VSBA 2025-2026 -- Middle School Nominees

"During World War II, twelve-year old Miriam secretly spirits other Jewish people out of Nazi-occupied France after being separated from her family and forced into hiding"-- Provided by publisher.

Paro questions the system she once believed in and joins the Seafoxes, a ragtag team of players seeking to win the deadly Noctis games, to saver her grandfather.

Still grieving her brother's death, Pia, a soft-spoken middle-schooler, embarks on a bus tour that changes her life.

"December 6, 1941: Best friends Frank and Stanley have it good. Their dads are Navy pilots stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the boys get a front-row view of the huge battleships and the sparkling water. Yes, World War II is raging in Europe and in Asia, but the US isn't involved in the war, and the boys are free to dream about becoming comic book creators. They've even invented a superhero of their own, in the style of Batman, Superman, Captain...

"Molly Teng sees things no one else can. By touching the belongings of people who have died, she gets brief glimpses into the lives they lived. Sometimes the “zaps” are funny or random, but often they leave her feeling sad, drained, and lonely. The last thing Jade remembers from life is dying. That was over one hundred years ago. Ever since then she's been trapped in the same house watching people move in and out. She's a 'hungry ghost' reliant...

"Discovering an orphaned wolf pup she believes is related to the five sacred beasts of Devia, which a Hunter has been killing one by one, Sona embarks on an epic adventure during which she realizes that the fate of the sacred beasts, and the future of Devia, is in her hands"-- Provided by publisher.

Eighth-grader Ingrid runs a popular blog anonymously and has online personal more popular than she is, but when a wrong-number text message offers her a chance at connection, Ingrid opens herself to the opportunity to make a real live friend.

In 1996, thirteen-year-old Jake Stacey volunteers at a nursing home because he likes helping people and because it's easier to avoid others his own age. He constantly feels like the weird or odd one out and would do anything not to be that kid, including listening to voice in his head that tells him things will be better if he shrinks himself down to nothing. The truth is Jake has been starving himself since seventh grade, and the adults in his life...

"The house seemed to sit apart from the others on Katydid Street, silent and alone, like it didn't fit among them. For Violet Hart-whose family is about to move into the house on Katydid Street-very little felt like it fit anymore. Like their old home, suddenly too small since her mother remarried and the new baby arrived. Or Violet's group of friends, which, since they started middle school, isn't enough for Violet's best friend, Paige. Everything...

"It's the last few months of eighth grade, and Isaiah feels lost. He thought his summer was going to be him and his boys Drew and Darius, hanging out, doing wheelies, watching martial arts movies, and breaking tons of Guinness World Records before high school. But now, more and more, Drew seems to be fading from their friendship, and though he won't admit it, Isaiah knows exactly why. Because Darius is...gone. A hit and run killed Darius in the midst...