School-Age Books Featuring Fierce Females
Amari and the night brothers
Alston, B. B., author
2021
Thirteen-year-old Amari, a poor Black girl from the projects, gets an invitation from her missing brother to join the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and join in the fight against an evil magician.
Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud), 1874-1942
1968
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
Ella enchanted
Levine, Gail Carson
1997
Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.
Fast pitch
Stone, Nic, author.
2021
Shenice Lockwood dreams of leading the Fulton Firebirds to the U12 softball regional championship. But Shenice's focus gets shaken when her great-uncle Jack reveals that a career-ending-and family-name-ruining-crime may have been a setup. It's up to Shenice to discover the truth about her family's past-and fast-before secrets take the Firebirds out of the game forever.
Fish in a tree
Hunt, Lynda Mullaly, author
2015
Ally's greatest fear is that everyone will find out she is as dumb as they think she is because she still doesn't know how to read.
Insignificant events in the life of a cactus
Bowling, Dusti, author
2017
New friends and a mystery help Aden, thirteen, adjust to middle school and life at a dying western theme park in a new state, where her being born armless presents many challenges.
Jo : an adaptation of Little Women (sort of)
Gros, Kathleen, author, illustrator
2020
With the start of eighth grade, Jo March decides it's time to get serious about her writing and joins the school newspaper. But even with her new friend Freddie cheering her on, becoming a hard-hitting journalist is a lot harder than Jo imagined. That's not all that's tough. Jo and her sisters--Meg, Beth, and Amy--are getting used to a new normal at home, with their dad deployed overseas and their mom, a nurse, working overtime. What does it take to figure out who you are? Jo March is about to find out.
Mirror magic
Chapman, Linda, author
2020
Do you believe in magic? Mia and her friends do! And when they meet the Star Animals, a whole world of magical adventures unfolds. Mia and her star animal, a fox named Bracken, must use their special powers to stop the forces of dark magic. Mia's older sister has started acting strangely and the Star Animals sense dark magic at work. Can the girls use their newfound Star Magic to help make things right?
Number the stars
Lowry, Lois, author
1989
As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen's family takes in Annemarie's best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family. Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.
Other words for home
Warga, Jasmine, author
2019
Sent with her mother to the safety of a relative's home in Cincinnati when her Syrian hometown is overshadowed by violence, Jude worries for the family members who were left behind as she adjusts to a new life with unexpected surprises.
Play like a girl : a graphic memoir
Wilson, Misty author
2022
Misty never shies away from a challenge, on or off the field. So when the boys tell her she can't play football, there's only one thing to do: join their team and show them what she's got. But the training is rougher than she thought--and so are the other guys, who aren't thrilled about having a girl on their team. Middle school isn't so easy, either. Misty wants to fit in with the popular kids, but they think a girl playing football is 'weird.' Even her best friend doesn't get it. Can Misty find a way to score points with her teammates, make new friends, and show everyone--including herself--what it means to play like a girl?
Rebel Girls celebrate neurodiversity : 25 tales of creative thinkers
Mallory, Shadae.
2024
This collection features 25 inspiring tales of neurodivergent artists, athletes, innovators, and more. Read about how these women and girls thought creatively, achieved their dreams, and advocated for the rights of neurodivergent people everywhere. Walk the runway with Madeline Stuart, the first professional model with Down syndrome. Steal the scene with Salma Hayek, the award-winning actor with dyslexia. Learn how journalist and TV host Lisa Ling thrives with ADD, and how Temple Grandin's autism has opened up new and compassionate ways of interacting with animals.
The remarkable journey of Coyote Sunrise
Gemeinhart, Dan, author
2019
Living on the road in an old school bus with her dad after losing her mother and sisters, 12-year-old Coyote devises an elaborate plan to convince her father to make a first trip home to Washington state in five years, a journey marked by an eclectic group of passengers they meet along the way.
Simone Biles
Magoon, Kekla.
2023
Two-time Olympic gymnast Simone Biles reigns over gymnastics. With four impressive skills already named after her, Biles has amassed legions of fans. Explore this standout superstar's career and life.
Thirst
Bajaj, Varsha, author.
2023
Minni lives in the poorest part of Mumbai, where access to water is limited to a few hours a day and the communal taps have long lines. Lately, though, even that access is threatened by severe water shortages and thieves who are stealing this precious commodity--an act that Minni accidentally witnesses one night. Meanwhile, in the high-rise building where she just started to work, she discovers that water streams out of every faucet and there's even a rooftop swimming pool. What Minni also discovers there is one of the water mafia bosses. Now she must decide whether to expose him and risk her job and maybe her life. How did something as simple as access to water get so complicated?
The war that saved my life
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker, author
2015
Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada's twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn't waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime?
Ways to make sunshine
Watson, Renée, author
2020
The Hart family of Portland, Oregon, faces many setbacks after Ryan's father loses his job, but no matter what, Ryan tries to bring sunshine to her loved ones.
The year I flew away
Arnold, Marie, author
2021
After moving from her home in Haiti to her uncle's home in Brooklyn, ten-year-old Gabrielle, feeling bullied and out of place, makes a misguided deal with a witch.