New & Noteworthy
How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg Shares the sometimes gruesome details of the deaths of nineteen famous historical figures, including King Tut, Pocahontas, George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe, and Marie Curie.
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
Prue's life shifts from ordinary to extraordinary when her
baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and she
must embark into the Impassable Wilderness, a dense
forest in the center of Portland, Oregon, with her friend
Curtis in tow, where the pair will encounter warring
creatures, peaceful mystics, and other dark-minded,
powerful figures.
Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli
Presents illustrated retellings of classic Greek myths,
sharing the stories of Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena,
Helen of Troy, Perseus, and Medusa, with sidebars for
each god, goddess, hero, and monster that link the
tales to constellations, history, geography, and
culture, and including profiles, a family tree, and
other resources.
Heart and Soul; The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Examines the history of the United States, focusing on
events that influenced African-Americans and how
they advanced liberty and justice in America.
Smells Like Treasure by Suzanne Selfors
Farm boy Homer faces another challenger for his uncle's spot in the society
of Legends, Objects, Secrets, and Treasures but Dog's hidden ability to
smell treasure guides the duo as clues lead them to fantastic mansions and
hidden islands.
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Relates the stories of twelve-year-old Ben, who loses his mother and his
hearing in a short time frame and decides to leave his Minnesota home in
1977 to seek the father he has never known in New York City; and Rose,
who lives with her father but feels compelled to search for what is missing
in her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.
Pie by Sarah Weeks
Alice's Aunt Polly passes away and entrusts the recipe for
her world-famous piecrust to her cat, which she leaves in
Alice's care, and as everyone, including Alice, tries to discover
the secret ingredients, Alice learns some important lessons
about faith, love, and family.
The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer
Twelve-year-olds Duncan Dorfman, April Blunt, and Nate
Saviano meet at the Youth Scrabble Tournament where,
although each has a different reason for attending and for
needing to win, they realize that something more important is
at stake than the grand prize.
Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, ten-year-old Sasha
idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police
take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced
to examine his own perceptions, values, and beliefs.
Classics
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
A Siamese cat, an old bull terrier, and a young Labrador retriever travel
together 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their family.
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Du Bois
Three weeks after leaving San Francisco in a balloon to fly across the
Pacific, Professor Sherman is picked up in the Atlantic clinging to
wreckage.
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Pulled to a desert island by a wild black stallion he has freed
during a shipwreck at sea, then rescued by a southbound
freighter, a seventeen-year-old boy befriends the horse, trains
him by night, and rides him to victory in a match race. (The
Black Stallion Returns, The Black Stallion’s Shadow, The Black
Stallion and Flame, etc)
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
A satire on modern city life depicting an outbreak
of war between truck drivers and pushcart peddlers.
Island of the Blue Dolphins Scott O’Dell
Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who
lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the
California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left
behind.
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved
grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to
school and to care for an invalid girl in the city.
Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire
moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked
garden.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
A superstitious schoolmaster, in love with a wealthy
farmer's daughter, has a terrifying encounter with a
headless horseman.
Realistic Fiction
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save
their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler
befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they
may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real
friendship knows no borders.
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire
Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share
adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his
snobbish mother. (The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, The
Penderwicks at Point Mouette)
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz
Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there,
and has to contend with his extraordinary new
environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
(Al Capone Shines my Shoes)
The Secret Language of Girls by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Marylin and Kate have been friends since nursery
school, but when Marylin becomes a middle school
cheerleader and Kate begins to develop other
interests, their relationship is put to the test.
(The Kind of Friends We Used to Be)
The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
The mothers of four very different sixth-grade girls pressure
them into forming a book club, and find, as they read the
classic novel "Little Women," that they have more in common
than they thought. (Much Ado about Anne, Dear Pen Pal, Pies
& Prejudice)
Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park
Julia, a Korean-American, and her friend Patrick learn
about tolerance, friendship, and patience while
working together on a project about silkworms.
Eggs by Jerry Spinelli
Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an
unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old
Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in
their lives.
Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson
When her mother plans to move to Australia with
her new husband and baby, Floss must decide
whether her loyalties lie with her mother or her
father, while at the same time, her best friend
begins to make fun of her and reject her.
Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson
(Maizon at Blue Hill, Between Madison and Palmetto)
Eleven-year-old Margaret tries to accept the inevitable
changes that come one summer when her father dies and her
best friend Maizon goes away to a private boarding school.
Historical Fiction
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland,
California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know,
eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a
cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet
and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants
them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
Iron Thunder: the Battle Between the Monitor & the Merrimac by Avi
Thirteen-year-old Tom Carroll takes his place as head of the
family after his father dies fighting for the Union; but his job at the
local ironworks, where he helps build an iron ship for the Union
army, and his loyalty come into question when he is approached
by Confederate spies to sell secrets about the ship to the South.
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the
summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest,
Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things
about his past.
Boston Jane: An Adventure by Jennifer L. Holm
Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of
Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the
Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook
Indians of Washington Territory.
(Boston Jane: Wilderness Days, Boston Jane: The Claim)
The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
In 1961 after Castro has come to power in Cuba, fourteen-year-old Lucia
and her seven-year-old brother are sent to the United States when her
parents, who are not in favor of the new regime, fear that the children
will be taken away from them as others have been.
Stealing Home by Ellen Schwartz
Nine-year-old Yankee fan and Bronx native Joey Sexton
is sent to Brooklyn after his mother's death and finds
himself battling prejudice in his own family, trying to win
the acceptance of his white, Jewish grandfather, who
looks down on him because he is half African-American.
Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 Deborah Hopkinson
Nicholas Dray, an eleven-year-old orphan newly arrived
in San Francisco from Texas, tries to help his new neighbors
survive the1906 San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent
fires.
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
During the 1967 school year,
on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates
go to either Catechism or Hebrew school,
seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs.
Baker's classroom where they read the plays of
William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of
value about the world he lives in.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles
As eleven-year-old Franny Chapman deals with
drama at home and with her best friend in 1962, she
tries to understand the larger problems in the world
after President Kennedy announces that Russia is
sending nuclear missiles to Cuba. Features historic
quotations and photographs.
Boy At War: A novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer
While fishing with his friends off Honolulu
on December 7, 1941, teenaged Adam is caught
in the midst of the Japanese attack and through
the chaos of the subsequent days tries to find
his father, a naval officer who was serving on
the U.S.S. Arizona when the bombs fell.
Mystery & Adventure
The Mysterious Benedict Society by T renton Lee Stewart
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children
are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go
undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very
Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
(The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous
Journey, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the
Prisoner’s Dilemma, The Extraordinary Education of
Nicholas Benedict)
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to
happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears,
eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents
to solve an international art scandal.
(The Wright 3, The Calder Game)
STORMBREAKER BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ
After the death of the uncle who had been his
guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is
coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work
for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.
(Point Blanc, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Etc)
School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari
Twelve year-olds Madeleine, Theo, and Lulu, and
thirteen-year-old Garrison, are sent to a remote
Massachusetts school to overcome their phobias, but
tragedy strikes and the quartet must work together--with
no adult assistance to face their fears.
(School of Fear: Class is not Dismissed, School of Fear:
Final Exam)
Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison
During the summer before ninth grade,
intrepid Gilda Joyce invites herself to the San Francisco
mansion of distant cousin Lester Splinter and his thirteen-
year-old daughter, where she uses her purported psychic
abilities and detective skills to solve the mystery of the
mansion's boarded-up tower.
(Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake, Gilda Joyce: The
Dead Drop, Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata)
Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series by John Feinstein
While covering the World Series, teen reporters Stevie
Thomas and Susan Carol uncover some
inconsistencies in the life story of a popular, new
pitcher and begin to investigate.
Shakespeare’s Secret by Elise Broach
Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-
grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual
connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden
in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected
attention of the most popular boy in school.
The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer
(The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, etc.)
Enola Holmes, much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, must
travel to London in disguise to unravel the disappearance of her missing
mother.
Fantasy
A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own
story and into eight more tales, encountering such
wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers
and other helpful folk. Based in part on the Grimms' fairy
tales Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The seven
ravens, Brother and sister, The robber bridegroom, and
The devil and his three golden hairs.
Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for
inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an
unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a
plot against her and her father. (Twice Upon a Marigold)
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Two brothers, having run away from the aunt who plans
to adopt the younger one, are sought by a detective hired
by their aunt, but they have found shelter with--and
protection from Venice's "Thief Lord."
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The orphan Bod, short for Nobody, is taken in by the
inhabitants of a graveyard as a child of eighteen months
and raised lovingly and carefully to the age of eighteen
years by the community of ghosts and otherworldly
creatures.
Found by Margaret Haddix
When thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both
adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that
appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on
board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery
involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying
to repair the fabric of time. (Sent, Sabotaged)
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell
When Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are
being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change
people in frightening ways, she and some new friends must try
everything possible to return things to normal. (Emmy and the Home for
Troubled Girls, Emmy and the Rats in the Belfry)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and
Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a
summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new
friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. (Sea of
Monsters, Titan’s Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, etc.)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on
the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000
Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl
tries to make sense of a series of mysterious
notes received from an anonymous source that
seems to defy the laws of time and space.
Gods of Manhattan by Scott Mebus
Thirteen-year-old Rory discovers a spirit world that
thrives alongside his contemporary New York City,
filled with fantastical creatures and people from
the city's colorful past who have become gods and
goddesses and who have chosen Rory to perform a
dangerous mission. (Spirits in The Park, sorcerer’s
secret)
Heir Apparent by Vivian Van Velde
While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and
intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have
damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the
game quickly or be damaged herself.
Science Fiction
Whales on Stilts by MT Anderson
(The Clue of the Lenoleum Laderhosen, Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of
Deleware, Agent Q or the Smell of Danger!, Zombie Mommy)
Racing against the clock, shy middle-school
student Lily and her best friends, Katie and
Jasper, must foil the plot of her father's
conniving boss to conquer the world using an
army of whales.
The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
Living in isolation with a robot on what appears to be an alien world populated
with bizarre life forms, a twelve-‐year-‐old human girl called Eva Nine sets out
on a journey to find others like her. Features "augmented reality" pages, in
which readers with a webcam can access additional information about Eva
Nine's world. (A Hero for Wondla)
Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen
When someone uses futuristic technology to play pranks
on twelve-year-old Dorso Clayman, he and his best friend
set off on a supposedly impossible journey through space
and time trying to stop the gamesters who are
endangering the universe.
Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
(Johnny and the Dead, Johnny and the Bomb)
Twelve-year-old Johnny endures tensions
between his parents, watches television
coverage of the Gulf War, and plays a
computer game called Only You Can Save
Mankind, in which he is increasingly drawn
into the reality of the alien ScreeWee.
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on
Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her
decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown
Regions. (People of the Sparks, Prophet of Yonwood, Diamond
of Darkhold)
11,000 Years Lost by Peni Griffin
Fascinated with the archaeological dig that is going on near her
Texas home, eleven-year-old Esther magically travels back in
time to the Pleistocene era and discovers first-hand how
people lived at that time.
Cosmic by Frank Boyce
Twelve-year-old Liam, who looks like he’s thirty and is tired of bein
like he is older than he actually is, decides he’s going to pose as t
chaperone on the first spaceship to take civilians into space, but
ends up in outer space with a group of kids and no adult supervi
must think fast to make things right.
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
Web of Air, Scrivener’s Moon)
(A
Foundling Fever Crumb hasbeenraisedasanengineer
although females in the future London, England, are not
believed capable of rational thought, but at age fourteen
she leaves her sheltered world and begins to learn startling
truths about her past while facing danger in the present.
Non-Fiction
George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen
A biography of Revolutionary War general and first
President of the United States, George Washington;
focusing on his use of spies to gather intelligence
that helped the colonies win the war.
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman
A biography of the magician, ghost chaser, aviator, and king
of escape artists whose amazing feats are remembered long
after his death in 1926.
How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports by Gary Paulsen
Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town
in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s,
such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil
Evel Knievel.
Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka
As one of six brothers, Scieszka relates how his family,
school, and summer experiences contributed to his
humorous writings.
Air Raid- Pearl Harbor! The Story of December 7, 1941 by Theodore Taylor
Examines from both the American and Japanese points of view
the political and military events leading up to the attack
on Pearl Harbor.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
Profiles thirteen women who challenged social norms
and government policies to prove they could be
exceptional astronauts.
The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum by Candace Fleming
Chroniclesthe life of showman P. T. Barnum,discussinghow
he created his legendary circus, the people and events that
shapedhis life,andtheimpact Barnum hadonthe
entertainment industry.
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong
Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic
expedition when, after being trapped in a frozen sea for
nine months, their ship, Endurance, was finally crushed,
forcing Shackleton and his men to make a very long and
perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach
inhabited land.
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