Twelve-year-olds sit right on the line between children's books and teen books. Many feel too old for 'kids' books' but are not ready for some of what is on the young adult shelf. The sweet spot is a book with a strong voice and real feelings that does not talk down to them.
Novels in verse and graphic memoirs are especially good here. They are quick to get into, feel modern and personal, and often deal with identity, friendship and growing up in a way twelve-year-olds recognize.
These books won or were honored by the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal. A few deal with grief or danger; the notes say what to expect.
Honor2015
Jacqueline Woodson
Great for a budding writer
Jacqueline Woodson's memoir of growing up between South Carolina and Brooklyn in the 1960s and 70s, told in short, beautiful poems. It is about family, the civil rights movement and discovering that you are a writer. Quick to read, impossible to forget.
2015 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Honor2016
Victoria Jamieson
Great for a kid going through a friendship change
Astrid signs up for roller derby camp, assuming her best friend will come too. She does not. A funny, honest graphic novel about finding your own thing and growing apart from a friend, which almost every twelve-year-old has lived through.
2016 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Honor2012
Thanhha Lai
Great for a reader who likes true stories
In 1975, ten-year-old Hà and her family flee Saigon and end up in Alabama, where everything is strange. Told in short verse poems over one year, it is funny, sad and full of life. Based on the author's own story.
2012 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Winner2012
Patrick Ness
Great for a reader ready for something deep
Conor's mother is very ill. One night a monster made from the yew tree outside his window comes walking, and tells him three stories, then demands a fourth: the truth. Powerful and cathartic, with dark, beautiful illustrations. Best for twelve and up, and a book about grief.
2012 Carnegie Medal for Illustration winner
Winner1998
David Almond
Great for a quiet, imaginative reader
Michael's family has moved house, his baby sister is ill, and in the crumbling garage he finds a strange man covered in dust and dead flies, who might be something else entirely. Short, mysterious and moving. A Carnegie winner.
1998 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner
Honor1991
Avi
Great for an adventure lover
In 1832, thirteen-year-old Charlotte boards a ship to America, the only passenger, and discovers that the captain is cruel and the crew is planning a mutiny. Soon she is accused of murder. Pure, page-turning adventure.
1991 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Winner1972
Richard Adams
Great for a big holiday read
When young Fiver has a vision of disaster, a small band of rabbits leaves their warren to find a new home, facing dangers that test everything they have. A long, gripping epic that many readers count as their favorite book ever.
1972 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner
Commended1981
Michelle Magorian
Great for a reader who loves character stories
At the start of the Second World War, Willie, a frightened, abused boy from London, is evacuated to a village and placed with grumpy old Tom Oakley. Slowly they change each other's lives. Moving and at times difficult, it is a classic for good reason.
1981 Carnegie Medal for Writing commended
Some are fine, some are better saved for later. Books like those on this list bridge the gap: real themes, but written with younger readers in mind.
A novel told in a series of short poems. Brown Girl Dreaming and Inside Out & Back Again are great examples, and they are often quicker to read than prose novels.
It is a book about a mother's illness and is very emotional. Many twelve-year-olds find it powerful and comforting; it is worth knowing the subject before giving it.
See every award-winning book for ages 9 to 12