I know, I know, “best books for tween girls”, really? Of course, these books can be read by tweens (and adults) of any gender, but I wanted to make another list of stories about tween girls (I already have a list of 50 other books with female leads) discovering life. Many of these books focus on girls dealing with self-love, identity, friendship, high school drama, and much more. The books on this list are some of my absolute favorite stories, some new and some classic/background titles.
if you’ve been looking for more middle grade books for tween girls (i.e. girl centered), then this list is for you!
You are reading: Top books for tween girls
Best Books for Tween Girls
here are 25 great books for tween girls:
golden girl
Published: February 22, 2022
7th grader aafiyah loves playing tennis, reading weird but true facts, and hanging out with her best friend, zaina. However, Ella Aafiyah has a bad habit that worries her: she is attracted to pretty things and can’t help but “borrow” them from time to time.
But when her father is falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit and is taken away by the authorities, Aafiyah knows she has to do something to help. When he thinks of a way to bring his father back, he turns to his strange but true deeds and devises the perfect plan.
But what if your plan is to give in to your bad habit, the one you’ve been trying to stop? Aafiyah wants to reunite her family, but discovers that her plan may not be so perfect after all. . .
a song called home
Published: March 15, 2022
Lou and her family don’t have much, but for Lou it’s enough. breast. her sister, casey. her apartment in the city. her best friend, beth. it would be better if dad could stop drinking and be there for her and casey, and if they didn’t have to worry about money all the time. but lou doesn’t need better, she just needs enough.
which is enough for lou, however, is not enough for mom. Mom’s boyfriend Steve isn’t a bad guy, he’s just not what Lou is used to. and now, he and mom are getting married, and that means moving. packing up life as they’ve known it and storing it in steve’s garage. Lou will be cut off from everything in her small but predictable life, further away from Dad than ever.
On her last night in town, Lou receives a mysterious birthday present: a guitar, left for her at the front door. There’s nothing to say who left it, but it must be Dad’s. And when he leaves the only place he’s ever known, he begins to believe that if he can learn to play it, maybe he can bring a part of him and his old life home.
those kids from fawn creek
Published: March 8, 2022
there are twelve boys in seventh grade at fawn creek high school. they have been together all their lives. And in this small industrial town where everyone knows everything about everyone, that’s not necessarily a big deal.
There are thirteen desks in the seventh grade classroom. That’s because Renni Dean’s father got a promotion and the family moved to Grand Saint Lodge, the nearest big city. Renni’s desk is empty, but Renni still knows her secrets; he keeps pulling the strings on him.
When Orchid Mason arrives and gracefully slides into Renni’s chair, the other seventh graders don’t know what to think. orchid, who was born in new york city but just moved to fawn creek from paris, seems to float. his dress brushes the ground. she wears a flower behind her ear.
fawn creek middle may be small, but it has its close-knit groups: the self-proclaimed “god squad”, the jocks, the outsiders, just like everywhere else. who will claim the orchid mason? who will save orchid mason? Or will Orchid Mason save them?
genesis begins again
Published: January 15, 2019
there are ninety six things genesis hates about herself. he knows the exact number because he keeps a list. like #95: because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant, even her own family. and #61: because her family is always being kicked out of her house, her belongings are out on the sidewalk for the world to see. when your dad is a gambling addict and loses rent money every month, eviction is commonplace.
what’s not so regular is that this time not everyone has a place to sleep, so genesis and her mom have to stay with her grandma. it’s not that genesis doesn’t like her grandma, but she and mom always fight: grandma scolding mom to leave dad, that she should have gone back to school, that if she had married a lighter-skinned man nothing of this would be happening, and it goes on and on and on. but things are not all bad. genesis really likes her new school; She has made a couple of friends, her choir teacher says that she has real talent and even encourages Genesis to join the talent show.
but how can genesis believe everything his teacher says when his father tells him the exact opposite? How can she stand up to all those people with her dark dark skin knowing that even her own family thinks less of her because of it? Why, why, why don’t lemon or yogurt or fancy creams lighten her skin like they’re supposed to? And when Genesis reaches 100th on the list of things she hates about herself, will she continue or can she find the strength to start over?
related: q & a with alice d. williams, author of genesis begins again
nikki on the line
Published: March 5, 2019
nikki wants to be a basketball star. . . But between school stress, friend drama, and babysitting problems, will she be able to make it on her new team? judy blume meets mike lupica in this perfect, action-packed, hilarious novel.thirteen-year-old nikki doyle’s dreams of becoming a great The basketball player feels within reach when she is selected to play for an elite club team. But in a league with taller, stronger, faster girls, Nikki is suddenly not the best point guard. in fact, she’s no longer a base, which leaves her struggling to figure out who she is and how she fits in.
Stress mounts when Nikki’s best friend spends more and more time with another girl on the team, and when her science teacher assigns her a family tree project that will be impossible to complete unless Nikki reveals her most embarrassing secret. . As if that wasn’t enough, to cover the costs of her new outfit, Nikki agreed to babysit her annoying little brother after school to save money on childcare.
As the stakes rise on the basketball court, at school, and at home, Nikki’s confidence plummets. Will he be able to learn to compete at this new higher level? and how hard is she willing to work to find out?
billions of birdies
Published: December 14, 2021
A smart young woman finds half a million dollars and wonders if she’ll be able to keep it in this charming middle-grade mystery that asks big questions about good, evil, and what you’d do for life. family.
For as long as the eleven-year-old birdie can remember, it’s always been just her and her mom, which means there’s not a lot of extra money to spend on things like new clothes and poles from the fancy gym store. even so, they always find a way to make ends meet. Then Birdie makes a dumb mistake with one big consequence: Mom loses her job. now things are worse than ever, and birdie knows it’s up to her to fix it.
When birdie discovers a large amount of cash in an abandoned house, she knows it must be the answer to her problems. but the people who left that money behind are not willing to give it up so easily. Does “seekers, keepers” count when it’s half a million dollars?
In this heartwarming small-town story from beloved author Edith Cohn, Birdie learns to balance what’s right for her family—and herself—with what’s the right thing to do.
related: edith cohn on the birdie billions
starfish
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Published: March 9, 2021
ever since ellie wore a whale bathing suit and caused a stir at her fifth birthday party, she’s been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by fat girl rules, such as “don’t make waves”, “avoid eating in public” and “don’t move so fast that her body moves”. and she has found her safe space, her pool, where she feels weightless in a world obsessed with fat. In the water, she can stretch out like a starfish and take up as much space as she wants. It’s also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie’s weight will motivate her to go on a diet. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. With this support from her cheering her on, Ellie could finally let go of the fat girl and starfish rules in real life, unapologetically being herself and fabulous.
related: lisa fipps on starfish, fatphobia, and being fat people’s best allies
barakah beats
Published: October 19, 2021
Twelve-year-old Nimra Sharif has spent her entire life in an Islamic school, but now it’s time to go to the “real school.”
nimra is nervous, but as long as she has her best friend jenna who is already in public school, she thinks she can handle just about anything.
Unfortunately, high school is hard. The teachers are mean, the schedule is confusing, and Jenna begins to cold-heartedly treat Nimra, who wears a hijab, with the other children.
Desperate to fit in and win back Jenna’s favor, Nimra accepts an unlikely invitation to join the school’s popular eighth-grade boy band, Barakah Beats. the only problem is that nimra was taught that music is not allowed in islam and she knows that her parents would be disappointed if they found out about her. so she devises a simple plan: join the gang, get jenna back, and then quietly abandon her before her parents find out about her.
but leaving the band is more difficult than expected. not only is it her plan to get jenna back to work, but nimra really likes hanging out with the band – they value her contributions and respect how important her faith is to her. Then, Barakah Beats enters a talent show to benefit refugees, and Nimra’s lies begin to unravel. With the show just weeks away and Jenna’s friendship hanging in the balance, Nimra has to decide whether to betray her bandmates or herself.
guild operation
Published: January 4, 2022
bo and his mom always had their own rhythm. But ever since they moved to Harlem, Bo’s world is out of sync. she and mom now live with mom’s boyfriend bill, ella sunday’s daughter, the twins, lili and lee, the twins’ parents…along with a dog, two cats, a bearded dragon, a turtle, and chickens . all in one brownstone! With so many people crammed together, Bo isn’t so sure there’s room for her. Set against the burst of energy of a summer in New York City, award-winning author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich delivers a light-hearted novel about a new family that hits all the right notes.
the best worst summer
Published: May 4, 2021
this is going to be the worst summer for peyton. her family just moved and she had to leave her best friend behind. she is alone she is bored until . . . she finds a box buried in her backyard, with a message: I’m so sorry. please forgive me. things are about to get interesting.
In 1989, it’s going to be the best summer ever for Melissa and Jessica. they have two whole months to mess around and explore, and they’re even going to bury a time capsule! But when a girl’s family secret begins to unravel, it’s clear that things may not go exactly as planned.
In alternating chapters, from Peyton today to Melissa three decades earlier (a time without cell phones, social media, and camera film that took days to develop, but also a lot of freedom), beloved author Elizabeth Eulberg recounts the story of a mystery that two sets of memorable characters will never forget.
violets are blue
Published: October 12, 2021
Twelve-year-old wren loves makeup, special effects makeup to be exact. When she’s experimenting with new looks, her wren can create a different version of herself. a girl who doesn’t have the best friendship with someone who seems to hate her. a girl whose parents are not divorced and does not have to learn to love her new stepmother.
So, when Wren and her mother move to a new town to start over, she’s cautiously optimistic. And things seem to fall into place when Wren meets potential friends of hers and is selected as a makeup artist for her school’s next production of Evil.
just wren’s mom isn’t doing too well. she is taking a lot of naps, she starts biting the wrens for no reason and she always seems to be sick. And what’s worse, Wren keeps getting hints that things aren’t going well at her new job at the hospital, where her mother is a nurse. And after an opening night disaster leads to a harrowing discovery, Wren realizes her mother has a serious problem, one she can’t erase or cover up.
After all the progress he’s made, can wren start over with his devastating new normal? And will he ever be able to heal the broken trust with her mother?
squad objectives (hearts and crafts #1)
Published: March 1, 2022
mackenzie miller has big goals
for example, conquering the seventh grade with projects. there’s the mom project (find her a boyfriend, even if she says she’s not interested), the friend project (get back the best friends who dumped her and make a new friend), and the band project (what if). she never planned a fundraiser, how hard can it be?).
but finding romance in real life is much more complicated than your mother’s favorite movies seem. And friends from last year still won’t tell Mackenzie what she did wrong. and fundraising? It’s got to be more than impressive, since mackenzie accidentally promised a live band so amazing she’ll “make everyone shit their pants.”
The harder Mackenzie works to design the perfect school year, the more she feels like she’s failing. she can do it all, right? Or do her big goals require something more, like a little help from her friends?
the ruffles
Published: August 31, 2021
with the arrival of a shiny cream colored envelope in the mail, elena martinez’s dreams come true: she has been chosen for spread your wings magazine’s young travelers program, a week-long summer internship at the that you will learn the ins and outs of working for the most popular teen magazine. She heads to New York City, anxious to get away from her best friend, Summer, who is suddenly spending a lot of time with another girl from school and is secretive about it.
Once there, Elena meets her fellow young travelers: Harlow, who can get to the bottom of any story, Whitney, who has perfect fashion sense, and Cailin, a social media star with thousands of followers. and a good eye for photography. .
As the four new friends explore the city that never sleeps, each girl brings with her a piece of home and a few secrets, and learns that no one’s life is as bright as it seems. but with courage, teamwork and a lot of passion, there is no one to stop a flyer.
red, white and whole
Published: February 2, 2021
reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she is the only American Indian student, and home, with her family’s traditions and festivities. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she is conflicted: they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. reha feels disconnected from her mother, or amma, although her names are related (reha means “star” and punam means “moon”), but they are a separate universe.
then reha finds out her amma is sick. very sick.
Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t bear to see blood, is determined to get her amma back on her feet. she will be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her mom’s life.
related: rajani larocca on red, white and whole, family and the 80s
big apple diaries
Published: August 17, 2021
It’s the year 2000 in New York City. For 12-year-old Alyssa, this means splitting time between her Puerto Rican father’s apartment in Manhattan and her white mother’s new place in Queens, navigating the trials and tribulations of high school, and an epic crush on a new roommate. of class. the only way to make sense of it all is to capture the ups and downs in doodles and hilarious comics in a journal.
Then life changes abruptly on September 11, 2001. After the fall of the twin towers and so many lives lost, worries about gossip and boys feel distant and insignificant. Alyssa must find a new sense of self and purpose in the midst of all the chaos, and find the strength to carry on with hope.
twins
See Also: 5 easy ways to find Kindle Unlimited eligible books
Published: October 6, 2020
Corretta Scott King honor author Varian Johnson teams up with rising cartoonist Shannon Wright for a charming mid-grade graphic novel. Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. they participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same meals, and are partners in all of their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran, a girl who wants to join the choir, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that will set her apart from Maureen. a girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister! Maureen and Francine are drifting apart and there’s nothing Maureen can do to stop it. Are sisters really forever? Or will high school change things forever?
keiko carter keep it together
Published: May 5, 2020
Fans of Wendy Mass and Lisa Greenwald are sure to fall head over heels for this sweet story about first crushes, the drama of friendship, and finding the courage to stand up for yourself. seventh grade is supposed to be a game changer. And Keiko thinks she’s got it all covered, especially with Audrey and Jenna by her side to shop for a new style, pick out a prime spot for lunch, and even hit that cute new bubble tea spot after school. her trio is ready to face life as they always have…together. But when Audrey decides they need boyfriends before the dance drops, it looks like things may be turning the wrong way. Jenna is sick of giving in to Audrey’s demands, and soon Keiko’s best friends barely talk about her, leaving her caught in the middle. While she’s been dreaming of triple dates, first kisses and a guy she really shouldn’t be in love with, the friendship she always thought was rock solid is starting to unravel. Keiko feels pulled in two directions. Should she try to help her friends, even if it means losing one of them, or follow her heart? When it comes to flirting, friendships, and fights, how is Keiko supposed to keep everything under control?
allergic
Published: March 2, 2021
A coming-of-age graphic novel featuring a girl with severe allergies who just wants to find the perfect pet!
at home, maggie is the stranger. her parents are worried about preparing for a new baby, and her younger brothers are twins and are always in her own world. Ella Maggie loves animals and thinks the answer is a new puppy to call her own, but when she goes to select one of hers on her birthday, she breaks out in hives and rashes. She is highly allergic to anything she has fur on!
Can Maggie outsmart her allergies and find the perfect pet? With illustrations by Michelle Mee Nutter, Megan Wagner Lloyd draws inspiration from her own experiences with allergies to tell a moving story of family, friendship, and finding a place to belong.
team goals
Published: April 6, 2021
magic olive poindexter has big shoes to fill. Her mother was a professional cheerleader, her father is a retired NBA legend, her older sister is the new face of the oh-so-glamorous Lakers girls, and her grandmother was the first black cheerleader on the Valentine High School Bee cheerleading squad. . magic wants nothing more than to follow in his footsteps. But first, he has to survive Planet Pom Poms, the summer cheerleading camp where he’ll audition for a spot on the Bee Squad. But with zero athletic ability and a bunch of mean girls who have his number, Tragic Magic is a long way from becoming the toe-tapping cheerleader heroine she dreams of being.
Things start to look up when her best friend Cappie joins her at camp, until Cappie catches the popularity bug. To make matters worse, the magic is crushing the Dallas Chase football star hard. Luckily, magic isn’t alone: With the help of a new team of fabulous fellow misfits and her grandma mae’s vintage pom poms by her side, tragic magic just might survive, and even thrive, at cheer camp. /p>
365 days to Alaska
Published: January 19, 2021
rigel harman, eleven, loves his life in isolated alaska. she hunts rabbits, takes correspondence classes through the mail and plays dominoes with her family in their two-bedroom cabin. she doesn’t mind not having electricity or running water; instead, she has tall trees, cool streams, and an endless sky. but then her parents get divorced and rigel and her sisters have to move with her mom to suburban connecticut to live with a grandmother they never knew. rigel hates it in connecticut. it’s noisy and crowded, and there’s no real nature. her only hope for her is a secret pact she made with her father: if she can hold out in connecticut for a year, he will bring her back home. At first, surviving the year feels impossible. high school is nothing like the desert, and she doesn’t connect with anyone. . . her until she befriends a crow that lives behind her school. And if this wild creature has made a living in the suburbs, then perhaps Rigel can too.
kate in the middle
Published: May 18, 2021
kate mcallister is desperate for a change. something to update and erase the pain of her mother leaving the city without her. So when a group of popular girls includes Kate in her clique, she feels like the answer to all of her problems, even if it means getting rid of Haddie, her childhood best friend. /p>
but when kate’s new friends decide haddie is their next target, kate becomes a passive participant in a vicious incident that could have killed haddie… if kate hadn’t intervened, at the last minute, and I would have saved her. The next day, a cell phone video of the rescue goes viral and Kate is hailed as a hero. but kate knows the truth, she was part of the problem, and it’s only a matter of time until the full version of the video is released and everyone knows it too.
With so much at stake, Kate must decide who she wants to be: a liar, a follower, or someone bigger.
related: claire swinarski on kate in between
bea is for blended
Published: May 4, 2021
Bea and her mom have always been a two-person team. But now her mom is getting married to Wendell, and her team is growing with three kids, two dogs, and a cat.
Finding her place in her new blended family can be tough, but when Bea finds out her school may not have the girls’ soccer team they were promised, she learns that the bigger the team, the stronger the family. fight: and that for the girls to get what they deserve, they’ll need a squad behind them.
related: lindsey stoddard on bea is for blended
take a breath
Published: May 7, 2019
Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. but as soon as she dives into the pool, she’s unstoppable. She’s the fastest girl on the high school swim team, and when she’s asked to join the high school team for the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she has new friends and a high school boy starts treating her like she’s someone special, and Annabelle thinks she’ll finally stand out in a good way. She’ll do anything to fit in and help the team make it to the Labor Day invite, even if it means drifting away from old friends of hers. But after a prank goes wrong, Annabelle is dumped by the older boy and she can’t swim. Who is she without the one thing she’s good at? poignant and relatable, up for air is a story about where we find our self-esteem.
bright
Published: July 5, 2022
marianne blume knows she is one of the stupid girls. after years of trying and trying and feeling like she always fails, she has mastered the art of turning off her brain whenever questions or lectures come up. she gets by in school on a combination of luck, deviance, and charisma, that is, until she lands in mr. garcia.
to avoid failing mr. In Garcia’s class, Marianne joins her school’s quiz search team, hoping her move will ingratiate her with him, the team’s coach. Can Marianne learn to be smart if she puts her mind to it? and what does it really mean to be “brilliant” anyway?
join the club maggie diaz
Published: May 17, 2022
“maybe I’m good at something I don’t even know yet.”
everyone in maggie diaz’s life seems to be finding their true passion. the only thing that defines them as a person. Ella’s best friends, Zoey and Julian, are too busy to hang out after school thanks to the band and comic book club. mom is finishing her last semester in college. and maggie’s perfect older sister, caro, is perfectly perfect at sports and tutoring.
So Maggie comes up with a plan to join as many clubs as she can! But trying to fit in with future A-type leaders, gardening geniuses, and intrepid wood shop kids is intimidating, exhausting, and very confusing. And juggling homework, friends, and all your extracurricular activities is a lot harder than it sounds.
Seventh grade is all about discovering who you are. Good thing Maggie Diaz has the perfect plan!
There they are: 25 of the best books for tweens, including graphic novels, novels in verse, sports books, and a variety of stories about tweens getting it figured out.
Which of these books have you read? Which ones would you add?
See Also: Your Guide to the 10 Best Business Books of All Time
more book lists
- 100+ books featuring tweens
- 50 middle grade books with strong female leads
- my favorite middle grade books about sisters