Friendships can be hard to navigate during middle school. These middle-grade novels from our Butler Center Children’s Fiction collection represent challenges students face and how they face them. This week’s feature pick is Roohi and Nate are Not on the Same Page by Supriya Kelkar and Jarret Lerner. Studious Roohi and rebellious Nate couldn’t be any more different, and they don’t consider themselves friends when they join their school Lunch Bunch. As they spend more time together, and when they learn the school librarian’s job is on the line due to budget cuts, Roohi and Nate put their differences aside and work together to save what they hold dear.

Roohi and Nate are Not on the Same Page
Supriya Kelkar and Jarret Lerner
ABRAMS/Amulet Books
Available now!

Camp Big Top
Alexandra Diaz
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Beach Lane Books
Available now!

The Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy Book 2: Don’t Eat the Birthday Boy!
Donna Barbara Higuera
Illustrated by Juliana Perdomo
ABRAMS/Amulet Books
Available now!

When Tomorrow Burns
Tae Keller
Random House Children’s Books/Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!

The Catastrophic Friendship Fails of Lottie Brooks
Kate Kirby
Random House Children’s Books/Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!