J.D. and the Great Barber Battle (2021) by J. Dillard is the first book in the J.D. the Kid Barber series and serves as a semi-biographical account of the events that led Dillard to become a Master Barber. The story follows young Black protagonist J.D. through the poor outcome of his first haircut, after which he overcomes challenge after challenge to find his confidence, gain pride in his abilities, and become the best barber in... Read J.D. and the Great Barber Battle Summary

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006) is a realistic middle grade novel that follows best friends Jeremy and Lizzy on their quest to find the meaning and purpose of their lives as they try to unlock a gift from Jeremy’s late father. The book was nominated for several major awards, including the Nutmeg Book Award in Connecticut (2010) and the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’... Read Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life Summary

Jesse is a young adult novel written by Gary Soto and published in 1994. The novel uses first-person perspective to bring readers on a journey through evolving faith and growing up in an uncertain world. Drawing on historical allusions, Soto utilizes tropes from both young adult fiction and the historical fiction genre. Soto is the author of several young adult novels and collections of poetry. He was the first Mexican American student to earn an... Read Jesse Summary

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (2020) by historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a nonfiction history and political commentary detailing the rise of the conservative evangelical Christian political movement, commonly called the Religious Right, in the US and how it contributed to President Donald Trump’s election. Du Mez particularly focuses on how conservative evangelicals fashioned a culture intertwined with theology, politics, consumerism, race, and a specific... Read Jesus and John Wayne Summary

Joan is Okay (2022) is Chinese American author Weike Wang’s second novel. Wang’s first novel, Chemistry (2017), won the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and earned Wang a spot as an honoree on the National Book Foundation’s “5 under 35” list. Both novels feature female protagonists pursuing careers in demanding STEM fields (chemistry and medicine) as they navigate the at-times difficult landscape of life in a Chinese American immigrant... Read Joan Is Okay Summary

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a children’s novel, was written by Jack Gantos. The book was initially published in 1998 by Square Fish, a trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group; the work was a National Book Award Finalist, an American Library Association notable children’s book, and the School Library Journal’s book of the year. The novel’s 10-year-old protagonist, Joey Pigza, deals with an unnamed hyperactive disorder, abandonment, and academic problems before finding some stability after his... Read Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key Summary

John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs is a work of biographical nonfiction by Ian Leslie. Originally published by Celadon Books in 2025, John & Paul dissects the emotional, psychological, and artistic aspects of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s relationship. Throughout the text, Leslie interrogates historical myths about the international pop stars and seeks to capture the beauty and mystery of their connection. Rendered with emotional empathy and lyrical acuity, John & Paul explores... Read John & Paul Summary

Published in 1971 by Japanese American author and educator Yoshiko Uchida (1921-1992), Journey to Topaz is the first children’s novel to address the United States government’s forced relocation of people of Japanese descent to wartime prison camps during World War II. The novel follows the Sakane family’s life as they are forced to move from their comfortable home in Berkeley, California, to the Topaz War Relocation Center, a concentration camp, in the harsh Utah desert... Read Journey to Topaz Summary

Margaret Walker’s 1966 novel, Jubilee, is based on the story of Walker’s maternal great-grandmother, Margaret Duggans Ware Brown. The historical fiction novel is sometimes described as a corollary to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind—the epic story of a strong Southern woman who lives during the antebellum period, the Civil War, and Reconstruction; though, the Southern woman in this story is black, and her strength comes from having endured the withering degradation of slavery.Plot SummaryJubilee... Read Jubilee Summary

Judy Moody Gets Famous! is a middle-grade children’s novel written by Megan McDonald and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Originally published in 2001, the title is the second in a series of 12 books. There is a spinoff series about Judy’s brother—Stink. The Judy Moody series is part of the early 2000s middle-grade novel era in which humor and illustration became staples of the genre. Judy Moody Gets Famous! sees the protagonist experiencing Envy as... Read Judy Moody Gets Famous! Summary

July’s People, a 1981 dystopian novel by South African author Nadine Gordimer, imagines the aftermath of a bloody uprising that topples South Africa’s notorious, white-ruled apartheid regime. Her novel, which follows a white family’s desperate flight from Johannesburg, traces the complex interdependencies of white and Black South Africans, revealing the insidiousness of the regime’s racial disparities and mindsets, even among liberal, well-meaning white people. Through the lens of this hypothetical future, Gordimer’s novel explores racial... Read July's People Summary

Irish-born playwright Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock was first produced in 1924 at the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s national theatre, in Dublin. This Realistic play is one of three plays (known as the “Dublin Trilogy”) that O’Casey wrote for the Abbey Theatre. Juno and the Paycock is anthologized in various collections, including Masters of Modern Drama by Haskell Block and Robert Shedd in 1962 (which this guide references).The play is set entirely in a two-room... Read Juno and the Paycock Summary

Just for the Summer (2024) is an adult contemporary romance novel by Abby Jimenez that alternates between the first-person perspectives of Emma, a travel nurse with an abusive mother, and Justin, a software engineer with a troubled family. Brought together by the fact that every ex of theirs has found “The One” shortly after their breakup, Emma and Justin decide to temporarily date to cancel out their curses and hopefully find true love. What they... Read Just for the Summer Summary

Just Friends (2026) is a romance novel by Haley Pham. The novel follows protagonist Blair as she returns to her hometown of Seabrook, California as her beloved great-aunt Lottie battles terminal cancer, forcing Blair to face her former best friend and love interest Declan after four years of no contact. The novel engages with themes of Grief as a Catalyst for Reexamining Identity, The Conflict Between Personal Ambition and Familial Responsibility, and Returning Home as... Read Just Friends Summary

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen is a contemporary YA coming-of-age novel published in 2006. The story follows protagonist Annabel Greene, a 16-year-old model who is isolated at school due to a secret trauma that ended her friendship with Sophie. While Annabel tries to forget the past, her older sister, Whitney, deals with anorexia and bulimia. Her eating disorder weighs down the family, and Annabel can’t add another burden on them. When Annabel meets Owen, a... Read Just Listen Summary

Published in 2023, Elizabeth Graver’s Kantika is an adult historical fiction novel. This multigenerational saga traces the journey of a Sephardic Jewish family led by the indomitable Rebecca Cohen from their affluent beginnings in early 20th-century Istanbul through displacements to Barcelona, Havana, and finally New York. The novel won a National Jewish Book Award, an Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award, and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award. It explores themes of displacement, cultural preservation, and... Read Kantika Summary

Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s 2024 middle grade novel in verse, Kareem Between, follows the title character as he navigates the social dynamics of middle school amid the political landscape of the United States and Syria in 2017. Embracing his love of football while grappling with his identity, Kareem’s journey illuminates themes of True Friendship Versus Popularity, Courage Emerging from Failure, and The Crisis of Family Separation. Kareem Between won the 2024 National Book Award for Young... Read Kareem Between Summary

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (2022) is a historical fantasy written by fantasy and romance author Charlie N. Holmberg. First in the Whimbrel House series, the novel is set mainly in 1846 and describes how Merritt Fernsby, a man disowned by his family, comes into possession of the enchanted Whimbrel House, located on the fictional Blaugdone Island in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. With the help of augurist Hulda Larkin, Merritt learns the history of his house... Read Keeper of Enchanted Rooms Summary

Sadeqa Johnson’s 2026 historical novel, Keeper of Lost Children, weaves together three distinct narratives across different timelines to explore the legacies of race, family, and identity in the mid-20th century. In 1965, Sophia Clark, a gifted Black teenager, seizes a scholarship to an elite boarding school to escape her abusive adoptive family and the drudgery of farm life. This journey sets her on a path to uncover the hidden truths of her origins. In a... Read Keeper of Lost Children Summary

2012’s Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a fantasy-adventure coming-of-age novel for advanced middle-grade readers. Brilliant young Sophie Foster discovers she’s not human but an elf with psychic powers. She must leave the human realm, study at an academy for elf prodigies, and try to understand the strange memories that haunt her and may put her life in peril. Since the book’s publication, Messenger has released several sequels, and the series reached... Read Keeper of the Lost Cities Summary