“You can do anything you want with your name. It’s yours.” Cleo Edison Oliver is confident, independent, and enterprising. She is ready to take on the world– and she is open for business. She’s also just a kid, a young African-American girl navigating elementary school. Amid her various enterprising business schemes this novel is also … Read more
Melody Brooks is 11 years old. She has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. She cannot sit up by herself, walk, or talk. Yet her mind is filled with words, feelings, and ideas that she can’t express: “Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes – each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched … Read more
“You can’t believe everything you hear.” The Lemonade Crime features the squabbling adventures of Jessie and Evan Treski, the brother and sister from The Lemonade War. (The books can be read independently.) Deep down the siblings love each other, but given their natural jealousies and sensitivities, they spend a lot of time being prickly. Following … Read more
Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this Golden Ticket from Mr. Willy Wonka! I shake you warmly by the hand! Tremendous things are in store for you! Many wonderful surprises await you! Welcome to a wonderful world from Roald Dahl’s amazing imagination where rivers run with chocolate, gum can be a whole meal, and … Read more
“The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.” Prepare to set sail with thirteen-year-old Sophie as she voyages across the Atlantic Ocean from America to England to visit her grandfather, Bompie. She is accompanied by a motley crew of uncles and cousins, all … Read more
A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home What is a home? Is it a large house? Can it be a cage? The toe of a worn old boot? A nest in a matchbox? A shirt pocket? Or can it be found, instead, in the heart of a friend? Celeste is a mouse … Read more
“Sometimes the things we want and the things we love get tangled up in our hearts like bramble when we try to do what’s right.” This poetic notion encapsulates the adventures in the novel, Brambleheart, written and illustrated by Henry Cole. Sometimes it is hard to choose between the things we want and the things … Read more
The Zoey and Sassafras series provides a wonderful way to get young readers excited about science. The first book, Dragons and Marshmallows, cleverly introduces the scientific method in a memorable and exciting way. It’s a unique blend of logic and imagination, just as any good science experiment should be. But, this story is far from a dry scientific … Read more
Young Nate Twitchell lives on a farm in Freedom, New Hampshire. His days are filled with chores which he tends to responsibly. Until the day he finds one of the hens atop an unusual egg – a prehistoric egg – a Paleolithic egg… That’s when Nate’s odyssey begins. Taking care of an enormous egg and … Read more
“The crate… soared through the air, spinning and glistening until it slammed down onto a tall shelf of rock. The crate was cracked and crumpled, but the robot inside was safe.” Here is a strange and wonderful tale from renowned (and Caldecott-winning) artist, Peter Brown. A novel about a robot marooned on a mysterious island … Read more
A masterpiece is “a painting that can be seen in a hundred different ways.” A boy, a beetle, and a masterpiece all come together for a story that is part art history lesson, part art heist, and all about the power of an unexpected friendship. Marvin is the beetle. He lives with his family in … Read more
El Deafo is a graphic novel that tells Cece Bell’s own story of growing up in Virginia in the 1970s. Students love graphic novels and they are a great way to hook even the most reluctant readers with their colorful illustrations which support the plot and illuminate the world of the story. El Deafo is … Read more
An old chestnut and winner of a Newbery Honor in 1939. But just as intriguing for its age. If your school is looking for a book that escapes the challenges of the 21st century and returns readers to a nostalgic time, Mr. Popper’s Penguins is such a book. First published during the Depression – it is miraculously still … Read more
A Boy Called Bat is a sweet story about a boy who wants to care for a baby skunk, a novel that will sneak up on student and adult readers alike. Bixby Alexander Tam (BAT) may seem like no ordinary boy, but he will share characteristics with plenty of other student readers – interests, preferences … Read more
He was only one squirrel. There wasn’t much time. What should he do? Nuts to You by Newbery Medal winner Lynne Rae Perkins encourages us to ask this question and plenty of others. The story will take students and families on a journey of self-discovery and survival, and it will have every reader laughing out … Read more
“You know, Stella, someone can only make you feel bad if you let them. It’s just words.” The school year is off to a rocky start for Stella, a third grader working hard to find her way. While she is smart and creative, her quiet nature draws the wrath of the class bully. Stella’s mother … Read more
“Anything is possible with rabbits.” That’s how Emma expresses the world of possibility she discovers in this novel from Cynthia Lord. What starts as a story about rescuing a pet rabbit turns into a rich, sensitive story about leaving a home-schooled past and assimilating to public school in fifth grade. “Excited is way ahead, but … Read more
“But in a place like Eerie-on-Sea, legends can sometimes have a little more… bite.” This is a lesson that Herbert “Herbie” Lemon, Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, quickly discovers when he learns about the fearsome Malamander – a half-fish, half-man – that’s kept the town of Eerie-on-Sea weary of misty evenings for generations. “Because … Read more
What would you do if you discovered your grandfather had turned into a 13-year-old wise-cracking kid? Grandpa Melvin is a scientist and he’s discovered a cure for aging. (It involves jellyfish.) He appears on his estranged daughter’s doorstep, looking for help breaking into his old lab and to recover his research. He ends up enrolled … Read more
But you know what’s one thing that’s definitely not required for being an expert baker? Having arms. That’s what. Aven Green Baking Machine introduces us to eight-year-old Aven who is not only an expert baker, but she’s also a smart, wry kid learning to navigate life with the help of her friends, her family, and … Read more
