Conway Middle Library: Kentucky Bluegrass Award Nominees 6-8

Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good. So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she's certain the secretive organization holds the key to locating Quinton--if only she can wrap her head around the idea of magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures all being real.

A story about two brothers, one who presents as white, the other as black, and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world, all while training for a fencing competition. Framed. Bullied. Disliked. Sometimes, 12-year-old Donte wishes he were invisible. Dubbing him "Black Brother," Donte's teachers and classmates at the elite prep school he attend make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter-skinned brother, Trey. When he's bullied and framed by the captain of the fencing team he's suspended from school and arrested. As Donte hones his fencing skills and grows closer to achieving his goal of putting the fencing team captain in his place, he learns the fight for justice is far from over. Now Donte must confront his bullies, racism, and the corrupt systems of power that led to his arrest.

Sara Martinez is facing years in the juvenile detention system for hacking into the foster care computer system to prove that her foster parents are crooks. But then she gets a second chance when a mysterious man offers her a chance to join a group of MI6 affiliated spies. No one said saving the world was easy...

An eighth grader starts a podcast to protest the unfair dress code enforcement at her middle school and sparks a rebellion.

Ten-tear-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki. When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della's own wolf--her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to kill herself, and Della's world turns so far upside down, it feels like it's shaking her by the ankles. Maybe she's been quiet about the wrong things. Maybe it's time to be loud

When his NFL dad is diagnosed with ALS, middle school quarterback Ben Redd is determined to have a winning season, which may be his final as he watches the heavy toll the incurable disease is taking on his dad.

Petra Pena wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending and her family must escape our planet. Hundreds of years later, she wakes to the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey and Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make the stories live again?

When swastikas begin appearing all over town, Link, Michael, and Dana, the only Jewish girl in town, must face crimes both past and present to find the truth.

Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.

Stranger Things meets The X-Files in this eerie, heart-pounding middle grade adventure about a young boy and girl who must protect their small town from otherworldly forces threatening to destroy it.
Conspiracy theorist Rae, who's searching for her lost father, and Caden, who's haunted by the ghost of his brother, must band together to save their home.