VSBA 2022 -- Middle School Nominees

For two years, twelve-year-old Hazel has coped with her mum's accidental death by over protecting her sister and Mama, but when Mama reconnects with her first love, roles begin to shift.

"Jordan's days as the star player for her school's basketball team ended when an accident left her paralyzed ... Now, she's still the team captain, but her competition days seem to be behind her ... until an encounter with a mysterious elephant, who she names Marshmallow, helps Jordan discover a brand new sport. Will water polo be the way for Jordan to continue her athletic dreams--or will it just come between Jordan and her best friends on the basketball...

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.--

When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She's alone--left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned. With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie...

Brandon is visiting his dad on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 when the attack comes; Reshmina is a girl in Afghanistan who has grown up in the aftermath of that attack but dreams of peace, becoming a teacher and escaping her village and the narrow role that the Taliban believes is appropriate for women--both are struggling to survive, both changed forever by the events of 9/11.

Bell has spent his whole life--all eleven years of it--on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid-he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It's up to Bell--a regular kid in a...

"When Jayden and his teammates find out there's not going to be a Hoop Group this year--and maybe ever again--they have to learn to lean on each other if they want to save their basketball season"--

Addy's parents were killed in a tragic fire years ago, and she still carries the trauma of this loss with her wherever she goes. When her grandmother sends her to a summer wilderness program in California, Addy finds herself learning to live in the forest with five other Black city kids. But those survival skills are soon put to the test when a forest fire erupts in the woods where they are camping.

Missing her mother who has returned to Turkey to resolve an immigration problem, sixth-grader Sila welcomes a very large distraction in her life when she helps a surprising new friend rescue a circus elephant.

Eleven-year-old Fiona resents her family's move to Lost Lake, Massachusetts in order to be closer to her sister's skating club. Feeling ignored and alone, Fiona retreats to the local library where she finds a mystery book that tells a creepy tale tied to the town's lore.