In Wendy Mass’s 2010 middle-grade contemporary novel Finally, protagonist Rory Swenson finally reaches the birthday she has been looking forward to for years. Now that she is 12, she has a long list of previously-forbidden privileges she wants to enjoy. Some are small—her first cup of coffee, for instance—and some are larger—like getting her own cell phone and attending her first boy-girl party. With the help of her friends and family, Rory gradually checks off... Read Finally Summary

Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover is a novella that tells the story of Daniel, a high school student who finds an unexpected and passionate connection with a girl he meets in a dark storage closet. When she disappears, Daniel’s life returns to normal. A year later, he forms an immediate and intense connection with Six, a girl with a strong personality to match Daniel’s. A series of events reveals that Six is his “Cinderella.” Their... Read Finding Cinderella Summary

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (2021) is a novel by Elle Cosimano. The story follows Finlay Donovan, a 31-year-old divorcée and single mother who writes romance suspense novels for a living. Finlay is mistaken for a contract killer when someone overhears a conversation between Finlay and her agent, and Finlay is unwillingly and unwittingly drawn into a dangerous but extremely profitable life. The book explores themes of single motherhood, power and money, and women’s vengeance.Elle... Read Finlay Donovan Is Killing It Summary

Finlay Donovan Knocks ’Em Dead, published in 2022, is the second book in Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan Mysteries series, featuring the continuing adventures of mystery writer Finlay “Finn” Donovan. In the first book in the series, Finn discovered a mafia-linked online forum where contract killings are being bought and sold by people posing as ordinary moms—and now, Finn discovers that someone is plotting to kill her ex-husband, Steven. As she and her children’s nanny, Vero... Read Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead Summary

Flipped is a contemporary young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen. The main characters, Juli Baker and Bryce Loski, are neighbors in Mayfield, a fictional American town. Now in eighth grade, the two protagonists reveal the story of their relationship in a dual narrative of alternating first-person chapters that recount how Juli “flips” for Bryce at a young age but later decides she is not interested…right around the time Bryce finally “flips” for Juli. The... Read Flipped Summary

Float is a 2018 middle-grade adventure novel by American author Laura Martin. Martin has published seven books for young readers, of which Float is the third. Float tells the story of Emerson, a 12-year-old boy who has the uncontrollable ability to float if he is not weighted down. Emerson attends a summer camp for children with similar abilities where he confronts his fears and learns to step outside his comfort zone. A sequel to Float... Read Float Summary

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures is a middle-grade magical realism novel written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K. G. Campbell, and originally published in 2013. DiCamillo is a renowned middle-grade author who also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux, among other books. Flora and Ulysses was the recipient of the John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children in 2014. It was also adapted into a... Read Flora And Ulysses Summary

Teenage Noah Underwood finds himself facing the unpleasant task of visiting his dad in jail on Father’s Day. Paine Underwood has just sunk a casino boat called the Coral Queen because its owner, Dusty Muleman, has been dumping waste from the casino’s toilets into the bay and poisoning the surrounding waters. Paine is an environmental activist who sometimes gets carried away, as his long-suffering wife Donna can attest.Since Paine hasn’t been able to prove Dusty’s... Read Flush Summary

Much of the discussion around Winston Groom’s highly acclaimed 1986 novel Forrest Gump concerns how different it is from the wildly popular movie it inspired. This does the novel a disservice, in that it deserves to be judged on its own merits rather than solely in comparison. That said, thematically, it is identical to the movie, and the characters are nearly all the same.  Forrest Gump is the first person narrator of the novel. He... Read Forrest Gump Summary

Fortunately, the Milk (2013) is a story by British author Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Skottie Young in the US edition and Chris Riddell in the UK edition). In the story, a father’s simple task of getting milk for his children’s breakfast cereal turns into a time-traveling adventure. The father takes a long time getting home from the corner store with the milk. As he explains to his hungry children, this was not his fault but... Read Fortunately, the Milk Summary

Fourth Grade Rats (1991) is a realistic middle-grade novel by award-winning children’s author Jerry Spinelli that explores the struggles of protagonist Suds Morton as he tries to orient himself to the new social expectations of being a fourth grader. According to a schoolyard rhyme, third graders are “angels,” and fourth graders are “rats” who are expected to behave rebelliously. Suds’s best friend Joey embraces his new role with relish, but Suds isn’t quite ready to... Read Fourth Grade Rats Summary

Framed, originally published in 2010, is the third of eight middle grade mystery books in the Swindle book series written by bestselling author Gordon Korman. Swindle is one of 19 different book series by Korman, who has written more than 100 books and sold over 35 million copies. As with the other novels in the series, the protagonist of Framed is the precocious Griffin Bing, “The Man With The Plan.” In Framed, Griffin is now... Read Framed Summary

Framed! is the first installment of James Ponti’s TOAST series. This middle-grade novel is narrated by the 12-year-old protagonist, Florian Bates, a covert FBI asset who uses a keen system of observational skills called TOAST (the Theory of All Small Things). Together, he and his best friend Margaret solve crimes in their Washington, DC, community. Framed! describes Florian’s arrival to the capital city and his first encounter with his neighbor Margaret. He takes her to... Read Framed! Summary

Mary Rodgers’s 1972 middle-grade comedic novel Freaky Friday is the story of a strange and surprising day in the life of 13-year-old Annabel Andrews. After an argument with her mother the night before, Annabel wakes to find herself in her mother’s body—and her mother in Annabel’s body. As Annabel copes with the amusing complications of navigating adult life, she develops a new appreciation for her family and discovers new truths about herself. The body swap... Read Freaky Friday Summary

First published in 1971, Freckle Juice is one of the earliest works by acclaimed novelist Judy Blume. Throughout her writing career, Blume became one of the most beloved authors of children’s literature in history with classics such as Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Much like her other works, Freckle Juice is a story about a child trying to find comfort in his own identity, infused with... Read Freckle Juice Summary

French Exit is Patrick deWitt’s fourth novel, published in 2018 by House of Anansi Press. DeWitt’s second novel, The Sisters Brothers, published in 2011, brought him widespread acclaim after winning several awards and was adapted into a film in 2018. French Exit, too, was adapted into a film starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges by Sony Pictures Classic in 2020. The novel was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize and was critically acclaimed for its... Read French Exit Summary

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a 1987 novel by American author and actress Fanny Flagg, who also wrote an award-winning screen adaption of the book. The narrative contains two interconnected stories that unfold several decades apart. The frame narrative, which takes place in Birmingham, Alabama between December 1985 and December 1986, depicts the developing friendship between a middle-aged housewife named Evelyn Couch and an elderly widow named Ninny Threadgoode. As the... Read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Summary

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is a 2022 memoir by Canadian American actor Matthew Perry. The book recounts the impact of parental divorce on Perry’s childhood, his teenage years as a nationally ranked tennis player, and his fame as Chandler in the sitcom Friends. The “Big Terrible Thing” of the title refers to the author’s life-threatening battle with addiction to drugs and alcohol. Perry’s motivation for sharing his experiences is to help other people... Read Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing Summary

Frindle is a 1996 middle grade novel by children’s author Andrew Clements, illustrated by Brian Selznick. The story follows a fifth-grade boy named Nick Allen who—both for fun and to exasperate his strict language arts teacher—creates a new word for pen: “frindle.” Nick’s new word captures more attention than he expected, and soon the entire country is engaged in a discussion about how people ought to use vocabulary. The novel explores themes about differing adult... Read Frindle Summary

Fudge-a-Mania is a middle grade realistic fiction novel written by Judy Blume and originally published in 1990. The novel is part of a five-book series all about Peter Hatcher and his precocious younger brother, Fudge. In Fudge-a-Mania, Peter and his family road trip to Maine for a summer vacation must share a house with two other families, resulting in a series of mishaps and unexpected events. Thematically, the novel explores The Trials of Approaching Adolescence... Read Fudge-a-Mania Summary