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Ban This Book
In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don’t mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.
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Ben Franklin's In My Bathroom
Benjamin Franklin is mysteriously summoned into the modern day world by a crystal radio set found on Nolan and Olive’s front porch. The siblings and Franklin go on adventures around town and find themselves studying “modern marvels” that Ben claims to have invented. These include the public library, fire department and various kitchen appliances.
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Blended
This story is about an eleven year old girl from a blended family. Her mother is white and her father is black. Already feeling different is not helped when her parents divorce. She feels like she is always half of something instead of whole. A great read for kids living in a blended family or for kids who don’t understand what it is like to grow up in a blended family.
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Front Desk
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets: 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. 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. 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.
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Game Face: Sports Report
Maya Esposito has just won the coveted junior internship for the local newspaper. Everyone seems to be happy for her, except Bobby, and his new attitude stings. Maya loves writing about sports, but doubt clouds her judgment. Can Maya stay true to her passion and prove she's just as strong as any boy, no matter what her critics say
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Granted
Ophelia is a wish granting fairy that is not quite like the other fairies. She is finally able to go on her first assignment to grant her first wish as a Granter. It’s not as easy as it may seem, especially with a magic supply shortage these days. With so many obstacles in the human world, will Ophelia be able to grant the little girl’s wish for a new bicycle?
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How I Became a Spy
Bertie Bradshaw never set out to become a spy. He never imagined traipsing around war-torn London, solving ciphers, practicing surveillance, and searching for a traitor to the Allied forces. He certainly never expected that a strong-willed American girl named Eleanor would play Watson to his Holmes. But when a young woman goes missing, leaving behind a coded notebook, Bertie is determined to solve the mystery.
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Love Sugar Magic - A Dash of Trouble
Leonora "Leo" Logroño is tired of being the baby of the family: her four older sisters all speak Spanish and get to help out at the family bakery, especially as they prepare for Diá de los Muertos. Then Leo discovers that her mother and sisters are actually brujas, able to bake magic spells into their pastries. "Our power comes from the magic of sweetness," explains one sister. "Sweetness from love and sweetness from sugar." Leo will be initiated at age 15, but she can't wait to try her hand at magic, resulting in a love spell that goes horribly wrong.
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Nightbooks
Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. He’s loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most don’t have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, he’s desperate for a different ending—and a way out of this twisted place.
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Sal & Gabi Break the Universe
Such a fun read! Set in a Miami middle school for the arts, two kids meet in the principal’s office and their lives are never the same. One of the characters has the ability to reach into time and space and get anything he wants...including his dead mother. This sci-fi book tackles the question of whether you should do something just because you can.
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Saving Winslow
Winslow is a sweet premature donkey. Louie is determined to save Winslow. Despite the odds. No one believed that Winslow would even make it through the night when he was born. This is a delightful story about a boy and his donkey!
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Shouting at the Rain
Delsie, obsessed with the weather, lives with her grandmother on the coast, and summers on the coast are always special. But this summer feels different; her best friend seems distant and a new kid in town, Ronan, is confusingly magnetic.
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Small Spaces
After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both 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.
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Sunny
Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds, with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could take them to the state championships. They all have a lot to lose, but they all have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is the main character in this novel, the third of four books in Jason Reynold’s electrifying middle grade series.
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The Friendship War
Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade. Ellie's always right in the center of everything--and Grace is usually happy to be Ellie's sidekick. But what happens when everything changes?
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Wed Wabbit
Ten-year-old Fidge has been dealt a lot in her short life, including her energetic little sister who constantly demands that Fidge read her favorite book, The Land of the Wimbley Woos. When one day, a horrible accident lands her sister in the hospital, Fidge can't help but feel responsible. In a whirlwind of frustration and guilt, a terrible storm transports her to another world that she soon realizes is the setting of The Land of the Wimbley Woos brought to life, populated by her sister's toys.
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The Last
Byx’s family and pack are killed. She believes she is the last dairne in Nedarra. She sets off on a quest to find if the legends of dairnes living in far off places is true. Along the way she befriends different creature, and together they uncover secrets threaten all the creatures in their world.
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The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade
Surviving their first winter after the Monster Apocalypse was no easy feat, yet Jack and his buddies waste no time springing to action against some of the nastiest, most evil monsters around. When Jack discovers his Louisville Slicer has new, otherworldly powers, he's thrown into epic training to find out what kind of destruction the blade can wield. But between fighting off zombies, fleeing from strange, glowy Vine-Thingies erupting from the ground, and squeezing in a video game session or two, there's barely time left to figure out what's wrong with their buddy, Dirk, who's been acting weird any time he's around the undead. When an unexpected villain appears, can Jack and his friends save themselves--and the rest of the world--from cosmic domination?
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The Lifters
12 year old Granite “Gran” Flowerpetal and his family move from the sunny coast to Carousel. The town is a hilly inland town full of trouble and mystery. He feels unheard at home and invisible at school--and then there's the issue of the many buildings in town collapsing into the earth. There is an underground world that threatens their own world. He has no clue that a dangerous secret lies below the town. His intriguing but difficult-to-please classmate Catalina Catalan knows what to do, but she avoids Gran like the plague. Will she reveal what happens underground?
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The Night Diary
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore.
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The Wild Robot
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is 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.
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White Bird
This story focuses on the bully, Jullian, from Wonder fame. We see another side of Julian, as his grandmother tells him what is was like to be hidden away from Nazi forces during WWII.
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Winterhouse
Orphan Elizabeth Somers's malevolent guardians ship her away over the holiday break to the Winterhouse Hotel owned by the mysterious Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms--most notably its massive library. It's not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge, his sinister family, and a fateful curse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the curse. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to care for, and even Winterhouse itself?
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I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Kids and Immature Grown-ups
An illustrated collection of comically irreverent rhyming poems for readers of all ages, ranging in topic from avocados and anacondas to zombies and zebras (dressed like ghosts)
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Apocalypse Taco
Sid, Axl, and Ivan volunteer to make a late-night fast-food run for the high school theater crew, and when they return, they find themselves. Not in a deep, metaphoric sense: They find copies of themselves onstage. As they look closer, they begin to realize that the world around them isn't quite right.
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Guts
Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it's probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she's dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina's tummy trouble isn't going away... and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What's going on?
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The Sand Warrior
Three unique friends connect to save the 5 worlds. The children must figure out a way to light the beacons to save the collections of worlds that they live on. This series was created by 5 amazing designers. The story line moves well with a wonderful amount of adventure and great character development. A wonderful new series with lots of potential.
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Cute as an Axolotl
Cute is for feathery-gilled axolotls (pronounced: ax-uh-LOT-ulz), shy pygmy hippos, poisonous blue dragons, and armored pangolins. All of these animals are cute, but they've also adapted remarkable ways to survive in their unique environments.
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Does it Fart?
A hilariously informative book of facts, farts, and fun! In this gaseous guide to kids' favorite animals (and some they've probably never heard of), young readers will discover not only which animals pass gas, but also which have the stinkiest farts, which fart the most, and where all this smelly stuff comes from. They'll even learn which species has its own secret fart code! Perfect for reluctant readers, and with full-color illustrations throughout,
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HIdden Figures
This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.
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Pink is for Blobfish
Seventeen of the world's oddest creatures share a single characteristic: their pink coloration.
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Poop Detectives
Poop Detectives explores the use of trained dogs to track wild animals through there scat (droppings). Instead of catching and tagging animals which can be risky and invasive, this method allows scientists to gather information without disturbing the wild animals as much.
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What Makes a Monster?
Explores how the natural world is filled with animals that may look or behave in scary ways but are actually quite safe, profiling such specimens as the vampire bat, the honey badger and the aye-aye lemur.
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Ban This Book
In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don’t mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.
-
Ben Franklin's In My Bathroom
Benjamin Franklin is mysteriously summoned into the modern day world by a crystal radio set found on Nolan and Olive’s front porch. The siblings and Franklin go on adventures around town and find themselves studying “modern marvels” that Ben claims to have invented. These include the public library, fire department and various kitchen appliances.
-
Blended
This story is about an eleven year old girl from a blended family. Her mother is white and her father is black. Already feeling different is not helped when her parents divorce. She feels like she is always half of something instead of whole. A great read for kids living in a blended family or for kids who don’t understand what it is like to grow up in a blended family.
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Front Desk
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets: 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. 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. 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.
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Granted
Ophelia is a wish granting fairy that is not quite like the other fairies. She is finally able to go on her first assignment to grant her first wish as a Granter. It’s not as easy as it may seem, especially with a magic supply shortage these days. With so many obstacles in the human world, will Ophelia be able to grant the little girl’s wish for a new bicycle?
-
I'm Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Kids and Immature Grown-ups
An illustrated collection of comically irreverent rhyming poems for readers of all ages, ranging in topic from avocados and anacondas to zombies and zebras (dressed like ghosts)
-
Love Sugar Magic - A Dash of Trouble
Leonora "Leo" Logroño is tired of being the baby of the family: her four older sisters all speak Spanish and get to help out at the family bakery, especially as they prepare for Diá de los Muertos. Then Leo discovers that her mother and sisters are actually brujas, able to bake magic spells into their pastries. "Our power comes from the magic of sweetness," explains one sister. "Sweetness from love and sweetness from sugar." Leo will be initiated at age 15, but she can't wait to try her hand at magic, resulting in a love spell that goes horribly wrong.
-
Nightbooks
Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. He’s loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most don’t have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, he’s desperate for a different ending—and a way out of this twisted place.
-
Sal & Gabi Break the Universe
Such a fun read! Set in a Miami middle school for the arts, two kids meet in the principal’s office and their lives are never the same. One of the characters has the ability to reach into time and space and get anything he wants...including his dead mother. This sci-fi book tackles the question of whether you should do something just because you can.
-
Saving Winslow
Winslow is a sweet premature donkey. Louie is determined to save Winslow. Despite the odds. No one believed that Winslow would even make it through the night when he was born. This is a delightful story about a boy and his donkey!
-
Shouting at the Rain
Delsie, obsessed with the weather, lives with her grandmother on the coast, and summers on the coast are always special. But this summer feels different; her best friend seems distant and a new kid in town, Ronan, is confusingly magnetic.
-
Small Spaces
After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both 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.
-
Sunny
Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds, with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could take them to the state championships. They all have a lot to lose, but they all have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is the main character in this novel, the third of four books in Jason Reynold’s electrifying middle grade series.
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The Wild Robot
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is 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.
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The Friendship War
Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade. Ellie's always right in the center of everything--and Grace is usually happy to be Ellie's sidekick. But what happens when everything changes?
-
The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade
Surviving their first winter after the Monster Apocalypse was no easy feat, yet Jack and his buddies waste no time springing to action against some of the nastiest, most evil monsters around. When Jack discovers his Louisville Slicer has new, otherworldly powers, he's thrown into epic training to find out what kind of destruction the blade can wield. But between fighting off zombies, fleeing from strange, glowy Vine-Thingies erupting from the ground, and squeezing in a video game session or two, there's barely time left to figure out what's wrong with their buddy, Dirk, who's been acting weird any time he's around the undead. When an unexpected villain appears, can Jack and his friends save themselves--and the rest of the world--from cosmic domination?
-
The LIfters
12 year old Granite “Gran” Flowerpetal and his family move from the sunny coast to Carousel. The town is a hilly inland town full of trouble and mystery. He feels unheard at home and invisible at school--and then there's the issue of the many buildings in town collapsing into the earth. There is an underground world that threatens their own world. He has no clue that a dangerous secret lies below the town. His intriguing but difficult-to-please classmate Catalina Catalan knows what to do, but she avoids Gran like the plague. Will she reveal what happens underground?
-
The Night Diary
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore.
-
White Bird
This story focuses on the bully, Jullian, from Wonder fame. We see another side of Julian, as his grandmother tells him what is was like to be hidden away from Nazi forces during WWII.
-
Winterhouse
Orphan Elizabeth Somers's malevolent guardians ship her away over the holiday break to the Winterhouse Hotel owned by the mysterious Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms--most notably its massive library. It's not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge, his sinister family, and a fateful curse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the curse. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to care for, and even Winterhouse itself?
