Invisible by Pete Hautman

Doug isn't a school athlete or a popular student. He doesn't go out for theater. And he spends a lot of time working on his model railroad. Andy is a popular student, a great athlete and involved with school theater. The two aren't what you would expect for best friends. But they live next door to each other and have been best friends forever. Late at night, they talk to each other through their windows. But things are just not right somehow. As the days go by, we learn what it is.

The Liberation of Gabriel King by K. L. Going

We all have things that scare us. Some people are afraid of the dark, or high places or, ick, spiders. Gabriel King is afraid of lots of things. So his best friend, Frieda, comes up with a great plan that she thinks will help him be braver. She has Gabe write up a list of all the things that scare him, including entering 5th grade in the fall. One by one, they will work on those fears until they can cross them all off. Good plan, right? Do you think it will work? And what kinds of things are Frieda afraid of? Join Gabe and Frieda as they work on their lists during the summer of 1976.