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The Second Favorite Daughters Club 1: Sister Sabotage

Colleen Oakes

For fans of Sisters and Netflix’s The Baby-sitter’s Club, a contemporary series for the siblings who always come in last.

Santana Barnes is tired of playing second fiddle to her ballet protégé, honor student older sister Victoria. Casey Hammond is sick of her cute-as-a-button, adventurous little sister Sage, who steals all of their dad’s attention.

When the girls meet in their middle school library, they learn they have a lot in common: they both love reading, they hate after-school activities, and most important, they are clearly their parents’ second-favorite children.

So they decide to do something about it. They create the Second Favorite Daughters Club. The members? Just the two of them. The mission? To become their parents' favorite children by undermining their love-hoarding siblings. But is it possible to cheat your way to becoming your parents’ favorite? And is being in the spotlight really what they want after all?

Bestselling author Colleen Oakes’s middle grade debut, SISTER SABOTAGE is a celebration of friendship and family in all its challenging forms, and a reminder that there’s no one way to stand out.

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Olivetti

Allie Millington

A heartfelt novel praised by Tom Hanks in the New York Times as including "a conclusion nearly impossible to divine and yet so perfect it includes that most tactile of memories..."

Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive.

Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice—his used-to-be most frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him.

Their search takes them across San Francisco—chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost.

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The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines

Mo Netz

 

 

In this debut spooky adventure, Jerry and her trusty wheelchair move into a creepy motel at the edge of the woods where nothing is as it seems. When her mom disappears, it's up to Jerry to brave the forest and its demons so she can save what's left of her family.

 

 

Ever since her dad died, 11-year-old Jerry Blum and her mom have bounced around dead-end towns, staying in a series of rundown motels where her mother picks up housekeeping work and Jerry can get around in her wheelchair.

But the Slumbering Giant motel is different. Lights blink on and off in the surrounding trees, a mysterious radio station plays only at midnight, and people disappear into the woods, never to been seen again. Not to mention that Jerry's mom keeps vanishing to do "special work" that she refuses to discuss. When her mother doesn't come home one morning, Jerry springs into action.

Luckily, she's not alone. Paul, a pocket-size imaginary dragon, and Chapel, a new friend with a penchant for the supernatural, join Jerry's search for her missing mom. But along the way Jerry discovers her mother's terrible secret: she's not a housekeeper at all; in fact, she's been defending the town from demons that have been haunting it for generations.

Armed with nothing but a Ren Faire sword and a backpack, Jerry and her friends venture into the forbidden woods to save Jerry's mother. But the "demons" hiding there aren't what they seem, and Jerry must unravel the truth behind the town's legend, or risk losing what's left of her family.

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Lightningborn

Julie Kagawa

In a world in the clouds where only the rich own dragons, a poor boy named Remy finds a wild baby dragon-believed to be extinct-and becomes the focus of an evil pirate's vengeance.

REMY spends his days trying to survive the mean streets of Cutthroat Wedge-one of the many islands floating in the gravitational pull of the magical Maelstrom raging below. But his life changes forever when a violent storm brings a baby dragon to his doorstep, and he feels a bond he has never felt with anyone. Remy names the dragon Storm and vows to protect this new friend, no matter the cost.

GEM longs for the day when she call herself a true mage. That is, if she can convince her teachers and peers that just because she's a princess doesn't mean she's lazy and spoiled. But when Gem learns that the floating islands that make up her kingdom are rapidly sinking into the Maelstrom, she makes it her mission to save her world. Against the king's wishes, she accesses forbidden research and discovers the secret to saving humanity may lie in a True Dragon-a dragon capable of intelligent thought and able to cast and use magic. But True Dragons are extinct . . . aren't they?

Remy's and Gem's lives will never be the same when their fates collide, thanks to Storm. With an evil pirate mage named Jhaeros determined to claim the rare dragon for himself, the two must learn to trust in each other as they team up with a shifty pirate captain and her crew, stand together against impossible odds, and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

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The Ghost Forest (Secrets of the Sky, Book Three)

Sayantani DasGupta

Kiya and Kinjal return to the Kingdom Beyond.

 

For their next adventure in the Kingdom Beyond, twins Kiya and Kinjal must help the flying horses with a sudden invasion of their lands. It turns out that the tree ghosts are losing their forest! To save the trees, and the Kingdom, they must use their collective knowledge of this world and of course their magic!

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Heroes

Alan Gratz

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee, Ground Zero, and Two Degrees comes this heart-pounding, inventive, and powerful new novel about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor... as only Alan Gratz can tell it!

 

December 6, 1941: Best friends Frank and Stanley have it good. With their dads stationed at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, the boys get to soak up the sunshine while writing and drawing their own comic books. World War II might be raging overseas, but so far America has stayed out of the fight. There's nothing to fear, right?

December 7th, 1941: Everything implodes.

Frank and Stanley are touring a battleship when Japanese planes zoom overhead, dropping bomb after bomb. As explosions roar and sailors screa, Frank and Stanley realize the unthinkable is happening: Japan is attacking America! The war has come to them.

Frantically, the boys struggle to find safety. But disaster and danger are everywhere--from torpedoes underwater to bullets on the beach... to the shocking cruelty that their friends and neightbors show Stanely. Because his mom is Japanese-American, Stanely is suddenly seen as the "enemy." And Frank, who is white, cannot begin to understand what his friend is now facing.

If the boys make it through this infamous day, can their friendship--and their dreams--survive? Or has everything they know been destroyed?

Told with the immediacy, high-stakes action, and inventive storytelling that make Alan Gratz (Refugee, Ground Zero) one of today's biggest authors, this riveting look at the attack on Pearl Harbor explores themes of prejudice, power, and what it truly means to be a hero.

Plus: The book ends with an all-original, 10-page black & white comic that brings to life the comic book idea that Frank and Stanley brainstorm in the novel. The comic is written by Alan Gratz and illustrated by Judit Tondora.

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Coyote Lost and Found

Dan Gemeinhart

From #1 New York Times-bestselling author Dan Gemeinhart comes a standalone companion to the critically-acclaimed The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise about a father and daughter who venture on a moving, uplifting, and rollicking cross-country road trip.

It's been almost a year since Coyote and her dad left the road behind and settled down in a small Oregon town. . . time spent grieving the loss of her mom and sisters and trying to fit in at school. But just as life is becoming a new version of normal, Coyote discovers a box containing her mom’s ashes. And she thinks she might finally be ready to say goodbye.

So Coyote and her dad gear up for an epic cross-country road trip to scatter the ashes at her mom’s chosen resting place. The only problem? Coyote has no idea where that resting place is—and the secret’s hidden in a book that Coyote mistakenly sold last year, somewhere in the country. Now, it’s up to Coyote to track down the treasured book . . . without her dad ever finding out that it’s lost.

It’s time to fire up their trusty bus, Yager, pick up some old friends, discover some new ones, and hit the road on another unforgettable adventure.

"Your heart needs this joyful miracle of a book." —Katherine Applegate, acclaimed author of The One and Only Ivan and Wishtree, on The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

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Just Keep Walking

Erin Soderberg Downing

*A MIBA Bestseller!

 

Wild meets Gilmore Girls on the trail in this indie bestselling story of resilience and the healing and restorative power of the nature from bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing

 

"A fun, heartfelt tale of adventure, family, and determination that will make you just keep reading." -- Dan Gemeinhart, award-winning author of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

 

Two years after her parents' surprising and painful split, twelve-year-old Jo and her mom find themselves on the 100-mile hike on the Superior Hiking Trail along Lake Superior's north shore--a journey that Jo had always looked forward to hiking with her dad. It's not a situation that either of them ever predicted they'd find themselves in, yet here they are in the wilderness with their entire lives stuffed into a pair of thirty-pound packs.

 

Along the trail, they'll suffer through endless aches and pains, scorching heat, and crippling self-doubt. They'll encounter bears, moose, and other wildlife and meet and collect an assortment of unlikely friends. Day after day, Jo will battle the incessant thoughts that come in and out of her head. But as one obstacle after the next continue to test her strength and ultimate survival, Jo will have to confront her greatest fears head on and learn how to be alone.

 

What begins as a journey to prove to her father that she and her mom can make it on their own turns into a quest to rediscover their strength, build resilience, and prove that they can survive--both for themselves and for each other.

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Ferris

Kate DiCamillo

"Kate DiCamillo's new children's novel is a balm for the soul." - The New York Times

The beloved author of Because of Winn-Dixie has outdone herself with a hilarious and achingly real love story about a girl, a ghost, a grandmother, and growing up.

It's the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris's mother's chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris's grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans--wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?

As Charisse likes to say, "Every good story is a love story," and Kate DiCamillo has written one for the ages: emotionally resonant and healing, showing the two-time Newbery Medalist at her most playful, universal, and profound.

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Harriet Tells the Truth

Elana K. Arnold

Harriet sets out to solve a poisoning on Marble Island in the third book in the acclaimed cozy mystery series from award-winning author Elana K. Arnold.

There are some things you should know about Harriet Wermer:

  • She used to lie a lot, but not anymore.Seriously, she only tells the truth now.Even though she hadn't wanted to come to Marble Island in the first place, now she doesn't want to leave.

It's the truth. With her mom and new baby brother home from the hospital, it's almost time for Harriet to pack up and head home from Marble Island and all the friends she's made. But Harriet doesn't have time to think about that--not when she discovers that Moneypenny, her Nanu's adorable basset hound, has been poisoned!

Harriet suspects the culprit is one of the guests staying at Nanu's bed-and-breakfast, and she and her best friend, Clarence, are once again on the case. But when someone else falls ill, Harriet's going to have to sleuth harder, spy sneakier, and be willing to see that sometimes the truth is more complicated than it seems.

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Emma and the Love Spell

Meredith Ireland

Witchlings meets The Parent Trap in this contemporary fantasy about a girl who tries to use her fickle witchy powers to keep her best friend (and secret crush!) from moving away.

Twelve-year-old, Korean American adoptee Emma Davidson has a problem. Two problems. Okay, three:

1. She has a crush on her best friend, Avangeline, that she hasn't been able to share
2. Avangeline now has to move out of their town because her parents are getting a divorce
3. Oh, and Emma is a secret witch who can't really control her powers

It's a complicated summer between sixth and seventh grade. Emma's parents made her promise that she'd keep her powers a secret and never, ever use them. But if Avangeline's parents fell back in love, it would fix everything. And how hard could one little love spell be?

This fast-paced, heartfelt story is a powerful exploration of learning to embrace who you are, even when your true self is different from everyone around you.

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The World-Famous Nine

Ben Guterson

In this thrilling mystery from an award-winning author, Zander is determined to do whatever it takes to save his grandmother's nineteen-story out-of-this-world department store--perfect for fans of The Swifts and The Mysterious Benedict Society.



Zander Olinga's grandmother is the owner of the fabled Number Nine Plaza, the spectacular nineteen-story skyscraper. The Nine, as it's called, has everything imaginable, including a massive Ferris wheel on its rooftop, monorail tracks suspended from its ceiling, and twenty-five glass elevators. But there's something evil looming in the shadows, and strange accidents start befalling the guests. When Zander and his friend Natasha come across a series of inscriptions hidden throughout the walls of The Nine, they discover that the clues will lead them to a magical object which protects the store's very existence. With the future of The Nine on the line, the pair are determined to recover the mysterious object before the luxury plaza and its many guests are destroyed.



Featuring an unforgettable setting and a larger-than-life cast of characters, here's a spellbinding mystery involving puzzles, art, and high-stakes adventure.

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The Thirteenth Circle

MarcyKate Connolly

The X-Files meets Scooby-Doo in THE THIRTEENTH CIRCLE, a middle-grade mystery from MarcyKate Connolly and Kathryn Holmes, featuring two unexpected friends, crop circles, science fairs, and Men in Black, perfect for both the highly scientific and cryptid enthusiasts alike.

Cat knows aliens are real, and she’s determined to prove it. By studying the Weston Farm Circles, her town’s legendary crop circle phenomenon, she’ll not only demonstrate the existence of extraterrestrial life, but also win the grand prize in the McMurray Youth Science Competition—a feat she’s sure will impress her distant NASA scientist father.

Dani most certainly does not believe in aliens. How can she, when they go against every scientific principle she’s been taught? So when Dani is paired with Cat to enter the McMurray Youth Science Competition—which she has to win to avoid going to her parents’ artsy summer camp—she knows she’s at a disadvantage. Her solution? Disprove Cat’s theory, of course . . . without telling her partner her true intentions.

But as the girls bond over science, it becomes clear that there is something strange about the Weston Farm Circles. And when Dani and Cat’s project is threatened by suspicious forces, they’ll have to work together to expose the truth, once and for all.

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Haunted Holiday

Kiersten White

Giant battle robots! Cotton candy betrayal! Blasts from the past! And the ultimate challenge to stay true to themselves and each other await Theo and Alexander in the final book in the tragic series about the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who must solve one wretched mystery after the next, brought to you by #1 NYT bestselling author Kiersten White.

Trapped in Aunt Saffronia’s spectral house, Theo and Alexander must work together to escape, stop their newfound nemesis Essa and her henchman Edgaren’t, save Wil and their friends, find their parents, and maybe, just maybe, get things back to normal.

Following the clues left behind, the twins find themselves at Siren’s Song Seaside Amusement Park. Old faces and new surprises await them in a park that was built to lure in visitors…and their secrets.

As they get closer to answers, the twins are left with the biggest question of all: Who is Essa really, and why is she so determined to find their parents?

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Waffles

Ellen Miles

Welcome to the Puppy Place! Where every puppy finds a home.

 

Charles and Lizzie Peterson love puppies. Their family fosters these young dogs, giving them love and proper care, until they can find the perfect forever home.Waffles is exuberant, playful, and smart - maybe too smart! She's quite the escape artist and Lizzie has her hands full trying to keep tabs on her.

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The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum

Lisa Yee

When a notorious thief is out for priceless treasure (gems! cats! general decorum!)—who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series from Newbery Honoree Lisa Yee and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat!

“For any kid who’s felt like a misfit, this crackling adventure packs a wallop!” —Lincoln Peirce, creator of Big Nate and Max & the Midknights

Olive Cobin Zang has . . . issues. And they mostly aren’t her fault. (No, really!) Though she often slips under the radar, problems have a knack for finding her. So, imagine her doubts when she’s suddenly dropped off at the strangest boarding school ever: a former castle turned prison that's now a “reforming arts school”!

But nothing could’ve prepared Olive for RASCH (not “rash”). There, she’s lumped with a team of other kids who never quite fit in, and discovers that the academy isn’t what it seems—and neither is she. In fact, RASCH is a cover for an elite group of misfits who fight crime . . . and Olive has arrived just in time.

Turns out that RASCH is in danger of closing, unless Olive’s class can stop the heist of the century. And as Olive falls in love with this wacky school, she realizes it’s up to her new team to save the only home that’s ever welcomed them.

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Newbie Fairy

Kate Korsh

In this hilarious, highly illustrated new chapter book series, lovable newbie fairy Oona has big ideas, only her magic always seems to go a little wonky. But she won’t let that stop her!

Oona Bramblegoop is a Newbie fairy, and she’s determined to do big things, especially if they can impress her idol, the Tooth Fairy. There’s just one problem: Oona’s magic never goes quite how she planned.

Oona’s protection spells work great, but only if you don’t mind getting a wedgie from a pair of magical underwear. And don’t even mention the smell disaster that resulted from her first fire spell . . . yikes!

Good thing Oona is creative, and she never gives up, no matter how surprising her magic gets.

Packed with Fun Fairy Facts, humor, and lots of heart, this magical series celebrates finding friendship and your place in the world, even if you fit in a little sideways.

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Light and Air

Mindy Nichols Wendell

It's 1935, and tuberculosis is ravaging the nation. Everyone is afraid of this deadly respiratory illness. But what happens when you actually have it?

When Halle and her mother both come down with TB, they are shunned—and then they are sent to the J.N. Adam Tuberculosis Hospital: far from home, far from family, far from the world.

Tucked away in the woods of upstate New York, the hospital is a closed and quiet place. But it is not, Halle learns, a prison. Free of her worried and difficult father for the first time in her life, she slowly discovers joy, family, and the healing power of honey on the children's ward, where the girls on the floor become her confidantes and sisters. But when Mama suffers a lung hemorrhage, their entire future—and recovery—is thrown into question....

Light and Air deals tenderly and insightfully with isolation, quarantine, found family, and illness. Set in the fully realized world of a 1930s hospital, it offers a tender glimpse into a historical epidemic that has become more relatable than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Halle tries to warm her father’s coldness and learns to trust the girls and women of the hospital, and as she and her mother battle a disease that once paralyzed the country, a profound message of strength, hope, and healing emerges.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

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The End of the Overworld!

Nick Eliopulos

The Stonesword Saga comes to an epic conclusion in this deluxe illustrated hardcover chapter book--the only official Minecraft chapter book series!

Based on one of the most popular video game of all time, this all-new chapter book series takes a group of intrepid Minecraft players deeper into the game than ever before. In their last adventure, Morgan, Harper, and their friends barely survived a dangerous game only to return to a Minecraft Overworld in total chaos! The rift that's been growing steadily larger in the sky is now on the verge of consuming everything in its path. The team has one chance to save Minecraft and their friend the Evoker King--but it may already be too late. Find out what happens in Book #6, the epic conclusion of the Stonesword Saga!!!

Look for these other great Minecraft® titles:
* Into the Game! (Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles #1)
* Last Block Standing! (Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles #6)
* Crack in the Code! (Minecraft Stonesword Saga #1)

© 2023 Mojang AB. All Rights Reserved. Minecraft, the Minecraft logo, the Mojang Studios logo and the Creeper logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

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The Curse of Eelgrass Bog

Mary Averling

Dark secrets and unnatural magic abound when a twelve-year-old girl ventures into a bog full of monsters to break a mysterious curse.

Nothing about Kess Pedrock’s life is normal. Not her home (she lives in her family’s Unnatural History Museum), not her interests (hunting for megafauna fossils and skeletons), and not her best friend (a talking demon’s head in a jar named Shrunken Jim).

But things get even stranger than usual when Kess meets Lilou Starling, the new girl in town. Lilou comes to Kess for help breaking a mysterious curse—and the only clue she has leads straight into the center of Eelgrass Bog.

Everyone knows the bog is full of witches, demons, and possibly worse, but Kess and Lilou are determined not to let that stop them. As they investigate the mystery and uncover long-buried secrets, Kess begins to realize that the curse might hit closer to home than she’d ever expected, and she’ll have to summon all her courage to find a way to break it before it’s too late.

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The Apartment House on Poppy Hill: Book 1

Nina LaCour

A charming new chapter book by bestselling author Nina LaCour.



Welcome to 1106 Wildflower Place: It is no ordinary apartment house, but you, reader, are no ordinary visitor. So, please, come in!



Two new tenants have just arrived, and nine-year-old Ella is determined to help them settle in. Who better to teach them about the glitchy lights and the nighttime noises? After all, Ella knows all the neighbors. Well, almost all. No one has met the mysterious Robinsons who live on the top floor. Will a special neighborly celebration change all that? This bighearted chapter book by bestselling author Nina LaCour, highlighted by lively illustrations throughout, celebrates community, friendship, family, and home. It is a place of walking dogs that aren't yours, keeping surprises secret, and making everyone feel welcome.



Here, the eccentric joy of Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City merges seamlessly with the antic fun of Ivy + Bean, the family tenderness of The Penderwicks, and the madcap adventure of Eloise in an irresistible story that will leave you eager for the next one!



BESTSELLING, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: Nina LaCour is a highly acclaimed author of both YA and adult novels. This is her first novel for younger readers and a terrific introduction of a talented writer to the next generation.



HILARIOUSLY UNIVERSAL: Ella is a strong protagonist that readers of all ages and genders will love. She is bighearted, curious, and just a tad mischievous.



DIVERSE CAST OF CHARACTERS: Featuring many different family structures, this story is wonderfully diverse and inclusive. Any reader can imagine themselves living at 1106 Wildflower Place.



DRAWN FROM AUTHOR'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: The charming characters and their stories were conjured by LaCour and her young daughter during the long walks they took through San Francisco during the early days of Covid-19 and inspired by the people they encountered along the way.



Perfect for:

  • Parents, teachers, and librarians
  • Gift-givers looking for entertaining chapter books for kids who enjoy stories full of humor and heart
  • Readers who love such bestselling book series as Ivy + Bean, Clementine, Judy Moody, and Junie B. Jones

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Ready, Set, Dough!

Kelly J. Baptist

From Kelly J. Baptist, the award-winning author of Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero, comes a story about Zoe Sparks, an over-enthusiastic cookie-dough seller who wishes to win a laptop from her school fundraiser. Of course, there's unexpected competition, bad music, strained friendships, and over-the-top ideas that go horribly wrong.

Spunky sixth-grader Zoe Sparks has discovered a unique way to get the laptop of her dreams—to win it! If Zoe can sell more tubs of cookie dough than anyone in her school, the laptop is hers. It’s the first step to becoming a prize-winning journalist! But her win-at-all-costs attitude is starting to drive a wedge between Zoe, her best friend Felix, and her family. Zoe may be a top cookie-dough seller in her class, but is winning the prize really worth it?

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The Bigfoot Queen

Jennifer Weiner

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes the third and final book in the “cheerful” (The New York Times Book Review) and “charming” (People) trilogy about friendship, adventure, and celebrating your true self.

Alice Mayfair, Millie Maximus, Jessica Jarvis, and Jeremy Bigelow face their biggest challenge yet when exposure of the sacred, secret world is threatened by a determined foe, someone with a very personal reason to want revenge against the creatures who call themselves the Yare.

The fate of the tribe and its members’ right to live out peacefully in the open is at stake. Impossible decisions are made, friendships are threatened, secrets are revealed, and tremendous courage is required. Alice, her friends, and her frenemies will have to work together and be stronger, smarter, and more accepting than they’ve ever been.

But can some betrayals ever be forgiven?

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Mr. Whiskers and the Shenanigan Sisters

Wendelin Van Draanen

Mr. Whiskers is a paw-some new dog detective from an Edgar Award winning author. He's on the trail of a kidnapped dad, pirate treasure, and a place to call home...

Mr. Whiskers is a street-wise stray dog with a nose for trouble and a fondness for two girls he calls the Shenanigan Sisters. So when Misty and Zelda’s professor father is kidnapped, Mr. Whiskers follows that car, picking up vital clues.

Then the two intrepid girls and one great dog follow the trail through the streets of San Francisco, discovering hidden passageways, buried secrets, and even pirate treasure.

But will they be able to rescue Dad? You bet your best biscuit, they will!

Wendelin Van Draanen's new mystery is the ulti-mutt kid-pleasing caper.

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All the Small Wonderful Things

Kate Foster

In an endearing story about an autistic boy and his steadfast furry pal, Alex is convinced that winning a trophy at the dog show will help him make a real friend at last.

Eleven-year-old Alex knows that starting middle school will be a big change, and for an autistic person, change can be terrifying. He is sure that having a friend by his side will help. But how can he make one? Alex devises a plan to impress the kids at school by winning a trophy at the PAWS Dog Show with his trusty sidekick, Kevin the cockapoo. This should be a walk in the park, right? If only. It turns out that finding a friend is harder than Alex thought--unless, maybe, friendship is about something more than popularity. This charming story, told through Alex's clear and honest voice, navigates relationships of all stripes between classmates, new neighbors, family, and, of course, a kid and his dog. After all, friendship isn't one-size-fits-all--maybe it's found in the small things where you least expect it.

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Spy School Goes North

Stuart Gibbs

In the eleventh book in the New York Times bestselling Spy School series, Ben Ripley goes on a rescue mission when one of his own is abducted from a remote Alaskan training facility.

Ben Ripley and his friends are training in Alaska when Cyrus Hale is kidnapped by his old Russian nemesis. Ben, Erica, and the others mount a rescue mission, but events quickly spiral out of control in a plot involving the secret history of US-Russian relations, a young KGB agent with skills to rival Erica’s—and lots and lots of bears.

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The Wild Robot Protects

Peter Brown

The New York Times bestselling The Wild Robot series returns, taking Roz on an action-packed under-the-ocean journey to save her beloved island!

Life for Roz and the animals on their island is perfect. But when mysterious, dangerous waters surround the island, the animals are forced inland to fight over dwindling resources.

Roz calms and organizes the animals, but the poison tide takes a terrible toll on the island. So the wild robot sets out across the ocean, determined to stop the poison tide. During her journey, Roz encounters amazing geological formations and incredible creatures, and she sees the devastation caused by the toxic waters. Can the wild robot save the ocean and her island and everything she loves?

This thrilling third installment of the Wild Robot series takes readers on a new adventure through the ocean and to the frigid northern waters where Roz may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

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Worst Love Spell Ever!

Wanda Coven

In this hilarious sequel to the New York Times bestseller Worst Broommate Ever, witch-in-training Heidi Heckelbeck wants her crush to notice her. Featuring black-and-white illustrations and doodles throughout and sparkly foil on the cover!

Heidi is settling in at Broomsfield Academy. She and Melanie are trying to get along and Heidi is getting used to her classes, all her new friends, and her very first crush, Hunter! The problem is: Hunter is really popular. How will Heidi get him to notice her? Her friends tell her to just be herself, but that sounds so boring! After all, Heidi is a witch-in-training. What good is having magic if you can’t use it? She knows she can find the perfect love spell to make Hunter fall in love with her. What could possibly go wrong?

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The Ghost Job

Greg van Eekhout

Ghosts make the best thieves in this pitch-perfect middle grade adventure from the acclaimed author of Weird Kid. Perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and John David Anderson--and anyone looking for an Ocean's 11-style heist!

Zenith and her friends may be dead--but lucky for them, even getting ghosted wasn't enough to tear them apart.

The four of them were thick as thieves long before an unfortunate lab accident sent them careening into the afterlife. So when they hear about a machine that could return them to the land of the living, they are determined to steal it.

Unfortunately, the magical device belongs to a dangerous necromancer who's out for their ectoplasm.

Fortunately, they're great at heists. Because pulling off the score of their deathtimes is no job for an amateur.

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Just a Pinch of Magic

Alechia Dow

Just a Pinch of Magic, Alechia Dow's middle-grade debut, is as warm and sweet as a cinnamon bun, bursting with magic and sure to please the pickiest readers.

Wini's family of enchanters runs a little bakery, but with the prices of magical ingredients skyrocketing, they're going under. Desperate to save her family's business, Wini takes a risk by casting a (sort of illegal) spell that would allow them to gather their own supply of their most needed magical ingredient: Love. But the spell doesn't work. And Wini soon discovers that it didn't just not work, it backfired. Badly. Now the whole town is in danger, and the Enchantment Agency is sniffing around for whoever cast the wayward spell.

It's just been Kal and her dad for as long as she can remember. They've weathered everything together, including Kal's mental health struggles. But just as they're about to move to a new town for a fresh start, Kal's grandfather—who mysteriously vanished years ago—has suddenly reentered their lives with a desire to make amends. He joins them in opening their bookstore in the new town, but Kal can't help but wonder if he has anything to do with the whispers around her new home about wicked magic. And it's not just the whispers of the magical books in their shop.

When Wini and Kal cross paths—both hoping for the chance to finally make a friend without worrying about their family histories following them—the girls bond over being fellow outcasts. Together they search for the solution to fixing the magic gone awry in their beloved town—and just maybe get their dads to go out on a date.

Includes five recipes!

Praise for Just a Pinch of Magic:


"Just a Pinch of Magic provides more than a pinch of fun. This delightful middle-grade debut is full of friendship, adventure, magic—and recipes!" —Janae Marks, New York Times-bestselling author of On Air with Zoe Washington

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Warriors Super Edition: Riverstar's Home

Erin Hunter

A thrilling stand-alone adventure in Erin Hunter's #1 nationally bestselling Warriors series!

In this Super Edition, discover the origins of the first leader of RiverClan--a mysterious cat whose desire for peace would help shape the dawn of the warrior Clans.

When a storm-tossed river sweeps Ripple away from the park he's always known, he commits himself to the life of a peaceful loner. Still, as his new island home starts to become a sanctuary for other rogues, he can't help but feel responsible for their safety, and for the community--and Clan--they are beginning to build. But when an old friend from the park resurfaces with terrible news just as the forest cats' fights begin to escalate into bloodshed, the cat now known as Riverstar will have to decide which home he is truly committed to protecting: his new Clan or his old family.

Join the legion of fans who have discovered the epic adventures, fierce warrior cats, and the wild fantasy world of the mega-bestselling Warriors series. This stand-alone entry is perfect for new readers and dedicated fans alike.

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Worst Love Spell Ever!

Wanda Coven

In this hilarious sequel to the New York Times bestseller Worst Broommate Ever, witch-in-training Heidi Heckelbeck wants her crush to notice her. Featuring black-and-white illustrations and doodles throughout and sparkly foil on the cover!

Heidi is settling in at Broomsfield Academy. She and Melanie are trying to get along and Heidi is getting used to her classes, all her new friends, and her very first crush, Hunter! The problem is: Hunter is really popular. How will Heidi get him to notice her? Her friends tell her to just be herself, but that sounds so boring! After all, Heidi is a witch-in-training. What good is having magic if you can’t use it? She knows she can find the perfect love spell to make Hunter fall in love with her. What could possibly go wrong?

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The (Super Secret) Octagon Valley Society

Melissa de la Cruz

This new series from #1 New York Times best-selling author Melissa de la Cruz is The Mysterious Benedict Society for reluctant readers, chockful of humor, adventure and mischief, and set at an exclusive, secluded, high-tech institute everyone wants to get into.

You only get in if you're EXTRAordinary....

After passing an intense exam, Edwin Edgefield becomes one of the lucky few to attend an exclusive weekend at the mysterious high-tech institute of the uber-famous-ultrabazillionaire-genius-recluse Onasander Octagon. Edwin hopes he'll meet other kids like him--kids who will accept him even though he's got a photographic memory, genius-level math skills, and some very specific personality quirks. But when he meets the other misfits (um, students), he starts to wonder if they're all in the right place. There's amateur rapper Li'l Kimmy, violin prodigy Julie, video game-obsessed Anton, teacher's pet Ting-Ting, mean girl Maureen, and surfer dude Dilip. And we're not even going to talk about Harold.

Are you sitting down? Because this is when things get really weird. Octagon's weekend events include an escape-room challenge, a zero-gravity chamber, a river full of piranhas, and . . . some ninjas?

Surviving Octagon Valley may require these outcasts to embrace their inner weird and become greater together than they ever could separately. Those who rise to the wacky occasion will be treated to the biggest, most spectacular surprise of their lives--a chance to be truly EXTRAordinary!

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The Dreamatics

Michelle Cuevas

In this exhilaratingly original novel, a fantastical theatre and its troupe perform a young girl’s dreams, until nightmares take over. Will one devoted stagehand be able to bring joy back into the spotlight?

Have you ever awakened from a dream and thought, what was THAT?! A platypus waddling through my school while singing the word farfanoogle? Well, that dream was performed by a dream theatre, and this is the story of one such place: The Lunarian Grand.

The Lunarian is a magical theatre with a mind of its own, often redecorating on a whim or making it snow from the rafters. The theatre’s troupe call themselves the Dreamatics, and together they grow sets from seeds, sew costumes that can change an actor’s shape, and each night when a girl named Luna goes to sleep, they produce her spectacular dreams: dreams of memories, family, and her beloved dog, Murph.

But when something devastating happens in Luna’s waking life, the theatre falls under new management in the form of the Bad Dreams. Now it’s up to a loyal stagehand named Dormir and the Dreamatics to put things right and restore balance in their world and in Luna’s.

Go behind the scenes of your dreams in this enchanting novel full of cozy magic, humor, and wonder.

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Mixed Up

Gordon Korman

From the author of Restart, the story of two boys who are losing their memories... to each other.

 

Reef and Theo don't know what's happening to them. They'll be going about their days and then suddenly they'll have these strange flashes of memory -- but the memories don't belong to them. And at the same time, their own memories are starting to... vanish.

For Reef, this is a big problem, because memories are all he has left of his mom.

For Theo, it's strange because the new memories give him a freedom he doesn't have with his domineering dad.

 

 

 

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Dust

Dusti Bowling

A girl who struggles to breathe befriends a boy who seems shrouded in dust, in this unmissable tour de force from bestselling and award-winning author Dusti Bowling.



After Avalyn nearly died from an asthma attack, her parents moved her to the clear, dry air of Clear Canyon City, Arizona. And for the last ten years, she's been able to breathe. That is, until Adam showed up.



Quiet and unkempt, Adam is an instant target for the bullies who have plagued Avalyn and her friends. As Avalyn gets to know him, she begins to suspect that the sudden, strange increase in dust storms around town are somehow connected to his emotions. She thinks his problems may be even worse at home, especially when massive black walls of dust start rolling in after the school day. Will she find a way to stand up for her new friend? Her life may just depend on it.



Dusti Bowling delivers a page-turning, powerful, and poignant novel of friendship, courage, and healing, perfect for readers of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Erin Entrada Kelly.

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The Big Flush

Julie Buxbaum

A killer space toilet is hurtling toward Area 51, courtesy of a mystery traitor on base, and things are about to get messy if Sky and her friends can’t solve the case. Don’t miss book two in the Edgar Award nominated Area 51 Files series!

“Epically fun!”—Max Brallier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Kids on Earth


Sky Patel-Baum, Area 51’s latest arrival, thought she had finally figured out her strange new home. Sure, there are aliens everywhere, and her new BFF Elvis is from the planet Galzoria. But it turns out things can still get weirder. Because some special visitors just arrived with a warning: Area 51 is in danger!

A hunk of space junk is headed right for the base! And it’s not just any hunk of junk! It’s a giant toilet! Even worse? A traitor on base is working with angry aliens to coordinate the attack.

With one case already under their belts, Sky and her friends are on a mission to save Area 51. But what happens if their investigation goes down the toilet? That would stink!

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Don't Trust the Cat

Kristen Tracy

WHAT IF YOU SWITCHED PLACES WITH YOUR CAT? Mean Girls meets Freaky Friday in this laugh-out-loud story about self-acceptance, learning who your friends are, and coming of age . . . as a cat.

 

Fifth-grader Poppy McBean likes rules and order. She's a follower, and she's totally okay with that. And if you judge her for that, she's okay with that too! But after falling prey to her friends' bullying one too many times, Poppy makes a wish to be happy--and it comes true in a very unexpected way: She wakes up in the body of her cat, Mitten Man.

 

Mayhem ensues as Poppy-the-girl attempts to navigate the wilds of the wilderness as a cat . . . and her free-thinking, groundbreaking kitty has had it with his owner's timidity. He's out to put the purr in perfectionist and take over middle school--as Poppy.

Hilarious and unexpected, Don't Trust the Cat is a coming-of-age adventure that will keep readers cringing, cracking up, and reconsidering what it means to be a good person.

HILARIOUS: Guaranteed, this will be many kids' favorite book of the year.

EMPATHY READ: This book is a sneaky way to talk about empathy with kids. Both cat and human learn a lot about each other and change over the course of the book. Each becomes a better being because of their unusual experience.

DEEPLY FELT: This book has a funny premise and is packed with hysterical scenes, but it's also grounded and emotional. Readers will sympathize with all characters and leave the book feeling like they made friends while reading.

CAT SHENANIGANS: When Poppy's cat takes on Poppy's body, she wants to transform Poppy's life, turning her from a timid kid into someone who believes in herself. Like most cats she has good intentions, but things don't always go according to plan.

LEARNING NEW WAYS OF COMMUNICATING: For anyone who has ever wanted to communicate with their pets, this novel might make you think twice! Poppy and her cat come to meet in the middle, but they have to learn a lot about communication along the way.

EMPOWERING: Friendships are often messy, but this book shows that it's important to never lose sense of yourself within a friendship, and that sometimes it is necessary to stand up for yourself even to your best friends.

Perfect for:

  • A smart, funny book for girls and boys of all ages!
  • Cat owners and cat lovers
  • Parents of tweens, teachers, and librarians looking for chapter books for 5th graders or reluctant readers
  • Gift or self-purchase for kids seeking self-empowering books with humor
  • Fans of Frindle, the Mr. Terupt series, the Wayside School series, Katherine Applegate, and R.J. Palacio books
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A to Z Animal Mysteries #1: The Absent Alpacas

Ron Roy

Solve Animal Mysteries from A to Z! Young clue hunters Abbi, Daniel, and Lydia sniff out the mystery behind a group of missing alpacas. Inspired by Ron Roy's beloved A to Z Mysteries series, this spin-off is perfect for budding young chapter-book readers--and future detectives!

A is for ALPACAS . . .

It's time for the alpaca costume contest, and Abigail "Abbi" Wallace is excited to see it at the Maine State Fair. But there’s only one alpaca left—the rest are missing! What sent the alpacas packing? Abbi; her dog, Barkley; and her friends Lydia and Daniel are ready to sniff out this mystery!

DON'T MISS the original A to Z Mysteries series by Ron Roy, starting with The Absent Author!

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Camp Sylvania

Julie Murphy

 

 

From Julie Murphy, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin', comes a hilarious and creepy middle grade summer camp story that takes a bite out of fat camp and diet culture. Perfect for fans of Spooky Stories and Starfish.

 

 

Magnolia "Maggie" Hagen is determined to be in the spotlight . . . if she can just get over her stage fright. This summer, though, she has big plans to finally attend Camp Rising Star, the famous performing arts camp she's been dying to go to for three whole summers.

But on the last day of school, her parents break the news: Maggie isn't going to Camp Rising Star. She's being shipped off to fat camp--and not just any fat camp. She's going to Camp Sylvania, run by world-famous wellness influencer Sylvia Sylvania, who is known for her soon-to-be-patented Scarlet Diet.

When Maggie arrives at camp, things are . . . weird. There are the humiliating weigh-ins and grueling workouts, as expected. But the campers are also encouraged to donate blood--at their age! The cafeteria serves only red foods and the oddly specific rules change every day. There are even rumors of a camp ghost.

Despite these horrors, Maggie makes friends and starts to actually enjoy herself. There are even tryouts for a camp production of The Music Man! This place might not be so bad . . . until campers start going missing and other suspicious things begin happening--especially after dark. The camp ghost might be the least scary thing about this place. . . .

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Puppy Love

Gary Soto

 

 

A sweetly humorous middle grade novel packed with action, basketball, and a dash of magical realism about friendship and family, first crushes, and belonging, from acclaimed author Gary Soto.

 

 

Thirteen-year-old Jordan Mendoza has a huge crush on his classmate, Sierra, but he's never going to win her affections if he stays a C student and keeps embarrassing himself on the basketball court. And it doesn't help that his best friend, Antonio, likes to tease him about it all a little too much.

But when Jordan dives into the waters of a dangerous irrigation canal to save a drowning puppy, he's suddenly got even more on his mind than kissing Sierra and making the starting team. Can he nurse the abandoned puppy back to health (and will his parents let him keep her) Who threw her into the canal--and is it possible that there are more puppies needing rescue And why are the cops suddenly at Jordan's door, looking for him

There's something for every reader in this story's mix of humor, sports, themes of thrilling independence, subtle strands of magical realism, and timely social commentary, all held together by a sweet and satisfying emotional core.

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Gnome Is Where Your Heart Is

Casey Lyall

Lemon Peabody is certain that aliens visited Grandpa Walt thirty years ago, but she's running out of time to prove it before he forgets his best story. This humorous and tenderhearted story about family, friendship, and always believing in yourself is for fans of Greg van Eekhout, Stuart Gibbs, and Hour of the Bees.

Lemon Peabody loves spending time with Grandpa Walt. Even though he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and moved to an assisted living facility, he's still the same funny, loving grandpa he's always been. One of Grandpa's claims to fame is his story about meeting an alien years ago--and that it looked like a garden gnome. Ever since, it's been something of a town-wide joke, and the cause of a rift between Grandpa and Lemon's dad. Lemon is determined to find those extraterrestrial gnomes and vindicate Grandpa Walt--while Grandpa can still remember it.

Late one night, after seeing the flash of a spaceship during a storm, Lemon enlists the help of two friends to find out what might have crashed in the woods. But then the aliens find her, and nothing goes the way she expected. Lemon is sure she can convince the aliens to fix Grandpa Walt's memory and bring back the grandpa she misses so much for good. But the aliens are dealing with problems of their own. With a little creativity and compassion, maybe they can all help one another.

Casey Lyall's lively, voice-driven novel bursts with heart and humor. With family and friendship--and aliens!--at its core, Gnome Is Where Your Heart Is will captivate readers of Rebecca Stead's and Wendy Mass's Bob, Greg van Eekhout's Weird Kid, and Adam Rex's The True Meaning of Smekday.

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A Season Most Unfair

J. Anderson Coats

Perfect for fans of The Beatryce Prophecy and Catherine, Called Birdy, this historical middle grade coming-of-age story set in medieval times follows a strong-minded girl determined to prove she’s just as good a candlemaker as any boy.

Scholastica, or “Tick,” has grown up helping her father make candles in his shop. The experience has its ups and downs—while constantly smelling like tallow makes it hard for Tick to keep friends, stray cats love her. Still, she delights in the work and the fact that she can help Papa. Every summer, they use the long daylight hours to make as many candles as possible to sell at the Stourbridge Fair, the highlight of their year. And this year Tick is finally going to be allowed to make the special Agnus Dei charms that keep travelers safe.

Because she’s a girl, Tick can never be a true apprentice in the trade, but if she gets to do the job anyway, does it matter what she’s called? But one morning she finds a boy sitting at her workbench. Papa has taken on an apprentice and now Tick is forbidden from helping with the candle-making.

Tick isn’t about to stand for this unfairness. She’s going prove to Papa that she deserves to be his apprentice, even if it means sneaking away to the Fair…

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The Labors of Hercules Beal

Gary D. Schmidt

 

 

From award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, a warm and witty novel in the tradition of The Wednesday Wars, in which a seventh grader has to figure out how to fulfill an assignment to perform the Twelve Labors of Hercules in real life--and makes discoveries about friendship, community, and himself along the way.

 

 

Herc Beal knows who he's named after--a mythical hero--but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod--and not a single Hydra in sight.

Missing his parents terribly and wishing his older brother wasn't working all the time, Herc figures out how to take his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon, new friends, human and animal, are helping him. And though his mythical role model performed his twelve labors by himself, Herc begins to see that he may not have to go it alone.

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Number the Stars

Lois Lowry

The unforgettable Newbery Medal-winning novel from Lois Lowry. As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen's family takes in Annemarie's best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family.

Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.

A modern classic of historical fiction, Number the Stars has won generations of fans and continues to speak to today's readers. Jessica Grose wrote in a November 2022 New York Times essay entitled "This Perfect Mother-Daughter Read Holds a Powerful Lesson for Fighting Antisemitism" "Number the Stars is particularly relevant to our family, and to this moment."

As School Library Journal put it: "Readers are taken to the very heart of Annemarie's experience, and, through her eyes, come to understand the true meaning of bravery."

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The Tale of Despereaux

Kate DiCamillo

A brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal–winning tale.

Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out. 
With black-and-white illustrations and a refreshed cover by Timothy Basil Ering.

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Lolo Weaver Swims Upstream

Polly Farquhar

"Not since Ramona Quimby has a character marched right out of a book with so much bravado, humor, and heart."--Barbara O'Connor, New York Times bestselling author of Wish

A headstrong girl’s quest to steal back her family’s dog goes awry in this humorous and compassionate novel.

Lolo is stuck in summer school with a teacher who is out to get her while her family is still reeling from her grandfather’s death. Even his dog is mourning, howling outside all night and every night. Finally, lovable old Hank is sent to a farm across the lake that takes foster dogs.

And it’s all Lolo’s fault.

Lolo knows she has to get Hank back. In a tippy canoe, Lolo crosses the almost-dried-out lake to steal her dog back. But she runs into Noah, a student in her summer school class and Hank's new owner—and he loves Hank as much as she does.

As Lolo’s plan unravels and her uneasy alliance with Noah grows into a friendship, the question of what’s best for Hank becomes muddier. Can Lolo manage to do the right thing—for once?

Itch author Polly Farquhar returns to Ohio with a tale of a big-hearted girl searching for answers to tough questions in all the wrong places. Fans of Gary Schmidt will love Farquhar’s blend of honesty, humor, and heart.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

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Two Friends, One Dog, and a Very Unusual Week

Sarah L. Thomson

Take Pippi Longstocking’s joie de vivre, blend it with a 21st century urban setting, toss in a dog named Otto for good measure and what do you get? This joyfully carefree story about two unlikely friends.

It’s a pair of silver sequined sneakers that unexpectedly flips Emily’s comfortable, predictable world upside down. Or, more precisely, it’s the girl wearing them.

The shoes belong to Rani, who moves into Emily’s apartment building—and her life—with absolutely no one but her dog Otto. (Her research scientist mother is away in Patagonia.) And that’s only the first rule that Emily watches Rani break without hesitation.

But it’s not just that Rani breaks rules. Most of the time, she doesn’t seem to know the rules exist. Why can’t she bungee jump off their building? Or bring an ice cream truck to school?

For steady and orderly Emily, Rani’s approach to life feels impossible . . . and more than a little irresistible. But is there a place for her in Rani’s world? And should she find a way to make space for Rani in her own?

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

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Festergrimm

Thomas Taylor

In the fourth tale in this beloved series, villainous Sebastian Eels returns to Eerie-on-Sea, thrusting Herbie and Violet into a new adventure involving a missing girl, a spooky wax museum, and a dangerous clockwork robot.

Herbie Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his fearless friend Violet Parma have unearthed many secrets in their village of Eerie-on-Sea: secrets lurking beneath the waves, lapping onto the beaches, and lying behind locked doors. When their brilliant and ruthless nemesis, Sebastian Eels, returns with a plan to open the long-shuttered waxworks museum, Herbie and Violet suspect nefarious motives. Their investigation leads them into the dark Netherways below the town—and into the tragic past of the famous toymaker and inventor Ludovic Festergrimm and his doomed daughter, Pandora. Sebastian Eels is convinced that within the story of Festergrimm is the key to Eerie’s deepest secret—a secret in which Herbie himself plays a crucial part—and he’ll stop at nothing to uncover it, including bringing a terrifying clockwork legend back to life. With echoes of fairy tales and monster movies, plus a dismembered finger or two, this is a deliciously creepy addition to a fantastical mystery series that is perfectly calibrated to thrill middle-grade readers.

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Minerva Keen's Detective Club

James Patterson

James Patterson has just created the most spine-tingling, creepy-crawling, giggle-producing kid's detective club ever.

That's ever.

Living in the luxurious Arcanum building--with its interior balconies perfect for playing tag, an elevator like an iron birdcage, and quirky neighbors behind every apartment door--has always been fun and games for twelve-year-old Minerva Keen...until her neighbors start getting poisoned. Anyone could be next, and everyone is a suspect, including Minerva herself.



To clear her name and help the police crack the case, Minerva starts her own detective club. So what if it has only two other members, one being Minerva's accident-prone daredevil brother and the other being the biggest and quietest kid in school, who happens to be afraid of his own shadow? Minerva knows that with her brainpower, the club's sleuthing skills, and case files full of suspects, they can unmask the poisoner...hopefully before it's too late.



This page-turning new mystery series is packed with thrills, chills, laughs, and unforgettable characters and will leave kids eager to join the best club around.

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The One and Only Ruby

Katherine Applegate

From beloved powerhouse author Katherine Applegate comes The One and Only Ruby, starring the adorable baby elephant from the Newbery Medal-winning modern classic The One and Only Ivan and its bestselling sequel, The One and Only Bob.

Ruby's story picks up a few months after the events of The One and Only Bob. Now living in a wildlife sanctuary, Ruby's caretaker from the elephant orphanage in Africa where she grew up is visiting. Seeing him again brings back a flood of memories both happy and sad of her life before the circus, and she recounts the time she spent in the African savannah to Ivan and Bob.

In the timeless way that only Katherine Applegate could craft, this highly anticipated novel in verse is the perfect mix of heartfelt and humorous, poignant and sweet. Artist Patricia Castelao returns to the world of Ivan and his friends with gorgeous black-and-white interior illustrations to complete the story.

The One and Only Ruby features first-person narrative; author's use of literary devices (personification, imagery); and story elements (plot, character development, perspective).

This middle grade novel is an excellent choice for tween readers in grades 5 to 8, for independent reading, homeschooling, and sharing in the classroom.

Don't miss the film adaptation of The One and Only Ivan, now streaming on Disney+!

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Roald Dahl

Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last!

But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

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Mr. Popper's Penguins

Richard Atwater

Mr. Popper and his family have penguins in the fridge and an ice rink in the basement in this hilarious Newbery Honor book that inspired the hit movie! How many penguins in the house is too many? Mr. Popper is a humble house painter living in Stillwater who dreams of faraway places like the South Pole. When an explorer responds to his letter by sending him a penguin named Captain Cook, Mr. Popper and his family’s lives change forever. Soon one penguin becomes twelve, and the Poppers must set out on their own adventure to preserve their home. First published in 1938, Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a classic tale that has enchanted young readers for generations.  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Richard and Florence Atwater including rare photos from the authors’ estate.

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The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking

Astrid Lindgren

An enticing, newly illustrated collection of the enduringly popular Pippi stories.

Since Pippi Longstocking was first published in 1950, the escapades of the incomparable Pippi,the girl with upside-down braids and no parents to tell her what to do, have delighted boys and girls alike. Now, for the first time, Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes on Board, and Pippi in the South Seas are all together in one bumper volume, with new illustrations in full-color and black-and-white.The collection is an ideal introduction for anyone discovering Pippi for the first time, while confirmed fans will enjoy revisiting their favorite episodes and recalling some they've forgotten. Her admirers will also find fascinating new biographical information about author Astrid Lindgren and the origin of the Pippi stories. Astrid Lindgren was awarded the 1958 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her contribution to international children's literature.

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Zara's Rules for Living Your Best Life

Hena Khan

From the award-winning author of Amina’s Voice and Amina’s Song comes the third book in the charming middle grade Zara’s Rules series following Zara as she tries to save her spring break!

It’s spring break and Zara and Naomi have big plans…until Zara finds out that Naomi’s parents are sending her to camp and Zara and Zayd are going to spend the week with their grandparents. Zara’s pretty sure it’s a rule that spring break is supposed to be full of fun and adventure—not doing chores for Naano and watching Nana Abu doze on the couch! But ever since Nana Abu retired, it seems all he wants to do is eat and sleep, and Zara’s worried their grandfather has lost his mojo.

Meanwhile, Naomi’s having a blast at her day camp. Since Zara can’t join her, can Zara find a way to bring the fun of camp to her grandparents’ home? With a little help from Zayd, Zara concocts a plan that just might save her vacation—and help her grandfather start living his best life.

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Big Tree

Brian Selznick

The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator and Caldecott Medalist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

 

"The tale of the natural world is the greatest story we have to tell, and Brian delivers a brilliant chapter of that tale throughout the pages of Big Tree." -- STEVEN SPIELBERG

* "An enthralling and expansive meditation on what it means to be alive on this planet."--Booklist, starred review

* "A balanced and rich book. . . . Powerful."-- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred and recommended review

* "In evocative prose and peppery dialogue . . . the cinematic story journeys across time and space, contemplating the power of life to heal."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A special, one-of-a-kind book for the whole family that readers won't soon forget." -- School Library Journal, starred review

"Inspirational, important, and beautiful. A fable for our times." -- Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee and Ground Zero

"Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me."

A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world--filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!--and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined!

Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure, illustrated with nearly 300 pages of breathtaking pictures. It is Selznick's most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular reading experience for the whole family.

The audiobook edition of BIG TREE is brought magnificently to life by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost.

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Just Gus

McCall Hoyle

Return to the world of devoted working dogs and the humans they love in a new book from the best-selling author of Stella.

Gus is a livestock guardian dog with one job--protecting his farm from coyotes and foxes. He likes keeping the sheep, the chickens, and his humans safe, and he's very good at it.

One day, Diego and his dad come to visit the farm, and Gus immediately connects to the small boy. They both like to sit still and enjoy the quiet, and Gus can tell that Diego likes being around a gentle giant of a dog, that it helps relieve the boy's constant worry.

When Gus detects the scent of a bear in the woods, he rushes to protect his flock, injuring his leg in a fight with the dangerous beast. Wounded, Gus needs to rest and heal away from his sheep, so he doesn't risk reinjuring his leg. Diego suggests Gus come home with them to the North Carolina coast.

Suddenly, Gus is thrust into a new world of saltwater and sand and neighbors who don't appreciate the presence of a large guard dog, like the neighbor who reminds Gus of his first owner--the junkyard man with the heavy boots.

Gus realizes Diego might need a friend as much as his sheep need a protector, but if he can't learn to control his instincts, like barking and patrolling the neighborhood, Gus might lose his chance to stay in his new home. If he can't protect the farm or his boy, Gus worries he might never find his place in the world.

Just Gus is a tender story of belonging and of two friends who learn they are better together than they were alone.

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The Sister Split

Auriane Desombre

A pair of soon-to-be stepsisters creates a plan that will stop their parents from getting married—but they soon learn that matters of the heart can surprise you! This is a fresh sister story evocative of The Parent Trap with LGBTQ themes for the modern reader.


Autumn is looking forward to summer vacation. She and her best friend plan on going to all the best ice cream places their stomachs can handle—and in NYC, the possibilities can’t get any sweeter. 
 
Linnea is still not over the fact that her dad has found love after her parents' divorce. Luckily, she can take out all her feelings on the tennis courts for a winning summer.

But then Autumn and Linnea discover the news: their parents are getting married. Autumn will be moving to the suburbs to live with her soon-to-be stepdad and stepsister, which means kissing the fun summer with her best friend goodbye. For Linnea, she knows her dream of getting her parents back together is officially over. 
 
Devastated, the two of them come up with an idea: if they can split up their parents, their lives can go back to normal. As Autumn and Linnea secretly try to sabotage everything from date nights to wedding planning, the two of them discover that having a sister is not the worst thing after all . . . but will they learn about love in a whole new way?


"A sweet and compelling story on the many unexpected and wonderful shapes love and family can take.”—Rachel Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart

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The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto

Adrianna Cuevas

A new middle grade novel from Adrianna Cuevasauthor of the Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopezabout a Cuban American boy who's sent to work on a ranch as punishment for a school prank gone wrong, where's he's confronted with a mystery as inexplicable as it is familiar and discovers that uncovering secrets will lead to learning hard truths about himself.

Rafa would rather live in the world of The Forgotten Age, his favorite role-playing game, than face his father’s increasing restrictions and his mother’s fading presence. But when Rafa and his friends decide to take the game out into the real world and steal their school cafeteria's slushie machine, his dad concocts a punishment Rafa never could’ve imagined—a month working on a ranch in New Mexico, far away from his friends, their game, and his mom’s quesitos in Miami.

Life at Rancho Espanto isn’t as bad as Rafa initially expected, mostly due to Jennie, a new friend with similarly strong snack opinions, and Marcus, the veteran barn manager who's not as gruff as he appears. But when Rafa's work at the ranch is inexplicably sabotaged by a man who may not be what he seems, Rafa and Jennie explore what's behind the strange events at Rancho Espanto—and discover that the greatest mystery may have been with Rafa all along.

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Esperanza Rising

Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza Rising joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!

 

Esperanza thought she'd always live a privileged life on her family's ranch in Mexico. She'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and Mama, Papa, and Abuelita to care for her. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard work, financial struggles brought on by the Great Depression, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When Mama gets sick and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances-because Mama's life, and her own, depend on it.

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Fever 1793

Laurie Halse Anderson

An epidemic of fever sweeps through the streets of 1793 Philadelphia in this novel from Laurie Halse Anderson where "the plot rages like the epidemic itself" (The New York Times Book Review).

During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.

Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.

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The Bicycle Spy

Yona Zeldis McDonough

Can Marcel make the ride of his life?

 

Marcel loves riding his bicycle, whether he's racing through the streets of his small town in France or making bread deliveries for his parents' bakery. He dreams of someday competing in the Tour de France, the greatest bicycle race. But ever since Germany's occupation of France began two years ago, in 1940, the race has been canceled. Now there are soldiers everywhere, interrupting Marcel's rides with checkpoints and questioning.Then Marcel learns two big secrets, and he realizes there are worse things about the war than a canceled race. When he later discovers that his friend's entire family is in imminent danger, Marcel knows he can help -- but it will involve taking a risky bicycle ride to pass along covert information. And when nothing ends up going according to plan, it's up to him to keep pedaling and think quickly... because his friend, her family, and his own future hang in the balance.

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Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

John Grisham

A perfect murder
A faceless witness
A lone courtroom champion knows the whole truth . . . and he’s only thirteen years old
Meet Theodore Boone

In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom.

But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much—maybe too much—he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.

The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served.

Brimming with the intrigue and suspense that made John Grisham a #1 international bestseller and the undisputed master of the legal thriller, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer will keep readers guessing and pages turning.

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The Name of this Book Is Secret

Pseudonymous Bosch

This is the story about a secret. but it also contains a secret story.


When adventurous detectives, Cass, an ever-vigilant survivalist, and Max-Ernest, a boy driven by logic, discover the Symphony of Smells, a box filled with smelly vials of colorful ingredients, they accidentally stumble upon a mystery surrounding a dead magician's diary and the hunt for immortality.


Filled with word games, anagrams, and featuring a mysterious narrator, this is a book that won't stay secret for long.

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Chasing Vermeer

Blue Balliett

This bewitching first novel is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, disguised as an adventure, and delivered as a work of art.

When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?

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The Wild Robot

Peter Brown

Wall-E meets Hatchet in this New York Times bestselling illustrated middle grade novel from Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown
Can a robot survive in the wilderness?
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.
From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.

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A Rover's Story

Jasmine Warga

The One and Only Ivan meets The Wild Robot in this unique and deeply moving middle grade novel about the journey of a fictional Mars rover, from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Other Words for Home. New York Times bestseller!

A Best Book of the Year from The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly

Meet Resilience, a Mars rover determined to live up to his name.

Res was built to explore Mars. He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop humanlike feelings. Maybe there's a problem with his programming....

Human emotions or not, launch day comes, and Res blasts off to Mars, accompanied by a friendly drone helicopter named Fly. But Res quickly discovers that Mars is a dangerous place filled with dust storms and giant cliffs. As he navigates Mars's difficult landscape, Res is tested in ways that go beyond space exploration.

As millions of people back on Earth follow his progress, will Res have the determination, courage, and resilience to succeed... and survive?

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Good Dog

Dan Gemeinhart

Brodie was a good dog. And good dogs go to heaven.

Except Brodie can't move on. Not just yet. As wonderful as his glimpse of the afterlife is, he can't forget the boy he left behind. The boy he loved, and who loved him in return.

The boy who's still in danger.

So Brodie breaks the rules of heaven. He returns to Earth as a spirit. With the help of two other lost souls -- lovable pitbull Tuck and surly housecat Patsy -- he is determined to find his boy and to save him.

Even if it costs him paradise. Even if he loses his eternal soul.

Because it's what a good dog would do.

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Breda's Island

Jessie Ann Foley

In the vein of When You Trap a Tiger and Shouting at the Rain, this is the story of the journey one girl undertakes to find herself.

After Breda Moriarity gets caught stealing one too many times, Breda's mom sends her to Ireland, a place she has never been, to live with the grandfather she has never met.

While Breda doesn't want to be in this strange land, she finally gets to meet Granda, her mom's father. He's a grumpy farmer who is also a seanchaí, a traditional Gaelic storyteller. But the most important story is the one nobody will talk about: what happened to her absent father. If nothing else this summer, Breda is determined to figure out the truth about her family's history--and herself.

This powerfully poignant middle grade novel, the first from award-winning author Jessie Ann Foley, asks questions about estranged relationships, immigration, and family secrets.

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Odder

Katherine Applegate

Now a #1 New York Times bestseller! A touching and lyrical tale about a remarkable sea otter, from Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate, author of Wishtree.

Meet Odder, the Queen of Play:

Nobody has her moves.
She doesn’t just swim to the bottom,
she dive-bombs.
She doesn’t just somersault,
she triple-doughnuts.
She doesn’t just ride the waves,
she makes them.

Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself—and about the humans who hope to save her.

Inspired by the true story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that pairs orphaned otter pups with surrogate mothers, this poignant and humorous tale told in free verse examines bravery and healing through the eyes of one of nature’s most beloved and charming animals.

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This Is Not a Drill

K. A. Holt

Told through text messages, this timely story explores the real dangers kids face with humor, insight, and a ton of heart.

 

Ava is having a really bad day. Her parents are getting divorced. She just had a big argument with her two best friends. And she forgot to charge her phone... again.

 

To top it all off, while she is hiding out in the bathroom over lunch, the alarm goes off for a lockdown drill. Ava knows the rules. She has to get herself into a classroom, turn the ringer off on her phone, lock the door, and cover the windows. But all of the rooms have already been locked from the inside and there is no one in the halls.

 

Pretty soon she realizes there is an intruder in the building. This isn't a drill.

 

From the author of From Me to Youand House Arrest, comes this timely that explores both the effect of school lockdown drills and the relatable struggles of modern middle grade friendship.

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New from Here

Kelly Yang

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

This “timely and compelling” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience follows an Asian American boy fighting to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox Wei-Evans’s mom makes the last-minute decision to move him and his siblings back to California, where they think they will be safe. Suddenly, Knox has two days to prepare for an international move—and for leaving his dad, who has to stay for work.

At his new school in California, Knox struggles with being the new kid. His classmates think that because he’s from Asia, he must have brought over the virus. At home, Mom just got fired and is panicking over the loss of health insurance, and Dad doesn’t even know when he’ll see them again, since the flights have been cancelled. And everyone struggles with Knox’s blurting-things-out problem.

As racism skyrockets during COVID-19, Knox tries to stand up to hate, while finding his place in his new country. Can you belong if you’re feared; can you protect if you’re new? And how do you keep a family together when you’re oceans apart? Sometimes when the world is spinning out of control, the best way to get through it is to embrace our own lovable uniqueness.

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Alone

Megan E. Freeman

Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town.

When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.

With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.

As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?

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The Forgotten Girl

India Hill Brown

"This ghost story gave me chill after chill. It will haunt you." -- R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps

"Do you know what it feels like to be forgotten?"

On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel--only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.

Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...

Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life--and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.

But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever--no matter what the cost.

The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery.

"A harrowing yet empowering tale reminding us that the past is connected to the present, that every place and every person has a story, and that those stories deserve to be told." -- Renée Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Piecing Me Together

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The Girl in the Locked Room

Mary Downing Hahn

Ghost story master Mary Downing Hahn unrolls the suspenseful, spine-chilling yarn of a girl imprisoned for more than a century, the terrifying events that put her there, and a friendship that crosses the boundary between past and present.

A family moves into an old, abandoned house. Jules's parents love the house, but Jules is frightened and feels a sense of foreboding. When she sees a pale face in an upstairs window, though, she can't stop wondering about the eerie presence on the top floor--in a room with a locked door. Could it be someone who lived in the house a century earlier?

Her fear replaced by fascination, Jules is determined to make contact with the mysterious figure and help unlock the door. Past and present intersect as she and her ghostly friend discover--and change--the fate of the family who lived in the house all those many years ago.

A thrilling and unputdownable spinetingling ghost story from a bestselling master of the genre!

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Small Spaces

Katherine Arden

New York Times bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic. Now in paperback.

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with the smiling man--a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm. Then, later, when her school bus breaks down on the ride home, the strange bus driver tells Ollie and her classmates: Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you. Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed these warnings. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: Avoid large places. Keep to small.
And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

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A Long Walk to Water

Linda Sue Park

"The New York Times bestseller A LONG WALK TO WATER begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan: a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, fetches water from a pond that is tow hours' walk from her home. She makes two trips to the pond every day. the boy, Salva, becomes one of the "last boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. enduring every hardship from loneliness and attack by armed rebels, to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor. His story intersects with Nya's in an astonishing and moving way."--Back cover

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The Unteachables

Gordon Korman

A hilarious new middle grade novel from beloved and bestselling author Gordon Korman about what happens when the worst class of kids in school is paired with the worst teacher--perfect for fans of Ms. Bixby's Last Day. A good choice for summer reading or anytime!

The Unteachables are a notorious class of misfits, delinquents, and academic train wrecks. Like Aldo, with anger management issues; Parker, who can't read; Kiana, who doesn't even belong in the class--or any class; and Elaine (rhymes with pain). The Unteachables have been removed from the student body and isolated in room 117.

Their teacher is Mr. Zachary Kermit, the most burned-out teacher in all of Greenwich. He was once a rising star, but his career was shattered by a cheating scandal that still haunts him. After years of phoning it in, he is finally one year away from early retirement. But the superintendent has his own plans to torpedo that idea--and it involves assigning Mr. Kermit to the Unteachables.

The Unteachables never thought they'd find a teacher who had a worse attitude than they did. And Mr. Kermit never thought he would actually care about teaching again. Over the course of a school year, though, room 117 will experience mayhem, destruction--and maybe even a shot at redemption.

 

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The Secret Explorers and the Smoking Volcano

SJ King

 

Buckle up for an explosive adventure! Discover the dramatic power of an erupting volcano in this action-packed sixth installment of DK's new educational fiction series!
Meet the Secret Explorers - a band of brainiac kids from all around the world. Everyone in this diverse group of young experts has a specialty, from outer space to dinosaurs, and each story follows a character who gets chosen for a "secret exploration".

This edge-of-your-seat science book for kids is packed with:

* Fun facts and illustrations about the Earth's tectonic plates
* Simple and engaging explanations on how volcanoes are formed
* Quizzes, mission notes, and a glossary of words with definitions
* Information that supports a STEM-based curriculum

A new adventure unfolds

In this fun, fact-filled children's science book, we join volcanoes expert Cheng on an exciting mission to Mount Yasur on the island of Vanuatu. Joined by biology expert Leah, the team is beyond excited to witness a real-life volcanic eruption.

But soon, excitement turns to worry when they realize that people are in danger. Working together swiftly and heroically, they must stage a rescue mission. Kids will love turning the pages to find out if the Secret Explorers manage to succeed in their mission!

It's the perfect gift for children aged 7-9 who love all things geology. Packed with lots of information on volcanoes, this epic adventure book gives them a thrilling introduction to earth science.

Don't let the discoveries stop

Each book in the series combines exciting adventures with real-life facts related to the Secret Explorers' latest fictional mission.

Don't miss out on more secret explorations! Dive into an underwater adventure in The Secret Explorers and the Lost Whales. Travel back in time to save a dinosaur egg from destruction in The Secret Explorers and the Jurassic Rescue. Finally, set out on a journey to stop the Cairo Museum from closing down in The Secret Explorers and the Tomb Robbers.

 

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Unicorns and Germs

Asia Citro

In the sixth book, an earthquake shakes Zoey's house. Or maybe it's a unicorn-quake? An enormous new friend arrives in a lot of pain, and it's getting worse every day. Zoey must work with her mom and Sassafras to find a cure -- and quickly!

Each story in the Zoey and Sassafras series features a new magical animal with a problem that must be solved using science. There isn't a set formula for each book; Zoey sometimes needs to run experiments, while other times she needs to investigate a mystery, and yet other times she needs to do research. Zoey models how to keep a science journal through her handwritten entries in each story. Each story is complete with a glossary of the kid-friendly definitions for scientific terms used. The series highlights child-led inquiry science and the topics covered align with both Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.

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War Stories

Gordon Korman

There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is a true-blue, bona fide war hero. At the height of the war, Jacob helped liberate a small French village, and was given a hero's welcome upon his return to America.

Now it's decades later, and Jacob wants to retrace the steps he took during the war -- from training to invasion to the village he is said to have saved. Trevor thinks this is the coolest idea ever. But as they get to the village, Trevor discovers there's more to the story than what he's heard his whole life, causing him to wonder about his great-grandfather's heroism, the truth about the battle he fought, and importance of genuine valor.

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Stick Dog Gets the Tacos

Tom Watson

Perfect for fans of Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the previous Stick Dog books, Tom Watson’s hilarious series continues with a backyard adventure complete with crunchy tacos, squishy guacamole, and flying unicorns!

HEY! WHAT’S THAT IN THE TREE? IT’S AN EMERGENCY!

When Karen sprints into Stick Dog’s pipe and declares an emergency, Stick Dog springs into action. After racing through the woods with his squad of strays, Stick Dog discovers there’s no crisis at all. But there is a great opportunity to feed his hungry friends.

As a family of humans plans to feast on tacos, tortilla chips, and guacamole, Stick Dog makes plans of his own. To feed Mutt, Karen, Poo-Poo, and Stripes, he’ll need all his smarts and problem-solving skills.

While his hungry, drooling, goofy friends prepare to chow down, something nags Stick Dog at the edge of his mind. What is that thing swinging in a tree? And how can he get it?

If this funny, madcap, daring quest succeeds, it’s taco time for these crazy canines!

 

Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

 

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The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

Leslie Connor

From the critically acclaimed author of Waiting for Normal and All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Leslie Connor, comes a deeply poignant and beautifully crafted story about self-reliance, redemption, and hope. 

Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason’s learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard.

An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe the story Mason has told about that day.

Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny.

But will anyone believe him?

National Book Award Finalist * ALA Schneider Family Book Award * 2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Book * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * 2019-2020 Nebraska Golden Sower Award * Amazon Best Books of 2018 * Kirkus Best of Children's 2018 * New York Public Library Best Books 2018 * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Middle Grade Winner * South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee * 2020 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee * Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2019 (9-12) * 2020 Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee * 2020-2021 Missouri Association of School Librarians Mark Twain Readers Award Preliminary Nominee * 2020-2021 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee * 2021 Connecitcut Nutmeg Book Award Middle Grade Nominee *

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Star Showers

Melody Mews

Itty helps fix the mixed-up wishes of Lollyland in this fourth Itty Bitty Princess Kitty chapter book.

A star shower is a once-in-a-lifetime event for the animals and creatures of Lollyland! As Itty Bitty Princess Kitty learns, a star shower means that everyone has the chance to wish upon a star and release it back into the sky. Then their wish is granted! But things go very wrong when a huge gust of wind causes all the wishes to get mixed up! Will Itty be able to help fix the problem? And will Lollyland’s wishes ever come true?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on every page, the Itty Bitty Princess Kitty chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

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The Silver Arrow

Lev Grossman

'There's nothing so rare as a fantasy that elicits genuine wonder and that uses marvellous things to enrich a child's appreciation of ordinary ones. Lev Grossman's novel The Silver Arrow is something special.' WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Discover the magical, timeless children's adventure from Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians. Now a New York Times bestseller!

When Kate is given a colossal steam train, the Silver Arrow, for her birthday, she can't believe her luck. After eleven years of waiting, adventure has finally found her!

Soon the Silver Arrow is whisking Kate and her brother Tom to a magical station where their passengers stand ready to board. From the porcupine to the pangolin, each one is rare and wonderful.

But these animals have been waiting a very long time too. Can Kate deliver them home ... before it's too late?
_____________
Lev Grossman's first children's book is a journey you'll never forget: a rip-roaring adventure from desert plains to snow-covered mountains and everything in between. Packed with exciting creatures from the indignant porcupine to the lost polar bear and the adorable baby pangolin, The Silver Arrow is a classic story about saving our endangered animals and the places they live.

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Spy School Goes South

Stuart Gibbs

In the sixth book in the New York Times bestselling Spy School series, Ben is taken to Mexico by his nemesis in the hopes that he’ll finally be able to take down SPYDER.

Thirteen-year-old Ben Ripley has been caught in the snares of SPYDER more than once and knows well enough to be suspicious of anything that seems too good to be true—despite needing special tutoring in advanced survival techniques. So when Murray Hill finally breaks his silence with an offer to hand over the SPYDER elite, Ben knows that there must be something going on. But his hesitation doesn’t stop the assignment.

The mission: Follow Murray Hill to an undisclosed location with no one else but Erica Hale to identify SPYDER leadership.

However, as Ben suspected, nothing goes as planned, and what should be an easy mission quickly turns deadly. Ben and Erica will have to face rogue agents, trained killers, and even very hungry crocodiles in a race against the clock to find out what SPYDER is up to this time—and thwart their evil plans.

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Revver the Speedway Squirrel

Sherri Duskey Rinker

The author of the bestselling Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site picture books makes her middle grade debut in this utterly delightful, illustrated series perfect for fans of Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Meet Revver: a little squirrel with big dreams . . . to drive a race car! His siblings might not understand his need for speed, but Revver doesn't care. And he certainly doesn't care about looking for food, climbing trees, or any other "ordinary" squirrel activity. He spends his days staring at the racetrack just below his nest, where the cars zoom by day in and day out.

When Revver finally gets the chance to sneak out to the track, he finds that becoming part of the pit crew is more difficult than he expected. He never learned anything about engines in Squirrel School! Then Revver meets tire changer Bill, who luckily has a soft spot for animals. Can Revver prove to Bill that he deserves to be part of the team?

Perfect for fans of Ralph S. Mouse, Revver the Speedway Squirrel is a funny, action-packed, and heartwarming story about family, feeling different, and following your heart.

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Sprite's Secret: A Branches Book (Pixie Tricks #1)

Tracey West

Fairies + magic + fantasy + New York Times bestselling author Tracey West = Pixie Tricks!

 

Pick a book. Grow a Reader!

 

This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

 

Eight-year-old Violet didn't expect to find a portal to the fairy world in her backyard. And she certainly didn't think she would have to defend the human world from trickster pixies! With the help of her new fairy friend Sprite, Violet sets out to catch Pix, a lively fairy who just wants everybody to have fun-all the time. Pix's playfulness starts to cause serious trouble, so it's up to Violet and Sprite to put an end to his fun and send him back to the fairy world!

 

This is an exciting refresh of the popular Pixie Tricks series, with updated text and brand-new art for today's young readers! This series is perfect for fans of Tracey West's New York Times bestselling Dragon Masters series!

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Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure

Jeff Kinney

You’ve never seen the Wimpy Kid World like this before—an entirely new, awesome, friendly, truly fantastic fantasy quest from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney!

From the imagination of Rowley Jefferson comes an adventure of epic proportions. Join Roland and his best friend, Garg the Barbarian, as they leave the safety of their village and embark on a quest to save Roland’s mom from the White Warlock. Will our heroes survive? Find out in Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure!

And don’t miss Rowley Jefferson’s first book, the instant #1 bestseller, Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal!

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Paola Santiago and the River of Tears

Tehlor Kay Mejia

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It's all they've heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.

Hating her mother's humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it's the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .

Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

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The One Thing You'd Save

Linda Sue Park

If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this provocative question in linked poems that capture the diverse voices of a middle school class. Illustrated with black-and-white art.

When a teacher asks her class what one thing they would save in an emergency, some students know the answer right away. Others come to their decisions more slowly. And some change their minds when they hear their classmates' responses. A lively dialog ignites as the students discover unexpected facets of one another--and themselves. With her ear for authentic dialog and knowledge of tweens' priorities and emotions, Linda Sue Park brings the varied voices of an inclusive classroom to life through carefully honed, engaging, and instantly accessible verse.

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Lifeboat 12

Susan Hood

“This page-turning true-life adventure is filled with rich and riveting details and a timeless understanding of the things that matter most.”—Dashka Slater, author of The 57 Bus
“Brilliantly told in verse, readers will love Ken Sparks.” —Patricia Reilly Giff, two-time Newbery Honor winner
“Lyrical, terrifying, and even at times funny. A richly detailed account of a little-known event in World War II.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Middle grade Titanic fans, here’s your next read.” —BCCB
“An edge-of-your seat survival tale.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

A Junior Library Guild Selection
A 2019 Golden Kite Middle Grade Fiction Award Winner

In the tradition of The War That Saved My Life and Stella By Starlight, this poignant novel in verse based on true events tells the story of a boy’s harrowing experience on a lifeboat after surviving a torpedo attack during World War II.

With Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he’s one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada.

Life aboard the luxury ship is grand—nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum’s glare. And after five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they’re out of danger.

They’re wrong.

Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They’ve been hit. Torpedoed! The Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive?

Award-winning author Susan Hood brings this little-known World War II story to life in a riveting novel of courage, hope, and compassion. Based on true events and real people, Lifeboat 12 is about believing in one another, knowing that only by banding together will we have any chance to survive.

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The Magic Misfits

Neil Patrick Harris

A New York Times bestseller and USA Today bestselling book! From award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris comes the magical first book in a new series with plenty of tricks up its sleeve.

When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on.

After a fateful encounter with the local purveyor of illusion, Dante Vernon, Carter teams up with five other like-minded illusionists. Together, using both teamwork and magic, they'll set out to save the town of Mineral Wells from Bosso's villainous clutches. These six Magic Misfits will soon discover adventure, friendship, and their own self-worth in this delightful new series.

(Psst. Hey, you! Yes, you! Congratulations on reading this far. As a reward, I'll let you in on a little secret... This book isn't just a book. It's a treasure trove of secrets and ciphers and codes and even tricks. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll discover more than just a story--you'll learn how to make your own magic!)

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Halfway to Harmony

Barbara O'Connor

A heartfelt middle-grade novel from New York Times bestselling author Barbara O’Connor about a boy whose life is upended after the loss of his older brother—timeless, classic, and whimsical.

Walter Tipple is looking for adventure. He keeps having a dream that his big brother, Tank, appears before him and says, “Let’s you and me go see my world, little man.” But Tank went to the army and never came home, and Walter doesn’t know how to see the world without him.

Then he meets Posey, the brash new girl from next door, and an eccentric man named Banjo, who’s off on a bodacious adventure of his own. What follows is a summer of taking chances, becoming braver, and making friends—and maybe Walter can learn who he wants to be without the brother he always wanted to be like.

Halfway to Harmony is an utterly charming story about change and growing up.

Don't miss Barbara O'Connor's other middle-grade work—like Wish; Wonderland; How to Steal a Dog; Greetings from Nowhere; Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia; The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester; and more!

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Sparkleton #1: The Magic Day

Calliope Glass

A shaggy purple unicorn does everything he can—except his homework—to get wish-granting powers in the first book of this glitterrific, highly illustrated early chapter book series.

Sparkleton begs his big sister to give him wish-granting magic for one whole day so he can prove what a glitteriffic wish-granting unicorn he can be. But all the wishes he grants come out opposite!

Can Sparkleton’s friends Willow and Gabe help him undo the magic before sunset? Or will every day be opposite day?

HarperChapters build confident readers one chapter at a time! With short, fast-paced books, art on every page, and milestone markers at the end of every chapter, they're the perfect next step for fans of I Can Read!

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Ground Zero

Alan Gratz

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

 

In time for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, master storyteller Alan Gratz (Refugee) delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear -- and the stunning links between the past and present.

 

September 11, 2001, New York City: Brandon is visiting his dad at work, on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. Out of nowhere, an airplane slams into the tower, creating a fiery nightmare of terror and confusion. And Brandon is in the middle of it all. Can he survive -- and escape?

 

September 11, 2019, Afghanistan: Reshmina has grown up in the shadow of war, but she dreams of peace and progress. When a battle erupts in her village, Reshmina stumbles upon a wounded American soldier named Taz. Should she help Taz -- and put herself and her family in mortal danger?

 

Two kids. One devastating day. Nothing will ever be the same.

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Mac Undercover (Mac B., Kid Spy #1)

Mac Barnett

Before Mac Barnett was an author, he was a kid.
And while he was a kid, he was a spy.
Not just any spy.
But a spy...for the Queen of England.

James Bond meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid with this groundbreaking new fully-illustrated chapter book series Mac B., Kid Spy. The precious Crown Jewels have been stolen, and there's only one person who can help the Queen of England: her newest secret agent, Mac B. Mac travels around the globe in search of the stolen treasure...but will he find it in time?

From secret identities to Karate hijinks, this fast-paced, witty and historically inspired chapter book will keep readers guessing until the very last page. With full-color illustrations and fascinating historical facts masterfully sprinkled throughout, this series offers adventure, intrigue, absurdity, history and humor. Discover this totally smart and side-splittingly funny new series, and experience what it's really like to be a kid spy.

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Front Desk

Kelly Yang

Four starred reviews and over ten best-of-year lists!* Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

 

Winner of the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature!* Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewMia Tang has a lot of secrets.Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?

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Henry Heckelbeck and the Race Car Derby

Wanda Coven

In this fifth Henry Heckelbeck adventure, Henry races to the finish in his first derby!

Henry and his friends are going to race in a race car derby! The only problem is each racer has to build their own car. Can Henry magic together the perfect ride? Or will he crash and burn?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Henry Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

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