Katie and the Cupcake Cure

The first in this big-kid fiction series by Coco Simon was a sweet little read.  A simple story about starting middle school, it tackles some common themes of bullying and friendship.  When a girl loses her friend to the "popular club" , she soon realizes it is not the end of the world.  Her new friends start a cupcake club, and thus the adventures start.  Each in the first of the series highlights a different friend.

Powerless

This big-kid fantasy story by Matthew Cody was a fun, exciting read.  In it, a boy moves to a town and makes friends with a group of misfit kids who turn out to be superheores.  Their powers are threatened, though, and it is the Daniel, the kid with no powers, who must save them.

Ungifted

This Great Stoneface nominee by Gordon Korman was a wonderful middle-school book.  When an impulsive middle school boy causes a disaster at school, he has to hide at the local school for gifted kids.  He doesn't belong there yet he is a breath of fresh air to the misfits there and causes a change in them.

Critter Club

In this new early reader chapter book series by Callie Barkley, a group of four friends help to solve a mystery.  They are so successful, they form a club to continue.  The books are centered around an animal shelter after the first in the series, so animal lovers will like them.

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms

In this mystery book by Lissa Evans on the great Stoneface list this year, a young boy moves to a new town where his magician uncle, who disappeared years ago, has left a room full of his creations to the one who is able to find it.  A wonderful scavenger hunt follows, and the end leaves you wanting to read the next in the series.