Speaker for the Dead (1986) is the second book in the Ender sextet written by Orson Scott Card. Card is a renowned American science fiction author and has won numerous awards for his writing, including four for Speaker of the Dead—the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award for Best Novel, and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.Speaker for the Dead is set... Read Speaker for the Dead Summary

Spellcaster (2025) is a dark academia romantasy novel by USA Today best-selling author Jaymin Eve. An established author in the fantasy romance genre, Eve is known for other popular series such as Shadow Beast Shifters and Supernatural Academy. The novel follows Paisley Hallistar, a young witch with dormant magical abilities, as she enters the elite Weatherstone College. There, she becomes entangled with the powerful and enigmatic Logan Kingston, the heir to a rival family, forcing... Read Spellcaster Summary

Spilled Milk (2013) is a memoir written in the form of a fictional novel by K. L. Randis (under the pseudonym Brooke Nolan). Randis was subjected to severe sexual abuse by her father as a child and became an advocate and educator determined to prevent others from having similar experiences. Randis’s family also experienced severe physical, emotional, and economic abuse. She wrote her memoir to give children and adults alike a tool to validate their... Read Spilled Milk Summary

Squirm (2018) is a children’s novel by author Carl Hiaasen, who is primarily known for his humorous mysteries. He is a South Florida native who began his career as an investigative reporter and eventually penned a weekly column for the Miami-Herald. Always a prolific writer, Hiaasen turned to fiction in 1981. Since that time, he has written 16 adult novels, 7 middle school mysteries, and 6 nonfiction works. His writing has earned him numerous awards... Read Squirm Summary

Kerri Maniscalco’s debut Gothic mystery novel Stalking Jack the Ripper is the first in her popular murder mystery series for young adults. Inspired by the true events of 1888, the novel traces a 17-year-old protagonist’s search for a notorious serial killer in London’s East End. As a work of historical fiction, the novel takes some liberties with factual material. The text also includes historic images and photos to add to its sense of authenticity. Stalking... Read Stalking Jack the Ripper Summary

In Stand Tall, Jean Bauer’s 2002 middle grade novel, protagonist Sam Benton, known as Tree, navigates his parents’ recent divorce and life as an exceptionally tall seventh grader. Drawing strength from family and friends, Tree learns to believe in himself, highlighting the themes of Resilience in the Face of Adversity, The Power of Community, and The Impact of Expectations on Identity Development. Stand Tall was named a 2003 Notable Children’s Book by the Association of... Read Stand Tall Summary

Stand Up, Yumi Chung! (March 2020) is the debut novel by Korean American author Jessica Kim. When first published, it made several 2020 award lists, including Kirkus Best Children’s Books and Amazon Best Books of the Month. The author followed this title with Make a Move, Sunny Park! (2023), which covers similar material as her first book. Like her characters, Kim was born in California and is currently a SoCal resident. She is also a... Read Stand Up, Yumi Chung! Summary

Stardust is a historical fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel was originally published in 1999, though an illustrated comic book miniseries preceded the prose text in 1997, along with a full-length illustrated edition in 1998. It won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature in 1999 and was nominated for the Locus Award. Stardust was adapted into a film in 2007 and a radio production in 2016. The novel uses traditional folkloric... Read Stardust Summary

Starfish by Lisa Fipps is a 2021 middle-grade realistic novel-in-verse. Written through a series of poems, the novel follows 12-year-old Ellie Montgomery-Hofstein and her struggles against bullying, from both family and peers, because of her weight. Through Ellie’s journey, the novel explores themes of self-acceptance, social support, bullying, and standing up for yourself.Ellie teaches herself to live by self-imposed “Fat Girl Rules,” metaphorically shrinking herself to avoid drawing attention to herself. She is bullied at... Read Starfish Summary

Stargazing (2019) is a middle grade graphic novel written and illustrated by Jen Wang and colored by Lark Pien. Wang based the work on her own experiences of having a brain tumor as a young child and the surgery required to have it removed. Stargazing won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature in 2020, partially due to its examination of Bridging the Cultural Divide within Asian American communities and its depiction of identity-formation as... Read Stargazing Summary

Written by Hugo Award–winning author Alix E. Harrow in 2023, Starling House is a Southern Gothic work of speculative fiction about finding a place to call home. The story focuses on Opal, an impoverished woman struggling to free herself and her brother from their prejudiced small town. When she accepts a job as a housekeeper at the mysterious Starling House, she begins to fall for its equally mysterious inhabitant, Arthur Starling, as the property’s deeper... Read Starling House Summary

Starside (2026) is a romantasy novel by Alex Aster, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lightlark saga. Aster is a notable figure in the BookTok literary phenomenon, where her viral social media pitch for Lightlark catapulted her from a rejected author to a bestselling sensation. As the first installment in a new series, Starside builds on the author’s established brand of high-stakes fantasy, fast-paced action, and romantic tension. The novel is set... Read Starside Summary

Lissa Price’s Starters is a young adult science fiction novel set in the near future after the Spore Wars, during which biological weapons were used against the United States and wiped out much of the unvaccinated middle-aged population. As a result, many teens were left without families, and the elderly feared for their place in society. Starters without grandparents were barred from essentially every type of work. This led to teens being rounded up to... Read Starters Summary

Stay (2011) is a middle grade novel by Bobbie Pyron. It follows the story of 12-year-old Piper, whose family has recently lost their home and moved into a shelter, and her efforts to reunite a dog, Baby, with his owner who goes missing. The book explores themes of Resilience in the Face of Adversity and The Positive Impact of Community and Purpose. As with several of Pyron’s books aimed at younger readers, Stay also explores... Read Stay Summary

Stay With Me (2017) is the debut literary novel of Nigerian Yorùbá author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. This nonlinear novel is told from two perspectives and gradually unravels the reasons behind a married couple’s 15-year estrangement. An intimate story set amidst the politically turbulent Babangida government of the 1980s and 1990s, Adébáyọ̀ exposes The Pressures and Limitations of Tradition, The Vulnerability of Hope Amidst Tragedies, and The Power of Self-Deception. Stay With Me won the 2017/18 9Mobile... Read Stay With Me Summary

Stef Soto: Taco Queen by Mexican American author Jennifer Torres (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017) is a middle grade Latinx fiction story about an 11-year-old girl’s journey toward accepting herself, her family, and her family’s food truck. The book was listed for the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 2018, and it received glowing reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal for its realistic portrayal of the struggles first-generation families face in the US. Torres... Read Stef Soto, Taco Queen Summary

Set during the Great Depression in the segregated South, Stella by Starlight is a historical middle grade novel by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper. As the Ku Klux Klan exerts increasing influence over the residents of rural Bumblebee, North Carolina, 11-year-old Stella Mills must confront racism while navigating the challenges of school, family life, and friendship. First published in 2015, the novel won the Charlotte Huck Award, an honor for children’s fiction granted by the... Read Stella by Starlight Summary

Stella Diaz Has Something to Say is Angela Dominguez’s first novel for middle grade readers. Published in 2018, the novel is the first in the Stella Diaz series, which currently consists of five novels. Dominguez based the series on her own childhood; she claims that Stella Diaz Has Something to Say is “82.9 percent” true to her personal experiences growing up. Like Stella, Dominguez was born in Mexico City and moved to the US as... Read Stella Díaz Has Something to Say Summary

Published in 2022, Stella Maris stands as Cormac McCarthy’s final novel, marking the conclusion of the American novelist’s prolific career. Serving as a companion or, more precisely, an afterword to his notably lengthier novel The Passenger, released in the same year, both works emerged following a 15-year hiatus in McCarthy’s publishing trajectory. The narrative centers around Alicia, a hyperintelligent math genius who voluntarily admits herself to the psychiatric hospital Stella Maris. Engaging in profound metaphysical... Read Stella Maris Summary

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova, tells the story of a Harvard cognitive psychology professor, Alice Howland, and her descent into early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. When the novel opens, Alice is unaware of her disease; although she recognizes that she has become a touch more forgetful lately, she chalks this up to getting older and keeping a busy academic schedule. However, her lapses soon become worse, and a series of tests confirm that she has early-onset Alzheimer’s... Read Still Alice Summary