Intermediate Books
2025 Intermediate Book Nominees
Video about the books from Janelle Yoder from the Maricopa County Library District
The Best of Iggy (Iggy, Book 1) by Annie Barrows, 2020
Relates three times that nine-year-old Iggy got into trouble, two of which he does not regret and one for which he is very, very sorry.
Billy Miller Makes a Wish by Kevin Henkes, 2021
On his eighth birthday, Billy Miller wishes for something exciting to happen. None of his wishes are answered the way he expects, but he does have lots of surprises--and the final one is possibly the best one ever
Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire, 2022
When Papa doesn't return from a nocturnal honey-gathering expedition, Cress holds out hope, but her mother assumes the worst. It's a dangerous world for rabbits, after all. Mama moves what's left of the Watercress family to the basement unit of the Broken Arms, a run-down apartment oak with a suspect owl landlord, a nosy mouse super, a rowdy family of squirrels, and a pair of songbirds who broadcast everyone's business. Can a dead tree full of annoying neighbors, and no Papa, ever be home?
Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros, 2020
While his father works two jobs, seventh-grader Efren Nava must take care of his twin siblings, kindergartners Max and Mia, after their mother is deported to Mexico. Includes glossary of Spanish words.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks, 2020
On her 12th birthday, Zoe Washington receives a letter from her birth father, Marcus, who has been in prison her entire life. He wants to get to know her, and even though she knows her mom won't like it, she writes back. In their letters they bond over a shared love of baking-Zoe is interning at a Boston-area bakery over the summer and dreams of becoming a pastry chef-and music.
The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat, 2022
Joining an expedition to chart the southern seas, twelve-year-old mapmaker's assistant Sai, posing as a well-bred young lady with a glittering future, realizes she's not the only one on board harboring secrets when she discovers the ship's true destination.
Discussion Guide from Publisher
Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker, 2023
What are people for? That's the burning question on the mind of Leeva Spayce Thornblossom. Fame! says Leeva's mom, the mayor of Nutsmore. Money! says her dad, the town treasurer. With the help of an orphaned badger, a risk-averse boy in a hazmat suit, and the town's librarians, Leeva sets off to discover her own answer--setting off a chain of events that will change Nutsmore forever.
Odder by Katherine Applegate, 2022
Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she's known. She's a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself--and about the humans who hope to save her.
Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle, 2022
Lonely Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she enjoys caring for injured animals, but her budding friendship with Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature, emboldens Oriol, an aspiring writer, to open up and create a world of words for herself.
Book Trailer (First Chapter)
Wingbearer by Marjorie M. Liu, 2022
Zuli is extraordinary--she just doesn't realize it yet. Raised by mystical bird spirits in the branches of the Great Tree, she's never ventured beyond this safe haven. She's never had to. Until now. When a sinister force threatens the life-giving magic of the tree, Zuli, along with her guardian owl, Frowly, must get to the root of it.