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and although her bullying seems isolated at first, it quickly escalates. Toby, a reclusive World War I veteran, soon becomes the target of Betty’s attacks. While others see Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. And as tensions rise in her small community, Annabelle must find the courage to stand up for justice as a lone voice.
related: more middle grade historical fiction
parker’s heritage
Published: March 27, 2018
When candice finds a letter in an old attic in lambert, south carolina, she’s not sure if she should read it. she is addressed to her grandmother, who left the village in shame. but the letter describes a young woman. an injustice that happened decades ago. a mystery that surrounds the writer of it. and the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle.
So, with the help of Brandon, the quiet guy across the street, he begins to decipher the clues. The challenge will take you deep into Lambert’s story, filled with ugly deeds, unsung heroes, and great love. and deeper into their own families, with his own unspoken secrets. Will they be able to find the fortune and fulfill the promise of the letter before the answers go back to the past?
the prettiest
Published: April 14, 2020
the prettiest: she’s the last thing eve hoffmann expected to be, the only thing sophie kane wants to be, and something nessa flores-brady knows she’ll never be. . . until a list appears online, ranking the fifty prettiest girls in the eighth grade.
eva is disgusted by the way everyone around her suddenly objectifies her body. Sophie is fed up with the bullying she has endured after being relegated to number two. And Nessa is tired of everyone else trying to tell her who she is.
it’s time to remove it. As the three girls band together, they begin to stand up for not only themselves, but each other as well.
caterpillar summer
Published: April 2, 2019
the cat and his brother, the chicken, have always had a very special bond: the cat is one of the few people who can keep the chicken happy. when he has a “breakdown”, she is the one who scratches his back and reads his favorite story. she is the one who knows what the chicken needs. Since her mother has had to work twice as hard to keep her family afloat after her father passed away, the cat has been the glue that has held her family together.
But even the strongest glue sometimes has trouble holding on. When a summer trip doesn’t go as planned, the cat and the chicken end up spending three weeks with grandparents they’ve never met. For the first time in years, Cat is given the opportunity to be a girl again, and the journey she embarks on proves that even the most broken or strained relationships can be healed if people take the time to put themselves in each other’s shoes. /p>
deviated
Published: August 22, 2017
if high school were a race, joseph friedman wouldn’t even be in last place: he’d be on the sidelines. With an overactive mind and phobias of everything from boiled eggs to gargoyles, he has a hard time understanding his classes, let alone his classmates. So he spends most of his time avoiding school bully Charlie Kastner and hiding out in the resource room, a safe place for misfit kids like him.
But then, on the first day of seventh grade, two important things happen. First, his resource room teacher encourages him (I mean, practically forces him) to join the school’s track team, and second, he meets Heather, an insanely fast runner who’s not going to get pushed. by charlie kastner or anyone else. A new friend and a new team, Joseph finds himself on the sidelines and on the run (literally) for the first time. He is he a good runner? well, no, it’s terrible. But the fun thing about running is, once you’re on the run, anything can happen to him.
save me a seat
Published: May 10, 2016
joe and ravi may be from very different places, but they’re both stuck in the same place: school.
Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and was doing just fine until his best friends moved out and left him alone.
Ravi’s family just moved to the US from India, and he’s having a hard time figuring out where he fits in.
joe and ravi don’t think they have anything in common, but soon they have a common enemy (the biggest bully of their kind) and a common mission: to take control of their lives in the course of a single madness. week.
related: 6 books like save me a seat (I like to read)
the liberation of king gabriel
Published: June 16, 2005
gabriel king was a born chicken. he is afraid of spiders, dead bodies, cows on the loose, and just about anything related to fifth grade. Gabe’s best friend, Fried Wilson, thinks Gabe needs to let go of her fears. Fried knows something about being brave: she is the only black girl in school in a city with an active Ku Klux Klan. Together, Gabe and Fried spend the summer of 1976 facing Gabe’s list fears. But it turns out Frita has her own list, and while she helps Gabe face her fears, she avoids the thing that scares her the most.
published
Published: May 2, 2017
In high school, words aren’t just words. they can be weapons. they can be gifts. the right words can win you friends or make you an enemy. they may come back to haunt you. sometimes they can change things forever.
When cell phones are banned from high school, branton, frost, and their friends deedee, wolf, and bench devise a new way to communicate: leaving each other sticky notes all over the school. it catches on, and soon all the kids at school are leaving notes, though for every kind and friendly, there’s also a sharp and mean one.
In the midst of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose isn’t like anyone else at Branton High School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily accept another. As the Sticky Note War intensifies and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.
we dream of space
Published: May 5, 2020
Cash, Fitch and Bird Thomas are three brothers who are in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country eagerly awaits the launch of the challenging space shuttle, each wrestles with their own personal anxieties.
Cash, who loves basketball but has a recently broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon wreaking havoc in the main arcade, struggling with an explosive temper he doesn’t understand. and bird, her twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being the first female commander of a nasa shuttle, but she feels that she is disappearing.
The Thomas children exist in their own orbits, spinning around in a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. living room as the challenger’s release draws near, mrs. salonga gives her students a project: they are separated into spaceship crews and must create and complete a mission. when the fated day finally arrives, it changes everyone’s life and brings them together in unexpected ways.
Told in three alternating points of view, We Dream of Space is an unforgettable and thematically rich novel for middle grade readers.
farah sweeps fifth grade
Published: January 1, 2020
farah and her best friend, allie liu, are excited to submit their applications to the magnet academy, where they both hope to attend sixth grade. But when new girl Dana Denver shows up, Farah’s world is turned upside down. When Dana starts bullying Farah’s little brother, Samir, Farah begins to second-guess her decision to drop him off at Harbortown Elementary/Middle School. Determined to handle it on her own, Farah comes up with a plan, a plan that involves lying to those closest to her. Will her lies of hers catch up to her or will farah be able to find a way to take down the bully and rock the fifth grade?
mrs. the last day of bixby
Published: June 21, 2016
See Also: Writing a Book? Here&39s How Authors Make Money – DIYMarketers
everyone knows that there are different types of teachers. the boring ones, the bad ones, the ones who try too hard, the ones who gave up trying a long time ago. the ones you will never remember and the ones you want to forget. em. bixby is neither of these. she is the kind of teacher who makes you feel like school is worth it. she that she recognizes something in you that sometimes you don’t even see. who you never want to disappoint. what mrs bixby is, she is unique.
topher, brand and steve know this better than anyone. and so when mrs. bixby unexpectedly announces that she won’t be able to finish the school year, they come up with a risky plan, plus a quest, actually, to give mrs. bixby the last day she deserves. through the three very different stories they tell, we begin to understand what mrs. bixby means to each of them, and what the three mean to each other.
drive the mighty mad
Published: August 27, 2013
It has been more than twenty years, and more than two million copies, eight foreign editions, and one popular Miramax movie, since the world was introduced to this powerful story of a unique friendship between an oversized, troubled boy and his father. small, physically challenged genius who proves that courage exists in all sizes.
American cake like paneer
Published: June 9, 2020
as the only american indian girl in her small town, lekha divekar feels like she has two versions of herself: homebody lekha, who loves watching bollywood movies and eating indian food, and schoolgirl lekha, who holds her hair up with hairpins over her bindi birthmark and avoids confrontation at all costs, especially when someone makes fun of her for being Indian.
When a girl Lekha’s age moves in across the street, Lekha is thrilled to learn her name is Avantika and she’s also Desi! eventually, there will be someone else around who understands. But as soon as Avantika speaks, Lekha realizes that she has an accent. she is new to this country and looks nothing like lekha.
To Lekha’s surprise, Avantika doesn’t think the same as Lekha about having two separate lives or being bullied at school. Avantika does not take bullying in stride. and she proudly displays her culture no matter where she is: at home or at school.
When a racist incident rocks the lekha community, lekha realizes she must make a choice: remain silent or find her voice before it’s too late.
hello universe
Published: March 14, 2017
Told from four interlocking points of view (two boys and two girls), the novel celebrates bravery, being different, and finding your inner bayani (hero). “Readers will be instantly engrossed in this relatable sidekick adventure and its eclectic cast of misfits.”—book list
In one day, four lives intertwine in unexpected ways. virgil salinas is shy and good-hearted and feels out of place in his sports-loving family. valencia somerset, who is deaf, intelligent, brave and secretly lonely, and loves everything related to nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister, Gen, is always following her around. and chet bullens wishes that weird kids would stop being so different so he can focus on basketball.
They aren’t friends, at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen and Valencia on an epic quest to find the missing Virgil. Through luck, intelligence, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is made, a thug is put in his place, and friendship blossoms.
The acclaimed, award-winning author of Blackbird Fly and the Land of Forgotten Girls writes with an authentic, humorous and compelling tween voice that will appeal to fans of Thanhha Lai and Rita Williams-Garcia.
genesis begins again
Published: August 18, 2020
There are ninety-six reasons why thirteen-year-old Genesis doesn’t like herself. she knows her exact number because she keeps a list:-because her family is always kicked out of the house. -Because her father has gambling problems. and maybe also a drinking problem. because genesis knows that this is all his fault. because she wasn’t born looking like a mom. because she is too black.
Genesis is determined to fix her family and is willing to try anything to do so…even if it means hurting herself in the process. But when Genesis begins to find one or two things she really likes about herself, she discovers that changing her own attitude is the first step in helping others change.
related: q & a with alice d. williams, author of genesis begins again
reception
Published: May 29, 2018
mia tang has many secrets.
Number 1: You live in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the reception of the Calivista motel and attends to her guests.
number 2: their parents hide immigrants. and if the wicked motel owner, mr. yao find out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the tangs are doomed.
number 3: she wants to be a writer. but how can she do it when her mother thinks she should stick to math because english is not her first language?
It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will he be able to keep his job, help immigrants and guests, escape from mr. yao, and go for your dreams?
related: more middle grade Asian books
everything is fair in high school
Published: September 5, 2017
Eleven-year-old imogene (impy) has grown up with two parents who work at the renaissance fair and is eager to begin her own training as a squire. however, she will first have to prove her bravery. Luckily, Impy has a mission in mind: she’s going to go to public school after a lifetime of homeschooling! But it’s not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in high school. impy meets a group of girls who seem very nice (until they aren’t) and she begins to feel embarrassed about the thrift store clothes, her family’s unusual lifestyle, and her small apartment. and messy of it. Impy has always thought of herself as a heroic knight, but when she does something really bad to fit in, she begins to wonder if she might be more of a dragon after all.
As she did in Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson perfectly and authentically captures the bittersweet life of high school with humor, warmth, and understanding.
fish in a tree
Published: February 5, 2015
“everyone is smart in different ways. but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing that it is stupid. Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. whenever she arrives at a new school, she can hide her inability to read by creating clever but disturbing distractions. she is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure fools? however, her most recent teacher, mr. Daniels sees the bright and creative kid underneath the troublemaker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world begins to open up with possibilities. she discovers that there is much more to her, and to everyone, than a label, and that great minds don’t always think alike.
related: 7 books like a fish in a tree
and if a fish
Published: August 11, 2020
eddie aguado, half colombian, has never really felt colombian. especially after dad died. And since Mom keeps Dad’s memories locked away where Eddie can’t access them, he only has Dad’s third-place fishing tournament medal to remember him by. he will have to figure out how to be more Colombian on his own.
As if by magic, the perfect opportunity arises. Eddie, who has never left Minnesota, is invited to spend the summer in Colombia with his older half brother. But as his adventure unfolds, he feels more and more like a fish out of water.
Discovering how to be a true Colombian could be more difficult than I thought.
smile
Published: July 29, 2014
New York Times #1 Bestselling and Eisner Award-Winning Raina Telgemeier’s graphic memoir based on her childhood!
raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. but one night, after Girl Scouts, she trips and falls, badly injuring her two front teeth. what she follows is a long and frustrating journey with intermittent braces, surgery, embarrassing helmets, and even a retainer with false teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a huge earthquake, confusion of guys, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.
itch
Published: February 4, 2020
Isaac’s sixth grade year is off to a rocky start.
First, a tornado rips the roof off the school cafeteria. her mother leaves on a two-month business trip to china. and as always . . . there’s the itch. comes out of nowhere. idiopathic, meaning no one knows what causes it. It starts out small, but it spreads, and soon, it’s everywhere. that’s it. that’s why everyone calls it an itch, everyone except his best friend sydney, the only one in all of ohio who’s always on his side, ever since he moved here.
does his best to get along, until everything goes wrong in the middle of a lunch exchange. When Sydney collapses and an ambulance is called, Itch blames himself. and he is not the only one. when you don’t have any friends, wouldn’t you do something, even something you know you shouldn’t do, to get them back?
Drawing on her own experiences with idiopathic angioedema and food allergies, Polly Farquhar tells a story of children trying to balance the desire to be normal with the need to be authentic: allergies, itchiness, confusion and all.
>
maybe he just likes you
Published: October 1, 2019
Mila, a seventh grader, starts with an unwanted hug from some kids on the school blacktop. A few days later, at recess, one of the boys (and fellow trumpeter) Callum tells Mila that it’s her birthday and asks for a “birthday hug.” she’s just being nice, right? And how can she say she can’t? but callum’s hug lasts a few seconds too long and it feels… weird. according to her friend, zara, mila is being immature and exaggerated. Doesn’t she know what it’s like to flirt?
but the boys don’t leave mila alone. on the bus. in the halls during band practice, the one place mila could always escape to.
doesn’t feel like flirting, so what is it? Thanks to a chance encounter, Mila begins to find solace in a new place: karate class. slowly, with the help of a classmate, mila learns to stand her ground and respect others, and herself.
the tornado
Published: October 1, 2019
bell kirby is a systems expert, whether she’s designing the world’s most elaborate habitat for her pet chinchilla, recreating leonardo da vinci’s greatest inventions in her garage, or avoiding parker hellickson, the most diabolical bully ever. has village green elementary ever had. seen.
Since the third grade, Parker has tormented Bell, who spent two long years devising a finely tuned system that keeps him out of Parker’s way. Sure, it means that Bell can’t have a drink when he wants to, he can’t play with his best friend on the playground, and he can’t tell his parents how his day went, but at least he is safe.
until daelynn gower lands in her classroom like a tornado.
bell isn’t sure why the new girl, with her rainbow hair, wild clothes, and weird habits, is attracted to him, but he knows one thing: she means trouble. It’s bad enough that she disrupts Bell’s secret system, but when Daelynn becomes the bully’s new target, Bell is forced to make an impossible choice: finally confront Parker. . .
on thin ice
Published: July 30, 2019
ked eakins is about to lose everything.
He just found out that his father has gambled his rent money. they are going to be kicked out of their house.
but ked is determined to fight back. he hatches a plan to save his apartment by rebuilding an old minibike in his school’s manufacturing space, which he will sell for a profit.
Still, the plan is a gamble of his own: go make space forces stand in the way of a school bully, who’s haunting him for his progressive spinal condition.
Can Ked, with the help of some unexpected new friends, find a way to fix the bike and save his family from going under before it’s too late?
reserved
Published: April 5, 2016
See Also: Anna Zaires – Book Series In Order
like lightning/strike/fast and free/leg zoom/downfield/staring eyes/on the checkered ball/on goal/ten yards/nobody can stop you/nobody can catch you…
>
In this follow-up to Newbery’s award-winning novel, crossover, soccer, family, love and friendship take center stage as twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words while wrestling with the Trouble at home, he stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Helping him out are his best friend and sometimes teammate, Coby, and Mac, a rapper librarian who gives Nick inspiring books to read.
This electric and moving verse novel by poet Kwame Alexander bends and breaks as it captures all the thrills and turns, action and excitement of a World Cup match!
related: high school books more sports
good for now
Published: April 5, 2011
As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterpiece filled with equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Award winner Gary D. schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” his teachers and the police believe him to be, he finds an unexpected ally in Lil Spicer, a fiery young woman who “smelled like daisies would if they were growing in a big field under a blue sky.” Clear after a rain.” In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of an entire town, and the return of his forever-scarred older brother from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the The local library, the inspiration to learn about John James Audubon’s bird dishes, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage.In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery into a story packed with distinctive characters. and unusual and priceless lessons about love, creativity and survival.
black brother, black brother
Published: March 3, 2020
sometimes donté, 12, wishes he was invisible. as one of the few black boys in middle school, most of the students don’t look like him. they don’t like it either. By calling him “black brother,” Donté’s teachers and classmates make it clear that they wish he was more like their lighter-skinned brother, Trey.
When he is harassed and framed by the captain of the fencing team, “King” Alan, he is suspended from school and arrested.
Terrified, looking for a place where he belongs, Donté joins a local youth center and meets former Olympic fencer Arden Jones. With Arden’s help, he begins training as a competitive fencer, with his sights set on defeating the captain of the fencing team, no matter what.
As Don hones his fencing skills and gets closer to achieving his goal, he discovers that the fight for justice is far from over. Now donté must confront his thugs, racism and corrupt power systems that led to his arrest.
powerful and emotionally gripping, black brother, black brother is a careful examination of the pipeline from school to prison and follows a boy’s fight against racism and his journey of empowerment to find his voice.
courage for beginners
Published: August 12, 2014
Twelve-year-old Mysti Murphy wishes she was a character in a book. if her life was fictional, she would magically know how to deal with the fact that her best friend, aníbal gomez, has abandoned her to become a “hipster”. she could take care of everyone when her father has to spend time in the hospital. and she would certainly be able to change the secret of the family from her. 7th grade isn’t turning out the way mysti had planned. With the help of a hot-haired balloon, Ella’s new friend Rama Khan, and maybe even the heroes of the Texas Revolution, can she find the courage to change?
marvin and me gardens
Published: January 31, 2017
obe devlin is in trouble. developers have taken over his family’s farmland. his best friend tommy has abandoned him. and he keeps bleeding from the nose, from that thing he doesn’t like to talk about. so obe hangs out in the nearby creek, in the last remaining wild patch, picking up litter and looking for animal tracks.
One day, he sees a creature that looks like a large dog. and as she watches him, she realizes that he eats plastic. just plastic water bottles, shopping bags… no one has seen a creature like this before. The animal, Marvin Gardens, becomes Obe’s best friend and biggest secret. but to keep him safe, obe must make a decision that could change everything.
eighth grade super zero
Published: January 1, 2010
Since a deeply unfortunate incident earlier this year, Reggie has been known as “Pukey” McKnight at his high-intensity Brooklyn High School. he wants to change his image, but he also has other things on his mind: his father, who is out of work; his best friends, ruthie and joe c.; his old best friend, donovan, who has now turned into a jerk; and of course, the beautiful mialonie. The election for school president is coming up, but with his notorious nickname and his “nothing” social status, Reggie wouldn’t stand a chance, even if he had the courage to run. (continued)
the humiliations of pipi mcgee
Published: September 17, 2019
penelope mcgee’s first eight years of schooling have been a humbling curriculum. now she’s on a quest for redemption and a bit of revenge.
from his kindergarten self-portrait as a bacon with boobs, to fourth grade when he peed his pants in the library thanks to a stuck zipper to seventh grade where… well, not talking about seventh grade. never.
After hearing the school counselor lecture them about how high school will be a clean slate for everyone, Pipi, fearing her eight humiliations will follow her to the halls of Northbrook High School, decides to use her senior year at high school to correct the mistakes of his early education and save other innocents from the same fate of ridicule. pipi mcgee seeks redemption, but she will also take revenge.
all of me
Published: June 11, 2019
ari has body image issues. after moving across the country, her parents work selling and promoting her mother’s paintings and sculptures. Ari’s bohemian mother needs space to create, and her father is away for long periods of time on “selling” trips.
meanwhile, ari makes new friends: pick, the player; the artistic jorge and the troubled lisa. He is also relentlessly bullied because he is overweight, but he can’t tell his parents, they just aren’t close enough to listen.
After a disturbing incident, ari’s mom suggests he go on a diet and she gives him a book to help him. but the book, and the diet, cannot fix everything. As Ari deals with the demise of her parents’ marriage, she too feels a change, both emotionally and physically. here is a much needed story about embracing the imperfect in yourself and in life.
the magical imperfect
Published: June 11, 2019
etan has stopped talking since his mother left. his father and his grandfather don’t know how to help him. His friends have given up on him.
When etan is asked to deliver a grocery order on the outskirts of town, he realizes he’s at the home of malia agbayani, aka the creature. Malia stopped going to school when her acute eczema spread to her face and her bullying became too much.
As the two become friends, other kids tease Etan for meeting the creature. But he believes that he might have a cure for Malia’s condition, if only he could convince her and his family to believe it too. Even if it works, will these two outcasts find where they fit in?
related: chris baron on the magical imperfect (+gift!)
fool pack
Published: October 14, 2014
lucy knows that kissing tom lemmings behind the dance shed will make her a legend. but she doesn’t have that quick lip-clap that propels her overnight from best to worst fourth grader. Suddenly, Lucy finds herself stuck in stupidity, where a diamond ring turns your finger green, where the boy you kiss hates you three days later, where your best friend laughs while you cry, where parents seem to stop liking you. And where are the little sisters? born different.
now lucy has a choice: she can be like her ex-best friend becky who would do anything to claim her seat at the cool table in the cafeteria, or lucy can pull up a chair between the solo eaters aka Fools Still insecure, Lucy teams up with super-quiet Sam Righter on a wolf research project. Lucy connects her own school hierarchy with what she learns about pack life, where some wolves catch the weakest just because they can, and others risk everything to fight for their place in the pack. Soon Lucy finds her third option: to create her own pack, even if it’s just a pack of fools.
Weaving tough themes like bullying, loyalty, and disability with a thread of sarcastic humor, family ties, and a new perspective, Pack of Dorks paints characters coming of age and reconciling. This new paperback includes a question and answer session with the author, as well as a sample chapter from Beth Vrabel’s upcoming middle grade novel, A Blind Guide to Stinkville.
a place at the table
Published: August 11, 2020
sara and elizabeth, sixth graders, couldn’t be more different. Sara is in a new school that is completely different from the small Islamic school she used to attend. elizabeth has her own problems: her british mother has been struggling with depression. The girls meet at a South Asian cooking class after school, which Elizabeth attends because her mother has stopped cooking, and which Sara, who hates cooking, is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher. The girls form an uneasy alliance that gradually deepens, making plans to create the most amazing and delicious cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show. They are good kitchen companions. . . but can they learn to trust each other enough to become true friends?
fight words
Published: August 11, 2020
Della of Ten Tears has always had her older sister, Suki: When her mother went to prison, Della had Suki. when her mother’s boyfriend took them in, della had suki. when that same boyfriend did something so horrible he had to run fast, della had suki. suki is della’s wolf, her protector. but who has been protecting suki? Della may get scolded for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet when it matters. then suki tries to kill herself, and della’s world is turned so upside down that she feels like she’s shaking her by the ankles. she maybe she’s been quiet about the wrong things. maybe it’s time to be loud.
In this powerful novel that blasts the stigma around child sexual abuse and leavens an intense story with compassion and humor, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley tells the story of two sisters, bound by love and trauma, who must find their own voices before being able to do so. find their way back to each other.
kate in the middle
Published: May 18, 2021
12-year-old boy saves the life of his best friend.
well, that’s what the headline says. reality? kate mcallister hasn’t been friends with haddie marks in months. and the reason she had died fell through the ice in the first place? it was kate’s fault.
nothing has been the same since kate’s mom abruptly moved to utah without her. kate thought a change would help, something to make her outside look and feel better than her inside, but joining taylor tobbit’s clique has come at a price: leaving her deceased best friend in the dust. . if kate’s mom could turn her back on her old life so easily, why can’t she, kate? but being friends with a girl like taylor is not easy. especially when taylor decides that his next target is haddie. And when things spiral out of control that day on the frozen pond, with Haddie plunging into arctic-cold water and Kate rescuing her, Kate’s life becomes even more unrecognizable: she’s hailed as a hero. But Kate knows the truth…and it’s eating her up inside of her. With so much at stake, her past friendship with Haddie, her current friendship with Taylor, Kate must decide who she wants to be in the future: a liar, a follower, or something bigger?
related: claire swinarski on kate in between
clues of the universe
Published: January 12, 2021
the only thing rosalind ling geraghty likes more than watching nasa launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When she unexpectedly dies, all she is left with is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together.
Benjamin Burns doesn’t like science, but he never tires of Spacebound, a popular comic book series. when he finds a sketch that suggests his father created the comics, he gets excited. It’s a pity that his father left years ago and Benji has no way of contacting him.
Although Ro and Benji were only supposed to be science classmates, the pair become unlikely friends: Benji helps Ro finish his rocket, and Ro discovers a way to reunite Benji and his father. but benji hesitates, which angers ro. Doesn’t he realize how much I wish I could be in his place?
As the two deal with bullying, pain, and their own differences, Benji and Ro must try to piece together clues to some of the biggest questions in the universe.
emmy in code key
Published: September 24, 2019
In a new town, at a new school, twelve-year-old emmy has never felt more out of tune. Things start to look up when she takes her first coding class and unexpectedly connects with the material, and with Abigail, a new friend, through a shared language: music. but when emmy gets some bad news about his computer teacher and finds out that abigail isn’t being entirely honest about her friendship, he feels like his new life is coming to a halt. Despite these obstacles, Ella Emmy is determined to prove one thing: that she, for the first time, is not a wrong note, but a musician in the world’s most beautiful symphony.
my mixed berry blue summer
Published: May 7, 2012
Twelve-year-old June Farrell is sure of one thing: she’s great at making pies, and she plans to prove it by winning a blue ribbon at the Champlain Valley Fair Pie Competition. But a backlash against Vermont’s civil union law threatens the safety of her family and her business. Even when she faces bullying, June doesn’t give up on earning the Blue Ribbon; More importantly, she won’t give up on her family.
me and sam sam ran the apocalypse
Published: May 14, 2019
I could see the great inside of my sam-sam. He had been training it for 252 days with mini tennis balls and bacon bits, just to prove to Dad, Mom, Aunt Gus, and the whole world that a fluffy little dog could do great things if he wanted to. I think my little dog always knew that he could be a hero.
I wonder if he knew about me.
When the cops show up at Jesse’s house and arrest her dad, she quickly realizes he’s the number one suspect in the missing library fund case. With the help of her (first and only) friend of hers, Springer, she rounds up the suspects (leading to a nasty confrontation with three notorious school bullies) and asks them a lot of questions. but she can’t shake the feeling that she’s not exactly cut out to be a crime-solving hero. Jesse has a neuroprocessing disorder, which means she’s “on the spectrum or whatever.” as she explains it, “I get stuck on a lot of things, like words and phrases and numbers and smells and images and song lines and what time it’s supposed to happen.” But when a tornado hits her small town, Jesse gets a chance to show what she’s really made of and help her dad.
Told in the real voice that Susan Vaught is known for, this mystery will have you rooting for Jesse and his trusty Pomeranian, Sam-Sam.
quintessence
Published: July 28, 2020
Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later and have not stopped, even though she told her parents that they have. she longs for her home and has no friends, and every day she feels less and less of herself.
but one day he finds a telescope in the town junk shop and through its lens he sees a star, a star that looks like a child, fall from the sky and land in his backyard. he soul knows what it is to be lost and scared, to long for home, and knows that it is up to her to save the star. And so, with the help of some unexpected new friends from the astronomy club, he embarks on a quest that will require a bit of science, a bit of magic, and his whole being.
the adventure is now
Published: May 4, 2021
sometimes it’s hard being milton p. Green says all the wrong things, his family is falling apart, and everyone at school is avoiding him because of the embarrassing bird-brain incident. But when Milton plays his video game Isle of Wild, he becomes a different person: Sea Hawk, the brave and brilliant naturalist explorer who overcomes danger at every turn. Evan is an environmental researcher. The island is teeming with spectacular species, and Milton realizes this is his chance to become the brave and brilliant naturalist he’s always wanted to be, and even meet some fellow explorers!
But it turns out that the lonely island’s future is in jeopardy, and the only thing that can save it is a field guide full of cryptic clues. If Milton and his unexpected new friends are to protect the island, they’ll have to trust each other, discover new truths, and embark on a wild and wonderful adventure of their own.
Adventure Is Now is a dazzling, fun-filled story by Jess Redman.
there they are: 51 of the best books on bullying for high school students! Thank you so much to all the teachers, librarians, and authors who shared books about bullying with me in this twitter thread. It’s good to stay tuned if you want more recommendations, since I stopped adding answers on October 8th.
Have you read any of the books on this list? what are your favorite high school books about bullying? I would love to know. As you know, more recommendations are always welcome!
See Also: 30 Books About Grief – She Reads